“I see. Well, I grew up with about forty butlers, so I’m quite used to the pampered life. No doing my own dishes or laundry,” I tell him with a wink. “Truly though, it’s great. You’ve accomplished quite a bit from the looks of it. You should be proud.”
He nods and chews a bite of his sandwich. I do the same, wondering why it doesn’t feel more awkward to be alone with him like this. We haven’t gone on a proper date. We haven’t even really gotten to know each other, but then he’s already seen me puking up my guts and there was that business in the pool on Saturday…
“So…um…I was wondering,” I begin, after finishing up my bite. “Do you see lots of girls?”
He tilts his head, wondering what information I’m after.
“I mean, like, dating-wise.”
My gaze is pinned on my plate.
“Candace.”
“Hmm?”
“No, I’m not dating anyone else. Are you?”
A laugh spills out of me before I can help it. Oh right, he’s meant to think I’m cool. “No, erm…not at the moment.”
“Good. Then we should talk about this. Getting involved with me isn’t as easy as you might think.”
Chapter Eleven
Candace
“How so? Have you got a weird proclivity or something? A fetish with bondage and trapeze equipment?”
He looks positively confused, so I laugh like I wasn’t being 100% serious. I should probably lay off the taboo books.
“No, I mean, I’m a public figure, and that comes with consequences.”
I wave away his concern. “Come on. It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
A bit of press? No big deal.
He sets down his sandwich and frowns. “I don’t think you understand what’s going to start happening if we spend more time together.”
“I do though—you’ll get totally infatuated with me, and I’ll have to bat you away with a stick.”
“Be serious.”
“I can’t be. It’s physically impossible.”
He releases a soft laugh and shakes his head, apparently not interested in pushing the subject. “Well…I guess we’ll see then. This weekend I’m going to a Feeding America gala. I was planning on going alone unless you want to come with me.”
My eyes widen in shock. “As your date?”
“Yes, though we won’t be able to arrive together.”
“What? Why?”
“Because the press will have a field day, and I’m not quite ready for that.”
“Oh…okay. Sure. You know more about this world than I do. I’ll just follow your lead.”
He says his assistant will get me the details and I nod like that’s a sentence I hear all the time, though really it makes my stomach twist into a knot.
I like Logan, but it’s this version of him that I know, the down-to-earth handsome bloke who makes me a sandwich, not the real version of him, the proper celebrity with loads of fans and assistants and drivers.
A tiny part of me wonders if I really know what I’m doing, getting involved with him like this, but I shut the door on that thought immediately, not wanting to go down that road and let worries about the future ruin our fun for now. Besides, he’s probably making it out to be worse than it is.
“Are you done?” he says, standing and rounding the table. He’s cleared off every speck of food on his plate, but I’ve only eaten about half of my sandwich. I can’t be bothered to finish the rest.
“Yes, but let me wrap it up and take it home. I’ll have it for lunch tomorrow.”
“Home? Are you leaving already?”
I shrug. “I probably should. I have an early morning tomorrow at The Day School and then I’ve got a shift at District tomorrow night. I’m on the schedule for Saturday too, but since you want me to go with you to that gala, I’ll have to see if someone can switch with me so I can work Friday instead.”
“Right, well, just stay for a little bit longer. It feels like you just got here,” he says, dropping our plates on the island to deal with later and then disappearing into his pantry, only to reappear a moment later with a bottle of red wine. I watch him uncork it and grab two glasses. Twist my arm, why don’t you?
“Okay. I’ll stay just for a bit. But you know, it’s not as if I’ve just arrived. I’ve been here for a while. I got here before you and did a little snooping around.”
He peers up at me with an arched brow. “Find anything good?”
“Just your stash of itty-bitty condoms. I didn’t know they made them so small.”
A normal bloke would probably get real defensive, but the grin Logan aims my way tells me he’s not bothered by my joke in the least. Why? Because it couldn’t be further from the truth.
I gulp down a heaping mouthful of wine after he passes me my glass, and I distract myself by strolling into the living room and walking over to a large window with an expansive view of Manhattan.
The city skyline is dark with ominous black clouds bulging overhead. Off in the distance, a bolt of lightning pierces through the blackness, and I scrunch my nose, already anticipating how soaked I’ll get on the journey home. Bugger.
“It’s supposed to pour,” Logan says, strolling into the room and looking at the weather forecast on his mobile. “You can’t leave until it’s cleared up.”
“It’s not like I’ll be walking. Surely Pat could give me a ride if I asked him nicely enough?”
“I don’t want either of you out on the wet streets. Driving in the city is crazy enough as it is.”
“Oh I see how it’s going to be.” I twist around to face him. “Quite controlling, are you? Used to getting your own way?”
His eyes narrow on me. “You’ll leave after it stops raining.”
As if on cue, thunder rumbles outside, and I shrug, not quite willing to put up a fight. I like my company and I like my wine; it can’t hurt to linger a little while longer.
Logan walks toward one of his long sofas and sits down, stretching his tall frame out so he looks positively royal sitting there, all confident and at ease. He has one arm slung over the back of the sofa and one ankle resting on his other knee so he’s aimed in my direction.
I stay standing near the window as I sip my wine, looking at him from top to bottom. I try to find any imperfections I’ve missed in the previous times we’ve been together. Unsurprisingly, I come up short.
“Tell me why you’re not taken,” I blurt, suddenly feeling mad with curiosity.
How’s it possible he’s available? What dark secrets is he hiding?
His brows furrow in thought, and he glances down at his glass. “It’s not from lack of female companionship.”
“Oh. Ohhh, I see. Have you slept with every girl in Manhattan then?”
His dark eyes slice up to me and I zip my lips.
“I’ve had girlfriends, Candace. But no, I don’t think I play the field—not like a lot of my other teammates do.”
“So, it’s not because you’re a player. Hmm…so then what is it?”