Before she’d gotten out of the driver’s seat, he was right there in well-worn jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt shoved up to his elbows and a sexy grin that competed with the roped forearms he was showing off.
“Hey.” She handed him one of the coffees she’d picked up on the way here. A breakfast blend with a hint of sugar—his favorite.
“Hey yourself.” He kissed the top of her head and she wished it had been her mouth instead. “I’m surprised you showed up.”
She narrowed her gaze. “Why? I said I’d be here.” Last night as she’d been leaving, he’d asked if she wanted to come over and help put up Christmas lights. She’d assumed it was for part of the show with his parents.
“I know. It’s just early and I know it’s your break. I thought you’d sleep in a bit.” He glanced back as she popped the trunk. “What’s in there?”
“You’ll see.” She grabbed her purple and blue vinyl foldout chair in its carrying bag with her free hand—which he immediately took from her even though it weighed maybe four pounds.
“What’s this for?”
“I plan on watching you hang up all the lights while I enjoy my coffee.” She was kidding. Mostly.
He laughed in that full, deep way she felt all the way to her bones as he shut the trunk. “So by helping, you actually meant supervising?”
“You know it. If I’m going to be part of this farce, I figure I need to act realistically. This is my Christmas break and I’m not planning on doing any extra work. This is Grace in holiday mode.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Besides, I already put up all my stuff a month ago. You’re kind of a slacker.”
His grin was gorgeous, revealing one of his dimples. “Fair enough.” She followed him across the lawn where he set up her chair in seconds. “Now you have a perfect view of me and my sexy ass.”
She simply rolled her eyes but sat in the chair, crossed her legs and sipped her perfectly doctored coffee, watching him expectantly. “Well? You better get that sexy ass in gear. Those lights aren’t going to hang themselves.” Oh, she shouldn’t flirt but she couldn’t help it. This had been them “before” the sex. Before the hotel room. Before all the orgasms that had clearly rattled her brain.
That wicked smile never faltered as he picked up a bundle of white lights. “So you do think my ass is sexy?”
“I’m not going to answer that. Your ego is already big enough. I don’t need to stroke it any more.” He opened his mouth and she could tell he was going to say something about the word stroke. So she held up a finger, grinning. “Leave it.”
He snickered and turned around, actually shaking said ass as he headed toward one of the bushes lining the front of his house. Oh God, she’d missed this flirty, fun banter they’d always had. And she wished… Ugh, it didn’t matter what she wished. She lived in the real world.
If Logan wanted a relationship, he would have made it clear. And she wasn’t sure he was capable of one anyway. Capable of giving her what she needed.
At this point in her life, Grace wanted the whole package. Marriage, a real family, maybe kids. But she wanted a committed man who came home to her and had eyes for no one else. Maybe she was broken or something. Maybe she wasn’t going to get all that. Maybe…she needed to stop being a Debbie Downer and get her head out of her ass.
“So where are your parents?” she asked, needing conversation so she’d stop getting caught up in her thoughts.
“Out to breakfast with Roman and Taylor. They said it was pathetic that I’d waited so long to put these up and weren’t going to help me either. By the way, my mom really likes you,” he tossed over his shoulder as he started stretching out the lights on the grass.
Once she finished her coffee, she actually was going to help him. She just needed this boost of caffeine before she got going. “I really like her too. Your dad as well, though he’s pretty quiet.”
“Yeah, he usually lets her do all the talking,” Logan said laughingly. “I didn’t really think about my plan because now she wants to know when you and I are getting married. She told me I needed to put a ring on your finger immediately.” He didn’t look at her as he spoke, focused on pulling a knot out of one of the strands.
“Is that right?” That weird sensation settled in her belly at the thought of wearing Logan’s ring but she shut that down fast and tight. She’d worn someone’s ring before—a beautiful, sparkly one—and had gotten burned. It didn’t matter that on her wedding day she’d been having a panic attack before she’d found out the groom wasn’t showing up. Right before the ceremony she’d worried she was making a huge mistake, and then it hadn’t mattered because her ex had made the decision for her.
“Yep. I definitely didn’t think this whole thing through. I thought it would get her off my back. But now that she’s met you, she said no one else will ever compare so I might as well do the right thing.”
Grace forced out a laugh at his words, glad it didn’t sound strained, and set her coffee down. “Well, I’m pretty awesome, so I don’t blame her.” Striding across the lawn, she picked up the other end of the string of lights and tugged them away from him. “You’re making an even bigger mess. And why don’t you have a light storage reel so you keep your lights tangle free? This whole scene is just sad.”
“‘Because I’m not organized’ seems like the obvious answer,” he said dryly. “Do you actually organize your lights?”
“Of course I do. Light storage reels are a thing. It’s a big wheel that’s awesome. I keep my decorations in bins and I keep my lights tangle free when I put them away. Makes it much easier each year to put things up.”
He just grinned at her and stood back as she started untangling.
She shook her head. “No way. You’re not going to stand there and supervise while I do all the work. Hold this end up while I work on this tangle.”
“You’re sexy when you’re bossy.”
She felt her cheeks flush but she ignored the sexy comment because at this point that was all she could do. Maybe it was her imagination but she felt like there was this simmering, underlying electric current between them. It was different than the banter they’d had “before.” And she knew exactly why. Because they’d seen each other naked and been intimate. That changed everything.
Suddenly he stiffened, his gaze going past her shoulder.
Grace started to turn but he grabbed her arm. “Run!” he shouted as he yanked her toward the garage.
It was instinct to try and look at what was going on, but every fiber of her being trusted him. Dropping the lights, she ran as a sudden firework of pops rang out.
Her legs were moving of their own accord as the rat-a-tat grew louder and louder, dirt and grass flying up all around them.
Belatedly she realized this was… Gunfire? Oh my God!
Logan threw his body over hers as they barreled into the garage, his vehicle and hers in the driveway giving them cover as they slammed against the hard concrete.
Just as quickly as the storm of gunfire arrived, it disappeared.
“Grace!” She opened her eyes to find Logan staring down at her, running his hands over her arms and chest and down her body worriedly. The way he was looking at her made her realize he must’ve said her name more than once.