Oops. Laughing, she tugged them off. “It was pajama day at school.” She pulled him into a tight hug, fighting off that awkwardness that threatened to pull her under—and simultaneously tried not to sniff him like a weirdo. It was hard though when he was all masculine and delicious and looked as if he’d just stepped out of a cologne ad. Still, she somehow curbed the urge to shove her face against his chest and inhale. Because friends did not go around smelling each other.
“I started a pot of coffee for you,” she said as she stepped back, tugging him inside with her.
He shut and locked the door behind them. “You are a wonderful woman, Grace Foster.”
Her cheeks flushed. Oh, the awkwardness was there, but she kept her expression normal. Or she tried to. She was not going to act all weird because they’d slept together. It had just been sex. Something she’d been telling herself for weeks. “This is very true. So how was all the traveling? It seems like you guys did a bit more than normal this time.” Weeks more. Not that she’d been counting or anything.
“This trip got extended because the first deal fell through. I can’t actually talk about it for legal reasons, but one trip led to another. I’m glad to finally be home and I’m not planning on going anywhere for a month. Wyatt’s got me at the casino at least that long. I think he felt bad about all the travel.”
That warm, fuzzy feeling inside her blossomed. Logan would be home for a whole month? Yeah, she really liked that. Waayyyyy too much. Still, she ignored all the tingling in her girly parts, because no way. They’d simply had a one-night thing composed of a whole lot of sex. But they could not repeat that. Her heart couldn’t take the eventual ending of things between them. Besides, he hadn’t brought anything up, and if he’d wanted to talk about it, they would have by now. And she’d convinced herself she didn’t want to talk about it either. So…things were good. Normal.
“I also ordered Chinese food,” she said as they stepped into her kitchen.
He, of course, went immediately for the coffee pot as he always did. “Is it because you have absolutely nothing in your fridge?”
“I have stuff in there.” She paused. “All old takeout food.”
He snorted as he lifted the mug to his lips. “You have the palate of a twelve-year-old.”
She grinned because it was true. She’d never learned to cook well. And she didn’t care.
“You should let me cook for you.” He watched her over the rim of his mug.
Cooking for her? Oh, she definitely liked the sound of that. But they were veering into weird territory because friends didn’t cook for each other. Did they? No, definitely not. “So did you just stop by because you were in the area?” she asked, ignoring his offer because she didn’t know how to respond.
He’d actually made her soup once when she’d been sick, and she was ninety-nine percent sure he hadn’t just bought canned soup and dumped it in a container. Because she’d heard his brother teasing him later about all the effort he’d gone to.
“I have sort of a favor to ask.”
She straightened, surprised but really glad he didn’t seem to want to talk about their one-night thing. “What is it?”
“My parents get into town tomorrow. They’re going to be here over Christmas break and I love them. So much. But…I’m tired of them asking me when I’m going to settle down. Now that Roman has Taylor, he doesn’t hear it anymore. And it’s like they’ve doubled up on me.”
“Uh, how can I help?” She wasn’t sure where he was going with this.
“Be my fake girlfriend.”
Her eyes widened. She…hadn’t been expecting that. And she wasn’t sure how to respond. She couldn’t very well tell him no. Well she supposed she could, but after what he’d done when she’d run into her ex-fiancé, she would be a pretty crappy friend if she said no. And they hung out all the time anyway, so… “Okay, but is Roman going to narc you out?” Because that would be pretty embarrassing.
“No. It was his idea.”
She laughed aloud at that, even as a bit of tension settled in her chest. Being his fake girlfriend had some pitfalls—because she wouldn’t be pretending when it came to her feelings. “As long as your brother and Taylor are on board, then I’m in. Though I do feel kind of bad lying to your parents.” She’d never met them but she just felt bad in general about lying.
“It will be fine, I promise. My parents are actually really awesome, I just can’t deal with the hounding this year.”
She hesitated, pushing down her real feelings and hoping the truth wouldn’t bleed through. “Then I would be honored to be your fake girlfriend.” She would like a whole lot more, but that certainly wasn’t happening.
He’d started to respond when the doorbell rang.
“That would be our food.” Thankful for the interruption, she went to grab her purse but he waved her off and headed for the front door.
She wanted to argue with him but had done this dance before. When he decided he was paying for something, that was that. Logan could be very stubborn.
Sexy and stubborn… Nope, stop thinking like that. Logan was her friend. Well, now he was her fake boyfriend.
Unfortunately now they were going to have to act like a real couple. It wasn’t like they would get into a full-on make-out session in front of his parents but still, they would have to be affectionate with each other. Or at least hold hands or something. Just great, Grace.
But it was too late to back out now.
Chapter 6
Grace ignored the butterflies in her stomach as she pulled into Logan’s driveway. She saw Roman’s truck as well so he and Taylor were already there, thankfully. The four-door Honda CRV must be his parents’.
Wind kicked up as she slid out of the driver’s seat and told those stupid butterflies to cut it out. Of course they didn’t listen because she was about to see Logan.
Sighing at herself, she grabbed the bottle of red wine she’d brought along with her purse. As she made it to the front door, she didn’t even get a chance to knock before it swung open.
She sucked in a quiet breath as she came face-to-face with her walking, talking fantasy.
Logan looked sexy and delicious as always. His reddish-brown hair was slightly tousled and he hadn’t shaved in a couple days, giving him an even more rugged look. Oh sweet Lord, what was he trying to do to her? A rush of heat flooded through her as she smiled up at him. He was everything she wanted but couldn’t have.
He pulled her past the doorstep and into his arms.
“Grace! I’m so happy you’re here.” He kissed her on the mouth, the kiss teasing, lingering, and still over far too quickly. Heat flooded between her legs this time as she remembered how he’d kissed her hard before taking her up against that hotel room wall.
What…was he doing? Why had he kissed her like that? It took her all of two seconds to realize that his parents were standing in the foyer as well, watching her with curious smiles. And she noticed that their suitcases were still there.
“My parents just arrived. Their flight was delayed,” he said, his eyes sparkling.