would’ve been best used to figure out a game plan, her body was busy humming over the fact that she and Logan were alone and just a few feet away from each other. A fluttering feeling skittered low in her belly, and her fingers tingled as if they’d fallen asleep and were coming back to life. Actually tingled. She’d completely forgotten that that happened to her when she got…really turned on.
Was it possible she could’ve been in that worked up of a state just from being alone in Logan’s presence? When she lifted her eyes to find out if that was the case, her gaze locked with his. He wasn’t just casually looking in her direction. No, this was a heated stare . One she felt everywhere.
Yep. Definite possibility.
The tugging in her belly stirred up to a full-blown ache in her core. The tingle that had only been in her fingertips was now spreading up her arm. New sensations bombarded her senses under the weight of his undivided attention. Her breasts suddenly felt full and heavy. She was fairly certain—without doing a nip check—that the tips of her lady lumps were as perky as they would’ve been had she been wearing a bikini in Alaska. A skittering shiver ran down her spine, stopping when it reached the apex of her legs.
Just when she was about to internally reprimand herself, her inner voice yelled, Research!
A lightbulb went off in her head. The justification, even if only for her, for staying there with Logan illuminated itself. Nothing had to happen between them, obviously. Her body was hotter and more aroused than it had been in years and all he was doing was looking at her. She could use everything he made her feel in her books.
She just needed to make sure their staying there was actually something he wanted, not something he’d offered out of obligation. Right as she was about to find out, he beat her to the punch.
Clearing his throat, he set his fork down. “I’m sorry that I asked you to stay here in front of Drew.”
Keeping her face as neutral as possible, Emma desperately tried to disguise the immense disappointment that washed over her at hearing his regret. Forcing herself to speak through the waves of sadness over something that up until just seconds ago she hadn’t even known she wanted, she smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll tell him that it’s not going to work out when he gets back. We’ll be out of your hair by tomorrow afternoon.”
“No. That’s not…” Logan shook his head, his eyes narrowing. “I didn’t mean that I don’t want you to stay. I do. I want you both here.”
Her heart jumped at his words. Easy, girl .
“I was apologizing for not asking you privately. It was wrong to spring that on you. I shouldn’t have put you in the position of being the bad guy if you didn’t feel comfortable staying here. Honestly, the idea just came to me and I said it, but I promise, if you do want to stay here, which I hope is the case, that won’t happen again. I will always run things by you before Drew gets wind of it.”
If Emma hadn’t known the man she was staring at for as long and as well as she did—the man who’d rendered her completely dumbstruck—she would’ve assumed he wasn’t for real. What kind of a man not only possessed enough self-awareness and consideration to figure out independently that he’d overstepped some perceived line, but also to acknowledge that fact and then—wait for it—apologize?
Logan Dorsey. That’s who.
It was strange, but somehow, knowing Logan, mainly through Andrew’s having told her about him, made her feel like she knew him better than almost anyone—even though it was through a third party. He was loyal, a man of his word, and honest to a fault sometimes, according to her late husband.
She remembered more than one recounting of how Logan had caused random girls who’d been solely interested in hooking up with a Marine to end up in tears because he didn’t play games. Brutal honesty—her husband said it was