Free Off Limits (Sparks in Texas Book 4) by Mari Carr

to start it all up again?
Aren’t you pretty busy these days?”
    Dr. Tyson Sparks was the one who’d suggested
they take a hiatus after Harley left. He was one of only two
general practitioners who lived in Maris, while the nearest
hospital resided nearly forty minutes away in the neighboring town
of Douglas. As such, he was in constant demand, treating everything
from cut fingers to the more serious medical concerns.
    “I thought you might like the distraction,”
Tyson explained.
    “Distraction?” The only thing Logan needed to
be distracted from was Lacy, but God help him if Tyson knew that.
He was as overprotective of his cousins and sister, Paige, as Evan
was.
    “It was just a thought.”
    It occurred to Logan that perhaps it was
Tyson who needed the distraction. Logan had been walking around
with his head up his ass for so many months, he’d failed to see
Tyson was facing his own struggles as well.
    “You miss Harley?”
    “Is that really a question?”
    “I’m sorry, man. Didn’t realize how rough it
was on you. I miss her too.” He really did. Though her departure
had been easier for him. He’d always hung out more with Evan than
Caleb, Harley, and Tyson—who had been inseparable for most of their
lives.
    “It’s alright. Let’s face it. You took a
double hit. I mean, Jane took off just a few weeks after
Harley.”
    “Yeah, I guess I did.”
    Tyson placed a friendly, comforting hand on
Logan’s shoulder. “Believe me, there are plenty of other women out
there who would be lucky to have you. Jane didn’t deserve you.”
    “Uh. Am I interrupting?”
    Logan glanced over his shoulder to find Lacy
standing next to him with her purse over her arm.
    Great. From the look on her face, it was
clear she’d heard Tyson’s comments and now she thought he’d been
sitting here crying in his beer over Jane.
    “No. You’re not,” Logan said, standing. He
needed to get her out of here. Set things straight. “You
ready?”
    “You two going somewhere?” Tyson asked
curiously.
    “He fixed my chaise. We’re taking it back to
my place,” Lacy replied. The happiness she’d shown when he had
first arrived at the restaurant was gone, replaced by
uncertainty.
    “Need any help?” Tyson started to stand.
    “No,” Logan said quickly. “It’s light. We can
manage.”
    He placed his hand at the base of Lacy’s
spine and guided her to the door before Tyson could insist.
    He continued to propel her toward his truck
even though she appeared to be dragging her feet. When he opened
the door, she paused. “If you’d rather do this another time…”
    Logan shook his head. “Get in the truck.” He
didn’t make it a request and he didn’t bother to make it sound
nice. He’d spent a week waiting for the moment when he’d get her
alone again, and he wasn’t wasting the opportunity on
misunderstandings.
    As always, Lacy responded to his commanding
tone, which didn’t help his already painful erection. He’d stopped
trying to beat the fucking thing down the second they got out of
the restaurant. Now he was wondering how the hell he could walk
around to the driver’s side without limping. God help him if anyone
in the restaurant was looking his way. It was bound to be obvious
what was troubling him.
    Logan climbed behind the steering wheel,
adjusting his dick before he did himself an injury. Lacy’s eyes
twinkled briefly and she opened her mouth—no doubt to give him shit
for his condition—before she sobered up again and remained quiet.
He hated seeing her upset.
    “Don’t.”
    She tilted her head, confused. “Don’t
what?”
     
    “Don’t think what you’re thinking. I’m not
still hung up on Jane.”
    “No one would blame you if—”
    “I don’t miss her.”
    Lacy didn’t appear to believe him.
“Logan—”
    “I don’t miss her, Lacy,” he said more
resolutely. “The breakup was long overdue and I think I’d mourned
the end of that relationship before it was even over. She and