Simply Scandalous (Simply 2)

“Say so long,” he instructed her.

She shook her head. “I have no idea why I let you fluster me,” she muttered. “No one flusters me. Not even Nick.”

“Who’s Nick?” he asked, hating the sound of another man’s name on her lips.

“My chef. And close friend. We went to culinary school together. He’s been teasing me since he was shorter than me, and after I kicked him in the shins the first time…”

“He never tried it again?”

Catherine laughed. “Of course, he did.”

“And this Nick. He’s a…”

“Friend,” she said softly and seriously as if reading the tone in his voice. “An engaged friend. He hasn’t made a move since we were kids.”

He met her steady gaze and knew he’d been right. She’d understood and sought to reassure.

He appreciated her for that. He’d never succumbed to jealousy before but wasn’t surprised his first time involved Catherine Luck because no woman had ever affected him the way she had.

She uncrossed her legs. “Goodbye, Logan.” She looked away, and before he realized her intent, had pulled on the door handle.

“Cat, wait.”

She released it and turned. Her green eyes were suspiciously damp. “What?”

“Goodbye’s too final.” Myriad words were on the tip of his tongue, but goodbye wasn’t one of them. She’d be seeing him again, whether she believed it or not.

She drew a deep breath. “It was fun, but…”

“It was more than that.”

She shook her head. “It can’t be.”

“Why? Because my name’s Montgomery?”

“That’s one reason.”

* * *

Catherine didn’t dare name anymore. Otherwise, she’d risk admitting her real feelings and the fact that she was dangerously close to falling in love with a man she’d just met.

Love at first sight didn’t exist. Once she got out of this car, she’d remember that.

“This is the modern world. Class differences don’t exist.”

Tell it to the judge, she thought but refused to utter the words aloud. Logan had gone so far out of his way to distance himself from his family and their way of life that Catherine knew he believed what he said. He just didn’t realize what would happen when two worlds like theirs collided.

Besides, she had no doubt that once he got back home, all she’d be to him was a distant memory. “Can’t we just say it’s been fun…”

“And I’ll see you around?” he jumped in, finishing for her.

“Something like that.”

He grinned, and she knew she’d dug herself in deep. “Sounds good to me. I’ll pick you up Friday. We’ll have dinner in Boston before driving back to the beach. Maybe this time the weather will be nice, and I’ll get to show you some of the more special spots hidden away from prying eyes.”

He’d gotten the best of her and he knew it. “You’re too literal,” she told him.

“I’m honest,” he shot back. “And you led me to believe you valued that quality.”