Except that wasn’t Logan. He’d just said so.
He glanced at her and tossed back his own champagne. “Would a positive pregnancy test be so bad? I mean, let’s play it out. I’d be the baby’s father, no matter what. We’d have to be coparents, which is a relationship in and of itself. Why not make it official and just coparent as a couple?”
Her heart ached as the sentiment pinged around inside her, seeking a place to land. She wished all at once that he’d meant he wanted to be with her because he’d developed feelings for her. Because he couldn’t stand the thought of being apart. But of course he was just talking about the reality of the consequences, not happily-ever-after tied up with a bow.
Fine. She didn’t want that. Or at least she was going to convince herself she didn’t. Really soon.
Besides, her confusion didn’t matter, because there wasn’t going to be a pregnancy. Secretly, she’d always assumed that the horrific nature of her miscarriage had rendered her infertile, but she’d never had it officially checked out.
“I can’t possibly tell you how much I appreciate that,” she said slowly, keeping the rest of her swirl of thoughts under wraps.
His expression warmed. “I’ve always dreamed of having a family.”
“But we don’t have any idea if that’s what’s going to happen,” she countered firmly. “Nor will we for some time. Can’t we just put it away for now?”
“Sure.” He dinged his newly full champagne glass to hers. “For now.”
With all of this academic talk about babies and families and a future with Logan in it, a yearning she’d never allowed to gain traction reared its head, settling into a place in her heart. She was pretty sure it wasn’t going away any time soon.
Regardless, she was not the right woman to fulfill his dreams, which meant she should find a way to stay far away from Logan McLaughlin.
Except she didn’t want to.
Eight
Trinity left to go back to her room, but Logan couldn’t sleep. The whole day had been wild, and the conversation they’d just had put the crazy sauce on the sundae.
He couldn’t stop thinking about the definition of real and how easily he could envision trying to create something that sounded a lot like that with Trinity.
This whole situation had unraveled alarmingly fast.
He’d always thought he’d get married first, then he and his wife would eagerly get on with baby making. They’d take their first pregnancy test together and she’d throw herself into his arms when it turned positive. Happiness would ensue.
Obviously the broken condom had presented another possibility that he might have to get used to—being with Trinity long-term as coparents and maybe more.
Was that what he wanted? Was that what she wanted? They hadn’t really finished the conversation, not to his satisfaction, but he’d been willing to shelve it for the time being, since there was little reason to discuss it at this point.
Except for the fact that he liked the idea of having something real more than he should.
His chest hurt as he reminded himself that he and Trinity weren’t at all suited for anything that smacked of real, no matter how he defined it. He’d known from the beginning that they weren’t right for each other. Nothing had changed.
And yet everything had changed.
By unspoken agreement, they continued the rest of the trip as planned. Trinity came to the games, his guys played baseball and reporters took pictures afterward of the general manager and his girlfriend. Every time Logan felt like pulling her into his arms to lay a kiss on her that would communicate how much he still wanted her, she came willingly, and he liked her in his bed better than he should as well.
The heat between them sizzled for the camera and sizzled behind closed doors. It was like they couldn’t quit each other now that the boundaries had evaporated.
The Mustangs won both games. Naturally. Because of Trinity, he was convinced. His team was convinced, too, and treated her like royalty, sending her flowers and chocolate, cards with funny cartoons. The Mustangs’ shortstop, the one who was dating the supermodel against Logan’s wishes, convinced his girlfriend to call Trinity about doing ad work for Fyra Cosmetics as a token of goodwill.
When Logan asked her about it, Trinity grinned and told him she had a meeting with the model’s manager next week. All in all, it felt like a great match, she said. At night, she worked on a campaign for a new product that she chattered about endlessly during her midnight treks to his hotel room. He loved listening to her talk about the things that mattered to her.
On the plane ride home to Dallas, Trinity sat next to him and they held hands like they had on the way to the West Coast. Somehow it was different. As if the broken condom had created an unspoken agreement that they were testing out how things might go if they did slap a “real” label on their relationship.