Then she turned back to her grandma to see her beaming at the two of them. “I knew it.”
The pure happiness shining from those faded blue eyes swelled Joy’s heart with emotion. It had been months since she’d seen that expression.
She buried her face against Logan’s chest until she could swallow past the lump in her throat and blink away the sting of tears. Beneath her cheek, she noticed the thump of his heart felt a bit like he’d just run a couple miles.
“Did we hear that correctly?” Millie Swanson trilled from her prime seat on the couch. “You two are engaged?”
Joy took a deep breath and turned to face the music. It had been her idea after all.
Gram bestowed her radiant grin upon the book club. “Yes, you did. My granddaughter is finally getting married, and I get to help plan the wedding.”
She could’ve done without the emphasis on finally, but her grandmother’s happiness was well worth the little spike of embarrassment.
“Where’s the ring?” Edna demanded.
Crap. She stared at her bare left hand flattened against Logan’s tan, button-down shirt. “I…um…”
“Hush, Edna.”
Thank you, Millie.
“The boy can’t pay his mortgage. How would he afford a ring?”
Logan’s grip tightened on Joy’s hip again.
Shut up, Millie.
She glanced up to see the muscle pulsing in his clenched jaw.
“Well, she can’t buy her own,” Edna shot back. “It don’t work that way.”
Shut up both of you! Joy leaned into Logan’s embrace and slid her hand down across his stomach to wrap both arms around his lean waist. Wow. Nothing but muscle.
Looking Edna right in the eye, she said, “He gave me a ring. It’s beautiful, too, but I took it off to do barn chores this morning.”
Her two and a half-carat engagement ring from Luke was buried in the bottom of her jewelry box upstairs, so it wasn’t like she wouldn’t be able to back up the story.
“Ooh, can we see it?” Mrs. Langhart asked, genuine enthusiasm in her smile.
“Ah—”
A couple of loud hand claps from behind them cut her off. Joy swung her gaze back to see Tara and Jenny taking in the entire scene from the kitchen archway. Oh, boy, was she going to have some explaining to do.
Tara lowered her arms and gave Joy a shark-like grin before saying, “Ladies, would you look at the time? Those thunderstorms Channel 5 forecasted will be rolling in before you know it.”
The reminder of impending bad weather set off a flurry of exclamations and activity. No one wanted to be caught in the rain.
Joy shot her friends a quick, grateful smile. She eased out of Logan’s embrace with a pat on his chest, avoiding his gaze as she advised quietly, “You should go while the gettin’s good.” And because Edna watched them like bugs squirming under a magnifying glass, she added with a stiff smile, “I’ll see you later, h-honey.”
Good God, that was going to need as much work as Logan’s smile.
She stepped back and turned around to start clearing the rest of the dishes when a large, calloused hand clamped around her wrist. In one smooth motion, her fake fiancé spun her into his arms, dipped her backward, and covered her mouth with his. Her surprised gasp gave him instant access, and his tongue stroked hers once, twice, three times, before he withdrew.
To be fair, she kissed him back—even gave a soft sound of protest when his lips left hers.
When he didn’t set her on her feet right away, she opened her eyes to find his nose an inch from hers as he smiled at her—this one completely natural, and alarmingly breathtaking.
“That ought to sell it, don’t you think, sweetheart?”