I could imagine.
“I didn’t have anything quite as exciting as your childhood…or adulthood for that matter,” I confessed. “My mother was killed when I was a baby—still in her womb, actually. I was in the hospital for weeks before my father was able to get home. He was deployed at the time. My dad met Reese when I was young. They married, and along with Reese came Rowen, who was a year younger than me. Derek came later.”
“Derek seems very…” he searched for the right word.
“Blunt?” I suggested. “Out there? Uncaring? Unfeeling?”
Logan started to laugh. “Blunt works. I liked it, though. Sometimes it’s nice to see exactly what you’re getting when it comes to someone. It’s nice not to have to search for the deception that normally always lies around the corner.”
“Oh, what you see is what you get with him, that’s for sure,” I disclosed.
“That’s the juiciest thing you have?” he asked. “No skeletons that I don’t already know about in your closet?”
My phone rang and I reached for it as I said, “Rowen hated me when we were in high school for about half a year. She resented me because I was skipping grades while she was left behind.”
I held up a finger when he would’ve said something, then placed the receiver to my ear.
“Hello?” I answered.
When nothing was said, I placed the phone on speaker.
“Hello?” I repeated.
“Hey, Katy, this is Bruno Marks, from the shipping store?” came the voice.
“Sorry about that,” I apologized. “My phone’s been acting up and won’t let me talk on it normally. Is everything all set for tomorrow’s package pick-up?”
“I haven’t been able to reach the driver that usually runs your route yet, but I can definitely come by there and get it on my way…” Logan waved me off, then gestured at himself. I grinned. “…and get it if that’s okay with you.”
“Oh, I really appreciate it, but my neighbor offered to get it,” I said. “He said he could drop it off for me. Thank you so much, though.”
“Ah,” Bruno hesitated. “No problem. I’m sorry it was so hard to get picked up. Please be reassured that I’m looking into it.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “Thank you, have a good night!”
“Uh, yeah, you, too.” He paused. “Listen, do you want to file a complaint?”
I shook my head even though he couldn’t see me. “I don’t think that’s necessary. But I appreciate it. Have a good one.”
With that, I hung up, and Logan started firing off questions from our earlier conversation.
“Why did she resent you for that?” he asked, referring to Rowen.
“I think she just missed her friend,” I admitted. “We eventually got over it, and she became my rock. It was seriously hard making friends in that school when you were three years younger than them. Right now, three years doesn’t mean a thing. But in high school? It meant everything.”
He snorted. “That’s truer than true.”
I started gathering up his dishes, but he stilled my hand.
“Please, let me,” he said gruffly.
I felt my heart start to pound at the warmness of his hand wrapped around mine.
“Sure,” I said, voice cracking halfway through the word.
He winked at me and stood up, gathering all the dishes in his one good hand, and walking them to the sink.
There, he washed them all and put them in the draining pan next to the sink.
“I guess I better go,” he said, looking once more at his dog that had curled up next to Lou on the floor. “Tomorrow morning’s gonna suck.”
“I feel you,” I thought nervously. “I forgot to get a rope.”
He blinked at me.
“I have some handcuffs,” he admitted. “You can borrow them.”
“You think that’s wise, allowing me to use handcuffs?” I asked. “Do you know how clumsy and accident-prone I am?”
“Actually?” he snorted. “No. You look fairly graceful to me.”
“Well, I’m not,” I told him. “I’ve broken more bones in the last three years than most people have their entire life.”
He stared at me for a few long seconds before saying, “I could stay here. You could try them out for a night. It’s not like I’m going to sleep anyway.”Chapter 13Coffee makes me _______.
-Coffee Cup
Logan
“I could stay here. You could try them out for a night. It’s not like I’m going to sleep anyway.”
Had that really just come out of my mouth?
Jesus Christ, Gibbs! She doesn’t want you at her place! She barely knows you!
“You wouldn’t mind?” Katy whispered, looking down at her clenched hands. “That would…that would be really good. I seriously, seriously don’t like sleepwalking. It’s really kind of scary to wake up in places that you don’t remember going to. And this part of town…”
I knew exactly what she meant.
Though, just sayin’, the way Katy looked? I wouldn’t want her out at all in any part of the city. Even if it was in a nice neighborhood.