Your Captivating Love (The Bennett Family 2)

“Yes.”

Logan drives in silence. He opens and closes his mouth a few times, glancing in the rearview at Pippa. Eventually, he asks, “Pippa, are you... Did anything happen? Did he do something?”

“Nothing happened, I just panicked. Turns out I wasn’t ready to date after all.”

Seeing her sad expression in the rearview mirror, I finally realize what this was about. I’ve heard about Pippa’s divorce and, unless I’m mistaken, this was her first post-divorce foray in the dating world. I sigh sympathetically, and that’s when she seems to realize I’m in the car too.

“Crap,” Pippa says. “You two were on a date, weren’t you? I’m sorry. Why didn’t you tell me, Logan?”

“It’s no problem,” I assure her.

“You told me to call you if I needed anything, but. . .” Her voice fades. “I didn’t call Sebastian because I knew he and Ava were at the theater, but it didn’t occur to me that you two were as well.”

She looks out the window as her words fade. I’ve only met Pippa a few times, but she always had an air of exuberance that was contagious. Now there’s no semblance of that girl.

“I had a mini-panic attack,” she continues. “Poor guy didn’t know what hit him. Come on, Logan, you’re dying to say ‘I told you so.’”

Logan huffs. “I’d never say that.”

“Well, you were right. I’ll put dating on hold for a while.”

More silence follows, and then the car comes to a halt in front of what I assume is Pippa’s building.

“Are you sure you want to be on your own?” I ask her. “You can go out with us, or I can stay with you and have a girls’ night in.” She seems to need company.

“Yeah, thanks, but I’ll read a steamy romance, and drink a glass of wine. You two have fun. That poor dude probably has blue balls; no reason for me to cock-block the two of you too.”

I flush while Logan says, “Really smooth, Pippa.”

“I’ll try dating again... eventually. It’s never too late to start fresh, is it?” Pippa asks, hope and desperation warring on her expression.

“It’s not,” I respond. “I have a degree in it.”

Pippa gives me a sheepish smile that tells me she already knows my story. I’m wondering if Ava or Logan is to blame. Pippa exits the car, blows us both kisses, and heads to the entrance of her building; her steps slow, her shoulders drooped.

Logan looks worriedly after his sister.

“Wow.”

“Yeah, wow,” Logan says. “I wasn’t expecting her to call. Pippa, like Sebastian, is very self-sufficient. Rarely asks for help, rarely lets her guard down.”

“Will she be okay on her own?” I ask.

“Not really. If she called, it means she needed company. She would’ve taken a cab otherwise. But I have no idea how to fix this. Pippa’ll kick us out if we go upstairs.”

“You can’t fix everything, Logan.”

“Thank you for offering to have a girls’ night in with her.”

“Sure. I thought she could use some girl fun.”

Logan scrutinizes me with an unreadable expression, caressing my cheek with the back of his hand. The contact electrifies me, cutting my breath short. I lean into his touch, hungry for more. When it comes to Logan, it seems I always want more.

“You’re not in the mood for dancing anymore,” I state.

“No, sorry.”

“It’s okay. Neither am I.”