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‘Oh, yeah. Everything’s fine. Sorry to just show up.’ She stood to go, but Logan put a hand on her arm. He squeezed gently.
‘You don’t have to apologize. Is something wrong?’
‘Well, I wanted to update you about the case.’
‘Right. The case. Come with me. You can tell me all about it.’
He led her around the side of the house, past a beautiful garden of late-blooming dahlias, giving the trees a run for their money with their own golds and reds and burnt oranges. The black-eyed Susans had started to tip over on their long stems, but Jeanie could imagine how cheerful they must have been in the summer.
Jeanie breathed in the warm hay and dry-leaf smell of the farm. A hint of woodsmoke and over-ripe apples drifted through the air. The whole place smelled like Logan. Someone should bottle it. Eau de Sexy Farmer. She stifled a giggle and followed Logan to a door at the side of the house.
He let them in, and Jeanie blinked, allowing her eyes to adjust after the brightness of the day. She was standing in a tidy apartment. Logan’s tidy apartment. His perfectly made bed was right next to her. Her mouth went dry.
‘You want something to drink?’ he asked, moving to the kitchenette along the far wall.
‘Just some water would be nice.’
Jeanie looked around while he poured her a glass, trying to satisfy her nosiness without being too obvious. There was a small table next to the kitchenette, the bed that she was certainly not thinking about, which filled most of the space, and a door she assumed led to a bathroom. Two nightstands flanked the bed, but only one was covered in books. On top of the stack sat a pair of reading glasses. Dear God, did Logan wear reading glasses?! She did not stand a freaking chance with this man. She might as well just hand over her panties right now.
Logan cleared his throat and Jeanie’s gaze snapped to his.
‘It’s not much,’ he said at the same time she said ‘I like your place.’
A small frown tipped his beautiful mouth down in the corners. ‘My grandfather and I added this apartment onto the house about a year ago. He thought he and my grandmother would take it when I ... uh ... eventually moved into the big house. But there’s not much reason for me to take that whole house for myself.’ His cheeks were flushed red, a deep crease in his brow.
Jeanie flopped onto his bed and Logan’s eyes widened. ‘Well, I like it. Just the right amount of space.’ She smiled up at him, hoping it conveyed everything she wanted to say but didn’t feel like she should. Mainly that Lucy was the one who lost, the one who’d missed out on loving this sweet man and being loved by him in return. And that Jeanie wouldn’t care if he lived in the damn root cellar at this point.
She was in deep.
Way deeper than she was expecting.
Way deeper than she could hide.
Logan continued to stare at her on his bed, his expression transforming from sad to something hungrier, heavier. Jeanie could feel the weight of it in her belly.
‘So, the case,’ she blurted, breaking the moment.
‘Right.’ Logan ran a hand down his beard, leaning against the kitchen counter. ‘What’s going on?’
Jeanie sighed. Here goes. Time to spill more nonsense into this man’s lap. But he asked for it . . .