Page 66 of Never Sleep with the Enemy

Ipoint out my house down the street, thinking that Goldie will slow down, but her foot doesn’t touch the brake until we’re almost right in front of my mailbox.

We lurch to a stop and Logan happily tosses his door open, looking to escape her getaway-driver style of driving, too.

He pulls the seat forward and offers me his hand. I stare at it for a moment; the butterflies taking over my stomach as the question of Logan Shock’s gentleman status becomes even clearer.

I take his hand. “Thank you,” I say, stepping out.

Before he can return to the car, Goldie shoves the seat forward and climbs over it to steal his seat.

“We’re just gonna circle the block,” Tesla says, putting the car in drive. “Give you two a chance to have a proper goodbye.”

Logan hops back as Goldie slams the door on him. “Tessie...” he warns.

“Can’t hear you! Engine all rumbly.Byeeee!”

They speed off down the street, barely pausing at the first stop sign before taking a hard right around the block.

I chuckle. “Are they always so...?”

“Unsubtle?” Logan suggests. “Intrusive?Annoying?”

“I was gonna saypeppy,but since you said them first.”

Logan laughs. “Honestly, stick any word you want at the end of that sentence. It probably applies.”

We walk to the porch. I fish my house key out of my handbag and unlock the door, feeling Logan’s eyes on me the whole time. One glance confirms it, his piercing gaze hovering on my cheek. My nose. My lips.

“I had a great time,” I say. “Thanks for the pizza. Next time, it’s on me?”

“Yeah,” Logan says. “Next time.”

I glance at the street, thinking Goldie and Tesla should come back around any second now, but I don’t hear the car yet.

“Do you want to come in?” I ask.

Logan hesitates.

“I meant until the girls get back,” I say quickly. “Not for... anything else. Obviously. I know you said before that you didn’t want to.”

He smiles. “I didn’t saythat.”

“No. You said I was lovesick and it would be wrong for you to take advantage.”

“Oh, IknowI didn’t say that,” he says, amused. “That doesn’t sound like me at all. In fact, if I recall, I said I’d be your willing pup.”

“I recall that, too,” I say, blushing through a smile. “And I’m still not entirely sure what that means exactly, so I’m just gonna blow past it and say... Goodnight, Logan.”

“How are you?” he asks, stopping me from walking in with a graze of the arm.

“Me?”

“With that lovesick thing,” he explains, his hand brushing his heart. “How are you holding up?”

“Oh. Uh… I’m okay.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Actually, yeah. I am.” I smile, genuinely. “I think I’ve already plowed right on through thewoe-is-mestage of grief, and thanks to Tesla and Goldie, I reached the retail therapy stage in record time.”

---