Page 70 of Playing with Fire

“Already ahead of you. Someone comes out tomorrow to install it.”

He smiled. “That’s good. Now you need to talk to Izzy and actually discuss what you should do next. Communicate and make a plan together as a team.”

I sighed and let my head fall forward, cradling it in my hands. Now that I thought about it, sending them away should have been more of a conversation, not me making a unilateral decision for everyone. I expected her to push back, and was so relieved when she agreed so easily, I just went with it.

“And for the record, I think my sister deserves someone who will protect her, take care of her, and make her happy. From what she’s said over the last two weeks, that’s you. And I have no problem with it.” He smirked. “As long as you don’t break her heart, because then I’ll have to kick your ass.”

“Wait…” I tilted my head. “You’ve known we were together the whole time?”

It was clear the night of the fire we were together, and I figured he suspected something in the weeks before, but I had no clue Izzy had confirmed it.

“My sister is an oversharer and doesn’t keep a secret well, so, yes. I got an earful the night we drove together to the hospital, and at least three conversations about how things were going since then.”

An exasperated huff left my mouth as I stared at him. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“It was more fun watching you sweat.” He shrugged. “She loves you and made it clear I needed to get on board. So this is me getting on board.”

“She told you that?” My chest warmed at the idea she loved me. Because, fuck, I loved her so much it hurt.

His lips twitched. “She didn’t need to. I’ve never seen her this happy with any other guy she’s dated.”

I glanced at my watch. I still had almost seven hours left on shift. Seven hours before I could see her. Talk to her.

“Take one of the utility vehicles,” Jay suggested, easily reading my thoughts. “Adam’s here, he can drive the rig if we get a call.”

I popped to my feet. “You sure?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I’ll go let Owen know. He’ll understand.”

“Thanks, man.” I slapped his shoulder as I moved past him and headed toward the small truck.

I needed to see my girl and tell her how crazy I was about her. And pray she wasn’t too mad at me.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

IZZY

I sighedas I finished wiping down the counters in my kitchen. The twins were at school and I didn’t work at the hospital today, so I had way too much time on my hands. I'd already baked three dozen cookies hoping it would make me feel better, but all it did was remind me of the day I handed a shirtless, sexy-smirking Logan cookies.

I jumped from being irritated with him to being frustrated with myself, and then back to missing him. He wanted to protect me, and I shouldn’t be irritated about that. I really did understand why he was keeping us away. But something my brother said last night stuck with me.

“He’s protecting his kids and the woman he loves. I’d go to the ends of the earth to protect Nora and Sarah.”

It made me smile to think Logan actually loved me, but he hadn’t said that yet. He didn’t even ask what I thought or what I wanted. That was what actually bothered me. That none of this had been a conversation. I got it in the heat of the moment, and the direct aftermath, but I thought by now we would’ve talked about what we were going to do moving forward.

A knock came from my front door, and I put the sponge down before heading to answer it. Not sure who would be knocking on my door on a Tuesday in the middle of the day, I almost stumbled back when I opened it to find Logan standing there, hands braced on either side of the doorframe, head slightly bowed.

“Logan?” Did something happen? Maybe they finally caught the guy…or maybe he decided this thing between us wasn’t going to work. My stomach twisted painfully at that thought.

He looked up, and in his gaze was so much turmoil. “Can I come in?”

I swallowed, stepping back and waving him in. “Of course.” After shutting the door, I crossed my arms over my chest and faced him.

“I messed up.” He grabbed the back of his neck. “I wanted to protect you and the girls, but I didn’t handle it right. I should have started by telling you I love you, and the thought of anything happening to you or my kids scared the hell out of me.”

“I know.” My body relaxed, and for the first time in five days, I smiled, hope blooming in my chest. I stepped forward and reached for his hand. “I’m not mad, and I love you too. I understand why you needed to do what you did.”

He shook his head and brought my hand up in front of his chest, covering it with both of his. “Sweetheart, if we’re going to make this work, we need to be honest with each other. Talk about things. Make decisions together. You may not be angry, but I don’t believe that the way I handled things didn’t hurt you.”

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