Page 9 of Oohs, Ahhhs, and Orbs

He wiped his mouth with his napkin and took a drink from his glass. “After I graduated from college, I went straight into the police academy. I had to work as a patrol officer for a while before I earned enough experience to become a detective. I also had to wait for a spot to open it. It’s a small town. Unfortunately, you usually have to wait for someone to retire.”

“Do you enjoy it?” I could admit I was fascinated. And it wasn’t only just listening to his deep voice that made my belly feel warm. I was finding Ienjoyedlearning about him.

Logan gave me a long stare with an expression that was difficult to read. “It’s always been my dream. I never wanted to do or explore anything else,” he paused and trailed his eyes over my face, “until now.”

I swallowed hard at his intense stare and darted my eyes back down to my plate. Needing to break the tension that suddenly formed between us, I picked up my glass of water and took a sip. “This sure is delicious.” Then, I rolled my eyes at myself.

I didn’t bother looking up, but I could hear the humor in his tone when he replied, “I’m sure it is.” I had the distinct impression he wasn’t speaking of the waterorthe pasta dish. I wasn’t going to look up to see if I was right, though.

Once a good three-quarters of my plate was consumed, I set down my fork. I was stuffed to near explosion, but it just tasted too good to stop. I took a look around the restaurant. I could only see a few other tables with the way the layout was set up, but I loved people watching. When I glanced toward the entrance, two women caught my eye. One had a short blonde bob, while the other had pretty chestnut colored hair. It wasn’t their appearance that kept me riveted, though. It was the way the brunette looked stricken, with her gaze fixed on Logan, and the other woman rubbing her shoulder as if to offer comfort.

As I took them in, I noticed the brunette placed a hand over her abdomen as if she were going to be sick. It took mea moment to realize that the blonde was glaring daggers at me. The sight took me by surprise, and a feeling of dread washed over me. Without looking at Detective Storm, I pushed back my chair, placed the cloth napkin on the table, and mumbled something along the lines of needing to use the restroom. Without waiting for a response, I turned on my heel and walked quickly to the ladies’ room.

After pushing open the door, I went straight to the sink and turned on the cold water as my mind whirled. Logan had asked me if I was seeing anyone, but was he? Who was the brunette to him?

As I contemplated the whole situation, the door squeaked as it was pushed open behind me. I ignored the woman who entered, not looking up as I washed my hands, letting the cold water run over my wrists, letting it help me cool down.

“You have some nerve.”

The harsh tone said from directly behind me had me jerking my head up to see the blonde from the entrance giving me a deadly glare through her reflection in the mirror. I calmly turned the water off and shook the excess water off my hands before stepping over to the towel dispenser.

“What? No excuses from the homewrecker?”

I took a deep breath, counted to three, and then let it out slowly before lifting my chin higher. I turned around to face the woman who had a good five inches of height over my short self. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please excuse me.”

I tried to step around the woman, but she smoothly sidestepped, blocking my only way out of the situation. “Oh, no, sweetheart,” she sneered derisively. “You aren’t getting away with it that easily. How long have you been seeing Logan Storm?”

I tilted my head as I put on an air of calm serenity, all while my heart thudded out a rapid tempo inside my chest. “I just metthe detective today. He asked me for help with a case he was working on. Don’t worry, he means nothing to me, and I won’t be seeing him after this evening.”

Her scoff was impressive as she placed her hands on her generous hips. “You expect me to believe that?”

I simply shook my head. “I couldn’t care less what you believe. Please step aside so I can leave. I apologize for any upset seeing me with the detective caused your friend. She truly has nothing to be concerned about.”

After a prolonged stare down, the woman finally huffed. “Logan and Kristy have been together for years. I suggest staying away from married men in the future.”

I simply inclined my head as something inside my chest fractured. After another few seconds, the blonde finally stepped aside. I strode from the bathroom with my head held high, and as soon as I made it to the table, I took my purse from where it had been hanging on the back of my chair. I pretended to ignore the way Logan’s smile fell into a frown as he watched. I slipped the strap over my shoulder, and his straight, dark eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“I’m sorry. Something has come up, and I need to leave. Thank you for the lovely dinner, Detective Storm. Good luck with your case.”

Without waiting around to see his reaction to my abrupt departure from our non-date, I turned and made my way to the front door. My mother would have been proud of the way I held my shoulders back and my spine straight. I didn’t bother looking left or right, not wanting to see if either of the two women were watching the fallout from their little ambush in the restroom.

As soon as I made it home, I went straight to the freezer. I took my ice cream, spoon, and phone into the small bedroom and set them on the nightstand before stripping out of my clothes. I was so thankful I hadn’t bothered to change out of mywork clothes. If I’d dressed up for the jerk, I might have actually cried.

After crawling into bed, I pulled the lid off the rocky road ice cream and dug in, taking the first bite to calm my nerves. Sighing, I finally picked up my phone and brought up Shayla’s number before hitting the dial button. It was time to spill my woes to the sister of my heart.

Chapter

Six

LOGAN

Isat in stunned silence as the woman of my dreams walked away from me. Even as she left the restaurant, I had to admire her. She was fucking beautiful with the class and poise of a queen. I turned to look toward the restroom, wondering what the fuck had just happened. We were having a great time. Even though I could see she had been nervous when we’d first sat down, she was easy to talk to. I couldn’t help but want to know more about her, to find out what made her happy or sad, to find out her favorite things so I could shower her with them daily. We had a connection, one I felt growing by the minute as we enjoyed our time together. But something had changed when she walked out of the restroom.

It took less than a second to figure out why when I saw Marlene strolling out of the back. If the blonde disaster was here, then my ex-wife wasn’t far. It didn’t take being a detective to figure out that Marlene had everything to do with Bridgette’s sudden desire to get as far away from me as possible.

I stood up while grabbing my wallet from my back pocket. I didn’t take my eyes off my ex’s best friend as I tossed enoughmoney on the table to cover our meal, plus a generous tip. I stuffed the wallet back into my pocket and stalked over to the woman who’d been a thorn in my side since the moment I began dating Kristy.

The woman had never liked me and was always in Kristy’s ear about how I wasn’t good enough for her. When I became a detective and more of my time was spent at work, hunting down killers, trying to help ease the minds of the family members who’d lost loved ones, Marlene had been suggesting to Kristy that I was out fucking everything with a skirt. I’d never so much as considered cheating on my wife; I just wasn’t made that way. My wife should have known that I was committed to her. Instead, she’d allowed that snake to poison our marriage, and she herself decided it was okay to fall onto another dick. Her excuse had been that I was never there for her. That she had needs I didn’t fulfill.

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