Page 62 of Under the Mistletoe
Logan?
His hair, which had been a little long, was trimmed up in a way that highlighted his cheekbones and drew attention to his blue eyes. He wore a leather jacket with a red scarf over a gray sweater and designer jeans that probably cost more than anything in her closet. Where had he been? He’d said meetings, but it looked more like he was attending Fashion Week in London.
With the fatigue in his eyes and the heavy scruff, she’d guess he’d driven straight here, but honestly, the facial hair could be a part of the new look, because, dang, he was working it.
When his eyes found hers, some of the tension seemed to fade from him. That was until he took in Greyson sitting across from her.
She stood and walked a few steps closer. She hated the uncertainty that filled his eyes. “Hi.”
“Hi.” His voice was rough, like he’d been up all night. “Do you have a second to talk? Or we can wait until?—”
“You know what?” Hannah was suddenly next to her, taking the meringue bag out of Devin’s hand. “We got this covered. Why don’t you two take a drive?”
Letting them help was one thing, but abandoning them to do it all on her own was too much. “I can’t leave. My boss would?—”
“It doesn’t start for another hour and forty minutes.” Hannah looked at Logan. “Can you have her back by then?”
He nodded.
“Perfect.” Jess appeared with Devin’s coat. “We know what we’re doing and can handle it.”
Devin’s pulled it on. “But there’s way too much?—”
“We’ll be fine.” Piper passed over her mittens and purse. They were right. They could, and if her superpower was being a fire starter, maybe she needed to trust the fire tenders in her life more.
Finally, with a nod, she walked out the door with Logan.
He led her to his Bronco but stopped with his hand on the passenger’s side door. “If you’d rather stay, we can talk another time.”
Well, she had said she’d give anything to talk to him. Right now, that meant trusting others to handle getting the event rolling. She could only hope this conversation went the way she wanted.
* * *
Logan had literally spent the entire flight and drive home going over what he wanted to say, and yet words seemed to escape him again. With the missed flight, the soonest they could get him to Grand Rapids had been eight this morning.
He’d been tempted to rent a car and drive the last stretch, but the rental car desk informed him that he wouldn’t be able to drop off the car in Grand Rapids until the desk opened there at eight, anyway. Just ten minutes before his flight landed. So, he’d had an entire twelve hours to listen to Devin’s fifteen messages over and over and call himself all kinds of stupid. If he hadn’t completely messed this up already, it would be a miracle.
The image of Greyson sitting across from her, smiling at her, when he’d arrived at the community center burned through him. But what did he expect? Devin was amazing, and he couldn’t believe she had remained single this long.
He turned off South Scenic Drive onto the two-track dirt road that was barely wider than his Bronco. The trees brushed against the windows, and Devin shot him a look as she gripped the armrest a little tighter.
This was definitely not a road for a two-wheel drive car, but it also wasn’t the worst he’d driven on. That was part of the reason he owned a Bronco. When they broke free of the trees, Lake Michigan stretched out in front of them in an endless expanse of soft blue. If he didn’t know that the temperature had to be close to freezing, it might look tempting as it sparkled in the sunlight. He angled the Bronco toward the rocky overlook and away from the snow-covered dunes. He might have four-wheel drive, but he wasn’t stupid.
He took it out of gear and pulled the e-brake but kept the engine idling for warmth. He’d run out of time to get the perfect words out, so now he just had to say something. “I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you before I left. And I’m sorry?—”
“Why didn’t you?” Devin kept her eyes straight ahead.
“First, I hadn’t planned on leaving. That was all thrown at me the moment I walked in the door. But then Liam…” He took a deep breath and let it out. “I guess that sums it up. Then Liam. I love my brother. He’s just…”
“Something between a shooting star and a hurricane.”
“Yup.” Logan released a small laugh. “And with him not around, you were looking at me for the first time. It was everything I wanted, then he was back and?—”
“You thought I would just fall at his feet?” There was hostility to her words. He had definitely sold her short.
“He told me you had a date, and it seemed to confirm?—”
“Confirm what?”
