Page 67 of The Lost and the Found

I had never seen someone happy before. Even with my mom, because she always missed someone. I had assumed it was my dad, though she never said. Sometimes, when she was feeling a little talkative, she’d tell me about the man she fell in love with as a teenager.Looking back now as an adult, I was more convinced she wasn’t talking about my dad. They may have been married at some point, but he wasn’t her first love or her first choice.

Though I didn’t see her being in love with anyone other than my dad, probably because, naïvely, I had it in my mind that we must have been a happy family before everything went wrong. I had a vague recollection of him, someone I swore was the strongest man in the world, though I knew now that I was remembering through the eyes of a child.

But I did remember a time when we were happy. I didn’t know what went wrong with my parents, only that one day, he wasn’t in the picture anymore.

I shook my head out of my somber thoughts, ignoring the curious stares John casted my way.

The bar started to empty out about an hour before closing. Most of the servers who no longer had tables were off to do their closing duties, while I was wiping down the bar top and John was taking out the trash.

The bell above the door rang and I looked up, a small smile on my face. Logan walked in, or more like swaggered in, looking sexy in a dark gray thermal shirt, blue jeans, and a black beanie.

He found my eyes and smiled.

I swooned.

He wasn’t wearing a jacket, even though it must be below freezing outside, and he made his way to me.

“What are you having?” I asked casually.

His grin widened, his eyes sparkling with mischief as he leaned toward me and said in a low voice, “I’m looking right at her. Too bad I can’t do what I really want here in this public space. I think I’ll just settle on a water, please.”

I bit my lips, my cheeks feeling hotter by the second. How could he turn me into mush so quickly?

“I’m sure whatever you’re planning is frowned upon in front of company.”

“But not in private?”he asked, his smile widening.I shook my head and he laughed softly.

“How was your day?” I asked, tapping my fingers mindlessly on the countertop.

“Hmmm, let’s see, I woke up with a beautiful woman in my bed this morning. I shared a wonderful breakfast with said woman, and I got to spend an hour or so with her after that. I’d say my day’s been pretty good.”

I rolled my eyes. “I know all that. I meant how was it after you dropped me off.”

“Not as fun,” he answered seriously.

I shot him a cheeky grin and placed a glass of tap water in front of him. “Sorry. We don’t have a bottle.”

“Do you think I’m that much of a snob that I can’t drink water from the tap?” he asked, taking a sip.

I shook my head. “I still have about an hour left.”

“That’s okay. I can just watch you work.”

Oh, boy. As if that would be better. I felt awkward and clumsy with his eyes on me on a regular day. How would I go about it while carrying a tray full of dirty glasses?

“Suit yourself,” I said with a careless shrug, as if his gaze didn’t affect me in the slightest. We both knew I was lying.

John walked in then, bringing with him a rush of cold air from the back. He saw Logan first and shot a friendly smile. “Just water tonight?” I was sure seeing someone coming into a bar and ordering water was odd.

Logan nodded, his eyes guarded.

I shot him a bemused look before turning to John. “This is Logan, John. He’s waiting for me.”

“Ah. What’s up man?”

He offered his hand and Logan shook it confidently, his guarded eyes crumpling a little with John’s friendly reception.

“Good, thanks.”

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