“Your sister whom you never heard of until a few days ago? Your own personal soap opera? Yeah, I think I remember.”
“I’m going to meet her. Finally. Tomorrow.”
“That’s great!”
His mouth twisted sideways. Those toned pecs stretched his polo taut as he dragged in a long breath and then let it out with a whoosh. “Hopefully. The only thing I know for sure is that it’ll be weird. For both of us. So Knox suggested—”
Brooke cut him off, waving a rubber scraper. “Knox, the guy who beat you up?”
Logan just shrugged off the event that had had him twisted up in knots just two days ago. “We each got in one fair punch. We’re even, so everything’s cool now.”
“Just like that?” Male friendships were evidently far less complex than the female variety.
He did one of those complicated fist-banging, finger-snapping combos that men excelled at. “Fairness and an apology. That’s all it takes.”
“Not true.” Katrina put her elbows on the high breakfast bar and propped her chin on her hands. “If fairness settled all fights so easily, I could sleep with…oh, say the president’s entire Secret Service detail, and that’d square things off with my ex.”
With a smirk, Logan said, “My roommate Griff’s in charge of a Coast Guard battalion. Would that do it for you?”
“Ooh, a man with connections. I like you.”
Better the entire Coast Guard fall prey to Katrina’s cougarish stalking than Logan. Not that Brooke thought Katrina would ever poach her man. And Logan wasn’t officially her man. But he felt that way. Still, he’d be gone in a matter of weeks, no matter what. Yet…Brooke’s head hurt from the rapid-fire pinballing of her brain.
She’d keep everyone busy and off anything remotely related to sex. Brooke started getting out condiments, plates, silverware—basically anything she could shove into their hands. “What did Knox suggest?”
“He thought we should turn it into a double date. He’d be a known quantity for Madison and for me to smooth things over. If I bring along a woman, it’s an actual double date. There’s a theme, a purpose to the afternoon.”
“Meeting your long-lost baby sister after twenty-four years isn’t purpose enough?”
“Purpose, sure.” Logan stood, frozen, plates in hand, wearing a look of befuddlement that was so completely adorable Brooke wanted to push Katrina out the door and gather him into a hug. “But after we do the hi, hello thing for five minutes, what if we run out of things to talk about?”
Seeing the big, rugged man turn vulnerable weakened her knees to jelly. It kicked up a flutter in her heart. Despite all that, Brooke couldn’t help it when a giggle escaped at the ridiculousness of him thinking that sharing their life stories wouldn’t take more than five minutes. “Seriously?”
“It sounds stupid, doesn’t it?” He paced a circle around the kitchen, still holding the plates. There was no room for the three of them to all be in there in the first place. His laps around required her and Katrina to turn sideways so as not to elbow him. None of that stopped Logan from his measured tread. “I don’t know. I’m nervous. I suck at being nervous. I’m never nervous.”
“I’d say you’re doing a bang-up job of it right now,” Katrina said, tongue in cheek.
“How can I help?” Brooke offered. “Do you want to talk it through? Maybe come up with some bullet points of things to say, just in case?”
“You can come with me.”
“What?”
“I want you to be my half of the double date.”
Good thing she was elbows deep in the fridge. It gave her time to work through the shock at his request. Brooke banged around some jars to give herself a moment. This was huge. Yes, she’d felt an immediate reconnection of their long dormant friendship back on the island. Yes, she’d upscaled that teenage friendship with respect and admiration as she learned more about the man he’d become. And yes, she’d dialed in very adult and intense feelings after their sexalicious night together.
But Brooke hadn’t known, not for sure, if Logan felt all the same things about her. She hadn’t even let herself wonder that. Their lives were two perpendicular lines that intersected at a single point and then kept moving in opposite directions. Wondering about the impossible was futile. Nothing more than an exercise in frustration.
Inviting her to be a witness to such a momentous, intimate interaction…well, that pointed to his being on exactly the same wavelength. It would tie them together. It showed a level of trust based on more than a decade-old friendship. It floored her. Of course she wanted to say yes. Of course she wanted to help him any way possible. Brooke just needed to be sure that Logan truly wanted it, too.
She emptied her full hands onto the counter and kept her gaze fixed on the supplies. “Logan, we’ve never been on an actual date.” Because she so wasn’t counting the dinner she’d run out on in tears as their first one. “I’m not sure I’m the right choice to be your plus-one for this life-changing moment.”
All of a sudden, Logan was right there. Filling her space. Filling her mind and her heart and her vision. Solid. Big. Earnest. His hands bracketed her face. His caramel eyes oozed warmth and sincerity as he tipped his forehead down to touch hers. “I don’t want a plus-one, Brooke. I want you. Only you.”
From behind her, Katrina sucked in a gasp at the utter romanticism of the statement. Good thing she’d done it, because Brooke had forgotten how to breathe.
“I know you’ll probably knee me in the balls if I tell you again how comfortable you make me feel. But I swear it’s a good thing. Being with you…um, eases me. You smooth out all the jagged edges of what I feel in a way I’ve never experienced before. I need you. I need your help. I need you there with me.”
It was the most impassioned plea she’d ever received from a man. Impossible future or not, Brooke knew without a doubt she’d always remember this as the moment she started to fall in love with Logan Marsh. Which made going with him, spending more time with him at all, an absolutely stupid decision. Dangerous. Bordering on self-destructive.
“Go with him,” Katrina urged. She’d played the role of devil on Brooke’s shoulder since the day they met. But all she knew was that super-hot-fling guy wanted to spend time with Brooke. She didn’t know that Brooke’s heart was already on the line. “You need a distraction from all this, anyway.”
Logan pulled away. “Shit. I’m sorry. I never asked how soon you’re moving. If you need to pack, forget it.” He took a look around the room, with its stack of cardboard boxes in the corner.
“Um, no. That’s not an issue.” Not anymore.
“When are you leaving?”
So much for all that two-way connection she’d felt a minute ago. Brooke had no doubt that their lack of a shot at a future together was part of what made Logan feel so comfortable about opening up to her. He’d come right out and admitted it on the island. Would her change in plans affect the way he looked at her? Turn her into a potential pain in the ass, instead of an asset?
Well, she wouldn’t lie. Or evade. If he changed his mind, it might be for the better, anyway. Brooke glanced at Katrina for strength. All she actually got was the wide-eyed interest of a person watching a big fat drama unfold. Not that she blamed her.
Brooke licked her dry lips. “I’m not moving. All of this is now unpacking instead of packing. My job fell through. Yesterday. When they tried to finalize my contract, the school board was in the middle of tweaking the budget. They pushed back and cut the funding for the program.”
“Fucking boards. Messing with people’s lives. They’re nothing but trouble.”
“I’ll be okay.” It was an automatic response, for two reasons. Firstly, because Logan didn’t need anything else dumped on him at this moment. And secondly, because Brooke was freaking the heck out about it every other hour of the day. It was nice to take time off from that. The viciousness of his response surprised her into asking, “Is there something going on with you and a board?”
“I don’t want to get into it. Gotta put out one fire at a time.” He took her hands. “And you haven’t answered my question. Will you come out and meet Madison with me tomorrow night? Please, Brooke?”
He hadn’t batted an eye at the news of her sticking around. Oh, boy. The warm clasp of his hands. The beseeching tone. The thought of the chance to soak up a few more wonderful memories with him. It all tipped the scales overwhelmingly.
“You know I can’t say no to you, Logan.”
Wicked humor lightened his eyes to the color of golden French toast. “I’ll keep that in mind, Escarlata.” And then he captured her lips in a swift but tender kiss. “Thank you.”
Chapter 12
The humidity in Georgetown the last week of July was no joke. Especially when standing on a corner in the afternoon sun, staring hard at every couple who walked down the street. Logan pulled at the starched collar of the tan shirt Knox had foisted on him. Hell, the guy threatened to burn all of Logan’s clothes if he didn’t wear this undoubtedly designer shirt to impress Madison. An unspoken downside of being related to your best friend’s fiancée—it complicated even the smallest shit between them.
“I’m sweating.”
Brooke squeezed his hand. “I told you, it’s okay to be nervous.”
“I’m sweating because it is ninety degrees and ninety percent humidity.”
“Oh. Right.” She let go. “Well, Madison will probably be sweaty, too. And that’ll be proof of your brother-sister bond.”
God help him if that was true. “You’re sweating,” Logan pointed out. “If that’s all it takes to make a familial bond, you and I crossed some very illegal lines yesterday afternoon.” Because, yeah, he’d stuck around after brunch and Katrina’s departure. Stuck around to “help put things back on the top shelf.” Which translated to unpacking exactly two vases before they were all over each other.
No sex. Logan had stopped thinking with his dick long enough to realize that sex would only complicate a situation that already had more levels than the pyramids in Machu Picchu. So they’d had a make-out session just like in high school. Well, just like he’d wanted to have with her back in high school. Not that he would’ve had the presence of mind then to put the brakes on.
Shit. He had to stop thinking about sex with Brooke. He couldn’t meet Madison with half a chubby. Logan paced the cobblestones along the canal, trying to put a little distance between him and the gorgeous redhead. She wore a simple yellow sundress. One that probably kept her cool while revealing enough flesh to keep him hot as a freaking volcano.
He turned back to reglue his gaze to the people crossing the street. Any second now, one of them would be his sister. Then it’d be official. She’d be a known part of his life forever. “What if she’s a Phillies fan?”
“Logan, your sister is from Alaska. If Madison has any particular love for a sports team, it’d probably be one from the West Coast.”
“See, that’s why I brought you along. You’re reasonable.”
“Reasonable and comfortable. Golly, Logan, if you keep raining praise down on my head like that, I’ll expect you to go down on one knee and propose,” she joked.
Except he knew Brooke wasn’t entirely joking. “I keep fucking up with you, don’t I? I’m sorry. Flowery phrases aren’t really my thing.”
“It’s fine.”
It wasn’t. She deserved better. Brooke deserved a fucking parade for sticking by him through this shit. “I appreciate you. That’s what I’m trying to get across.”
“You get it across in other ways,” she said, her cheeks pinking up to the same shade as her hair.
Shit. There he went raising to half-mast again. The woman jacked him from zero to sixty with just a smile. He had to focus. “Okay. Knox and I can teach her to root for the Nats. But he says she’s a librarian. What if she’s boring?”
Brooke laughed out loud. “Knox has slept with almost every woman in Delmarva. Present company excluded, naturally. And they’ve all tried to pin down the multimillionaire bachelor. If Madison got him to commit, she must be pretty darned interesting.”
Okay. So in theory, he now had an interesting sister who’d back the right MLB team. That helped. “Right. What if she wants to hug?”
“Then hug her, Logan. It won’t kill you. You’re quite good at it.”
They had to stop talking. Every other phrase out of Brooke’s mouth turned him on. Or turned his thoughts to someplace dark and dirty and naked.
Right then he spotted Knox’s familiar face through the throng of pedestrians. “Here we go.”
“Just give her a chance. If today doesn’t work, there will be lots more opportunities to get it right.”
Hell, no. He couldn’t go through this stomach-churning anxiety again. Today needed to work. Not the least because if it didn’t, he had a feeling Knox would try to kick his ass again.
Knox had his fingers laced with those of a tall blonde. Sort of a pretty Amazon vibe about her that didn’t remind Logan of anyone in his family. But then she pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head. And his own golden brown eyes looked back at him. Wasn’t that just a punch to the gut?
“Madison Abbott, this is Brooke Gallagher.”
“Hi.” Brooke lobbed out a wide, easy smile.
Madison bobbed her head. Uh-oh. Not a single word. Bizarre, since she’d talked a mile a minute on the sat-phone call to Kazakhstan.
Knox threw him a warning look. Too bad Logan didn’t know what it warned about. “And this ugly, globe-trotting lug is your brother, Logan Marsh.”
Sure enough, she threw herself into his arms. Logan staggered back half a step. But he also hugged her. Because her absence in his life wasn’t Madison’s fault at all. Because, damn it, even though he didn’t know her, they were owed twenty-four years of memories and hair pulling and, yeah, hugs. So he forced himself to ignore the awkwardness of hugging a total stranger and just go with it.
After way longer than Logan was actually comfortable with, she pulled away. And then the four of them stood there. Not talking. Waiting for someone to kick the conversational ball. Because Logan sure didn’t know where to start. Do you like your new job? Do you miss your whole life in Alaska that you gave up to come find me?
Damn it, this was exactly why Knox and Brooke came along. Supposedly. Why weren’t they stepping up? Knox waved the tickets he’d printed at home and they walked wordlessly down to the moored blue-and-white-striped canal boat. At least the colonial-costumed ticket-taker talked to them. That was followed by a five-minute flurry of petting the mule who pulled the boat, and boarding. Then it was just the four of them seated on cushioned benches. Facing one another. Silent.
The mule’s hooves clopped against the cobblestones. The boat began to glide through the brackish water. That small lurch kick-started Madison, too. She leaned forward. “Okay. Here’s the thing. I can’t keep it in any longer. I’m super happy to meet you,” Madison gushed.
Whoa. That was some opening of the floodgates. Not just happy, but super happy. Was he supposed to be super happy, too? Logan felt a familial obligation to protect her. To stand up for her. A duty to fold her into his life no matter what. Mostly, though? He felt confused about the whole mess. So Logan nodded. “Me, too. You.”
“Thank you so much for coming back to D.C. once you found out about me. I know your mission in Kazakhstan wasn’t over.”
He shrugged off her thanks. Because what kind of an asswipe wouldn’t drop everything to meet an unknown sister? Yeah, they were strangers. But they were also family now. “We were wrapping up.”
“They say that people who grow up in Manhattan never make it to the top of the Empire State Building.”
Logan looked at Brooke. All she did was purse her glossy red lips. Then he looked at Knox, hoping the guy would translate whatever his fiancée meant. Nada. “You lost me.”
“The theory is that locals aren’t driven to take in the tourist sites. I was coming around to asking if you’d e
ver been on a canal boat before. Or if you’d blown it off as a cheesetastic tourist thing.”
He was sweating like a coal shoveler on the Lusitania. They weren’t even going fast enough to create a breeze. Women pushing strollers were freaking passing them up on the sidewalk. Why would anyone who knew better do this? “Born and bred here. Which, yeah, means avoiding tourist stuff at all cost.” When Brooke squeezed his hand, Logan realized he should keep going. “Crowded. Annoying. Lines.”
“Really?” Madison waved both hands as if erasing his complaints. The motion flashed the big-ass yellow sparkler on her ring finger. “I want to see it all. Well, I want to see the whole world. The pyramids at Giza. The lavender fields in Provence. But especially everything here in my new hometown. If you haven’t seen the big stuff, like the FDR Memorial or the Smithsonian, maybe you could come with me when I go exploring.”
“I got dragged there on school field trips.”
Her eyes dropped to the whitewashed boards underfoot.
God. Why was he doling out words with the same scarcity they handed out toilet paper on a rescue site?
Logan truly did want to get to know Madison. It’d be easier if he could just watch her interact with Knox. Then he wouldn’t have to risk saying the wrong thing and pissing her—huh. He’d clammed up because he was so scared of putting his foot in his mouth again. What an idiot. This was why he needed an instruction manual. How to Assimilate a Brand-New Family Member. With bullet points on the top three ways not to fuck it all up.
It didn’t take a social worker to figure out that saying something was better than saying nothing, which was his current M.O. Logan mentally scanned a map of D.C., trying to come up with something cool to go to with her. Something that wouldn’t be crowded, annoying, and full of lines.
“Hey, do you like The Beatles?”
Her gaze popped right back up to him. “I never went gaga for Paul or John like some people. I just don’t think that skinny, long-haired look is sexy on a guy.”
Giving It All Page 14