“I need anything,” Claire finished for her. “I know. Thanks, Mom.”
Anne and John left the room, Logan following in their wake. Claire’s gaze slid to her remaining audience. Sophie was rubbing her huge mound of a belly, looking dead on her feet. Trevor had a supportive arm wrapped around her back.
“Why don’t you guys head home?” she suggested. “Soph, you look like you could use a nap.”
From the look on her face, Sophie wanted to take Claire up on that offer. “Are you sure you’re settled in?”
“Absolutely.” Claire leaned up to meet Sophie as she leaned down for a hug. “Thanks for everything you’ve done for me but you need your rest too.”
“Are you sure?” Sophie gave her a searching look.
“Yes, for the second time.” Claire made a face at her. “Now go.” She turned to her brother-in-law. “Trevor, take her home. I command you.”
He grinned, his golden eyes twinkling. “If you command it, then I have no choice.”
“Soph, you’ve trained him well,” Claire said with a laugh.
“Trained him,” echoed Marcus and Derek simultaneously. The expressions on their faces suggested that Claire had offended their manly pride.
Trevor merely laughed and slid his arm around his glowing wife. “I’m man enough to admit it.”
“Come along, honey,” Sophie ordered with a smile, pulling him to the door. “Claire, you call me if you need anything. Marcus, I’ll see you next week for the new showing at the gallery, and Derek, it was nice meeting you.”
“It was nice meeting you too,” Derek offered, his voice genuine. Claire had been impressed with her family’s well-disguised surprise at finding a famous actor hiding away in Logan’s house. Derek, meanwhile, had been both warm and concerned for Claire’s welfare.
Trevor shook hands with Derek and turned back to Marcus. “Try not to run the gallery into the ground without me there this week.”
Marcus sent his friend a wry grin. “I’ll do my damnedest not to.”
After Sophie and Trevor left, Derek hastily excused himself, leaving Claire and Marcus alone.
He raked a hand through his hair and looked down at her, the grin fading from his lips. “I should really be going too.”
She searched his gaze. “After all this happened yesterday, Logan wanted me to move in with him, and since he’s the baby’s father, I thought it best. I don’t want to be a burden to Sophie and Trevor when they should be enjoying each other, and my only other option was living with my parents. Which, having met my parents, you can agree isn’t really an option at all.” She waited for him to laugh, but he didn’t. “I love them dearly but they drive me nuts.”
“You have to do what you think is best.” He walked over to her bed, reached down and took her hand in his. “I just want you to be happy.”
A tear slid down her cheek. She’d never seen Marcus so solemn. Even she had to admit there was more to her decision to stay with Logan than convenience and necessity. She wanted him back and it scared the hell out of her. She had a moment of terrible panic, questioning her decision. She wanted to be happy too, but could she find happiness with Logan? She only knew she had to try.
“You’ve been such a wonderful friend to me over the last few weeks, Marcus. I can’t tell you how much it means to me. How much you mean to me.”
“I feel the same way,” he said, his voice rough with emotion. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “If you need anything, let me know.”
On impulse, she hugged him to her and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you for everything.”
The sound of a throat being cleared killed the moment. Claire turned to find Logan hovering in the doorway, his eyes dark, jaw clenched. He oozed fury. Claire could feel it wrap around her like a physical entity.
“Am I interrupting?” His tone was mocking.
“Not at all.” Marcus straightened and gave Logan a measuring look. “I was just on my way out.” He gave Claire’s hand a final squeeze. “Take care of yourself and the baby, Claire,” he said softly. And then, he was gone.
Logan strode across the room, stopping only when he reached her bedside. “I think now would be a good time for you to explain some things to me.”
Though he couched it as a suggestion, she knew he really wasn’t giving her an option. He was still seething. She knew from experience that she would have to be every bit as firm as him if she wanted to win this battle. “Sit down, Logan,” she commanded. “I don’t need you towering over me like an angry bear.”
His lips tightened, but he did as she asked, sinking down onto the bed next to her. His hip barely brushed against hers, just enough to send sparks running through her body. She wished she wasn’t so pregnant, lying on his guest bed like a beached whale. But life was never fair.
“I’m sitting,” he said, his voice clipped. “It’s your turn.”
“Fine.” She decided it would be best to proceed with caution. “What do you want me to explain?”
Logan’s eyes were hard as they searched hers. “Were you sleeping with him?”
“What?” He really thought she’d been sleeping with Marcus? Claire didn’t think she’d heard him correctly.
“Were you?” he demanded.
“It’s not really any of your business,” Claire informed him coolly, stung that he actually believed she was a wild bed-hopper capable of jumping from one man to the next.
“I think it is my business. I want to know where the hell I stand in all this.” He raked a hand through his hair, leaving it standing on end. “Do we need to talk custody? I don’t really like the idea of you exposing our child to a string of boyfriends.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, thoroughly annoyed with him now. “So now I’m not just sleeping with Marcus, I have a string of boyfriends too. Who are all these men anyway? If I’m enjoying their charms, it would be fair if I at least knew their names.”
“Don’t be a smartass.” His voice was cold. “You know what I mean. If this is the path you’re choosing, I’d like to be warned. I may want to seek sole custody after all.”
Was this the man who had been so wonderful this morning, promising to be there for her when she needed him? If this was the treatment she could expect from him, even moving in with her parents seemed like a viable option. She studied him for a moment, trying to reconcile the many faces and moods he showed her, when understanding dawned.
“You’re jealous, aren’t you?” Everything fell into place, making perfect sense to her.
He stared.
“You are.” She could read it on his face and she felt her anger begin to fade. “Logan, Marcus and I are just friends, good friends.”
“That’s it?”
“Yes.”
Logan began making light circle patterns along the top of the comforter tucked around her. He focused on his finger’s progress before speaking again. “He seemed to want more from you than friendship.”
“He’s been kind, nothing more. He knows that I’m not ready for that.”
Logan’s finger stilled and he looked up. “You’re not ready for that now, or you won’t ever be ready for that?”
“I don’t know,” she answered truthfully. He didn’t like that response, she could tell. “But I do know that my main focus right now is this baby.” She patted her belly. “Our baby.”
He nodded a bit jerkily. “As it should be.”
She reached out and covered his hand with hers. “But I also want to work on our relationship.” She paused, uncertain of what to say, how much to reveal. There were some emotions she just couldn’t give voice to, not yet anyway. “We’re having this baby together, and over the past few weeks, we’ve become strangers again. I don’t want that, not for the baby and not for us either.”
Logan didn’t speak. He turned his hand upside down so that his palm rested against hers, lacing their fingers together. A rush of longing ran through her, more powerful than the contractions she’d experie
nced yesterday. She wanted more than this mere touching of hands. She wanted to touch his heart.
“Say something,” she whispered, feeling suddenly vulnerable.
He cleared his throat, his fingers tightening on hers. “Maybe we can start over from this moment. Forget everything that’s happened before.”
Her lips trembled with a smile. “Forgetting is impossible.”
“I know.” Shifting closer to her, he took her gently into his arms. “God, I know.”
Claire curled into his familiar warmth, burying her face in his neck. She had missed this, missed him. Being so close to him, in his arms with no anger or misunderstandings between them, felt incredible. It felt, oddly enough, like home.
Or maybe it wasn’t so odd, after all.
Raising her face, she kissed him, devouring his mouth the way she wished she could devour the rest of his body. When the kiss finally ended, she met his gaze. “I’d like to start over with you. From this moment.”
“From this moment,” he echoed, kissing her again.
“Do you have any sevens?”
“Nope.” Claire shook her head, casting Derek a smug look. “Go fish.”
With a growl, he reached out and took a card from the pile resting at the edge of Claire’s bed. While Logan was cooking dinner, Derek had decided to occupy her with an impromptu game of Go Fish. She was currently getting the best of him and he had a meager pile of matches to prove it. Despite the fact that it still felt more than just a little surreal to be playing cards with a famous man, she was having a good deal of fun.
She feigned deep thought for a moment, tilting her head to the side and pursing her lips. “Hmm. Do you have any jacks?”
“Damn it.” Derek forked over two jacks.
She held out her hand expectantly, wiggling her fingers. “Where’s the third one?”
He cursed again and slapped the third jack onto her palm. “There. Take it and be satisfied.”
Raising a brow at him, she put down all four jacks. “That’s another match. Sneaky of you to try cheating. Cheaters never prosper, you know.”
“Hey, I’m just trying to make it through this game with a shred of my manly dignity still intact. You’re kicking my ass.”
Claire grinned. “It’s not my fault you stink at Go Fish.”
The grin he sent her in return was wry. “I’m a little rusty. I haven’t really had any Go Fish opportunities since I was about six years old.”
“Did you play it with Logan?” She couldn’t help asking. There was so much about Logan that she didn’t know.
“Actually, no.” All traces of mirth vanished from his face. “That was before I met Logan. I used to play with my mother.”
“If you’d rather not talk about it, I completely understand.”
Derek shrugged, idly rearranging his cards. “It’s not anything the press doesn’t already know, anyway. You can read all the details on any of my ’unofficial’ websites.” He paused, attempting to look more collected and nonchalant than he truthfully was, Claire could tell. “My mom had a string of abusive loser boyfriends. One of them was driving Mom home from work one night and decided to stop at a bar on the way home. He got trashed and got in an accident about a half mile from our apartment. They were both killed.”
When he finished, Claire was in tears. “Oh Derek. That’s terrible.”
“My mother was an alcoholic too,” he continued quietly. “After the accident, I ended up in foster care. Which is how I met Logan, and he’s the brother I never had, so there’s a happy ending after all.”
Looking at Derek, Claire wasn’t really sure if he’d found his happy ending yet. Logan was very close-mouthed about his friend, but she knew from bits of information she’d read in the newspaper or heard on the radio that Derek had severe addiction problems himself. She also knew, since Derek had told her, that he’d recently completed treatment at the Starling Foundation, an excellent treatment facility that boasted a celebrity who’s who patient list. In this moment, he didn’t look like a self-assured, charismatic movie star. He looked like a desperate man trying to find his way.
“Can I hug you?” she asked impulsively.
His mouth kicked up into a smile. “Be my guest.” He laid his cards down on the bed and stood, leaning down to wrap his arms around her. They remained that way for a few moments until Derek pulled away, looking embarrassed.
“I can’t remember the last time someone hugged me,” he murmured.
He had to be adored by thousands of fans across the world and yet no one hugged him. They were too in love with the blinding Hollywood brilliance to notice that the man beneath it was drowning. His life seemed so desperately lonely.
“You know, now that you’re stuck with me, I’m here any time you need to talk.” She winced. “It’s not like I’ll be going anywhere.”
Derek regarded her seriously. “I think you’re the right woman for Logan.”
His words threw her off balance. “We’re having a child together, but that doesn’t mean—”
“That’s not what I mean,” he said gently. “You care about him. I’ve seen the way you look at him.”
“Of course I care about him.”
“You love him.” His gaze was knowing.
That pronouncement shocked her. Rocked her world. Because part of her knew he was right. The other part of her didn’t even want to think about it.
“I don’t know,” she began, only to be interrupted by the arrival of a tray-bearing Logan.
“Dinner,” he announced with a flourish, “is served.”
Derek gathered up the discarded playing cards and tidied them into a pile. “I concede defeat,” he murmured. “I’ll leave you two alone. I have some errands to run.” He gave Claire a meaningful look. “Remember what I said.”
Remember it? It was currently all she could think about. That and how yummy dinner smelled, of course. She was a pregnant woman, after all, and Logan had proved a surprisingly talented chef. She looked forward to every meal he prepared for her, but for his company as much as for the food.
Derek, on the other hand, had obviously been last in line when the culinary gods were offering skills. On their first day together with Logan in the office, Derek had cooked her macaroni and cheese, the boxed, impossible-to-mess-up kind. Only he’d messed it up. She still recalled the gloppy texture and icky taste of it on her tongue.
“Claire.”
Her attention snapped to Logan, who had set the tray of food down on the empty portion of her bed that had so recently served as a card table. “Hmm?” she murmured, her gaze alternately eying up the soup on the tray and Logan himself.
“You’re daydreaming again. I don’t think you even managed to say goodbye to Derek beyond your autopilot wave.”
“Sorry.” She thought for a moment. “I don’t have an autopilot wave.”
Logan gave her a superior look. “Yes you do.”
Okay, so maybe she did, but that didn’t mean she had to admit it. She decided a change of subject was in order. “Is that your world-famous tomato-dill soup?” She sighed. “And smoked cheddar on toasted croissants?”
“Per your orders.”
“Mmm.” Grinning, Claire pulled the chair closer. Logan had provided her with a stack of cookbooks, directing her to mark the recipes that most appealed to her. “I have to admit that you’re giving me five-star treatment.” She dug into the heavenly soup. “My mother can’t believe that you cook for me.”
He tucked a stray tendril of hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering on her skin longer than necessary. “Your mother isn’t exactly my personal fan club. But I am trying to make it up to you and Baby Thumper.” A crooked grin touched his lips. “Besides, a wise man told me that the way to a pregnant woman’s heart is through her stomach.”
“It can’t hurt,” she agreed, pausing when she realized the implications of what he’d just said. Unless she was taking it too literally. “Are you?” she asked, unable to help herself.
&
nbsp; He raised an eyebrow. “Am I what?”
She was almost afraid to say it. For a few moments, she toyed with her soup spoon before responding. “Trying to win my heart.”
His eyes were grave, darkened by intensity. “If I am?”
Claire felt unsteady at his response. “Is it for the right reasons?” She was afraid that this new tender and doting Logan was more a product of his guilty conscience than of his true feelings for her.
He leaned closer to her, his familiar scent invading her senses. “What are the right reasons, Claire?”
Logan had a patent way of turning her questions into more questions without providing a single answer. “I don’t know,” she said honestly.
Reaching out, he took her left hand in his and turned it palm up, his thumb stroking against her inner wrist. “I don’t want to be the man you’re stuck with.”
“Logan.”
“God knows you deserve better than me,” he continued, ignoring her protest. “Hell, nobody even wanted me when I was a kid and you know how cute everyone thinks kids are.” A self-deprecating smile curled his lips.
“I don’t feel like I’m stuck with you.” She hated that his past still had such a negative effect on him. Her fingers closed over his. “I know your past is a sensitive subject for you, but I think it’s time you let it go. I can’t answer for anyone else all those years ago, but I do know that I wouldn’t be here right now if I didn’t want you in my life. In our baby’s life.”
As if to assert its opinion, the baby lodged its foot right into Claire’s belly. She tugged Logan’s hand to the spot. “See? Baby Thumper agrees.”
Awe shone from his eyes. This was what he’d been missing with her gone from his life. These simple moments were meant to be shared.
His fingers slid to the hem of her maternity shirt. “Can I?”
He wanted to look at her bulging, giant, huge, tremendous, giant pregnancy belly? Claire felt instantly uncomfortable. It was giant. And did she forget to mention tremendous? Not at all the sort of thing she really wanted on display.
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