by Jaci Burton
Just as she said that, the back door swung open and a very dusty Logan stepped in.
Des's heart skipped a beat. If she thought he'd looked sexy right after a shower the other night, seeing him covered in trail dust from head to toe did something to her libido.
His gaze zeroed in on her. "I didn't know we had company."
"We popped over to help Martha," Colt said with a grin.
Logan nodded. "Nice to see both of you. Thanks for helping out."
"It's our pleasure."
"Are you hungry?" Martha asked.
"Yeah."
"Get washed up and I'll fix you something to eat. Then you and the guys can get started on the picnic area."
"Okay."
Des loved to watch the interplay between Logan and Martha. It was obvious the two of them had developed a mother-and-son type of relationship because he followed her commands so easily. And he treated her with respect, as if she were a parent, not a ranch employee. It made Des happy to know he had that type of parental love in his life, especially in light of what had happened with his mother.
"Have you two had lunch yet?" Martha asked.
"No. We came over as soon as we finished shooting for the day."
"Well, you should have said something. No one goes hungry around here, but you two have voices, you know. If you're hungry, you should speak up."
They'd been given a talking to, hadn't they? "Yes, ma'am."
"Now go wash your hands and you can eat with Logan and the crew."
Des and Colt shuttled off to the bathroom behind Logan. "Guess she told you," Colt said.
Des nudged Colt with her shoulder. "Shut up. She told you, too."
Logan stood at the sink and shook his head.
"What?" Des said, hip-checking him to get him to move.
"Nothing."
She grabbed for the towel to dry her hands. "Oh, I think there's something on your mind. What is it?"
"No, really. Nothing. I'll see you in the kitchen."
He walked away without saying a word. Des stared after him. "I do not understand that man at all."
"He likes you. And he doesn't want to."
Des shook her head. "That doesn't even make sense."
"Honey, men often don't make sense. Don't even try to figure us out."
She put her arm around Colt's waist. "But that's why I have you. You have the supersecret code to men."
Colt snorted. "I'm sworn to secrecy, and to the man code."
"You're so full of shit." Des rolled her eyes and walked back into the kitchen.
"I made turkey sandwiches," Martha said. "And there's iced tea and fruit salad and some chips. Nudge all those cowboys out of the way and help yourself."
Six sets of eyes looked up from the table at her and Colt. Used to being stared at, Des was undeterred. She found a spot at the table and took a seat, then introduced herself. So did Colt.
"So you're making the movie?" one of the guys asked. She thought his name was Ayers.
"Yes."
"That must be interesting."
"It is. Any of you or your family are welcome to come watch us film. Just let me know and I'll get you passes."
"That's awful nice of you," Ben said. "I know Martha enjoyed her visit that day. And she couldn't stop talking about her day as an extra. I loved the photo of her in her alien makeup."
Des laughed. "I think she and Logan both had fun that day."
Logan cleared his throat. "The men can't afford to take days off to go watch you make movies."
Wow. He was in a mood. "We also do filming later in the day, after you all finish work. And maybe their families would like to come watch."
Logan shrugged.
"June--that's my daughter," one of the guys said to Colt and Des, "she's a big movie fan. And she really likes Colt's movies. I know she and her mama would love to come."
"That's sweet," Colt said. "Like Des said, we're happy to provide passes. You just let us know, or let Martha know and we'll arrange it through her."
"You bet I will," Martha said, then gave Logan a stern look.
Logan ate his sandwich and didn't make eye contact with anyone. Or add any more to the conversation.
But at least Logan didn't say no this time.
Des figured he must have PMS--penis malfunction syndrome. Because he was acting like a dick.
After lunch, Logan told Martha he was going to clean the picnic area, then pull the tables from storage and start cleaning them up.
"Can I help you with that?" Colt asked.
Logan gave him a look. "Aren't you here to help in the kitchen?"
Ignoring the insult, Colt said, "I think Des has that handled. But if you don't need my help, I'm happy to stay here and assist Martha."
Des shot Logan a scathing look. Logan shrugged. "Sure. You can come with me."
"Great." Colt winked at her.
"This is your way of escaping potato peeling," she whispered as Colt walked by.
"No idea what you're talking about."
Logan had about as much use for Colt as he did a whiny city boy, which he figured Colt was. But if Colt wanted to follow him around, he'd put him to work. He assigned some of the crew to the task of hosing down the cemented area where they were going to organize the picnic tables, while he and Colt headed back to the barns where the picnic tables were housed.
They brought out twelve tables, not an easy feat, because the barn where the tables were stored was about fifty yards away. He figured city boy would give up after dragging the second table.
Colt surprised him. Drenched in sweat, he helped Logan pull all twelve tables, then helped him wash them down without complaint. Then again, he did have some muscle, so maybe all that time at the gym helped with his endurance.
"You always this quiet?" Colt finally asked him as they scrubbed the tops of the tables.
"Usually."
"Or is it just me you don't like?"
"I don't feel one way or the other about you."
Colt smiled and kept his head down on the task at the hand. "Good to know."
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Logan used the hose to wash away the last of the grime and dust from the tables. Colt took a step back to get out of the way, then they used towels to dry them off.
"This will do until tomorrow morning. Martha will put tablecloths on them then."
He saw Des making her way toward them with a couple of beers in her hand.
"I thought you two looked a little sweaty and might want to take a break and have a beer."
"Sounds good to me," Colt said. "Thanks, honey."
Logan was too thirsty to say anything other than "Thanks."
"You're welcome."
"How's it going inside?" Colt asked.
"Great. We've got just about all the side dishes wrapped up. How about out here?"
Colt looked to Logan, who'd taken a couple of deep swallows of beer to cool down his parched throat. "Fine."
"That's descriptive," Des said. "Anything else need to be done out here?"
"Not today. We'll drag out the fireworks and finish decorating in the morning."
"Okay. I'll finish up with Martha here, then I guess we'll head out." She paused, looked at Logan, and when he didn't say anything, she shrugged and headed back to the house.
"What is it with the two of you?" Colt asked.
"That's none of your business."
"Obviously, but she likes you. And sometimes it seems as if you like her back. Other times you don't give her the time of day and you act like a dick to her."
"Again. None of your business."
"It is my business when it affects Des's feelings."
Logan leaned against one of the picnic tables and took another drink of his beer. "Why's that? Because you have a thing for her?"
Colt laughed. "You're way off base there, Logan."
"Am I? Or do you have feelings for her, and she just sees you as a friend? You must really hate that, seeing her with other guys when
you're the one who wants to be with her."
Logan waited to see the rise in Colt's anger. But all he got was another laugh. "You don't know me. Or, for that matter, Des. Maybe you should spend time getting to know more about her. She's loyal and faithful, especially to the people she cares about. But if you screw with her, she'll cut you out of her life completely like you never existed."
"And you think that matters to me."
Colt laid his empty beer on the table. "I don't know if it does or not. I hope it does, because she matters to me, but not in the way you think."
Colt walked toward the house, leaving Logan standing there contemplating what Colt had just said. Whatever the hell Colt had said.
He ran his fingers through his sweat-soaked hair, trying to figure out what was wrong with his attitude today. Maybe it was walking in the house and finding Des leaning against Colt, laughing with him, seeing the ease the two of them had together.
He didn't believe there was nothing going on between them. There had to be something, and Logan didn't like being in the middle of that.
Then again, he and Des had made no promises to each other. They weren't exclusive. If she wanted to screw ten other guys, she could, couldn't she?
Though the thought of it stabbed him in the gut, and he didn't like feeling that way, didn't like the hold she already had on him.
But was that hold in his mind? She'd never put a claim on him, never asked him for any kind of guarantees. She'd never asked for . . . anything.
And why was that? Most women, if he was with them more than a couple of times, started hinting about relationships and promises and wanting to take things a step further.
Not Des. She'd just showed up and they'd been having fun and then she disappeared just as fast.
Maybe, just maybe, Colt might be right, and he should find out a little bit more about the woman who kept him lying awake at night.
AFTER SAYING GOOD-BYE to Martha, Colt and Des climbed into the SUV to head back to the set.
It had been an exhausting day, but Des had had a good time. She wished she could have spent more time with Logan, but she knew he'd been busy. He had a ranch to run, plus getting things ready for tomorrow had kept him doubly occupied.
"How was your time with Logan?" she asked as Colt drove along the gravel road leading them back to the set.
"Oh . . . fine," Colt said, his expression revealing nothing.
Sometimes it was a pain in the ass to be friends with actors. They could mask their emotions so easily if they wanted to.
"Colt. Really. Did something happen?"
"Oh, you could say something happened."
But he didn't say anything, and she refused to press him like an emotionally needy woman. Because she wasn't. Emotional or needy, that was, especially as it related to Logan.
They returned to the set and headed back to their trailers. Des stopped at Colt's.
"Are you going to talk to me?"
Colt turned to her and grinned. "He really does like you, Des. A lot."
Her heart drummed up a fast rhythm. "How can you tell?"
"Because he thinks there's something going on between you and me, and he's really pissed about it."
"He does? He is? Why? Did he say something to you?" She hated even asking these questions, but she couldn't help herself.
"He did, and yes, he is, and yes, he most definitely said something to me. I thought for a minute there he was going to knock me on my ass."
She climbed up the stairs so she could be eye level with Colt. "You aren't serious."
"I'm deadly serious. I could feel the testosterone radiating off him. If I didn't already have the love of my life, I would have been swooning. Hell, I was swooning. On your behalf, of course."
She laughed. "Stop it. What did he say exactly?"
"First he asked if the two of us had something going on, then he intimated that I was pining away for you because you saw me as just a friend."
She crossed her arms. "He did not say that to you."
"Yeah, he did."
She leaned against the railing and contemplated for a few seconds, before looking at Colt. "What a dick."
Colt laughed. "Nah, just guy talk."
"Yeah, guy talk about me. He thinks I'd use you that way? Seriously, what a douchebag. What kind of a bitch does he think I am?"
Colt held up his hands. "Whoa. Calm down, Des. I think he meant to insult me, not you."
"I don't care. I'm insulted. I would never hurt you that way."
"Honey, if I was straight and we were friends and I had the hots for you, but you didn't feel the same way, the conversation Logan and I had today would have been an honest one. Because you don't feel that way about me, do you?"
"Well, no. But I would be honest with you and tell you that. I'd never string you along or make you my sidekick. Jesus, what do you men think we women do?"
"Be honest. Some women do that to guys."
She blew out a frustrated breath. "I guess."
"So don't be too hard on Logan. He doesn't know the truth about me."
"And he won't be hearing it from me, so don't worry."
He gave her a short kiss. "I know that. Listen, I'm going to go make a phone call. All this talk about romance and relationships has made me miss my guy. And I want to find out when his plane lands."
"When do Tony and the others fly in?"
"Late tonight."
"Are you going to the airport to pick them up?"
"No, I've arranged for a car service. Less likely for the paps to pick up on them arriving, or to connect Tony and me together."
"Good idea. You have fun with your reunion. Give Tony my love, and say hi to Sarah and Callie for me."
"Thanks, honey. I'll see you in the morning?"
"Yes." She kissed his cheek and moved on to her own trailer, where she spent the next hour pacing. It was still early in the evening, and she didn't feel like reading or watching TV. What she felt like doing was giving Logan a piece of her mind. Which she wouldn't do, of course. Not tonight, anyway.
He had a lot of nerve giving Colt a hard time. If he wanted to know something, why didn't he come to her and ask her?
She already knew the answer to that. Because he was the most stubborn, uncommunicative man she'd ever met. And he made assumptions. Lots of assumptions based on--absolutely nothing.
Maybe if he actually had a conversation with her, he'd know she was just friends with Colt and had been forever. No, wait. She'd already told him that. Apparently he didn't believe her, which meant he'd indirectly called her a liar.
She dragged her fingers through her hair while simultaneously wearing out the rug in the trailer.
This was getting her nowhere. She needed an outlet for her frustration, and she wasn't going to find it here. She changed into her running clothes, put on her tennis shoes, then stretched before heading out of the trailer to take a run. Maybe a few miles in this oppressive heat would burn out some of her irritation.
She breathed in and out, even though it was like breathing fire, digging her feet in and pushing off as she got a head of speed going. She couldn't run like she normally would if it wasn't so hot, but she cleared her head and ran along the dirt path, concentrating on enjoying the scenery.
She often ran along the hills in L.A., though out there she couldn't be alone. Not like here, where all she could see were hills and valleys and ponds. The landscape of trees was breathtaking, too, and she even glimpsed cattle as she came up over the rise on her third mile.
And that's when she saw Logan's truck, parked at the far end of the road. He was out there leaning against his truck drinking a beer and watching the sun go down.
Her first thought was to turn around and head back to the set. She'd gotten most of the mad out of her system on her run, and the last thing she wanted was to get riled up again. But she wasn't a coward, either, so she slowed to a walk to catch her breath and stopped at his truck.
"A little late for you to be out, isn't
it?" he asked.
Still breathing a bit heavily, she said, "Last time I looked, I was an adult and capable of making my own decisions. And, as far as I know, I'm not on a curfew."
"You seem a little mad."
"Do I?"
"Yeah."
He went around to the door and grabbed a bottle of water, unscrewed the top and handed it to her.
"Thanks." She nearly inhaled half the contents of the bottle, which helped.
"You want to talk about it?"
"You went after Colt and questioned my relationship with him."
"He told you about that, huh?"
"Yes, he did."
"I'm not very reasonable when it comes to you, Des. And I don't understand it myself, so I don't think I can give you a good explanation for why I talked to him the way I did. But I'm sorry, and I'll apologize to Colt tomorrow."
Well, shit. Logan's apology instantly burst her giant bubble of anger. And his explanation made it seem as if he felt something for her.
"Thanks. And what do you mean you're not reasonable when it comes to me?"
He pushed off the truck and came toward her, swiping her sweat-soaked hair from her eyes. "Don't ask me to define it when it confuses the hell out of me. You confuse the hell out of me. You make me feel things."
She lifted her gaze to his, saw that confusion on his gorgeous face. It was almost as if he was angry with her. But within that anger, she also saw passion rise up, as it always did when they were together.
"Are you sure you're not confusing sex with some other feeling?"
He wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her close. "I like having sex with you. There's no doubt about that."
"But when it comes down to having an actual relationship with a woman, my guess is that's where you bow out?"
She gave him credit for not backing away. "Yeah. That's where I bow out."
"Why? What scares you about that?"
"Nothing scares me."
Now she pulled away. "Bullshit. Be honest with yourself, at least, Logan. It's your parents' relationship, the way your mom reacted to living on the ranch that makes you hesitate with women, isn't it?"
"So now you're the expert on me, Des?"
"No. But it doesn't take an expert to figure out that's why you don't do anything permanent with women. I can't really blame you, either. Who'd want to take the risk of repeating the past?"
She saw him visibly relax. But she wasn't going to let him off the hook so easily.
"But you have to realize that not every woman you meet is going to be like your mom, right?"