by Jenna’s troublemaking little sister, damned if he wasn’t.
He had set down the fork, backed her up against the counter and spoken right into that deceptively angelic face of hers. “Shouldn’t you be back in L.A. by now?”
Her breathing was agitated, though she tried to play it cool. “I told Jenna I’d take care of things here.”
“I don’t need taking care of.”
She didn’t say anything, just looked at him through those blue, blue eyes.
“You’d better go,” he had warned.
She made a small, tender sound.
And she shook her head.
They ate the cake some time after midnight, both of them nude, standing in the kitchen, tearing into it with a pair of forks, then feeding each other big, sloppy bites.
Lacey shifted in her chair. Logan’s eyes looked far away. She wondered what he was thinking.
He blinked and came back to himself. “I don’t want to analyze last September. It happened. We weren’t as careful as we should have been and now you’re having my baby. You know damn well how I feel about that.”
Yes, she did know. He was just like Jenna. He wanted children. Several children. He also wanted a nice, settled, stay-at-home wife to take care of those children while he was out healing the ills of the world. A wife like Jenna would have been.
In almost every way, Logan and Jenna had been just right for each other. Too bad Jenna had always loved Mack McGarrity.
Logan held out his hand.
Lacey knew that she shouldn’t, but she took it anyway. He pulled her out of the chair. He would have taken her into his arms, but she resisted that.
Her belly brushed him. They both hitched in a quick breath at the contact and Lacey pulled her hand from his.
She turned toward the table, toward the grocery bags still waiting there, thinking that the move might gain her a little much-needed distance from him.
It didn’t. He stepped up behind her, so that she could feel him, feel the warmth of him, close at her back.
He spoke into her ear, his voice barely a whisper. “You need me now, Lace. Don’t turn me away. Give me a chance. I want to marry you and take care of you…of both of you.”
Oh, those were lovely words. And, yes, they did tempt her.
But it wouldn’t work. She had to remember that. It couldn’t work.
He did not love her. He couldn’t even say that he no longer loved her sister. He’d marry her out of duty, in order to claim his child.
And she would spend her life with him feeling like second best, wondering when he kissed her if he was imagining her sister in his arms. She didn’t want that. They had too many differences as it was. Without love on both sides, they wouldn’t stand a chance.
Gently, he took her shoulder, the touch burning a path of longing down inside of her, making her sigh. He turned her to face him.
And he smiled. “I’m feeling pretty determined, Lace.”
She smiled right back at him. “So am I.”
“We’ll see who’s more determined of the two of us. I’m not going away until you come with me.”
“Then you’re in for a long stay in Wyoming.”
“I can stay as long as I have to.”
“You couldn’t stay long enough.”
“Watch me.”
“What about your practice? How will your patients get along without you?”
“Don’t worry about my patients. I have partners to cover for me. I can stick it out here for as long as it takes.”
“Oh? And where will you be staying? Have you made reservations at the motel in town?”
“No. I’ll stay here with you.”
He looked so certain, so set on his goal. She couldn’t stop herself. She touched the side of his face. The stubble-rough skin felt wonderful—too wonderful.
She jerked her hand back, thinking how much one thoughtless touch could do. In a moment, she’d have no backbone left. Whatever he wanted, she’d just go along.
“You can’t stay here,” she said in a breathless tone that convinced neither Logan nor herself. “It’s out of the question.”
He pressed his advantage. “Look. You’re alone here. The baby’s due any day now. I don’t even see a phone in this cabin. How will you call for help if there’s an emergency?”
She tipped her chin higher. “I’m in no danger. The main ranch house is nearby—you must have driven past it to get here.”
He nodded. “I stopped in there for directions, as a matter of fact. And it’s too far away. You could have trouble reaching it, if something went really wrong.”
“I have a cell phone. I can call for help if I need to.”
“You’re telling me that a cell phone actually works out here?”
“Yes.”
He made a small chiding noise. “Not very dependably, though. I can see it in your eyes.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m perfectly safe here.”
“Not in your condition. You know you shouldn’t be alone.”
He was starting to sound way too much like her cousin. Zach—and Tess, too—had been nagging her constantly of late, trying to get her to move to the main house now that her due date was so close. She kept putting them off.
She did plan on moving, as soon as the baby came. Tess already had a room ready for the two of them, with a nice big bed for her, and a bassinet and a changing table and everything else that the baby would need.
But right now, Lacey felt she was managing well enough. And the cabin did please her. She had music—a boom box and a pile of CDs in the sleeping nook. She read a lot and she sketched all the time. Lately, since just before she’d come to Wyoming, she’d discovered that she no longer had the kind of total concentration it took to work seriously on a painting. But that was all right. She sensed that it would come back to her, after the baby arrived—no matter what Xavier Hockland, her former teacher and mentor, chose to believe.
And certainly she could manage to make it to the main house when her labor began. Tess could take her to the hospital from there.
Logan began prowling around the room. He stopped by the big stove. “What do you use to heat this place?”
“Wood. Lately, the weather’s
