can do it, Logan,” Caro said immediately. “No worries. Go home and rest your knee.”
“My knee’s fine.” Logan started gathering glasses. “I want to stay and help get this cleaned up. It won’t take long.”
Jack Chance wandered over and hooked an arm around Josie. “Ready to take off?”
“Not quite,” Josie said. “I really need to—”
“No, you don’t,” Caro said. “Go home, Josie.”
“I hate to leave you with this.” She surveyed the room. “It’s too bad that Steve—”
“Well, he isn’t here,” Logan said, “and I’d really like to help out. Besides, maybe one of the fabled ghosts will show up.”
“It could happen.” Josie looked perfectly serious. “I’ve often seen them after a bash like this.”
“Ghosts or no ghosts,” Jack said, “I need to get my pregnant wife home. I have a suggestion. Let Logan stay and help, and then he can crash at Grandma Judy’s.”
Josie turned to him. “I’m not sure about that, Jack. Do you think your grandmother will—”
“She’ll love the idea. She’s always complaining that nobody uses her guest room. Let me borrow your pen, Caro.” He picked up a napkin from a stack on the bar and sketched a quick map for Logan. “Here’s where she lives. When we drop her off we’ll make sure she leaves a key under the mat. The guest room is down the hall to your right.”
Josie took one last look at the debris left by the wedding guests and sighed. “Okay. There’s probably some fatal flaw in that plan, but I’m too tired to think of anything better, and I do hate to leave Caro alone with this huge mess.”
“And the ghosts.” Logan tucked the napkin with the map into his pocket, and did his best to sound nonchalant when he felt anything but. He wondered if Caro was anticipating some alone time as much as he was.
“And the ghosts,” Josie said with a smile.
“Thanks, Logan.” Jack stuck out his hand and the two men shook. “I’ll drive in tomorrow morning and pick you up.”
“Sounds good.”
“Josie said you’d like to stay on for a few more days and do some riding.”
“I’d like that, but I’m a little rusty.”
“Anybody with your athletic ability shouldn’t have any trouble.” Jack touched the brim of his hat with two fingers. “See you tomorrow.”
“That was very gallant of you,” Caro said as the last of the wedding guests disappeared out the front door. “You must be exhausted.”
He turned to her. “No more so than you, I’ll bet.” He took note of the wisps of hair that had escaped her ponytail and now curled around the nape of her neck. Any lipstick she might have applied earlier in the evening was gone. She looked infinitely kissable.
Her hazel eyes were bright, as if she might be feeling some of the same excitement he was. “Yes, but I’m paid to do this. You’re not.”
“You want to know something really sad? Getting paid isn’t an issue for me anymore. I’ve invested a good chunk of the money I earned while playing with the Cubs, and unless I start buying yachts and staying in hotels that charge several grand a night, I won’t ever have to work again.” That was all true, but he might have said it to impress her. Hell, sure he had.
It obviously did, because her eyes widened. “But that’s not sad, that’s wonderful.”
Her honest reaction demanded honesty in return. “You would think so, wouldn’t you? But in reality, it’s kind of depressing. I have no reason to go out and hustle anymore.”
“You could do all sorts of volunteer things, take charge of some cause or other, travel—”
“I could, and I probably will look into a charitable cause, but I’m not much of an administrator. That doesn’t get me excited. Helping people, yeah, I’d like that. But the thought of being the one in charge gives me hives.” He hadn’t meant to discuss this, but talking to someone who had no vested interest in his future seemed to loosen his tongue.
“What a fascinating problem to have, deciding what to do with money and free time.” She walked over to the wall and put her hand on a bank of switches.
“I suppose it sounds lame to call that a problem.”
“Not if you’re used to being busy. Get ready. Bright lights.”
He blinked. In the glare from the overhead lights the mess looked even worse. “This would be more fun with the lights off.”
She glanced over her shoulder, a definite invitation in her eyes. “That’s true of a lot of things.”
He met her gaze. He knew that look, and instantly his cock responded. Okay then. “Oh, I don’t know. Sometimes I like to see what I’m doing.”
She turned back to him with a seductive smile. “Is that when you’re not very sure of yourself?”
“On the contrary.” Lust was quickly obliterating the memory of any warnings Josie had given him. “The more confident I am, the more light I want on the subject.” He paused. “How about you?”
She swallowed, and her cheeks grew pink. “Personally, I like to retain a little mystery.”
“That can be exciting, too.” He’d instinctively drifted closer. If he kissed her now, they wouldn’t get any cleaning done.
As if realizing the same thing, Caro cleared her throat and glanced away. “It’s getting late.” Pulling a plastic bin from under the counter, she lifted the hinged lid of the bar. “I’ll clear if you’ll wipe up after me.”
He followed her out through the opening and got a grip on the bin. “I’ll clear and you wipe up. You’re the brains of this operation. I’m just the muscle.”
Her laugh had a breathless quality that told him she was very aware of the sparks flying between them. She let him have the bin. “If that makes you happy, knock yourself out. I’ll get a damp towel. Just know that I can balance a full tray of drinks on one hand, so I’m no wimpy girl.”
“So you’re the brains and the muscle.” He loaded glasses, popcorn baskets and used napkins into the bin while she followed behind and wiped off the tables. “How am I supposed to impress a girl who has everything?”
“Those flaming drinks were pretty darned impressive. I know you don’t need a job, but I’ll bet Josie would love to hire you. Oh, wait. You might take my job, and unlike you, I need the money, so forget that idea.”
She’d just handed him a golden opportunity to ask why Josie had said she was off-limits. He cleared the last table and headed back toward the bar. “So how come you don’t have time to go riding these days?”
“My grandmother’s in assisted living, and whenever I’m not
