Logan!’ she finally pleaded, not sure how much longer she could remain standing on her feet.
‘Yes,’ he repeated evenly. ‘I—I’ll call you tomorrow. Concerning the meeting with my mother,’ he explained as Darcy looked up at him in query.
‘Of course,’ she realised flatly, turning away again. For a moment she had thought he meant something else!
That he wanted to see her again. That the two of them might be able to—
Fool, she berated herself. She and Logan came from different backgrounds, lived in different worlds, had only been thrown together at all because of her father’s relationship with his mother; Logan would never have looked at her twice under normal circumstances.
Although, a little inner voice reminded her, neither of them had known of that connection that time in his office…!
She moistened dry lips. ‘It might be better if, in future, I didn’t smile at you,’ she teased huskily in an effort to lighten the tense atmosphere that now existed between them.
A pretty dismal effort it was too, Darcy acknowledged, but she had to make a start somewhere. After all, this man might—just might, if her father and his mother ever sorted out their differences—one day be her stepbrother. Now there was a sobering thought!
‘Yes,’ Logan agreed quietly. ‘I’ll call you as soon as I’ve spoken to my mother.’
She nodded. ‘I shall be at the restaurant from eleven o’clock in the morning, preparing for the lunch-time trade.’
Logan shook his head. ‘It really is a hell of a life. At this rate, I’ll have to make another booking with the Chef Simon outside catering company just so that I can have a private conversation with you!’
In the circumstances, Darcy thought it was probably better if he didn’t; their private conversations had a way of turning into something else completely!
‘I’m sure my father won’t be away for very long,’ she told him noncommittally. ‘I’ll walk you to the door, shall I?’ she added pointedly. She really did need some time alone!
‘Let’s hope he isn’t,’ Logan answered her question as they walked out into the hallway. ‘You already look exhausted!’
Devastated was probably a more apt description, Darcy acknowledged with a sickening lurch in the pit of her stomach. She was having serious problems coming to terms with what had just happened between the two of them, couldn’t quite believe it had happened.
And Logan didn’t look much happier!
No doubt he was wondering what on earth had possessed him to kiss her at all, let alone make love to her in the way that he had. Despite what he had said during the heat of their lovemaking, she was not beautiful, and never had been. Although her figure wasn’t bad, warm and homely probably best described her looks.
It was her smile that had been his undoing, Logan had claimed in his defence. A claim she had joked about earlier. But in future, all teasing apart, she really would try not to smile at him. Unless she wanted to find herself being well and truly kissed by him!
Logan paused in the open doorway. ‘Lock the door behind me when I leave,’ he advised. ‘I can’t say I’m exactly happy at the thought of you alone in this big house all night.’
Well, the obvious alternative wasn’t acceptable, either!
‘Believe it or not, Logan, and despite what you may have thought to the contrary, because I happen to be staying here with my father at the moment—’ she resorted to sarcasm to dispel her feelings of awkwardness ‘—I’ve actually been taking care of myself for some time now!’
His gaze was scathing as it moved over her face. ‘Then, on the evidence I’ve seen so far, you aren’t doing a very good job at it!’ he rasped.
Darcy drew in a sharp breath. ‘I’m sure a lot of people are interested in your opinions, Logan—but I don’t happen to be one of them!’
‘Lock the door anyway, hmm?’ was his parting shot before he strode over to unlock his car.
Darcy didn’t wait long enough to see him open the car door, let alone start the engine and drive away, slamming the front door behind him, being deliberately noisy as she turned the key in the lock.
She leant weakly back against that closed door. How could she have let that happen? she berated herself with a self-disgusted groan. Not only had Logan kissed her—again!—but he had touched her more intimately than any other man ever had, too.
Every time she thought of those intimacies, Logan’s hands and lips on her body, she wanted to crawl into a corner and hide! And she didn’t even have the effect of his smile to claim in her own defence; Logan rarely smiled, and she didn’t think she had seen him laugh once.
Possibly because of that unhappiness she had sensed between him and his mother? She simply didn’t know.
Just as she didn’t know how on earth she was going to face him again tomorrow, this time possibly in the presence of his mother…!
CHAPTER EIGHT
LOGAN was not looking forward to this meeting. But it had nothing to do with his mother being there—and everything to do with Darcy’s presence!
Logan had done as she’d asked, and telephoned his mother this morning—at a time he knew she would be up. After years of working in the theatre, mornings were not Margaret’s best times. Except that he knew she was filming for a television series at the moment, so her hours were not quite so antisocial; in fact, she sounded quite cheerful when she took Logan’s call.
Logan wished he felt as cheerful. But, after a virtually sleepless night, he was feeling tired and bad-tempered. He had laid awake for hours thinking about Darcy Simon, trying to fathom out why it was she affected him in the way she did. It did not help to improve his temper this morning that he simply hadn’t been able to come up with an answer!
Blaming his reaction on a smile just wouldn’t do. For goodness’ sake, it was only a smile!
Darcy was nothing like the women he was usually attracted to: beautiful, self-confident, emotionally independent women. Darcy was only beautiful when she smiled—and that wasn’t too often when around him, thank goodness. Her self-confidence could do with a little working on too. As for her emotional independence—he had lost yet another handkerchief to her tears!
So why was it that he couldn’t get her out of his mind, that even last night, when he had gone to the restaurant, it had been in an effort to make sure everything was once again right with her world?
Then to cap it all, he had deliberately set himself up for yet another meeting this week with his mother—for Darcy’s sake!
He closed his eyes momentarily. A pint-sized girl, with smoky grey eyes, and hair the colour of a fox’s fur in the rain filled his mind; a girl, moreover, who had kicked him in the shin, and threatened to throw a glass of wine over his head! Come to think about it, his personal life had been in an uproar from the moment he’d first met her!
No doubt his secretary, Karen, in light of her view that his life lacked surprise
