Deanna Talcott - Marrying For A Mom

Oh, God have mercy on her aching soul. She shouldn’t have come here. It was just like a couple of weeks ago, when he came in the store and intuition told her something was going to happen. Today, she was going to make a fool of herself, she knew it.

She stepped onto the beach, and fine white sand trickled through the straps of her sandals. Down here, two hundred feet from the house, the air stirred up a virtual potpourri of smells. Honeysuckle and sun-baked wood. Fish and suntan lotion. Gas and motor oil. Ripples of water thudded dully against the fiberglass boat. The pontoon bounced awkwardly over them, the aluminum offering up hollow burps of noise.

“Well, hello,” Logan greeted, water lapping at his ankles. “This is a nice surprise.”

Whitney smiled, and lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the glare off the water.

“I suppose you wanted to see if I’m doing a good job, repairing this dock.”

“No,” she countered, her protected gaze drifting over his body. “I wanted to come down and see you this bare—” She choked and immediately coughed, momentarily slapping her knuckles against her mouth. “I mean, come down and show you this teddy bear.”

Logan raised an eyebrow.

“It, um—”

Logan sauntered nearer. Water droplets glistened like a lure on his shoulders, his chest.

“You’re bare. I mean…your teddy bear.” She let the explanation dissolve. “You know,” she said, going breathless, “maybe I caught you at a bad time….”

Logan chuckled, and grabbed a T-shirt that was hanging over a post at the end of the dock. “No. Not at all.” He stretched the hem of his shirt between his fists, then plunged his arms into the sleeves, accordian pleating it to his elbows.

“I stopped by your office and your secretary said I could find you here, that it wouldn’t be a problem. But—”

“It isn’t.” He lifted his arms to pull the shirt over his head.

“I feel like I’m intruding. You probably have a lot of work to do.”

His shoulders slumped, and both elbows dropped as he paused. He still hadn’t pulled it on, and the T-shirt sagged against his middle as he frowned at her. “Whitney. You’re a friend. You’re doing me a huge favor. You’re making it sound like I wouldn’t take time for you.” He cocked his head. “By the way, aren’t you taking off in the middle of a workweek? Isn’t that against your nature, or something?”

She shrugged. “Sort of. But I have someone who helps me out on Tuesdays. It’s my day to run errands, go to the bank and the post office, that kind of thing. But today was slow, and it was so nice out, I just thought I’d make this an errand and drop it off.”

“Really?”

“Mmm.”

“Great. Since you’ve got the time, then, I’ve got an errand for you.” He intentionally paused, then winked. “Meet me in the middle of Lake Justice.”

Whitney stared at him, confused.

“Amanda’s got a half day of school, and she’s up at the house, getting us lemonade. The sandwiches and chips are already stowed. We were just about to have a lazy afternoon and take the pontoon out. Kick off those sandals and hop on board.”

“Oh, I—” Whitney quickly fumbled in the pocket of her slacks, to pull out the copy of the teddy she wanted him to see. She couldn’t spend any time with Logan. She couldn’t. He’d already upended her hormones, and made her give in to wishful thinking. Paper in hand, she tried to smooth out the creases before extending it.

“Show me later,” Logan advised smoothly, glancing up to the back of the house. “We already have company.”

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