Chapter 26 Logan
Logan
“So, I can put you down for your regular booth?”
“Of course, hon,” Mary excitedly nods her head. The beads on her hair wrap jingle as they dance against each other.
I open the organizer, flipping through to get a booth agreement for our local psychic. Knowing the sticker shock after the last couple of stores I stopped in this morning, I brace myself for the same conversation I’ve been practicing.
Yes, the booth price went up. There are upgrades the town is going to need to get in top shape next year. I know it’s double the price, but costs have gone up everywhere.
I felt sick to my stomach each time I’ve had to say it.
Especially when Bernie stared at me so long with a blank look, as if waiting for me to crack under the pressure.
Truthfully, I almost did. But I kept reminding myself this was just temporary.
I was going to try my damnedest to get this back to them and then some.
Not into the hands of greedy millionaires who want to turn our beloved small town into a corporate hellscape.
Mary, though, just taps my hand gently. A sad pull of her lips tells me she already knows what I’m about to say.
“It’s okay, Logan. I know it’s not you.” She takes the agreement from me, bending over the desk to quickly glance over the words before signing the bottom. A check that was already filled out and waiting in her register slides over with the signed document as she pushes it toward me.
“Did you use your psychic abilities for this?” I take the form and check; placing it directly into its designated slot, just like Gwen showed me. Her system was going to stay in pristine condition under my watch. I wanted to make sure this was perfect for her.
Mary huffs out a laugh. “I didn’t need to. I talked to Bernie this morning. The gossiper called me as soon as you left his place.” Her lips twist to the side as her head tilts and her eyes roam over my face.
I try not to squirm under the appraisal. This is probably something I need to get more comfortable with if I’m being forced into the position of Mayor, eventually.
“What?” I finally ask after a minute too long of her gaze narrowing on me.
“Something is off.”
I shuffle my feet. “I don’t know what you mean by that. Everything is just fine.” I can feel my face wanting to contort in pain at the lie flying off my tongue.
“I don’t know if I believe you.” Her finger swirls around my face. “Something here is telling me that’s a lie. I think it’s the eyebrow twitch.”
I cover my traitorous eyebrow. “Mary, you’ve known me since I was a kid. Have I ever given you a reason to distrust me?”
Her lips purse again, thinking back to if I had. “No. But I don’t know if I can say the same about your father.”
I swallow back the lump in my throat. “Has he said or done something to make you feel that way?”
She shakes her head. “Not yet. But something in the air tells me there are stirrings in the heart of Willow Grove.” Mary twirls her finger around her head, her bracelet-laden arm clinking a sharp tune.
“Well, my father is retiring next year. Maybe that’s the change you feel.”
“Maybe,” she responds, her tone of voice not at all convincing. “But I trust you, Logan Spencer. I can feel how pure your heart is. But a little advice. Don’t let any shiny dealings of an already rich man steer you from that. You hear me?”
Unfortunately, too loud and clear for my liking.
The hammer is hitting too close to home for comfort.
It was foolish to believe the town hadn’t picked up on the potential for growth, but do they know the extent of it?
I don’t think so, because if they knew how far it was going, they would be coming at me with pitchforks rather than veiled warnings from the local tarot card reader.
I dip my head toward her in acknowledgment. “Yes, ma’am.” I hope the smile on my face reads comfort and ease instead of the concern and darkness I’m feeling currently.
She pats my upper arm. “Good. Now, would you like a reading while you’re here? On the house. I haven’t read your palm since you were a young boy.”
I flinch at the reminder of that year. “Not today, Mary.” Not ever, but now wasn’t the time to say that.
“Mhm. Maybe at the festival. Swing by my booth. Gwen has a standing appointment, you could come by with her.” She smirks, her eyes twinkling with the mischief we all know and love that comes with this woman.
It was nice to see it back, easing my own shoulders at the familiarity after the concern had been shielding it a moment before.
“You two seem to be friendly these days.”
Friendly is one way to put it. My chest warms at the thought of just how friendly I want to be with Gwen. Not that everyone needs to know.
“That’s how friends act with each other, right?”
She smirks. “If my friends looked at me the way you two look at each other, I’d have a lot more of them. I’ve seen you over at the cafe a lot lately.”
Her head tilts toward the front window. I follow her line of sight, my gaze catching on a flurry of red hair across the street.
Gwen’s fiddling with the sign out front of her shop. One that announces the specials and regularly has catchy quotes to draw you in.
“Friends, my ass.” Mary chuckles as she swats her hands in the air at me, shooing me away. “Get out of here and go check on your girl. Looks like she might have another admirer if you’re not careful.”
She’s already walking away from the counter, but my sights immediately snap back to where I last saw Gwen. And Mary was right.
My feet start moving before I even realize it, sending me out the door.
A cackling Mary at my back disappears as the door closes behind me.
I quickly look both ways, making sure cars are not headed in my direction.
A voice calls my name from down the sidewalk, and I just throw my hand up in a wave, not turning to see who it is.
It doesn’t matter. My sights are set on getting to Gwen, who is currently tossing her head back on a laugh.
Her hand reaches out, lightly pushing on Connor’s shoulder.
I’d scoff at the dopey look the guy has on his face as he watches her smile light up her face, but I know from experience her beauty is captivating.
Though I do wish he would back off a few feet and that she was directing that attention on me.
A tightness squeezes my chest as my cheeks feel flushed and my vision tunnels on the two of them. I make it across the street and to her storefront in record time.
It had been almost a full forty-eight hours since I last saw her, and though I went years without seeing her—almost my whole life, so far—those two days felt like an eternity. I had not realized how much I had come to rely on her light and comfort over the last few weeks.
Her eyes widen with her smile when she notices me walking up.
Damn, I want to kiss her right now.
“Logan!” Her voice saying my name sends a jolt straight to my dick. Just by me imaging how she sounds when she moans it against my skin.
“Hey, gorgeous.” The moniker is out before I can reel it back in, but the blush that overtakes her porcelain skin as she parts her lips in surprise makes it worth it.
I vow to myself to make her do that again and again.
Preferably without an audience. “Hope I wasn’t interrupting.
Connor, right?” I step beside Gwen and reach my hand out to the man now sending a glare my way.
Actually, I hope I am interrupting, I think to myself. Because if anyone is going to make my girl laugh, it’s me.
My girl. I’m not sure what we are to each other after a few incredibly hot moments, but it feels right to call her that.
It didn’t matter if it wasn’t right. At least not yet.
I had a few things to take care of before I tried to convince her to be mine.
For now, I’ll just show her how good we can be together.
Connor slaps his palm against mine a little harder than necessary, but it’s fine because when we pump our hands in a shake, I squeeze hard enough to make him flinch. He flexes his hand after we let go, and I have to keep my grin from being too smug.
“Right,” he grunts.
We know each other. I’m pretty sure we had a few classes back in high school. But I wasn’t giving him any grace, not when I know they have a past. Not that I have anything against that; we all have them. But I didn’t want him to think he has any more of her future.
“I was just trying to talk Connor into being part of the date auction. We need a few more signups.”
Connor’s brown eyes squint as his lips tip up on one side. “And I was saying how the only way I’m doing that is if I can guarantee Gwen gets the winning bid. I mean, it seems like the right choice when we already know how good we can be together.”
Next to me, Gwen sucks in a sharp breath. “I’m not bidding on anyone. I already told you that. But there are plenty of other single ladies in this town who will be knocking each other over to bid on a date with you.”
I hook an arm around Gwen’s shoulders, reveling in the stare down Connor gives our connection. “I think Gwen is going to be too busy with making sure the festival goes off without a hitch to bid on anyone, anyway. We have a lot going on, so we have to be extra hands-on.”
I look down at Gwen to see her fold her lips into her teeth, holding back a smile.
“So, can we put you down to be part of the auction?”
We both stare at him expectantly until he plasters a smile back on his face. Just for Gwen though, as he keeps his eyes only on her.
“Anything for you, G.”
Sensing the conversation is over and that I’m not leaving, Connor says his goodbyes and turns to walk down the street.
My arm is still wrapped around Gwen, and I have pulled her closer to my side when I felt her move against me. Her warmth seeps through her sweater and into my button-up, heating my skin. Though that could just be from being next to her again.
“You didn’t have to be so rude, Logan.” She sighs, removing herself from under my arm and turning to narrow her eyes at me. Her arms cross in front of her chest as she pops her hip to tap her heeled bootie on the concrete.
I take a mental note of how long her legs look in her flowy short skirt with her oversized sweater.
She’s the girl-next-door dream. And I can’t help but wonder what it would feel like to have her legs wrapped around me in that skirt.
How easy it would be to find out what she has hidden underneath and to see how many times I can make her lose control the way she did the first night I kissed her.
I have had the memory of that night on replay from that moment on.
And probably will until my dying breath.
I wasn’t kidding when I told her that it was the hottest moment of my life.
I’ll be on my deathbed, my life flashing before my eyes.
But the scene I would linger on the longest would be making Gwen fall apart for the first time.