Four
RENéE
Besides Penny, Logan would be the first person to see where I lived.
I cleaned my little slice of rustic paradise from top to bottom. Even the inside of the toaster oven got a thorough scrubbing. Not that I thought he’d look in there—but you never know.
Penny sent me thumbs up of approval after I blew up her phone with photos of me in various outfits.
She voted for the dark green, stretchy jeans, a white tank top tucked in like I didn’t care, but actually kind of did, and a baggy black cardigan that easily slid off my shoulder.
I paired that casual ensemble I so carefully curated with some chunky wooden dangling earrings shaped like oblong donuts, and my trusty Blundstone boots.
We were going to The Thatch Pub for music bingo, not a fine dining restaurant where servers named Bartholomew asked if we’d like to see the wine list.
I was just finishing up my makeup in the mirror when his text that he was just pulling onto the Barrington’s property vibrated on my nightstand.
My hair hung in loose curls over my shoulders, and I kept my makeup minimal, so after I made sure there wasn’t any lipstick on my teeth, I grabbed my jacket and slid into my boots.
His headlights quickly came into view through the window, and I told the berserk butterflies in my belly to calm the fuck down.
This was Logan. We worked together all the time. He was great.
Surely, he wasn’t going to take one look at my living situation, yell, “Nope!” and burn rubber in the mud as he peeled out of the trees and raced back to civilization.
The sound of his car door slamming shut sent my heart lurching up my throat.
This was not my first ever date. I needed to chill.
Thump, thump, thump, went his boots up the stairs.
Knock, knock, knock.
I let out a deep, fortifying breath before opening the door and throwing on a big, wide smile. “Hey!”
His dark blue eyes went wide right before an enormous, appreciative grin just turned his handsome face with the god-like chiseled bone structure, into something even more out of this world.
What was better than god-like? I don’t know.
But Logan looked it. And he’d clearly done something different—and ultra-sexy—with his hair, because that rogue curl over his forehead had my entire lower belly clenching.
“You look amazing,” he said, lifting up a small potted plant—an African Violet to be precise—“I brought you this. All the cut flowers at the grocery store looked a little sad, but this one is pretty and seems healthy.” One shoulder lifted and he glanced away shyly. “I’m not a plant person.”
Smiling, I took it from him. “Well, I am. It’s an African violet. Thank you.” I stepped inside and tilted my head to indicate that he should follow.
His gaze roamed my small space and nerves made my arms tingle and a fresh tightness emerge in my chest. “This is really cool,” he said, taking in my little corner kitchen, my bed, my dresser, and my shelf of plants near the south-facing window, which was where I put the African Violet. “How’d you find this place?”
“When I realized I wanted to move to the island, there was like nowhere to stay. Sad that my dreams wouldn’t become reality, I stopped by the apiary to buy myself some honey before I took the ferry home.
I got chatting with Kitty Barrington—you know Kitty from the Sewing Circle.
” He nodded. “And she said that there was this place out back. They started building it years ago with the thought that they could build more and rent them out as quirky summer cabins or whatever for more income. But then they abandoned that idea when this one proved to be too much work and time.”
“How much have you done to it yourself?”
My brows lifted, and I spread my hands wide.
“Pretty much everything. Kitty and Grim said if I organized things, they’d pay for it.
Since when I eventually move out, they’ll have a really nice little cabin to rent.
So of course they’d foot the bill. I had electricity run to the cabin, I set up a composting toilet, and a proper disposal system for gray water.
I ordered rain barrels and a filtration system, solar panels—though those weren’t cheap so I don’t have many—I found and ordered the shower capsule online and besides a little help from Cameron Arendelle who does construction, I mostly installed it myself.
It’s small, and the water doesn’t get beyond lukewarm, but it works. I even have Wi-Fi.”
I could tell that he was genuinely impressed as he peered into the little closet space I called my bathroom. “You hooked all this up yourself?”
“With the help of Youtube. I just really wanted to live on the island.”
“Motivation is a marvelous thing, isn’t it?” he mused, facing me again. “I’m …” His eyes twinkled. “I’m impressed, Renée. And not in an insulting way.” His gaze shifted to worried. “Don’t take that the wrong way. I couldn’t do anything like this. Not even with Youtube. This is super cool.”
Not entirely comfortable with the praise and compliments, I grabbed my jacket off the hook behind the door. “Thanks. Should we go?”
“Yes! Let’s go play some music bingo!”
With his hand on my lower back, sending waves of delightful heat even though the layers of fabric, he led me down the steps of my treehouse, which wasn’t really a treehouse, but just a cabin on stilts, toward Chloe’s black sedan. And like a gentleman, he even opened my door for me.
I grinned like a giddy idiot as I buckled myself in and waited for him to slide in behind the steering wheel. When he did, he faced me, an equally goofy grin on his face. “We’re doing this.”
“We are,” I replied.
Then he reversed out of the trees until he could find a place to turn around and took it slow through the rain down the grassy laneway toward the main gravel driveway of the apiary.
We drove mostly in silence through the dark, wet roads of the island toward The Thatch Pub. Why was it so hard to talk to him now? We never had any problems chatting before.
“This is weird, right?” he finally said, breaking through the quiet. “We’ve had no problem chatting at work before. Why are we being quiet and weird now?”
I exhaled in relief. “Right? I was just thinking that.”
He glanced at me and smiled. “Let’s vow to not let it get awkward. There’s nothing different about tonight versus any night or day we’ve worked together at the pub.”
I nodded. “Right. No awkwardness tonight. None.”
And then it got awkward and quiet again.
“Dammit,” he said, slapping his hand on the steering wheel. “It’s awkward and quiet again.”
I chuckled. “I don’t think we can just say we’re not going to let it get awkward. That just seems like a breeding ground for more awkwardness.”
“I’m at a point now where the word doesn’t even have meaning now. Awkward. Awkward. Aw-k-ward. What’s it called when that happens?”
“Semantic satiation,” I replied.
“Right. Awkward. Awk-a-ward. See now that it has no meaning for me, we can’t be it. Right?”
“I don’t think that’s how it works, but I appreciate your theory.
” The sign for the Thatch came into view, and he took the next right.
The big thatch roofed building on the water with the tiki torches out front, the strings of lights and the massive parking lot was like a slap in the face with a cold washcloth, in comparison to the dark isolation of the roads just a second ago.
A few people smoking or vaping milled around, huddled under a small awning around the corner from the front door to escape the rain.
“I’m going to drop you off at the front door, then go park the car so you don’t have to walk all the way across the parking lot in the rain.” He pulled up as close to the front door as he could, drawing a bit of attention from the shivering people shrouded in a cloud of smoke.
“I don’t mind walking in the rain,” I said.
He shrugged. “I’ll join you in half a sec.”
I didn’t want to argue with him, so I climbed out and hustled to the overhang of the eaves to escape the rain.
My eyes tracked his taillights as he drove further and further away to find a parking spot.
Okay, fine, my hair probably would have been wrecked if I had to walk all that way from where he finally found a spot to the front door.
Apparently, chivalry wasn’t dead.
Shivering from the wind, I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jacket and watched the curl bounce against Logan’s forehead as he ran through the parking lot, dodging puddles, toward me. My heart did a heavy thump thump again my ribcage as his smile grew wider the closer he got.
“Ready?” he asked, his cheeks rosy from the cold, as he came up beside me.
His hand fell to the small of my back again, and we headed to the front door.
Once again, he opened the door for me and let me step inside, where we were not only greeted with loud, raucous laughter, but music, warmth, and the smell of something delicious.
A two top table right near the window opened up just as we walked in, so even though there were still dirty dishes on it, we snagged it quick since the place was packed and it didn’t look like there were any other seats available.
He pulled my chair out for me and helped me remove my jacket. The butterflies in my belly hadn’t settled down at all since he showed up, but now those silly fools were swooning.
“I know I already said it,” he remarked as he took his seat, “but you look really nice.”
I tucked a loose wave behind my ear. “Thanks, you do, too. Your hair looks great.”
Clearing his throat, he beamed. “I have to tell you—because she told me I did—that Talia actually did my hair for me. She said that Brooke gushes over Clint’s hair when he has a curl over his forehead, so she made sure to give me the same.
” Now it wasn’t just the change in temperature from outside turning his cheeks pink.
“Well, she did a great job,” I said with a chuckle. “I’ll be sure to let her know the next time I see her.”