High-Sided (Armed & Dangerous #3)(38)

His warm hands closed over mine and I squeezed them tight. “And I felt safe with you, just like I do now.”

“Good. Because whatever’s going on with your dad, you know I’ll protect you.”

“Have you found anything else out?” I asked, keeping my voice low.

He moved closer and glanced quickly over his shoulder at the hallway. Madison was still in the bathroom. “My partner’s going to be at the Hendrix party this weekend. They’re supposed to talk one on one. He’ll be wired, so we’ll get to listen to the entire conversation.”

I gasped. “I can listen too?”

“As long as you don’t mind spending the night at my place. I don’t know what time they plan on meeting.” He bit his lip and my whole body trembled.

“I think I can manage that.”

He kissed me again and I heard Madison groan. “All right you two. We don’t have time for that. I have to win at least one game before I leave.” She sat down at the table and Logan dealt out the cards. They were about to start playing when a car door slammed out front.

I walked over to the window to see Sean walking up to the front door, his face a stony mask. “It’s Sean,” I said, glancing at them both.

Logan leaned his elbows on the table, his gaze fixed on the door. Sean knocked and I opened it, smiling as innocently as I could. He looked past me and nodded once at Logan before focusing on Madison. “Glad to see you made it off the side of the road okay.”

Her brows furrowed and I glared at her, knowing full well she’d just given me away. When she realized what was going on, she stood and glanced down at her phone. “Yeah, me too.” She pushed in her chair and held up her phone. “I hate to run, but I have a date,” she said, waving at us all. When she got up to Sean, she hugged him. “It’s good to see you, Sean. We’ll catch up later.”

She hurried off, leaving me alone in the doorway. Sean nodded toward the porch. “Can we talk?” His gaze shifted to Logan, then back to me. “Alone.”

Clearing my throat, I peered at Logan over my shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”

His jaw tensed, but he nodded. I shut the door behind me and walked down to Sean’s parked car. I didn’t know if I wanted Logan to hear whatever he was going to say, especially since I couldn’t tell if he was angry or not. The last thing I wanted was for them to get in a brawling match in my front yard.

“Why did you lie?” he asked. I could see his reflection in his car window.

I turned around and peered into his caramel colored eyes. “I didn’t know what else to do. You and Janie needed time alone. How else were you two going to get to know each other?” He stared at me for the longest time, his gaze searching mine. “Did everything go okay?” I asked nervously.

He lowered his head, lips pulling back in a smirk. “Actually, it went pretty well. We both kind of figured out what you were doing.”

“So you’re not mad?”

He shook his head and chuckled. “No. We had a good time. In fact, it was her idea to give you this.” Opening his car door, he pulled out a box and handed it to me. “She didn’t want you not to have your cake.”

It was a huge piece of my favorite chocolate cake. “See? I told you she was the best. Now do you see why I was friends with her in school?”

He nodded. “I do. We have plans to go out this Saturday. I thought maybe you and Logan could join us.”

“I wish we could, but we already have plans. Maybe we can do it one day next week?”

His arms snaked around me and I held him tight. “Are you sure this is what you want? I won’t ask again.”

“Yes,” I murmured, “this is what I want. You need to find happiness too.”

He let me go and stepped back. “Then that’s it. But I meant what I said, when I told him I’d kick his ass if he hurt you. He better not f*ck up again.”

“He won’t, I promise. Besides, I can handle myself.”

“I know, Kass. The threat still stands though.” A small smile spread across his lips as he got into his car and left. The tension between us was gone; it was a good feeling.

I watched him turn onto the street and disappear down the road, before going back inside. I thought Logan would still be at the table, but he wasn’t there. “Logan?” I called. I searched everywhere for him and couldn’t find him, until I saw him through one of my windows, laying in the hammock and looking up at the night sky.

I walked out the door and climbed in beside him. The moon and stars were so bright, they almost lit up the whole sky. That was what I loved about living away from the big cities. You could see shooting stars and on some nights, the other planets.

Beside my hot tub on the other end of my deck stood my telescope; I pointed at it. “When I was in college, Levi and I used to stay out here all night sometimes to look at the stars.” The wind picked up, swaying us back and forth.

“Did you and Sean do the same thing?” he asked, his voice low.

I glanced over at him. “Why are you asking that? You know there’s nothing going on between us.”

He shrugged. “I know, but it doesn’t change the fact he was there when I should’ve been. I’ve missed so much of your life.”

I placed my hand on his cheek, gently turning him to face me. “I missed a lot of your life too. I hate knowing you’ve done things with other women.”