When You're Ready (Ready #1)(15)

That was the edited version of the story.

Continuing to measure the walls, I marked off where I needed to drill, and noticed a silence sweeping through the room. With my back turned, I could only imagine what she was thinking. I finished my markings and turned, looking up, and wondered what I said to make her so quiet. Had I scared her off already? Should I care this much if I did?

"Wow, that was a lovely resume you just told me, but how about we just cut the shit and get to some good stuff? I want to know the real you," she said smiling, offering up the challenge.

Shit, I'm in so much trouble

~Clare~

“Well. It's not like you've given me much in return,” he fired back, with a devilish grin.

He seemed astonished at first by my bold words. He wasn't the only one. I was still wondering what the hell had possessed me to demand he tell me more. He had just made me so angry. When he had been so relieved, saying that most people knew him before even meeting him, I thought maybe I would get the real Logan, something genuine. But all I got were generic resume facts about his life that anyone could find on Google. I felt a connection in that moment when he admitted something about the pressure of his life. I thought he had too, but then he had gone back to being the polished man he’d probably been raised to be. So out came my bold words and here we were.

“So, what do you have planned exactly? What do you want to know?” he asked, looking over his shoulder as he continued to work on the wall. Oh thank God he was doing this. It didn’t look too difficult, but I was pretty sure I would have already made several holes in the sheetrock.

I don’t know why but I wanted to know him, what was underneath that formal exterior. Seeing him again had solidified the connection I felt in that exam room and I knew he felt it too. But, he was pushing against it, and I didn’t know why. There was something in his past that kept him distant and I wanted to know what he was hiding under that well-formed exterior.

A plan emerged in my mind.

“Hold on, I'll be right back.” Smiling, I walked past him and headed for the kitchen. I couldn’t help but giggle when I saw his look of confusion as I walked past and exited the room.

When I returned, I held up two plastic bags in triumph.

“Jelly beans? You do know we're adults right?” he mocked.

“You may be, but I’m still deciding. Besides, one is never too old for candy. And these aren't just any jelly beans, these are Jelly Bellys. They're like candy crack.”

“Okay, so you've brought in a ton of sugar, and I’m supposed to bare my soul to you now?” he asked, amusement lighting up his face.

“Did you ever play that game in college where someone would ask a question, and if you didn't want to answer it, you had to take a shot?” I asked.

He nodded, grinning.

“Well, since it's the afternoon, and I'm a Mom and responsible and stuff, we’re going to do the jelly bean version. I'll ask a question, and you can choose to answer it, or not. If you decline, you have to eat a handful of jelly beans. The same goes for me with a question from you.”

He still looked confused.

“And why is eating a handful of jelly beans punishment?” he asked, looking at the two bags I was pouring into a clear glass bowl.

“Ah, well see...if you pass on too many questions, you'll get sick. So see, it's just like the original game, only we're subbing sugar for the alcohol.”

This earned me a laugh.

“How many handfuls do you think it takes to get sick?” he questioned.

“I think we’ll just have to risk it, and find out.”

“You’re kind of evil,” he teased, leaning across the floor to grab a bracket looking thing to screw into the wall. His shirt lifted from the movement, and caught myself biting my lip in response. The infomercial “Abs of Steel” flashed in my memory as I tried not to drool.

“You don’t know the half of it.” I said.

Flirting. Well, at least I could still do that.

~Logan~

"I can ask you anything?" I said, glancing toward Clare as she settled into a pink bean bag chair on the floor with the massive bowl of jelly beans wedged in her lap. She clearly had given up on helping, which I was very grateful for. Seeing her whirl around a hammer was a scary sight. I'm all for gender equality, but Maddie was right, she was definitely missing the home improvement gene.

She nodded, then smiled with confidence. "Yep, anything. Ask away."

"All right. What's your favorite color?" I quickly asked before turning back to the wall to check the progress of the brackets I’d just drilled. Total silence filled the air again.

Shit, what did I do this time?

"Seriously? You suck at this game!" I heard her say, before turning back around to get a jelly bean tossed at my head.

“Green, try again."

"Wait, green what?" I was totally confused. I'd known this woman for all of three seconds and she had told me I suck and was chucking jelly beans at my head. I didn’t know whether to laugh, or worry that my ego is going to be irreversibly damaged.

"My favorite color. It's green," she clarified.

“Ah, I should have known. It matches your eyes."

Looking stunned, a beautiful blush crept up her face before she composed herself and continued.