reassure him. 'Do you…' Afraid to say want or stay or go, I hesitated. 'Do you need me to stay?'
The seconds that passed felt like an eternity. Stevie didn't respond. Logan offered a single word, tersely spoken.
'Yes.'
A quiet evening passed after the initial drama. With Stevie settled on the couch beside me, Logan stepped outside to make several rounds of calls. From his inspection of the house and a few words exchanged between us, I knew that Mrs. Logan's suitcase and all the clothing she had brought with her were gone.
At nine o'clock, we started getting Stevie ready for bed. At ten, we both tucked him in. I didn't promise Stevie I would be there when he woke up. With the stony looks Logan kept throwing my way, I wasn't sure I would be allowed to remain once Stevie fell asleep. Neither did Stevie ask me to stay, but I could see the question lingering in his gaze.
I kissed him goodnight, told him I loved him. Choking on unshed tears, I stopped short of saying anything else and left his room while Logan finished tucking him in.
Retreating to the kitchen, I put away the clean dishes. I had just finished when Logan came into the room. His approach silent as a tomb, he stood there and said nothing, but I could feel him. My own emotions raw, I tried to outlast his silence.
I failed, of course, and turned to find him glaring at my back. A switch flipped inside my head, leaving me suddenly angry. 'You're looking at me like this is my fault!'
I bit the words out, trying hard to keep my voice at the level of a whisper and not cause any more drama for Stevie.
Logan took three long strides across the room and then his hand locked around my wrist. Insistent, but not rough, he led me to his bedroom. My gaze nervously scanned the floor as if those lacy red panties of Mrs. Jones might jump out from under the bed and bite me.
Standing me in front of the dresser, Logan pointed at the top left drawer then placed its key in my hand. I knew it had a lock, but the contents had never warranted securing it.
My fingers clutching the key until its teeth dented my skin, I crossed my arms over my breasts. 'What, you want me to fold your socks?'
'Open it, Lilliput.'
I blinked.
Lilliput.
Logan hadn't addressed me directly all evening. I had been terrified that when he finally did, I would only hear Lillian.
Chewing my bottom lip, I complied in broken steps. I lowered my shaking hand to the drawer, metal bouncing against metal as I twice failed to properly insert the key into the lock. On the third time, I succeeded but my hand froze.
'Lily…'
I couldn't decide if his voice was sensual or cautionary as he spoke my name — probably both. I pulled the drawer open, my torso leaning away as if the contents might be explosive. Nothing filled the inside except a small, white satin box.
I wrapped my hand around the drawer's lip, paralysis settling into my flesh. I felt the caress of Logan's fingers across the back of my hand and then the warm brush of his breath along my neck.
'Open it.'
Acquiescing to the request, I lifted the box from the drawer. Pinching its bottom, I tugged the lid up. As if it sensed my anticipation, the hinge resisted then opened suddenly with a snap. Inside, a diamond solitaire rested atop another layer of white silk.
It looked like an engagement ring. But it couldn't be. Could it?
'I knew I couldn't get you back with Marie still in the house. I told her yesterday she had a week to find someplace to live.'
Marie?
I stared at him dumbfounded for a few seconds before I remembered Mrs. Jones first name. Only slightly less confused, I continued to stare. He wrapped his hand around mine, stopping the tremble that threatened to send the ring and silk spilling onto the floor.
'I never thought she would pull something like this.'
When I remained mute, he snorted in exasperation. 'Baby, say something.'
Hearing the endearment, I started to sway. I jiggled the box. 'Why are you showing me this?'
'I want to marry you.' No reproach shadowed his tone. Neither did he sound like he was talking to the stupidest person on the planet despite the distinct possibility that might be the case. 'Lily?'
His voice carried a sharp, worried edge and I realized the room was spinning. His arms wrapped around me and he led me to the bed. Taking the box with its ring away, he sat next to me, his hand urging my head between my legs before I had the chance to faint.
Marriage?
Neither one of us had so much as said the word love yet. Did that mean he wanted to marry me but didn't love me?
'Breathe, baby.'
Right, I'd forgotten to and the failure only made the room spin faster. I sucked a lungful of oxygen in. His hand stroked up and down my back, the gesture and my dizziness provoking a sense of deja vu. Only a month ago we had been sitting in the front room, my body shaking and my mind in shock while he tried to calm me.
'I love you, Lily.' His other hand cupped my knee and gently tugged to widen the spread of my legs so he could guide my head between them, encouraging the blood to flow back to my numb brain. 'I wanted to go slower, but you have to know where I'm headed. For your sake and Stevie's.'
It hit me then. Not only was Logan asking me to be his wife, he wanted me to be a mother to his son. Tilting my head, I looked across his lap to where the jewelry box rested atop the bedspread.
'When did you get that?'
'The same morning Marie showed up.'
I let my head sink a little closer to the floor. 'When the two of you were out, I brought some laundry in here.'
He rubbed my back, waiting for me to continue. Was I really about to suggest he slept with Mrs. Logan on the same morning he bought my engagement ring?
'Her suitcases were in here.'
'I didn't know that until after you left. She slept in the guest room the whole time.'
'A pair of her panties…under the bed…' My eyes snapped shut, my mouth, too.
He stopped rubbing. I opened my eyes and turned my head just enough to look at him.
'I didn't fuck her, if that's what you think.'
'I know.' I studied his face, not looking for a lie but anger at the accusation. 'At least I do now — but I couldn't think straight that day.'
I tried to sit up. A fuzzy gray void of nothing crept toward the center of my vision. Logan caught me as I started to fall to the side.
'Lie back, Lilliput.' He moved me up the bed, taking the pillows from under my head and propping them under my feet. Resting on his side, he stroked my cheek. 'You don't have to answer today or this week or this month.'
He kissed my forehead, his other hand curling around the top of my head to caress my temple. He wiped a tear of mine, making me realize I had started crying again. 'I just need to know there's a chance you'll say yes, love.'
'It's only been a little while,' I whispered, eyes closed while I tried to capture my thoughts.
'Less than a month of sex,' Logan agreed. 'A hell of a lot longer wanting you, plus five years of knowing you, seeing how funny and smart, caring and loving-'
He choked on the last word and stopped talking. His hands stopped moving and I felt the press of his head against the mattress. I knew he was done talking. He'd put himself out there, said he loved me, risked rejection and
