“Everything okay?” Logan asked, walking up from behind. She hadn’t heard the door to the kitchen open, or his footsteps as he approached. No wonder she jumped when he pressed his lips against her cheek.
“Everything’s fine,” she told him, her voice low.
“Great.” Logan smiled, pressing his palm to her shoulder. “We should be bringing out the first courses in a moment. I want you to try a taste of everything. Be honest about what you think, okay? The feedback’s important. We need to get the menu just right.”
The way he was looking at her made her feel better. Like a cool balm to her heated anger. “Of course.” She smiled.
“Everything all right?” Logan frowned.
“Yeah, I just need the bathroom.” She glance down at her stomach. “Occupational hazard.”
He took her arm and they walked over to the heavy teak doors on the far side of the room. “You sure you’re okay?” he asked her, pushing the ladies’ room door open. He slid his other hand down to her stomach, caressing her abdomen.
Just that simple touch was enough to make her body heat up.
“I’m fine. Just getting used to things, that’s all.”
He glanced back to the table, where the starters were being brought out. “Okay.” He pressed his lips to her brow. “I’ll be back at the table. Unless you’d prefer me to wait here?”
He was so damn sweet she could almost taste it. “I’m good. You have a lot to do, please don’t worry about me.”
He kissed her again and walked away, grinning at a tall man who stopped to shake his hand. Her stomach flipped again. He was so relaxed yet in control at the same time. It was a different side of him. One she didn’t get to see in Hartson’s Creek. Logan was in his element.
And he was leaving it all behind for her.
Swallowing hard, she walked into the bathroom, waiting for the door to close behind her before she leaned her brow against the cool, tiled wall. How long did a tasting last anyway?
Chapter Twenty-Four
It was past midnight by the time they finally left the restaurant. Logan circled his neck to try to loosen the knots that had formed from leaning over the menu, going through it point by point with Ryan, as they made tiny adjustments and notes, before agreeing on the final product.
The air outside was bitter. A wind had picked up, coming in from the water and whipping against their faces. He slid his arm around Courtney to shield her from the worst of it as he unlocked his car, bending down to open the low-profile passenger door and helping her inside.
When he climbed into the driver’s seat, he started the ignition, then leaned forward to turn the heat up to full blast.
“You’re quiet,” he said. “Was it really boring?”
She turned to catch his eye. Damn, she was so beautiful, sometimes it hurt to look at her. Especially when he needed two hands on the wheel instead of on her body.
“No, not boring,” she said. “I was watching you, that was all.”
“Should I be worried?” he asked lightly.
She laughed. “I don’t think so. You’re very good at what you do. Everybody you come into contact with immediately relaxes in your presence. Did you know that?”
He looked out of the windshield as he pulled into the road, a smile playing at his lips. “No, I didn’t.” He liked the way she said it, though. It made his stomach twist a little. “I guess I just enjoy what I do.”
“You’ll miss it,” she said. It wasn’t a question.
He nodded. “Yeah, I will. It’s been part of my life for a long time. It’s who I am. You can’t just shrug that off and walk away without it affecting you.” It felt so easy to be honest with her. He wasn’t sure he’d been this open with anybody before. Not even Cam.
“Like with football,” she said softly.
“What do you mean?” He turned left into the parking lot of his apartment building.
“When you got injured and had to stop playing. That had been who you were, too. And you had to reinvent yourself, become this new person with new goals and ambitions.”
He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She was gazing out of the window into the darkness, her face heavy with thought. Swallowing hard at the memories of his injury, he opened the driver’s window and keyed in the code to the underground garage.
“I guess there are some similarities,” he conceded as he drove into the dark lot. “But I’m older now. And there are a few very good compensations for changing direction.” He pulled into his space and put the car into park, turning to look at her. “Like you. And our baby.”
She didn’t look convinced. “I’m worried you’ll regret it.”
“Regret what?” His brows dipped.
“Regret giving this up.” She waved her arm around. “Your life. Your job. Your friends. You can never have something like this in Hartson’s Creek. Sure, you can do something different. Like Dan and Ellie have. But what if you move back home and realize what you’ve lost? And wish you hadn’t.”
“I’m not moving back to Hartson’s Creek to lose something,” he told her, his voice thick. “I’m moving because I want to gain something. You. Our baby. Watching him or her grow up. Don’t get me wrong, this is what I thought I wanted. And if I could have this and you, then I’d do that. But I can’t. I have to make a choice. And I choose you.” He pulled his phone from his pocket. “I’ve even been sent some houses to look at.” He reached for his phone. “Want to see?”
“Sure.”
He unlocked his phone and scrolled through it, bringing up an image on the screen. She recognized it immediately. “That’s one of the new builds on Creek Road.” She’d seen the prices, too. A cool million and a half for a house overlooking the water.
“Yeah.” He nodded, pulling up the
