The Billionaire's Practice Kiss - Tamie Dearen Page 0,39

better with Allegra and her crowd according to his wealth and social status, but if he weren’t careful, they would eat him for lunch. She probably shouldn’t end the relationship too quickly. She had a lot of work to do to toughen him up before he moved on to his destiny—a life far away from her.

Chapter 16

Logan found his gaze wandering repeatedly to Ellery, along with his attention. From his perspective the scar on her face was clearly visible. Funny how he didn’t notice it anymore when they were alone together. She was beautiful. End of story. He often forgot there was anything unusual about her appearance, even though he’d made a thoughtless comment the first time they’d met.

Knowing she was still self-conscious about it made him hyper-sensitive to the occasional second glances sent her way. Did she notice them, too? Would anyone else make the same mistake he’d made? Was she suffering again because he’d dragged her to another function to put himself more at ease? How had he gotten so caught up in his own social discomfort that he convinced himself this wouldn’t be awkward for her?

“You must be very boring.” Cole smirked as he nudged Jarrett’s arm with his prosthetic elbow. “I don’t think Logan heard a word you said.”

“Sorry.” Logan blinked, forcing himself to concentrate. “Did you ask me something?”

“That’s okay,” said Jarrett. “It hasn’t been that long since I was in the same boat. I couldn’t think about anything but Rylie. Love can mess with your mind, that’s for sure. But it gets better.”

“Oh, I’m not in love,” Logan hurried to assure him. “Ellery and I are…”

How could he explain it? Those five-minute kisses were definitely not in the friend zone. But Ellery had stiff-armed every attempt to redefine the relationship, insisting they couldn’t be more than that.

“We’re taking it slowly.”

“Ah!” Cole and Jarrett exchanged a look Logan didn’t quite understand. Were they laughing at him?

“If you need any advice about women, Cole’s the expert.” Jarrett’s lip twitched at the corner, a dimple hinting at a suppressed smile.

“No, I bow to the man who had two sisters fighting over him.” Cole tipped his forehead toward Jarrett. “What is your secret, O Great One? How does one win the heart of not one, but two beautiful women at the same time?”

Finn chose that moment to pause his private conversation with Bran and pipe in. “But surely you recognize the true love champion.” He pointed a thumb toward his chest. “The man who inspired a woman to face certain death simply to be in his presence.”

“I’m not sure flying on a plane qualifies as facing certain death.”

“It does when you’re phobic,” said Finn. “The doctor said her body experiences exactly the same physiological reaction as if she were dying. I’d say, none of you can top that.”

“If you’re all through fluffing your tail feathers,” said Bran, “I’d like to hear Logan’s thoughts on the new branch. We’d talked about it being sort of a creative think tank with the best minds in the business, but I think Logan has some other ideas.”

“The think tank is still in the basic plan,” said Logan, “but I’d like to see what happens when we get some top game developers in with the utility app and engineering guys. I just think they might come up with the next great thing since the smartphone.”

“Like what?” Jarrett asked

“I don’t know,” Logan said. “But whatever it is, Phantom is going to own it.”

“Makes sense to me,” Bran said. “Those guys were us, ten years ago. Look what we did when we put our minds together.”

“Exactly,” Logan said. “Not that you’ve lost your creative edge. But you have other things distracting you now, like running the company.”

“What’s this going to cost us?” Jarrett asked.

“I’ll personally guarantee this branch will be financially self-sufficient,” Logan said. “I’ve got a few apps on the back burner I can always donate to the cause.”

“I’m guessing you aren’t interested in a nice steady salary,” Finn said with a hint of sarcasm.

“You’re right. If we do this, I want a share of the profits.”

“And what happens if we don’t agree?” Bran steepled his hands, his sightless eyes staring directly at Logan’s.

A chill rippled down Logan’s spine, but he wasn’t intimidated. “I’m sure we can reach a suitable compromise. But if we can’t, I’ll go on without Phantom’s backing. I suppose we’ll find ourselves competitors.”

Cole slung an arm around his shoulder. “You know how I feel about it. Phantom’s profited from all