Mad Enough to Marry - By Christie Ridgway Page 0,24

didn't know what else to say. Afraid to look into Logan's golden eyes again, she let her gaze wander over his shoulder. "Oh! Gabby and Tyler are here tonight too."

They hadn't spotted her, Elena thought, because they were looking awfully chunmiy, shoulder-to-shoulder and their hands entwined. Prolonged physical contact between them was rare when they were around her, and she'd found their casualness reassuring. They were going their separate ways come September, after all.

As she watched now, though. Gabby and Tyler turned toward each other and kissed. It wasn't so much sensual as sweet, but then again it wasn't the least bit casual, either. A nervous chill rolled down Elena's spine as the teenagers' kiss deepened.

"Oh, no," she muttered. So much for her carefree Friday night.

**What's the matter?" Logan turned his head to follow her gaze. Then he turned back. **You've never seen them kiss?"

Elena shook her head. "Not quite like that."

**It worries you," Logan said, a statement, not a question.

**I—" She hesitated, realizing that without even thinking, she'd almost shared with him her concerns about Gabby and Tyler. It was uncommon for her to tell anyone, even Annie, about her troubles. She hated people thinking she was vulnerable to anything.

**You...?" Logan prompted.

Elena couldn't seem to keep her thoughts to herself. 'T really like Tyler, I do. Have you seen his artwork?"

Logan nodded. **I saw the painting of his that hung next to Gabby's at the art show. I've also seen a piece of sculpture he did. My family knows his and my mother bought it for her sitting room last year."

**In the fall he'll go to the Acton School."

Logan let out a low whistle. 'The art school? It's hard to get a spot there from what I understand."

Another chill rolled down Elena's spine. **Gabby was accepted there as well."

He was silent a moment. *'But she chose pre-med at Berkeley."

Elena nodded.

'T don't understand the problem, then."

She glanced over his shoulder at the younger couple. The kiss was over, they weren't holding hands any longer, and a friend of Gabby's had joined them

at the table. They looked like typical, teenage boyfriend and girlfriend again. Nothing more serious.

*'You're right," she said, glad now that she'd confided in Logan. 'There isn't a problem. Kids that age don't make lasting, um, connections with someone from the opposite sex,"

He turned his head to look toward Gabby and Tyler's table again. "Is that right?"

"You know." She'd feel even better once Logan agreed with her. ' 'They have their whole lives ahead of them. They can't possibly feel anything very strongly for each other."

"Is that right?" he repeated.

She frowned at him. "Gabby wouldn't allow it. They're going to be hours away from each other and she has years of schooling ahead of her."

"Pre-med." Logan watched her face closely.

"Right."

The lights flickered on and off, indicating the second feature was about to start. People streamed past them, heading back toward their tables. He released her hand. "Did you want something else before the next movie? More popcorn? Anything?"

Peace of mind would be good. Elena darted her glance toward Gabby and Tyler again. "Gabby wouldn't allow it," she said again. "She's too sensible."

As the room plunged into darkness, Logan's soft words reached her ears. "The one thing I've finally learned, Elena, is that our feelings rarely listen to our good sense."

His voice, the sentiment, they both made another shiver roll down her back. She should have never come with him tonight. Not only hadn't it freed her from her usual concerns, but Logan had managed to add to them.

Consequently, Elena didn't remember one scene of the second movie or even its title. She merely sat through it, her mind preoccupied with her worries about her sister. Of course, Logan was still able to distract her senses, especially when he slid his fingers through hers again and held her hand lightly.

She could have disengaged, but...she didn't, not until her watch told her it was time to tend the egg babies. Under cover of the darkness, she "fed" them, which basically meant holding them each for a short amount of time and recording it in her journal.

But even standing outside her apartment door at the Victorian, disengaging from Logan didn't get any easier. As she searched in her purse for her keys, instead of moving on to his own apartment, he propped one shoulder against the wall and watched.

Of course, that only made the dam keys more elusive.

She frowned at him. **Stop that," she hissed.

Oh, he tried to look innocent. **Stop what?"

She