Mad Enough to Marry - By Christie Ridgway Page 0,49

is acting foolishly," he said.

"Uh, well..."

**We have a dinner at the club tonight," Jonathon said, his expression thunderous. *'A business dinner."

"Maybe Mom's tired of business dinners," Logan ventured. *'You might want to—"

**I don't have time for this," Jonathon said over him. **Unlock the door for me, Logan."

Logan automatically shoved his hand in his pocket, but when his fingers encountered metal, he hesitated. '*Sorry, Dad." He shrugged. *'I left my set of keys inside."

Jonathon's frown deepened. He banged on die door again. "Laura. Laura, we have the Redwells—George and Tanya—at 7:00!"

When there was no response, he muttered to himself and looked down at his watch. Then his head slowly came up and the gleam in his eye was speculative. ''You could come with me, Logan."

He rolled his eyes. "Dad, forget the Redwells. Mom has moved out. Do you grasp that?"

His father waved a hand. "We'll work through it. But George Redwell has always had a soft spot for you. With your help I can nail him down on that new contract."

Logan inhaled a long breath. "I don't work for Chase Electronics anymore. Dad, remember?"

His father made another dismissive gesture with his hand. *'Haven't you played tinker toys long enough? Come on, son. What you're doing here isn't important. Let's go out to dinner, talk real business, and—"

**Logan?" Suddenly, Elena's door was flung open and she poked her head out. *'Could you come in here, please?"

Surprised, he merely stared at her for a moment. He'd thought nothing short of another earthquake in Strawberry Bay would shake her out of that apartment for a face-to-face with him.

* 'Logan?'' Her face was flushed but her gaze rested squarely on his face.

"About dinner—" his father started.

*'Sorry, Dad—" Logan grinned as Jonathon started to sputter "—but Beauty calls." He was inside Elena's apartment before the old man could manage another word.

Logan shut the door behind him, then strode directly to Elena and took her face between his hands. He laid a smacking kiss on her lips. "Thank you for that."

She broke away from him. "Thank Gabby," she said, avoiding his eyes again. "She heard a commotion in the hall."

Gabby was doing homework at the card table and smiled when Logan walked over and bent down to kiss her loudly on top of the head. "Thank you. Gabby."

She caught his hand for a moment. "She's fiill of baloney," she whispered to him. "We both heard the

commotion, and she couldn't get to the door fast enough. By the way, though, what you've done with this place is important."

He stilled, looking back at her. This time he noticed Gabby wasn't doing school work after all, but was instead sketching in a spiral-bound pad. Her subject was Elena again, caught staring off into space, her usual energy and take-me-or-leave-me attitude absent. It was Elena quiet, her mouth soft, her eyes almost... yearning.

He glanced at the stiff shoulders and straight spine of the real-life Elena, standing with her back toward him as she rummaged through her tote bag. Then he again studied the drawing that revealed a so-much-more vulnerable woman.

It was Elena through Gabby's—an artist's—eye, an eye that saw beneath the layers. It was the same kind of vision that he had for this house and others like it. His eyes pierced the shell built up over the years to see the true beauty beneath.

''Yeah," he said, smiling at Gabby. *'I know. It's important."

As was this moment with Elena. He strolled over to her, then took her shoulders to spin her toward him. '*I didn't get the chance for a proper hello."

When she instantly backed up, he let her go, stung by another rejection. Hell, what was the point, he thought, frustrated again as he studied her beautiful, but suspicious face. Maybe there was no good reason to pursue this. She was too wary, too much work.

He glanced away, his eye catching on Gabby's

sketch. Suddenly a dozen memories of the night before swamped him: The velvety skin of the concave curve of Elena's belly, the sound of her breathy moans, the feel of her shuddering against his hands.

He'd buried those memories with the irritation and frustration he'd felt when she'd left without seeing him that morning. He'd been letting her tough shell get in the way of remembering how good it had been with her last night. But Gabby's sketch reminded him that Elena was more, much more, than the thorny protection she wore.

Calmer now, Logan smiled at her. So what that she'd been busy reconstructing all her barriers? Last night