We had gotten her everything she needed. Clothes, underwear, shoes, and toiletries.
Logan reached for the bags Maia was carrying. “Let me help you with those.”
I smiled at the way she watched his every movement with big round eyes, completely fascinated by him, before I let us into my flat. They followed me inside to the guest room, and I dumped the bags on Maia’s bed. Logan followed suit, and he took in the room. “This is nice. Do you like it, Maia?”
“It’s really nice,” she agreed quietly.
“Oh, here.” I dug in my purse for his credit card and handed it to him. Our eyes met, and he gave me this little smirk. I laughed. “Don’t worry. We were kind.”
His smirk turned into a tired smile, and I ignored the little pang of feeling it produced in my chest. “I’m sure you were. Have you guys had lunch? I thought I could take you out.”
“We haven’t. But you know… I’ve got some work to do. Why don’t you take Maia?”
We locked gazes again, and that little pang I felt quadrupled at the gleam of gratitude in his eyes. “That sounds great. What do you think, Maia?”
She nodded, and I could see her trying to mentally bat away her nerves like she had done in our landing yesterday when she’d confronted Logan. My gosh, was that only yesterday?
“What do you fancy?” Logan said as he guided her out of the room.
“Um… a cheeseburger?”
“Oh, my kind of food, girl. I know where we can get a good burger.”
“Have fun!” I called after them.
Maia gave me a wave at the door, and Logan lifted his chin toward me in what I assumed was a macho good-bye. When the door closed behind them, I bit my lip.
What the hell was I doing?
“What the hell are you doing?” Aidan yelled.
I winced and pulled my phone away from my ear.
“Grace? Grace!”
“I’m here,” I snapped. “Stop yelling before you blow out my eardrum.”
“I was shouting at my teammate, who is acting like a complete arse,” he said. “Sorry. I’m in the locker room. Anyway, I probably should be yelling at you. Would you like to explain to me what on earth made you think it was a good idea to take in a strange homeless girl who may or may not be your annoying next-door neighbor’s long-lost daughter?”
I’d decided it was best to call Aidan and let him in on my current situation, because he’d be pissed off at me if he found out about it much later. However, I was now rethinking that decision.
“Well, when you say it like that, it sounds nuts.”
“Because it is nuts.”
“Look, they needed my help.”
Aidan grunted at that. “I’m coming over to meet them.”
I frowned at the thought. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Maia is overwhelmed as it is.”
“I’m sorry this girl is going through all this and I think it’s amazing that you want to look out for her, but I’m looking out for you. I’ll be over at yours in a bit to meet them. No arguments.”
I smiled because it wasn’t so bad having someone care about me. “Fine. But I’m not feeding you.”
He was quiet a moment. “But I’ll be hungry.”
I snorted, knowing he was pouting like a little boy on the other end of the line. “Fine. I’ll feed you.”