then his expression shifted from shock to one of warmth. He’d lost so much more than I’d thought, more than I ever had, and it gutted me hearing it. At that point I couldn’t control my reaction if I tried, thanks to all the turmoil in my life, so I face-planted into his chest and buried my fingers in his shirt to hold him close. I was such a bitch. I’d been teasing him when he was struggling, and I felt like crap. I’d had two loving parents and he’d had no one. I’d be possessive, too. In fact, just knowing Rachel had her eyes on him tweaked my own jealousy, so who could blame him for worrying about my former boyfriend?
Logan wrapped his arms around me instantly and held on while I tried to ward off another crying bout. I took a deep breath, tried clearing my throat, even bit the inside of my cheek to stop my reaction to all Logan had lost, but nothing seemed to work until a deep voice I knew as well as my own, teased, “When she’s done crying like a girl, we need to talk.”
_______________
Skylar broke from Logan’s embrace and wiped her face free of tears, sputtering, “Shut up, Ty, I’m not crying like a girl.”
She went from shuddering in his arms to pissed off in the blink of an eye, thanks to Ty ribbing her. He would have thanked the man if it hadn’t pissed him off. He’d been able to do what Logan hadn’t, and that burned in his gut.
Logan wrapped his arm around Skylar’s waist, turning her into his body, anchoring her to him, then ran his hand down to her ass and left it there so Ty would see.
“What do you need?” The question came out rough and angry. A warning to the competition.
Ty heard the threat and raised a brow before answering. “I need to talk to you. Duke seems to be missing.”
“What do you mean Duke is missing?” At her outburst, Max immediately trotted over and leaned against her leg, expressing without words how much Duke meant to Skylar if her anxiety had spiked.
“We can’t locate him,” Ty answered. “He hasn’t reported in for duty and he’s not answering his phone.”
Logan noted Skylar was stroking Max’s head unconsciously, proving her anxiety was ramping up. After her panic attack the day before, he didn’t want her stressed again, so he searched the bar for a distraction and found customers waiting at the bar.
“He’s out fishing like he always—”
“Customers are piling up, baby. You handle the orders, and I’ll get the details.”
Skylar glanced at the bar and sighed. “But—”
Logan brushed a kiss across her lips to stop her arguing, then nudged her toward the customers. She looked back at him and Ty, concern battling with her need to handle business, then kept going.
Once she was gone, he looked at Ty and jerked his head toward the front door. Ty nodded he understood then turned and walked outside. Before following, he checked Skylar. She was filling a draft, but her brows were pulled tightly across her forehead. He hoped like hell this wasn’t another tragic loss for the James family, but he had a bad feeling in his gut. A man like Duke wouldn’t neglect his duties. Not after their talk the night before. If he were missing, there was good reason for it. He just prayed it wasn’t a deadly one.
Logan pushed through the door and looked for Ty. The air had turned colder, the blue skies grayer since the bar had opened. Snowflakes swirled on invisible threads, announcing the beginning of winter. A civilian would have worn a coat at the current temperature, but Logan was a product of the military. He’d been trained to ignore both the heat and the cold.
Ty leaned against the side of the bar and watched Logan approach. They’d avoided the topic of Skylar when they’d worked to rescue Frank that morning. Logan wouldn’t avoid it any longer after Skylar had responded to Ty instead of him. They needed the air cleared before moving on to Duke.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Logan stated as he walked up. “You need to accept it and move on. Skylar is mine now.”
Ty studied him a moment. “You can’t think or breathe when you’re around her, can you?”
Logan’s jaw twitched at the mere thought Ty felt the same about Skylar, but he answered truthfully. “It’s like she has both her hands wrapped tightly around my throat.”