Catch of a Lifetime: A Cricket Creek Novel (23 page)

“Logan!” She fisted her hands on her hips, looking all feisty and flustered, and damn if he didn’t want to kiss her.

He shrugged. “I’m just sayin’. I thought Ty was all into Jessica, but I haven’t seen them together lately. Do you know anything about that?”

“Some.”

“Has Jessica been in a pissed-off mood too?”

“Not pissed off. Jessica doesn’t really get that way. Just, I don’t know . . . sad.” She looked down at the floor and sighed.

“You’re worried about Jessica, aren’t you?” Logan clicked
mute
on the remote and gave her his full attention.

“Yeah.” Bella looked across the room at him with stormy eyes. “I know she wants to be with Ty and she just won’t give in. It’s driving Madison nuts too.”

“I can tell that you care,” he said quietly.

“Jess has been like a mother to me. I want to see her happy.”

“What do you think is holding her back?”

“Fear. She’s been hurt. I can relate,” Bella said darkly. “Oh, and speaking of mothers—mine is coming in for the game Saturday.”

Logan raised his eyebrows. “Will she be staying here?”

“Yes.” Bella nibbled on her bottom lip.

“Bella, you have told her about me, right?”

“She knows I have a roommate.”

“A guy roommate?”

Bella lifted one shoulder slightly. “Not so much.”

“Bella! Don’t you think that’s a detail you should have told her?”

“It just never came up in the conversation, okay?”

Logan slammed his feet down onto the floor. “No, it is definitely not okay.”

“She’s my mother. I will handle it.”

Logan narrowed his eyes.

“Are you ever going to put a shirt on?”

He arched one eyebrow. “Does it turn you on?”

“No!” she sputtered.

“Then why do you care?”

Her chin came up. “I don’t. Forget I mentioned it.”

Logan grinned. “I think you do.”

She stomped her foot. “I don’t! You could be naked, for all I care.”

“Really?” He stood up and put his hands on the waistband of his shorts.

“Oh, stop! What are you—twelve?”

“Inches?”

“Oh, in your dreams!” She gave him a head bop.

“In
your
dreams . . .” He arched one eyebrow.

“Yeah, right! You are getting under my skin something fierce!”

“Oh, I bet you’d like me under your skin.”

“You are so . . .
cocky
!” she said between clenched teeth.

“Wanna see?”

“Oh, my God!” She raised her palms upward. “I’ve got to get out of here.” She turned and marched out of the room.

“Where are you going?” he called after her.

“Away from your adolescent crap.”

Logan plopped back down onto the sofa and sighed. “Well, that little plan sure didn’t work,” he muttered. He sat there for a minute and frowned down at his stomach when it rumbled.
Maybe Bella will go with me for a bite to eat,
he thought. But when she failed to reappear, he figured she must have had a change of heart. With another dejected sigh, Logan picked up the remote and was about to turn the sound up when Bella walked into the room.

“Holy shit,” Logan whispered when he got a look at what she was wearing. He was used to seeing her in her all-black hostess uniform or in sweats around the condo. And he had seen her in the hot little dress at Jessica’s birthday party. But seeing her in low-slung, tight jeans and a body-hugging blue sweater had him all but swallowing his tongue. The V-neck showed off the soft swell of her breasts, and a delicate silver necklace shimmered against her skin. To top it off, she wore some sexy-ass black heels that made him want to groan.

“Why are you groaning? No more
South Park
on tonight?”

Oh, shit. I really did groan.
“Very funny,” he replied sullenly. “Where are you going dressed like that?” he demanded.

“Jeans and a sweater?”

He pointed to her shoes. “And those ridiculous heels! And your boobs are hanging out.”

“These are Kate Spade shoes and my
boobs
are not hanging out!”

“Where are you going?” he asked again.

“Who are you, my mother?”

Logan didn’t think he was capable of blushing, but damned if he didn’t feel heat creep up his neck. “You’re just a barrel of laughs tonight.”

“Well, you’re sure not. I’m going over to Sully’s, if you must know.”

“Sully’s? Oh no, you’re not.”

“Excuse me?” She put her hand on one jutted-out hip.

“Dressed like that?”

“Jeans and a sweater?” she repeated and shook her head up at the ceiling. “And here I thought my mother wasn’t coming until this weekend.”

“Bella, this isn’t a birthday party at Sully’s. This time of night there will be lots of local dudes playing pool and getting their drink on. At Noah’s insistence, Coach McKenna
gave us the day off tomorrow, so there will be lots of ballplayers there, whooping it up.”
And hitting on you,
Logan thought with a grimace. “It’s not like happy hour in a martini bar in Chicago. Things can get a little rough.”

“Pete keeps an eye on things. Come on, Logan. You’re being unreasonable,” she accused, but he saw a little flash of uncertainty in her eyes and he knew she wasn’t as confident as she wanted him to believe. And while he might be a bit overprotective, he wasn’t all that out of line. Sully’s was a honky-tonk bar, and on a typical Thursday night it could indeed get rough. Not a place for high heels and French nails.

“Fine, but I’m going with you.”

“The hell you say!” she sputtered, and then she grinned. “Wow. I’m already starting to sound like I’m from here.”

“But you’re not.”

“I’m outta here,” she said with a flip of her hair.

“Wait for me!” Logan jumped to his feet.

“No, Logan. I don’t . . . Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked when Logan grimaced and grabbed his thigh.

“Nothing,” he lied through gritted teeth. He had a sudden charley horse that was killing him. But Logan was so conditioned to ignore pain that it was still difficult for him to admit the agony the hard knot was causing. Giving in to pain was considered weakness by his father. “I’m fine,” he tried to say in a normal voice, but it came out gruff with suppressed pain. “It’s just a little cramp. It’ll pass.” He waved her off. “Go on to Sully’s. I’ll be over there in a little while.”

“Logan, sit your butt down.”

“I’m fine.”

“Would you stop! You’re in obvious pain. Sit down and tell me what to do to make it go away.”

“Go on! You’re hell-bent on getting out of here. It’ll pass,” he said, but had to grit his teeth to keep from moaning. Damn, this was a bad one. “Just too much of a workout. When I stood up so quick, my leg cramped up.”

“Damn you, Logan!” Bella’s heels clicked on the hardwood floor as she hurried over to him. “Sit down.” She gave his chest a gentle shove and he gratefully complied. “Prop your leg up and tell me what you need to make it better,” she added in a gentle tone.

Logan leaned back against the cushion when a muscle spasm caused white-hot pain to shoot up his leg. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard.

“Oh, my God,” Bella said when she felt the hard knot in his thigh. “Will massaging it help?”

“Yeah,” he admitted with a choppy nod.

Bella knelt down on the floor, but when she started massaging the knotted muscle, he jerked and couldn’t suppress a low moan. “Oh, God, I’m hurting you!”

“Not your fault,” he managed, and tried to grin but failed. A bead of sweat rolled from his temple. He felt queasy and had to clench his jaw in an effort not to moan.

“Please tell how to make it better. Heat? Ice?” she asked, and the slight tremble in her voice went straight to his heart. Logan had plenty of trainers tend to his injuries, but the caring tone of her voice helped him to relax like a shot of sweet Southern Comfort. “Heat,” he said, but then a sudden spasm cut off the rest of his sentence. “
Ahh
, shit!” he growled, and pushed his shoulders against the cushions.

“Oh, Logan!” The distress in her voice had him opening his eyes and looking at her.

“Sorry. I’m being a puss.”

“Shut up! I’d be crying like a baby,” she said, but her tone was tender. “There’s a fucking knot the size of a golf ball in your thigh. Give yourself a break! Do you have a heating pad?”

He nodded. “In my bedroom beneath the bed. I’m—” He had to pause to catch his breath. “I’m probably low in potassium. It got warm this afternoon and I most likely—
ahh
—sweated out too much fluid. There are sports drinks in the fridge.”

Bella pushed up to her feet. “I’m on it.”

“Thank you.” When she hurried off, he managed to admire her shapely butt in the tight jeans, even through the haze of pain. While he detested this show of weakness, he had to admit that her concern felt damned good. It might not be the best time in either of their lives to fall in love, but something was happening between them. They could fight it all they wanted, but the more he was around Bella, the stronger the feelings got, and he knew she felt the same way. These feelings went deeper than mere sexual attraction. He liked Bella’s company. She made him laugh but she had a serious side that made for lively debate and conversation. She was feisty and tough but had a soft side that made him want to protect her at any cost. He might have known her for only a few weeks, but it sure didn’t feel that way. In fact, he didn’t think he could handle not having her in his life.

Holy shit, he just might be falling for her.

Okay,
he admitted to himself,
not might.
He was. And he hadn’t even slept with her. Damn, the image of Bella in his bed had him groaning—and not in pain.

“Oh, here I come.” Bella heard Logan’s moan and hurried toward the sofa, almost tripping in her heels. With a curse she toed off the shoes and handed him the Gatorade.

“Thanks.” He untwisted the lid and took a long swig.

“Drink it all.” When he put the bottle on the coffee table, she picked it up and handed it back to him.

“Bella, I’ll try, but my stomach is doing flip-flops.”

“Oh!” She gave him a sympathetic grimace and still managed to look beautiful. “Okay, but try to sip it, then.” She knelt down and plugged in the heating pad, then gently placed it on his thigh. “I sure hope this helps.”

“It’s already easing up. The fluids and the heat will do the trick. If you want to leave, I’ll be fine,” he offered, but hoped she wouldn’t.

Bella gave him a firm shake of her head. “No. I’m not leaving you like this! What do you take me for?”

“A warmhearted, caring person,” he said, and meant it.

She looked from the dial she was adjusting, and he had trouble figuring out how damned David could ever cheat on someone as amazing as Bella. “Thank you, Logan.”

They were so used to bantering back and forth that this unexpected serious moment took them both by surprise. Although neither of them verbally acknowledged it, their gazes locked briefly and something shifted between them.

“I’m only speaking the truth,” he said, and the pain started to subside. Logan knew the Gatorade and heat were helping, but her gentle concern eased a hurt that wasn’t physical. The two of them were bruised and battered in more ways than one, but Logan felt a sense of peace settle over him. Yes, he wanted to make it back to the major leagues, but for the first time in his life, baseball, winning . . . they were taking a backseat to something more meaningful and lasting. He felt some of the constant pressure ease up, and he smiled.

“Better?” Bella asked.

“Yeah, it’s gonna be all right,” Logan said, but he wasn’t really talking about the knot in his leg. “You can head on over to Sully’s now.”

She looked at him for a second, and his heart thudded in his chest. “No, I’ll wait for you.”

He grinned. “Good.”

“Not that I need you for protection or anything. I can take care of myself. You owe me dinner after all this waiting-on-you-hand-and-foot stuff.” She gave him one of her hair flips, but he wasn’t buying it. She busied herself slipping on her sandals.

“You need to get ya some cowboy boots instead of those silly-ass shoes,” he said with a shake of his head.

“Oh, would you just shut up about my shoes and put on some clothes? I’m hungry.”

“Are you seriously going to walk all the way to Sully’s in those things? They’ve got to hurt your feet.”

Bella looked down at her feet. The shoes were gorgeous but pinched her toes. She thought about it for a second. “I’ll be fine.”

Logan raised his eyebrows. “Okay, but don’t ask me to carry you home when your feet are killing you,” he warned, but his threat was empty. In fact, he hoped her cute little dogs would be barking so loud that she begged him to carry her.

And he would. Gladly.

“H
ere,” Madison said, and shoved a bottle of Midol in Jessica’s hand.

“What’s this for?”

Madison raised her eyebrows. “You mean you’re not PMSing?”

“No!” Jessica answered, and leaned one hip against the counter. The diner was closed, but she couldn’t bring herself to head upstairs to her silent, lonely apartment.

“Hmm . . .”
Madison tapped the side of her cheek. “I wonder what your problem could be. I wonder if it could be the same thing that’s been making Ty a total grump.”

Jessica stopped straightening up the already pristine counter. “He’s been grumpy?” she asked casually, but flicked Madison a glance.

“Mom, that’s an understatement. Jason said that Ty bit his head off yesterday, and then, of course, apologized. Ty’s not usually a grumpy sort.” Madison sighed and gave Jessica a pointed look.

“I’m sure it’s just pre–opening day nerves.”

“Just who are you trying to fool? Yourself? Because you’re not fooling me.”

Jessica remained silent since she didn’t have a reply that made any sense.

“Mom, why are you fighting this?” Madison persisted. “It’s making you miserable, and that’s just not your personality either. That’s got to tell you something. What in the world are you waiting for?”

“I’m waiting until I’m ready to take that step.”

“Waiting?” Madison sputtered. “That’s just stupid.”