Page 10 of Three Hearts Hideaway

“I’d rather not. Off you go.” Logan gestured toward the staircase.

“Not a problem at all. I don’t want to be a nuisance.” Ava grabbed her plate and a nearby napkin, then rose from her seat. “Have a good night, and thank you both again.”

The sound of her door clicking shut followed a few moments later.

Roman swatted his friend hard across the shoulder.

“What?” Logan cried out.

“You know what, you asshole. Why do you always have to be Mr. Surly? Is that how you’re going to treat all the guests we have?”

“We have things to do, and she’ll be in the way.”

“You know that’s not true.”

“So you won’t spend the entire time she’s here trying to fuck her?”

“No.” Shit. He said that a little too quickly.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“I like her. She’s cute, she’s friendly, and she’s easy to talk to.”

“You’ve known her for one day.” Logan raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you’re already head over heels for the new girl in town.”

“And if I am?”

Logan’s lips pressed together tightly while he contemplated the situation. “She can stay the night,” he huffed. “In the morning, we can work out alternate plans. We need to finish this place by January. We can’t fall behind because your dick liked what it saw.”

“Tell me yours doesn’t and I’ll make her leave right now.”

No reply.

“Exactly.”

Logan finished his last slice of pepperoni pizza and stalked off to his room.

The sense of victory that settled in Roman’s mind was quickly replaced by a small worry: If Logan found Ava attractive too, what did that mean for him?

He knew Logan would never purposely interfere with a woman he was interested in, but he couldn’t help but wonder what made Logan change his mind so quickly from letting Ava stay, to advocating for her to leave. She’d done nothing to him personally. Maybe he really was worried about keeping it in his pants. That would be a first.

If Logan wanted something, it wasn’t often that he couldn’t have it. Roman would need to make it clear that he was interested in Ava, and that was that.

Shit, that made him seem like a caveman staking his claim or something. But it was how he felt. If Ava was in town for ten days, he had a short time to get to know her and possibly win her over.

He prayed Logan wouldn’t stand in his way.

LOGAN

Morning came too fast. Normally, he had no problem waking by six. But last night, he tossed and turned, thoughts of Ava roaming free in his mind. How her wild, curly hair bounced as she walked into the kitchen. The tiny shorts that barely covered her ass. And, God—those knee-high socks she had on. What kind of outfit was that? Was she trying to give him a heart attack?

No. Not him.

Roman.

She met Roman first.

His rotten fucking luck that his best friend saw Ava first. And worse—he seemed to really like her after only half a day. So any chance he had to be with Ava in any capacity was out the window. Not that he was searching for a relationship.

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