Page 72 of Embattled Return

“Yes,” she agreed softly.

“Plus, I’m going to take the LNF job.”

She blinked, then grinned. “Congratulations! That’s definitely commitment.”

“Yes,” he sighed. “I don’t know exactly what I’ll do there, but I think I could be an asset to the group.”

“Oh, I do too! Have you told John and Shannon?”

He shook his head against the pillow. “I thought you should know first.”

Marigold blinked, not sure exactly how to feel. Did the fact that he was telling her first mean that she had some significance to him? Or was he just voicing his thoughts to the only person in the room?

She must have seemed confused, because his face shut down and he seemed to retreat. “I apologize. I thought you’d want to know.”

Marigold sat up, in spite of the cold room. “I do want to know, but I guess I’m kind of at a loss. Why do you care what I think? I mean, physically we get along like gangbusters, but I thought you wanted to avoid anything emotional?”

“Yeah, fuck that,” Logan said, sitting up and leaning toward her. “I know that’s what I said before, but I don’t think it’s what I necessarily meant. If I had reliable people to commit to, I wouldn’t have an issue. My family failed me, my ex failed me.”

Marigold blinked. “What are you saying, Logan?” Her heart thudded. Emotions chased across his face. Anticipation built inside her as she watched him choose his words.

Finally, he looked at her, his brilliant eyes clear, and she had to admire the courage she could see building in his expression. “I’m waking up, literally and figuratively, and I love having you beside me, Marigold Lee. If you don’t have anything else going on, maybe you wouldn’t mind spending some time with me to see where this goes.”

Emotion tightened her throat, and she nodded. It was what she’d wanted when he first walked into the office. She hadn’t understood what she’d felt at the time, but she did now. When he leaned in for a kiss, she met him halfway. Slowly and leisurely, he worshipped her mouth, reaching out to cup her jaw and hold her to him. Marigold loved it when he took her in hand, reminding her that even damaged, he was still very much a man.

* * *

Logan lovedthe feel of Marigold in his arms. She was strong and solid, and completely competent. Her mind challenged him and her humor nudged him out of the hole he’d been in for so long. He was the happiest he’d been in a year.

That was a lot to put on another person, though, and Logan was very aware of that fact. When he would have told her that he wanted to live with her and wake up with her every morning, he clamped his jaw shut. It wasn’t fair to make her his savior, even if he did feel that way.

“Can I cook you some breakfast?”

Her dark brows arched in surprise. “Can you cook?”

“I used to be able to,” he admitted. “I would cook for the guys in the tent all the time. Just quick and easy stuff, but it was better than the MREs the Army handed out.”

“I would love for you to cook for me then. While you do that, I’ll hop in the shower.”

Good! No witness for what could be a serious mistake in judgement. “You do that.”

With a bemused smile, Marigold gave him a kiss and shuffled out of bed to the bathroom, the cheeks of her ass jiggling deliciously. Within just a few seconds he heard the shower start.

“Better get my ass in gear,” he muttered, bracing himself for the pain of moving.

She had eggs and ham in her fridge, and some really sharp cheddar. There was a bag of onions and green peppers in the freezer, and some jalepeño. Oh, that would be a good omelet.

And it turned out pretty well. It was a little darker brown than he would prefer, but when Marigold sat down at the little kitchenette table, her eyes widened appreciatively. “This looks damn good, Logan. I could get used to this.”

As he sat down at the table across from her, he decided he could as well.

“What’s on your agenda for the day?”

That made him pause, fork halfway to his lips. “Well, I guess I’d better contact Palmer and let him know I want the job and move on from there.”

“There’s more work than you would expect there,” she told him, tucking her dark hair behind her ears. “And I know Shannon loves to be the boss of everything, but she has more work than she can handle. I’ll be going in today.”

“We both will,” Logan told her.

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