Page 18 of Needing Happily Ever After

Chapter Five

Faith Turner was exhausted.Her sister Hope had only been gone a few days, on the ultimate honeymoon trip with her new husband, Levi, leaving her to run Ever After Ranch. A wedding planning company that Faith couldn’t be less qualified to run. Particularly because where her twin sister was a hopeless romantic, Faith was the exact opposite. She didn’t believe in love, or happily ever after, or any of the bullshit pomp and circumstance that went along with the farce that was an actual wedding.

Not that Hope had cared when she asked Faith to move back to Glacier Falls to help her out when she was first diagnosed with cancer. She’d needed her sister, and that’s exactly why Faith was there. For her sister. And that was it.

That was also the reason that she put up with Logan Langdon, who’d also been pressed into service to be her assistant—or general handyman, the title he preferred. And it was the only reason, because everything else about the man made her crazy and always had.

“Faith!” She shook her head as, right on cue, he called out her name from across the barn. “Are you in here?”

Of course she was. She practically lived in the barn these days. Her sister had restored and refurbished the building into a beautiful rustic facility that had become an increasingly popular destination for brides who wanted a mountain wedding experience. They were booked up for most of the summer with weddings. At least, Faith felt like it was most of the summer. Thankfully, her sister had taken pity on her before she’d left her in charge and hadn’t filled the schedule as full as she might have in a normal year.

Faith didn’t even have a second to answer Logan’s call, even if she’d wanted to, before he stormed through the building, his cowboy boots clomping obnoxiously on the hardwood.

“What’s up, Logan?” She looked up from the binder she’d been studying with all the details for that weekend’s event.

“You’re not really going to do it, are you?” The underlying thread of anger in his voice took her off guard. He liked to spool her up, sure, but he wasn’t usually angry.

Faith lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “Do what?” She was pretty sure she knew exactly what had Logan riled up, but it was too much fun to mess with him. She really hated to miss an opportunity.

Just as she’d predicted, his face grew red underneath the scruff of a beard that he’d just started to grow. Despite herself, she couldn’t help but think that it looked good on him. Logan shook his head and pulled the cap off his head before running his hands through his dirty-blond hair and pressing it back into place.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” He crossed his arms over his chest, and Faith actually had to look away. The man pushed all her buttons, and had since they were kids. But damn, he was sexy. And she wasn’t blind. “You’re not going to let them get married here,” he continued. “No way.”

“Who?” She was pushing it, and she knew it. But she never could stop herself when it came to messing with Logan. “Because I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but that’s kind of what we do here.”

“Damnit, Faith! I’m not playing,” Logan roared. “There is no way you’re letting that bullshit billionaire asshole marry my little sister here.”

There it was.

Faith released her breath slowly. He really was more fired up than she’d expected. “Damon isn’t a bad guy,” she said carefully. “And I thought you liked him, Logan. I mean, he’s been around Katie forever.”

“That was before all this bullshit about getting married.”

“So he’d be okay if he wasn’t going to marry your sister?” She tilted her head and grinned, but Logan didn’t seem to think it was as funny as she did. He growled and turned away. Faith watched as he paced across the floor to the kitchen. “He’s a good guy,” she continued. “At least from what I remember, and Katie said they’ve stayed in touch all these years and their friendship grew into something stronger. I think it’s kind of…I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Nice,” she finished lamely. After all, as far as love stories went, Katie and Damon’s wasn’t terrible. “Besides, it’s not really your choice. You know that, right?”

Logan whirled around and pointed his finger in her direction. “It doesn’t mean you have to help them.”

Faith dropped her head and sighed before pushing up from her chair and standing, her own arms crossed. “Yes, it does,” she said, knowing exactly what kind of response it would get. “She asked if she could get married here, and…well, Katie’s like family. And we have the opening. Of course she can.”

Logan stalked back across the room and stopped short in front of her. He opened his mouth to speak, but Faith cut him off.

“And it’s not just me who will be helping them.” In front of her, Logan’s face twisted, and she was fairly certain that if she looked closely enough, she’d see smoke coming from his ears as she continued. “Don’t forget that Hope and Levi put this on both of us. We will be helping them get married at Ever After.”

It might have been a step too far.

Logan took a step toward her, his fists clenched at his sides as he absorbed what she’d just said. Faith was ready for him to fire something back at her, some kind of smart-ass comment, or barb that she could easily deflect. But instead, he simply stood in front of her, his breath coming slow and only barely controlled before he shook his head and looked directly into her eyes. “I really thought that, despite everything, you of all people might understand this.”

It wasn’t his words—although those stung too—but the way he said them that hit her right in the gut. She’d underestimated how he’d reacted to the news of his baby sister getting married. As she watched his handsome face undergo myriad emotions right in front of her, she actually felt a bit bad for a minute. Maybe it had been too far.

“Logan, I—”

“I’m not helping,” he interrupted. “I don’t care what Levi and Hope wanted.” He shook his head, his face lined with a determination that Faith couldn’t help find sexy. Dammit. He really did have the craziest effect on her. “All the other weddings,” Logan continued, “I’m there for. But not this one. No way.”

“Logan, you’re being childish.”

“Am I?”

She chuckled a little. “You really are. This is Katie you’re talking about. You can’t just not be involved.”

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