Page 9 of Wanting Happily Ever After

“Or some scintillating conversation with a handsome stranger?”

She burst out laughing. “Right, or that.” He took the seat across from her while Faith piled up some of her scattered papers. “So you decided to stay in town for a bit?” She picked one of the scones off the table and broke off a piece.

“I did.” Nick crossed one leg over the other and leaned back in his chair. “There seemed to be a few compelling reasons for me to stay.”

“And what are those?”

He pretended to think for a moment before looking at her. “The mountains…Damon tells me the mountain biking is pretty great. These scones are pretty delicious…” He held it up. “And the people seem pretty all right.”

She laughed and shook her head. “The sconesaredelicious. And the mountain biking is pretty fun, if you’re into that type of thing.”

“And the people?”

She took her time answering, enjoying the casual banter. Finally, she looked at him and grinned. “Oh, I think some of the people are pretty okay.”

“Some?”

“Some more than others, for sure.”

“Maybe some of those people might be interested in going on a date?”

The bells over the door jingled again as someone new entered. Faith didn’t have to look to see who it was, because within seconds, the energy in the room shifted. The hairs on the back of Faith’s neck stood up and a heat bloomed low in her belly. Slowly she turned, and confirmed her suspicions. Logan.

When had his mere presence started to affect her so dramatically?

He was staring directly at her, and their eyes connected. In an instant, the heat in her belly rushed throughout her body, flushing her face. Faith snapped her eyes shut and spun around.

“Are you okay?” Nick’s voice was laced with concern and confusion.

She nodded and reached for her coffee. Not surprisingly, the hot liquid did nothing to ease her flush. But it did give her a moment to pull herself together and regain her composure. She was acting like a ridiculous schoolgirl. She didn’t have feelings for Logan. Hell, she didn’teverhave feelings for a man. She’d always prided herself on being and staying single.

Period.

So why was her heart racing?

“Faith?”

Nick was still staring at her. “I’m fine. Sorry.” She smiled and forced her attention on the attractive friendly man in front of her instead of the attractive antagonistic one at the counter behind her. But as hard as she tried to focus on Nick, her entire body was annoyingly tuned in to Logan.

Faith took a breath and refocused on the man in front of her. “What were you saying?”

He chuckled and leaned back a little. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Of course.” It was clearly a lie, but to his credit, Nick didn’t mention it.

“I was just asking if maybe you’d like to go out on—”

“Hi, Faith.”

She spun, the question on Nick’s lips forgotten when Logan approached.

It annoyed her to no end that she was so affected by this man, who had done nothing but drive her crazy for most of her life, particularly the last few months. But try as she might, she couldn’t seem to do a damn thing about it.

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” Without waiting for an answer, Logan pulled up a seat and stared directly at her as he sipped at his coffee.

Faith did her best to ignore him, but judging by Nick’s chuckle and the shake of his head, she wasn’t having much success.

ChapterFour

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