Page 23 of Annika's Aurora

“What if they are happy tears?”

“Well, those are okay, I guess.”

“I wonder what Jamie would have done if he’d caught us that day?”

Logan didn’t share in her laughter. He looked pensive instead. “I can’t believe I forgot. About a week after that time at the lake, he asked me if there was something going on between you and me. I assured him there wasn’t. He muttered something, and I swear he said, ‘Too bad.’” They shared a sad smile as their thoughts turned to Jamie. She had wondered what Jamie would have thought of her and Logan as a couple. It eased her mind to hear that he may have wanted it for them.

They grew quiet then, Annika resting her head on his chest. After a few minutes of watching the snow burst outside, Annika asked, “Hey, Logan?”

“Mmm?”

“Wanna make out like teenagers?” She tilted her head back to look at him.

“Absolutely,” he answered before claiming her lips in a hot and passionate kiss.

Lost in his desire for the woman in his arms, it took Logan a minute to realize the buzzing from his pocket was a text alert. Breaking the kiss, he apologized to Annika and pulled out his phone to read the group text. The Nighthawks and assorted family were meeting at Jolene’s for dinner that evening. He thought of introducing Annika to his friends, but he wasn’t sure she would be willing to go with him.

Remembering his sorely empty supply packs, he texted Graham separately from the group text.

Logan:Hoping to come tonight. May be bringing a friend. Need a few supplies. Hoping you can help.

Since the explosion that had destroyed the Nighthawk warehouse and nearly killed Graham, he knew that most of the supplies were low and felt a pang of guilt for having had to cut up his rope to save Annika.

The woman who’d tried to kill Natalie had cornered them inside the warehouse, firing a gun at them. Her shots had punctured the gas line. All it took was one spark, and the whole place wentkaboom. Logan had thought for sure Graham and Natalie were dead. The entire team ran to them and found Natalie trying to lift a two-thousand-pound beam off Graham, though she had a broken wrist. They got both of them out, alive and whole. But the same was not true of the woman they all used to work closely with. They still grieved for her and the madness that had taken her over in the end.

Graham’s text came back almost immediately.

Graham:Good to hear you made a friend. What do you need?

Logan texted him the list, and Graham replied, as perceptive as usual.

Graham:What happened?

Logan:Friend fell from bluff. Had to cut up my rope to get her out.

Graham:She ok?

Logan:Slight concussion but otherwise good.

Graham:Good. See you tonight.

Talking Annika into going out with him was the next issue. Nervously, he wiped his hands down his pant legs before he took her hand and brought it to his lips, “A bunch of my teammates, my friends, are meeting for dinner tonight in town. I was hoping …” he trailed off, not quite knowing how to ask her.

“You want me to meet your friends?” He nodded. “I’d really like that.”

“Great!” It was hard to hide his pleasure. “We’re meeting at Jolene’s around six.”

“Jolene’s? I love that place.”

“You’ve been to Jolene’s?”

“It’s been a few years, but I remember they have the best burgers there.”

Shortly before six, Annika joined him in the great room, his jaw dropping as he took her in. It wasn’t so much what she wore ? after all, it was just jeans and a sweater ? but it was how she wore it. And how she looked when she smiled at him. Her sweater was that otherworldly green color that he’d only ever seen in the Aurora Borealis and made her blue eyes stand out. Her jeans hugged her curves in just the right way sending the blood rushing to certain parts of his body. His heart thudded. She was so beautiful she took his breath away.

He wondered if there would ever be a moment when this woman wouldn’t steal his breath. But then again, he didn’t mind if she stole his air for the rest of his life. He could live with a few missed breaths now and then, but he couldn’t live without her any longer.

When he didn’t say anything right away, her brow furrowed. “What? Am I not dressed right?”

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