Page 34 of The Pumpkin Spice Cafe
‘I think we should do it again sometime.’Wow, New Jeanie was bold.Maybe it was all that farmer smut she’d been reading; the way that milkmaid really chased her own pleasure. Or maybe it was the way Logan held her. Firm, tight, steady. It was nice feeling secure with someone when every other part of her life felt like it had been torn wide open and scattered to the wind. It was nice to lean against someone while she figured out where the pieces fit back together, while she rebuilt.
‘You do?’ Hesitance flashed in his blue eyes.
‘We don’t have to send out announcements to the book club or anything,’ she said. ‘This can be just for us.’
She felt him relax against her, bit by bit, as he considered her offer. What was she offering anyway? Secret make-out sessions. More than that? She wasn’t sure, but after finding out about Lucy, Jeanie wouldn’t blame him if he wasn’t looking for another public spectacle. She could respect that.
New Jeanie was very understanding, apparently. New Jeanie also really wanted to kiss Logan again and was very willing to compromise.
‘So, what would this be?’ he asked, looking down at her.
She shrugged. ‘We could figure it out as we go, I guess.’ Easy breezy, casual. New Jeanie could figure things out as she went. With Logan holding her steady, she felt like she could figure out all kinds of things.
Logan still looked skeptical, the furrow between his brows deepening as she spoke.
‘Or, we can go back to being friends,’ she tossed out. ‘Whatever you want.’
His eyes grew dark again, hungry, like the answer to whatever he wanted was definitely her. It was new, this feeling of wanting, of taking what she wanted, of being wanted in return. She liked it.
‘We’ll figure it out,’ he said, pressing one more kiss to her lips before pulling away. ‘Just us, though.’ He ran a hand through his hair again. ‘I don’t want other people involved. Not even Annie. It’s just once people find out about these things—’
‘Of course. Don’t worry about it.’ She drew an invisible zipper over her lips and threw away the imaginary key. ‘My lips are sealed. This is nobody’s business but our own.’
‘Thanks.’
They didn’t talk about Lucy out loud, but Jeanie knew that’s what he was thanking her for, for giving him the care he needed, and she felt a flare of protectiveness for this man. She wanted to give him what he needed, not what everyone else seemed to think he needed. And besides all that, she was happy to take some of the pressure off this whole thing, anyway. The last thing she wanted was the whole town watching them navigate this relationship.
The second-to-last thing she wanted to do was to leave Logan’s arms, but alas, small-business owner duty called. Norman hated her enough. Leaving him alone in a power outage probably wouldn’t help her case. ‘I should get downstairs.’
‘Right, of course.’ Logan pulled back, letting his hands trace the edges of her hips before dropping them again. His rain-darkened hair hung over his forehead and the T-shirt under his flannel shirt stuck tight to his body. Maybe Norman would be fine?
‘I’ll grab a ladder from my truck and get that tent out of the tree once the storm settles down.’
Jeanie cleared her throat. ‘Perfect, thanks,’ she said, instead of ‘you know what, forget Norman, forget the tent, forget everything except you and me and that flannel shirt on my bedroom floor.’
New Jeanie wasn’tthatbold.
Logan nodded and was out the door before Jeanie could change her mind.
* * *
‘There you are!’ Norman’s disgruntled voice came from behind the counter as soon as Jeanie’s foot hit the last step. She turned the corner into the café and his disapproving frown sent heat to her face. Had she been caught already? Were Logan’s kisses somehow glowing on her skin? It certainly felt like they were.
You’re the boss here, Jeanie. Not him.
She squared her shoulders. ‘I got caught in the rain at the farmers’ market. Just had to change my clothes.’ The lingering imprint of Logan’s fingers on the skin of her stomach warmed beneath her dry shirt.
Norman narrowed his eyes. ‘Well, I’ve been here by myself, with this crowd and no power.’ He huffed indignantly.
Jeanie looked around at the sparse, wet, and relatively calm crowd and nearly rolled her eyes. ‘You seem to be managing it very well. Thank you for covering.’
Norman didn’t have much to say to her compliment, so instead he said, ‘We need to keep the refrigerator closed until the power comes back or we’ll lose all the perishables.’
‘Got it.’ Jeanie gave him a thumbs up as she grabbed her apron off the hook near the register. ‘Good call. We’ll also have to go pick up the table and the carafes after the storm’s died down. I kinda made a run for it and left everything.’
Another disgruntled frown.
‘Anything else, Norman?’ Jeanie asked cheerfully, finding it best to fight his grumpiness with positivity. It had always worked with Marvin, too. Jeanie was surprised to find a prickle of sadness in her heart at the thought of her old boss. For better or worse, they’d been together for a long time, and suddenly the thought of never seeing him again seemed impossible.
