Page 50 of The Pumpkin Spice Cafe
Jeanie flopped onto his bed and Logan’s eyes widened. ‘Well, I like it. Just the right amount of space.’ She smiled up at him, hoping it conveyed everything she wanted to say but didn’t feel like she should. Mainly that Lucy was the one who lost, the one who’d missed out on loving this sweet man and being loved by him in return. And that Jeanie wouldn’t care if he lived in the damn root cellar at this point.
She was in deep.
Way deeper than she was expecting.
Way deeper than she could hide.
Logan continued to stare at her on his bed, his expression transforming from sad to something hungrier, heavier. Jeanie could feel the weight of it in her belly.
‘So, the case,’ she blurted, breaking the moment.
‘Right.’ Logan ran a hand down his beard, leaning against the kitchen counter. ‘What’s going on?’
Jeanie sighed.Here goes. Time to spill more nonsense into this man’s lap.But he asked for it . . .
ChapterTwenty
Jeanie was sitting on his bed. And it was scrambling whatever brain cells he had into a very ineffectual brain cell soup.
Seeing her on his front steps had nearly had the same effect. The way the late-day sun cut across her face, casting her in a golden glow. But it was her expression that had stopped him in his tracks, the wide smile, the spark in her eyes. She’d looked absurd, with his chickens using her as a perch, but she’d laughed through the whole thing, murmuring silly words to them, taking it all in stride.
And now here she was in his room, on his bed, smelling like sunshine and dark roast, and he didn’t want to talk. He wanted to step into the cage of her legs and press her into his mattress. He wanted her breathy sighs against his neck. He wanted her moaning his name.
‘Logan?’
Shit.
‘Uh ... yeah. Sorry. What was that last part?’
Her cheeks were flushed, her lips a delicious apple-red. She looked like she knew exactly what he had been thinking about and like she was thinking about it, too.
She shook her head. Wisps of hair trailed down from her bun. ‘I think the calls are coming from inside the house.’
Logan blinked. ‘What are you talking about, Jeanie?’
‘It’s a horror-movie reference. Never mind.’ She had slipped off her shoes and tucked her legs under her like she sat on his bed every day. Like this was how they always talked after a long day.
‘I think whoever is trying to get rid of me actually works at the café.’
‘Wait, really?’
She nodded, gearing up to explain her theory to him and Logan had to bite down on a smile. He was taking this seriously, but she was so damn cute when she got excited about something. Which was often. He loved that about her.
Helikedthat about her.
LIKED.
‘So, there’s been more strange stuff happening. The refrigerator was unplugged the other day. We almost lost all the milk! And then there was a whole morning when the cappuccino machine kept breaking, like over and over again even after we fixed it.’
‘Okay. Definitely strange.’
Jeanie nodded, picking up steam. ‘I know, right?! I even thought someone had stolen some of the artwork from the walls, until I found it stashed in a supply closet. It’s so strange. Who could have done it but someone who has access to the café during off hours?’
A prickle of unease settled in Logan’s gut. Even if Jeanie wasn’t in real danger, the fact that someone was screwing with her was unacceptable.
‘So, who do you think it is?’ he asked.
Jeanie gave him a small smile, a reward for taking her seriously.
