Page 106 of Whenever You Call

“An incredible daughter any man would be lucky to have in his life.”

“Then there’s the ghost of Cole. He’ll never go away.”

“I wouldn’t want him to.”

She pinched my chin between her finger and thumb, raising a brow and holding me hostage.

“You can’t scare me, Hannah,” I whispered. “You can try, but you won’t. The worst has already happened, and you’re still here. You don’t hate me the way I thought you would. Everything else, I’ll handle it. We’ll handle it together.”

“If people find out…”

“What people?”

“Everyone. The world. They’ll have strong opinions.”

“Still not scared.” I leaned closer, pulling her in for a kiss and letting her lose her worries in my touch. Letting her feel my tongue against hers, as her heartbeat rose, the problems temporarily forgotten until I pulled back and watched as her eyes fluttered open. “As long as you and Bella want me in your lives—bothof you—I’ll be there.”

“Whenever we call?” She smiled softly.

I pushed my fingers into the back of her hair, sliding her closer again until our noses rubbed together and our breaths mingled. “Every time.”

“Good, because I may have your first assignment already.”

“Huh?”

Her smile became my everything. “Bella needs a favor, and there’s only one man she wants for the job. Apparently, that’s you, Mr. Logan.”

Chapter40

HANNAH

Aweek went by, and I’d seen or spoken to him every day since forcing myself out of his condo and driving home to see my daughter with news of how Logan had agreed to help her, after all. Not that I’d expected any other answer from him from the start, even if we hadn’t ended up in bed together.

No sooner had Bella run into my embrace had she pulled away, her eyes sparkling with excitement before she pinched my cheeks in her little fingers and said, “Your happy smile is back, Mommy. I thought you’d lost it.”

It brought tears to my eyes that I had no shame in letting fall as I brought her back into me for a bone-crushing hug. It was proof that a single night with Logan had changed everything. He'd somehow brought something out of me I’d spent my whole life looking for: a sense of belonging.

It didn’t hurt that he had a body carved by the gods, and every time I drifted into a daydream, his face hovered above mine, his hair hanging over his eyes as he drove into me while I stroked every valley of his strong abs before I grabbed hold of his ass and told him to go harder.

How any man had the ability to break my body yet rebuild my soul, I wasn’t sure, but Logan did, and he had. It had been the first week that I’d spent more time smiling instead of frowning, and my cheeks ached from it.

Now, we were at my place, enjoying Logan’s day off after a pattern of grueling shifts that had kept him busy. The Los Angeles sky was a cloudless blue that matched the color of the pool in front of me as I laid back on a lounge chair, watching Logan and Bella taking it in turns to chase after each other.

She’d been more than happy when I’d told her we were friends again, although I hadn’t told her just how close Logan and I had become yet. She didn’t need to know. Not until we were both certain neither of us was going anywhere.

Even the thought of it made my stomach churn with anxiety, but I quickly pushed the thought to the back of my mind, watching as Logan stepped out of the patio doors wearing nothing but his cobalt blue swim shorts that showed off his thick quads and the six abs on his stomach that had quickly become my favorite place to stroke.

He ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back as he crouched down to look under the patio furniture and then the sun loungers on the opposite end of the pool to mine. After a minute or two, he glanced my way and laid a look on me that begged for my help in finding Bella.

“I told you she was good.” I shrugged.

“Unfair advantage. She knows this place better than I do. I need some insider info.”

“That’s cheating.”

“Whose side are you on?” He padded toward me on bare feet, smirking, forcing me to look up the closer he got. That feeling in my chest tightened at the sight of him, a frenzy of butterflies taking flight out of pure giddiness.

“My daughter’s, obviously,” I answered with a beaming smile.

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