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Would he be an idiot to spend time with her there and take the risk of future dissatisfaction? Or would it be foolish of him to give up a chance to experience one probably enjoyable private weekend with her before the start of busy season and perhaps the end of the affair? He was, after all, in charge of his own emotions. His scarred heart was well guarded. Still, he was a healthy, red-blooded man with needs and appetites and he’d never seen Seattle....
Ninja whined and rested his head on Logan’s knee, looking from the computer screen to Logan’s face and back again.
He looked down at his dog with a shake of his head. “Yes, I know what you would do. You do realize, of course, that I wouldn’t take you with me? You’d have to stay here, with Bonnie and Paul and the others.”
Ninja sighed heavily, but his tail wagged slowly against the floor. Logan gave a short laugh and rubbed the dog’s ears. “I’ve been listening to my sisters and Alexis too much. They’ve got me having conversations with you and thinking you’re answering me.”
The dog stood, wandered over to his water bowl and began to lap noisily. Logan turned back to his computer, rather wishing his canine friend could offer some sage advice.
* * *
The seminar was as useful and informative as Alexis had hoped it would be. She learned a lot, made some good connections, considered it an investment well spent. Busy with workshops and networking, she hardly left the hotel during the seminar, which ran from early Wednesday morning until noon on Thursday. She figured she had time to explore afterward, before her plane left Sunday.
What little she had seen from the cab and from the balcony of her room had looked intriguing, if rather gray. The locals had informed her that it had been a nice March thus far. Misty, of course, as was typical of Seattle before the beautiful summer weather set in, but temperatures had ranged from the mid-fifties to the low sixties and the sun peeked through the clouds occasionally. She looked forward to checking out some of the local attractions that had been recommended to her.
She would be exploring the city on her own. She didn’t mind eating or exploring alone, but it would have been nice to have a sightseeing companion. Not just any companion, of course. She probably could have found a friendly tour guide among the local wedding planners who’d presented talks during the seminar. A rather attractive videographer had hinted that he wouldn’t mind spending time with her outside of shop talk. Alexis had let the hints pass unanswered. She wasn’t interested in a seminar hookup. There was only one person she had wanted to join her in her very nice room, and he hadn’t been interested.
Okay, she thought, taking a lined, hooded rain jacket from the closet in her room Thursday afternoon, maybe that was overstating things a bit. Logan had been interested. She’d seen the flicker of heat in his eyes when she’d mentioned the chance to share a room for a couple of days—and nights. Wariness had overpowered temptation, a battle she understood, as she’d had her own hesitations about taking that potentially relationship-changing step. Still, it might have been nice. She thought they could have handled it without unpleasant repercussions, considering they’d both been very clear about what they wanted—and didn’t want—from each other.
Had Logan thought she’d been trying to change the rules by issuing the invitation to join her here? If that had been his concern, he must not know her as well as she’d thought he did.
Looping a cross-body bag over her right shoulder to hang at her left hip, she donned her rain jacket over her thin sweater and knit pants. Pike Place Market was only a few blocks from the hotel. She looked forward to seeing it.
The elevator doors opened to a big, airy lobby with reception desks at one end and a casual bar at the other. Maybe she’d been thinking too much about Logan, she thought wryly. The dark-haired man standing at the reception desk in jeans and a gray jacket looked very much like him. He stood with his back to her, a navy duffel bag clutched in one hand. And when a clerk motioned him toward the desk, he moved with a slight limp of his left leg.
Her heart seemed to stop, then kick hard into rhythm again. She moved quickly in that direction. “Logan?”
He turned in response to her voice and held up the phone in his hand. “Hey. Nice timing. I was just about to send you a text.”
“You’re here,” she said blankly. Unnecessarily.
His eyes were shadowed, his smile just a little crooked. “Yeah. Still got a place for me to stay while I’m here?”
She swallowed hard, then smiled and nodded. “There’s a really big bed in my room.”
He shifted the bag in his hand. “Sounds good to me.”
Chapter Six
Logan dropped his bag onto the floor at the foot of the large bed in her room, his gaze taking in the two armchairs flanking a small round table, the flat-screen TV, the desk and chair in one corner, and the big glass door leading out onto a balcony overlooking Elliott Bay. “Nice room.”
“Total splurge,” she admitted. “I thought about moving to a less expensive place when the seminar ended, but it’s just so nice here, I decided to go for it. I’ll eat peanut butter and jelly for a couple months to make up for it.”
He chuckled. “I’ll pay for my part while I’m here. Maybe you’ll only have to eat the PBJ for a month.”
“I was so surprised to see you downstairs,” she admitted, shaking her head in lingering disbelief. She’d been so certain he wouldn’t come.
“I hope it was a good surprise. I know I should have let you know I was coming, but I sort of waited until the last minute to make up my mind.”
She suspected his mental debate had been a hard-fought one. “It was a very nice surprise.”
He pushed a hand through his hair. “You don’t have any plans with anyone else for the rest of your stay? New friend
s from the seminar, maybe?”
“I met some very nice people during the seminar, but I made no plans with any of them.”
He nodded. Did she see relief in his eyes? It was so hard to tell with him. “Have you done anything fun since you’ve been here?”
