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Thrusting his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, Logan marched to the glass panes and stared out at the heavy grey-black sky. Clearly, somewhere along the line he’d given Kat the impression that he wanted more from her than anything they’d agreed, and she was panicking.
He didn’t know why that notion should generate this...feeling in him that if he hadn’t known better he might actually have mistaken it for hurt.
But it couldn’t be. Of course it couldn’t be. Because he was no more looking for more from Kat than she wanted from him—they’d agreed no strings, and that suited him just fine.
And if a part of him was balking at the idea, then he was determined to dismiss it as the misguided notion that it was.
Now he just needed to convince Kat of that.
‘I’m not asking you to be Jamie’s family,’ he ground out, not sure why he was still speaking. ‘He has a family. He has me.’
‘I didn’t think, for even a moment, that you wanted me to become anyone’s family.’
Her voice was sharper and higher than usual. Clearly she didn’t quite believe him. In hindsight, crashing her charity run only to then drag her along when he was with Jamie, as well as his parents, had been too much. Understandably, it had sent the wrong message when they’d only ever agreed to being casual.
‘We agreed no strings, and that hasn’t changed for me.’ Gallingly, the words almost stuck in his throat. ‘I presume it hasn’t changed for you?’
God, how he hated those shutters across those expressive eyes of hers. And was it only his imagination that had him wondering if she hesitated just a fraction too long?
‘Kat...?’
‘Of course not,’ she threw out abruptly. ‘No-commitment fun, that’s what we said.’
‘So why let some random comment from a stranger get to you?’
She glared at him, her teeth worrying at her lower lip. He had to fight to drag his gaze away. But it was the misery in her eyes that seemed to reach into his chest cavity and pull.
‘Forget it.’
‘Happy to,’ he managed breezily.
For what seemed like an eternity they stood opposite one another. Not speaking. The only sounds were of the rain pounding off the glass and their breathing.
‘I should leave,’ she choked out at length, spinning around to stalk to the door. Rain be damned.
She didn’t just mean this pavilion. Kat was ready to walk away completely.
And a wiser man would have let her.
Instead, Logan found himself crossing the space between them, his hands reaching for her shoulders, compelling her to turn and face him.
‘What the hell’s going on, Kat?’ She snapped her head up at his tone but didn’t pull away. ‘We’ve been having fun, haven’t we?’
He waited for an answer, but when she didn’t speak he carried on. Her proximity was making his blood heat. Hotter, thicker than ever.
‘Nothing heavy,’ he ground out, no longer sure who he was trying to convince. ‘Just enjoying each other’s company, like we said?’
‘Yes,’ she admitted reluctantly.
‘So what’s all this about? Some stupid comment from someone who doesn’t know us from Adam?’
Her eyes scanned his, and he got the sense that a million thoughts were racing around in her head.
And he hated that he ached to know every single one of them. Without realising what he was doing, his hand encircled hers and he found himself stroking the skin on the back of her smooth hand. So much for this very conversation being about reinforcing the fact that they didn’t owe each other anything like that.
‘I like spending time with you, Kat. And you like spending time with me, too.’
It wasn’t a question, but with a faint bob of her head she answered it anyway.
