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His eyes lingered on her face—the arch of her brow, the delicate curve of her jaw, and the brilliant blue eyes—and something deep inside tugged on his heart. “Maybe we should remedy that.”
SEVERAL HOURS PASSED while they strolled through Central Park in lieu of his post at the Med expo. Conversation came surprisingly easy. They rarely lapsed into silence, and even more astonishing, their typical barbs were absent, dulled by the awkward conversation he knew hovered in the air between them.
They passed the wide expanse of maple trees. Most of their leaves had fallen earlier in the month, but a few remained, dappling the darkening backdrop of the sky in shades of orange and red. In the distance, the ever-present sound of traffic, along with the clopping sound of a horse and buggy nearby filled the silence.
“I need to get back soon,” Marti said with a sigh.
“So soon?”
Marti grimaced. “I have a deadline looming. I’d stay longer if I could though. I don’t get out here often enough.”
“No?” Logan glanced over at her, shoving his hands in his pockets, wondering why he suddenly felt nervous. It wasn’t like this was their first date. But it was, he realized, the first time they had gone somewhere without pretense. “What do you miss about it?”
“The simplicity. But also how it feels. Things slow down when you’re here. I don’t know. That probably sounds stupid.” She ran a hand through her hair, peeking up at him from underneath her lashes. She almost looked self-conscious, and he wondered if it was because it had been one of the first real things she had said upon meeting him. A genuine admission of how she felt.
“Do you get out here often?” she asked.
“I run a few times a week, so I do. In the summer, I make it a point to come out more often though just to relax or hang with friends.”
Marti grinned and arched a brow. “Do you picnic?”
“Of course. Men picnic. We can’t enjoy food outside?”
Marti laughed. “No, of course not. I don’t know why it seems funny. I guess I just figured you’d come here to pick up chicks.”
“You have a really shallow view of me and an ill-conceived notion of my dating life.”
“Sorry.” She shook her head. “When I first moved here, I was a sophomore in college, and I shared this horrid apartment with two other girls because I couldn’t bear to leave my cat.”
“See? Aren’t you glad I saved his life?”
Marti laughed. “It was this little studio with leaky faucets, a defunct furnace, and stained carpet, but it was all we could afford in the city. It didn’t matter that we were crammed into it or that the stove didn’t work half the time. We were all just so excited to be here, you know? Living the dream.”
“I can picture it. A slightly younger Marti, yet to be seasoned by fame.”
She rolled her eyes. “We used to come here all the time to study or just walk.”
“Why’d you stop?”
A wistful smile curled one corner of her mouth. “I got the gig with PopNewz before I even finished school and my column took off. It was a total whirlwind. I went from being a nobody student to being this symbol of feminism overnight. Meanwhile, I was just living my life. But I got paid for it. It was pretty amazing. Suddenly, people I hadn’t ever met before started recognizing me at the coffee shop or the deli. After a while, the walks ended because I was too busy making appearances and attending events for the magazine.”
“Poor little Marti. Surely you could carve out time for something as little as taking a stroll through the park. We’re doing it right now. See?” He turned, gesturing around them, shoving down the urge to reach out and grab her hand.
“I know. Life just moved too fast.” She shrugged. “When I did have a moment of free time, all I wanted to do was spend it at my place alone. After I graduated, I moved out. I could afford my own place, and so there was no need to live in a shoebox with two other women, but there are times when I miss it. The newness of it all. The shared excitement. That struggle before the success.”
She stopped walking and turned around, her blue eyes blazing a path everywhere she looked as if seeing it for the first time like she had years ago, and Logan felt bad for anyone who came in contact with those eyes. They packed a punch. Those eyes had the ability to reach inside a man and steal a piece of him. Suddenly, Logan wished he knew the girl she described. The one living in the city on a dime, full of nothing but dreams. The girl without the label—Queen of Single—he wondered if her heart was less hardened back then.
Dusk had all but fallen. The lamplight surrounding them illuminated her silhouette. Huge trees framed the path they were on. Leaves stirred in the breeze as a jogger passed behind them, followed by a couple walking their dog. But Logan just stared, the ground beneath him shifting.
“I miss this,” she said, spinning around.
So did he. Not the park or the quiet, Logan realized. But this—what he felt right here, right now with Marti. That heady zip of attraction. The urge to pull a woman closer. To see just how well they fit as he tipped her mouth to his.
Warmth flooded his veins. It made him want to kiss her. To see if he could crack her walls.
He pulled his gaze from hers, reminding himself of the time and place and how this all started. More importantly, he remembered who she was. Because nothing would come of this, and he would do well never to forget that.
“Tell me more about what happened with the woman in the pictures, your ex,” Marti asked.
