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“I’m serious,” he insisted. After a second of hesitation, he added, “In fact, I’d be happy to give you a whirl and provide testimony, if you’d like.”
A burst of laughter made her shoulders shake. “Give me a whirl? What the hell am I, a Ferris wheel?”
Relieved she’d taken the joke as he’d intended, he teased, “Oh, I’m willing to bet you’re a much better ride than a Ferris wheel.”
Chapter 7
‡
Joy gaped at Logan in shocked disbelief. Mischief brightened his brown eyes, and the smirk playing at the corners of his mouth made her pulse trip and stumble all over itself. “Okay, seriously, who the hell are you, and what happened to the Logan Walsh who was a jerk to me all summer?”
“What do you mean I was a jerk? We didn’t even talk all summer.”
“Exactly.”
She raised her eyebrows in challenge, and he had the grace to look sheepish.
“I suppose I might have been operating under the wrong assumption since you came home.”
“Well, I knew you were an ass, but what did that make me?”
“A lazy, spoiled princess.”
“I am not.”
“I can see that now,” he allowed. “But you were in high school.”
“I didn’t even know you in high school,” she exclaimed.
“Exactly.”
She made a face at his parrot of her argument.
“I’m only four years older than you, Joy. We were neighbors most of our life, and you didn’t even know who I was.”
There was an undercurrent in his voice she couldn’t quite identify. It turned the conversation serious in a way she hadn’t expected after his brazen flirtation a moment ago. Not quite the former withdrawn Logan, this was a deeper version somewhere in between. He fit the guy who’d brought over his mother’s engagement ring because he didn’t want to be associated with the one from her cheating ex.
“Just because we weren’t friends doesn’t mean I didn’t know who you were,” she defended. “We rode the bus together, remember? I even know you have a brother—Brent. And where is he, by the way? Why isn’t he around to help you with the farm?”
A shadow passed over Logan’s face at the mention of his brother, and his hand fisted on his thigh. “We’re not talking about my brother now or any other time.”
O-kay, sore subject. She gazed out at the rain for a moment before turning back. “You know, when you were sixteen and stopped riding the bus, I was twelve. When I was a freshman, you were a senior. We didn’t exactly run in the same circles back then.” Especially since she’d skipped a grade, making her a very young freshman.
“No, we certainly did not,” Logan agreed.
This time, she recognized the resentment in his voice and frowned. Wow. When she’d first asked him to pretend to be engaged, he’d really meant it when he said he didn’t like her. “How come it feels like I’ve been convicted without doing anything wrong? It’s not like I ever did anything to you, did I?”
“No.” His gaze dropped, and his head angled away from her as he reached to brush his palm back and forth over the hay at his side.
“Then I don’t get it.”
A self-deprecating smile quirked up one side of his mouth as he let out a sound of frustration while tossing her a quick glance. “I’m going to try to explain this, and don’t you dare go reading anything into it, because I swear to God, it’s not like I’ve been carrying a torch for you all these years.”
“Ooh, now you have me intrigued.” She grinned as she shifted to sit facing his profile again. “Continue.”
His grimace looked as if he was preparing to have a tooth pulled. “It’s just…back then, you never gave me a second look, and I always figured it was because you had money, and I obviously didn’t.”
“Money had nothing to do with it. You were four years older than me. Besides, from what I do remember, you never lacked a girlfriend.”
