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“Yep. I’m fresh out of veterinary college. I trained at the University of Queensland, did a year at a practice back home in my hometown of Apple Grove while I applied for my green card, then moved out here once I’d lined up a job.”
“You’re a long way from home,” Logan observed.
“That’s the idea,” I pointed out. “I wanted to start over.”
“What made you choose to do that in New York?”
“I have family there. Plus, it’s about as far from home as I could possibly get.”
“Surely home can’t be that bad?”
“There are four wonderful things about home—my mum, my pop, Pop’s apple orchard, and our old horse, Romeo. I was born and raised there, lived there my entire life. I needed to get out and see the world.”
“Well then, welcome to America. Better yet, welcome to Chic Beach, Virginia Beach’s little neighbor. I hope you enjoy yourself while you’re here. I also hope the following days are better than tonight.”
“It didn’t turn out so bad,” I said with a shrug.
The waiter delivered our steaks with prawns and vegetables.
Logan raised his bottle into the air and I followed suit. “To new friends and good food.”
“Cheers,” I replied as I clinked my bottle against his.
“Hey, look who it is.” A tall, tanned blonde man and a teeny-tiny blonde woman approached our table.
Logan got to his feet and shook the man’s hand. “Hey, Liam, fancy seeing you here. Hey there, Lee.”
“Hi, Logan.” Lee’s line of sight travelled towards me. I could tell she was curious about who I was and why I was with their friend.
“How’s date night?” Logan asked.
“It’s fantastic. It’s exactly what we needed. Quinn’s minding the kids and we are footloose and fancy free.” Liam tugged Lee against him. “I thought you were hanging out at Hot Tuna with Mark and Ben tonight?”
“I was, but, ahh . . . I met someone who needed some help, so here we are.” Logan invited me to my feet. “Aria, this is my cousin, Liam and his wife, Natalie. Guys, Aria.”
Natalie took my hand and gripped it enthusiastically. “It’s great to meet you, Aria.”
“You, too.”
Liam inclined his head towards me. “A pleasure.” Then he punched Logan in the chest. “That hero complex of yours is going to get you into deep shit one day. You know that, right?”
“I guess today isn’t that day,” Logan said as he punched Liam right back.
“Okay, boys!” Natalie said as she jumped between them. “A nice restaurant is not the place to beat up on each other.” She turned to me and sighed. “Ugh, SEALs. Seriously, they’re all alike.”
My mouth fell open. “Logan’s a SEAL?”
“Retired, but you know what they say; you can take the SEAL out of the Navy, but you can’t take the SEAL out of the man,” Logan admitted.
“They say that?” I had no clue. I couldn’t believe after all my frustration at my friends ditching me for a SEAL hunt,I’dended up ditchingthemfor one instead.
“We’d better be on our way if we want to make the most of our alone time,” Liam said. “We’ll let you get to your meal before it gets cold.”
“You should bring Aria by for a barbeque sometime,” Natalie suggested. She smiled at me. “We’d love to get to know you.”
My mouth fell open as the couple walked away from our table. I glanced at Logan. “I think they may have the wrong idea about us.”
“I’ll make sure to clear things up with them.” Logan turned back to the table. “Let’s eat.”
