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Zoey and the others plotting like this didn’t surprise him. What did it mean; was Cori agreeing to it and not informing him? They should’ve discussed this, talked it out. Made a plan regarding what story they were going to tell and stick to it. Guess she’s going to wing it, and I’ll be the last to know.
He couldn’t be angry with her. After all, he was the one who’d started it. It seemed such a simple impulse at the time. Just a light kiss and look at him now. His sisters-in-law were ganging up on him, and if he weren’t careful, they’d be planning a wedding too. Since it was early, he had time to call Cori and set things straight first. She had no idea what she was about to walk into. There was no such thing as an innocent little lunch. Cori might be the reporter, but these ladies had interrogation down to a knack. Cori won’t know what hit her.
Cori felt guiltyfor doing this without talking to Logan first, but it wasn’t as though she’d reached out to them. They’d contacted her and asked her to lunch. Saying no would’ve been rude.
That didn’t explain why she’d ignored Logan’s call and text. She knew exactly what he wanted. He was going to ask her to back out of lunch with his family. That might work for him, but not for her. She wanted to go. He was letting her in, but only so far. He hardly spoke about himself, and this was going to give her insight to a side she didn’t yet know. Like how many women have you brought home before me?
That was a stupid thing to even care about. They weren’t really a couple. He’d only kissed her in front of Brice to go along with the story he’d made up regarding some dumb game. She gave him credit because it worked, but there had to have been another avenue he could’ve taken instead of making it look like she was his girlfriend.
Since he was the one who opened this door, he should’ve realized there was no way she’d sit back and miss an opportunity like this one. Although Zoey was the only Henderson by blood, she knew they were all very loving and supportive of each other. These ladies were the shining lights of the Henderson family.
Cori would have to be very careful not to let them know the real reason she was meeting with them. As far as she knew, no one except Logan knew she was a reporter. Normally the people she was interviewing understood that, but not this time. It was going to require a different skill set. One she believed she possessed but was only going to know for sure after their lunch.
It was like any other interview. She needed to know her boundaries. Normally this would take place over the phone and with one person at a time. Face to face with all five Henderson ladies might be more than she could handle. However, she’d been able to keep her composure in front of Brice. He’d been even more intimidating than she’d expected. If she could fool him, what was she worried about? All she needed to do was make sure she didn’t ask too many questions. This lunch would need to seem like a normal everyday conversation. She felt confident they’d talk, but she knew it would need to be a two-way conversation. For all the questions she had, she knew they had their own agenda. If she didn’t open up, they’d never believe she and Logan were a couple.
Even thinking about play-acting such a roll made her chuckle. She’d pictured herself going undercover to get a story many times before. She’d somehow thought she’d be a tough badass woman who infiltrated a gang or mob or some high-profile organization, not the sweet girlfriend or wife of a Henderson. Wife? Slow down there, Cori.
It’d have been easier if he’d played it off that she was his housekeeper or something. At least they’d know what she did for a living. Now she scrambled to come up with a great backstory. She had none. How am I going to pull this off?
It was too late. She was already seated, and the five ladies were approaching her. Cori was going to let her words flow and hope she didn’t trip herself up. If she did, it wasn’t only her they’d be upset with, but Logan as well. Causing a family riff wasn’t appealing.
Morgan was the first to greet her. “Cori, I’m so glad you could join us. Let me introduce you to everyone. This is Lena, who is married to Brice. And Tessa is married to Dean. Ziva recently married Alex and last, but not least, Zoey. Poor Zoey, the only girl in the family with all those hardheaded men. But don’t feel too bad. She married one that fits right in with them.” Morgan laughed. “Actually, Bennett might be the only man who could hold his own with them.”
Now that they were all there, she felt a bit overwhelmed. Also, on display. Cori smiled, and greeted them warmly, “Nice meeting you all. Thank you for the invite.”
“We thought it’d be easier to get to know you now instead of at brunch. Sometimes the guys are talking so loud we can barely hear ourselves think,” Lena said. “You might think I’m joking, but you’ll see for yourself. They’re just big kids sometimes.”
Cori couldn’t picture that. Not with all the research she’d done. They were all such tough businessmen and had such serious looks about them. Was that just a façade? She would see that for herself. “I have a hard time picturing Logan joking around.”
Zoey nodded. “Oh he can, he just doesn’t do it often. Strange, but he’s the most reclusive of us all. We know he’s not going to do any talking, so we figured we’d ask you. How did you two meet?”
Oh, I was lying and pretended to be a patient.That wasn’t the answer to give, although it was the truth. “I was doing research, and he was kind enough to help me.”
“Are you in the medical field?” Tessa inquired.
Not in the least.“No. I—”
“A student?” Ziva asked.
Cori shook her head. “No, I do... do a little writing and had some questions on a subject.”
Morgan’s eyes widened. Then she reached out and grabbed Cori’s hand. “Oh my God. C. Sparks. You write those articles about—”
“Yes.”
“Writes what?” Lena asked.
Cori rolled her eyes. Please don’t say it. But she knew Morgan was going to. The excitement on her face was too much. There was no way she was going to contain it.
“Have you ever read the entertainment section of the paper?” They nodded. “She is C. Sparks.”
Zoey’s eyes lit up. “Oh, goodness. Please don’t tell me my brother is your source for any of those. I don’t think I’d ever be able to look at him the same again.”
Cori burst out laughing. “Well... I hate to break it to you, but he was interested in the images he saw of the women who were part of the obese fetish...” Their stunned silence made it far too difficult to keep a straight face. “I’m joking. He was just assisting on the medical—I mean neurological—questions I had regarding a piece.”
“Well, that’s good to hear, because my brothers would never let him live it down if he’d been the subject.”
“I don’t know, some of them sounded kind of fun. I have Dean reading them now,” Tessa said, giving Cori a wink.
