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I pulled my hand away, and smiled sheepishly. “Thanks.”
“You sure you’re all right with him being here?” he whispered, and nudged his head in the direction Mark had retreated.
I nodded once, losing myself in his eyes. They were so enticingly blue and filled with nothing but concern, calming my nerves. I smiled, letting him know I really was fine.
“Come on, let’s go check this place out,” Jax said. He threw Oliver up over his shoulders and jetted off toward the gate. His busty date followed.
“Careful!” Logan yelled.
Jax continued on with Oliver giggling, begging him to go faster as they raced for the first, smaller barn filled with chickens. Mark came back out a moment later, orange bracelet on his wrist, and took Julia’s hand.
As we began to walk, Logan’s hand brushed the small of my back causing me to stiffen, but glancing over at him and his reassuring smile, I relaxed against his touch. I never dreamed I’d be spending the day with Mark after everything that happened but with Logan at my side, I forgot all about him.
“Let’s go catch up before Jax has Oliver sneaking into one of the pens.” Logan grinned.
“Yuck! I hate farm animals especially being this close to me,” a young woman I’d never seen before complained in front of us. She held up both her hands, disgusted and maneuvered around a tiny puddle of mud wearing knee high boots with heels nearly six inches. Her short blond bob and bright-red lipstick stood out among the background of rust, dirt, and livestock.
We walked behind her silently, watching the hens go about their day. It was easy and comfortable being with Logan. Oliver and Jax were a barn ahead of us and to my relief Julia and Mark went ahead with them as well.
As we continued through to another barn, my tolerance for the blonde bimbo and her two friends—that were equally out of place but much less aggravating—was wearing thin. Each time we stopped or Logan made a comment she was there, hanging on every word. Her roaming hands rubbed his arm or touched his hand when he rested it on the wood pens.
It was driving me to a breaking point.
I wasn’t jealous, really, but I was about to rip her manicured claws off him if she did it again. It was just him and me. You’d think she would assume he was my boyfriend unless…I winced. Logan was a six-foot-two Greek god and I was, well, me. No wonder she acted as if I didn’t exist. Next to him, I didn’t.
Oh my God!” she squealed, hands flailing wildly in front of herself when one of the cows nudged her arms. I bit the inside of my lip, hard, seeing red when the little skank turned around and flew into Logan’s arms. She buried her head against his chest, her hands taking full advantage of having him in her grasp.
With a shake of my head, I continued walking. Better to leave than say something I’d regret. I had no reason to be upset anyway. Good for Logan, she looked like an easy lay.
Within seconds, Logan’s hand was folding around mine. I flinched, wrapped up in my own head.
“I think the others aren’t too far ahead. Oliver probably has them stopping to stare at every moving creature,” he said as if nothing happened and it was completely normal to hold my hand. Did he really not feel the electric current his touch surged through me?
With the raw irritation of the blonde still fresh and my feelings that were in no way justified, I pulled my hand away.
“I was just going to get a bottled water. Stay here and I’ll catch up with you later.” I then leaned in and whispered, “She likes you, might as well have some fun.” I nudged my head back at the girl lingering behind us and turned to leave.
His hand shot out grabbing my arm and pulling me back. He looked almost angry when he spoke. His voice gruff and stern, “I’m not interested in having fun with her, Cassandra. So if you want some water, I’ll go with you.”
I tried to hide the smile tugging at my lips, my heart swelling despite my brain telling me not to read too much into it. With his hand on my back, where I secretly felt it belonged at all times, we turned back around and exited the barn.
“Daddy!” Oliver called out. He was standing beside Jax and his nameless date. They were in front of an outdoor pen full of pigs.
As we approached, Jax picked up a handful of straw laying on the ground and stuffed it down the back of Oliver’s coat. I stopped, pulling out my camera to snap a picture of the hilarious face Oliver made before he grabbed a handful and threw it at his uncle. I smiled, watching them as they abruptly stopped, exchanged a few hushed words between them, and then ran toward Logan.
Jax’s busty friend walked toward me giggling.
“Hi, I’m Cassandra.”
Her laughter died down and she smiled. “Marissa.”
“So how long have you and Jax been seeing each other?”
She grinned, turning to look back at him. Jax was dodging Logan’s attempts at throwing wet straw. “We met last night at a frat party.”
“Oh.” I gave a tight uncomfortable smile. “Well, I’ve only met him one other time but he seems…fun.” It was how Logan described him originally, and watching Jax run around like a young boy, I could tell that he was definitely the playful one.
She nodded, giggling. “Yeah, a lot of fun.”
Definitely the type of girl I pictured Jax with.
We stood for another moment laughing staring at the boys until she turned to fully face me. “So, you’re the girl Jax’s brother warned him about. You’re a lucky girl. Logan is gorgeous.”
I cocked my head toward her, unsure how to respond, so I simply offered a small smile. Jax must have told her, but I wasn’t thrilled about being known as that girl.
“I um…I guess. Seems like everyone’s making a lot of assumptions. Kind of silly considering Logan and I are just friends.”
“That’s not how Jax explained it.”
Both annoyed and semi-interested, I asked, “And how exactly did Jax explain it? That I was sleeping with his older brother?”
“No, he told me you were a family friend and the first girl in a long time his older brother went out of his way for.” She shrugged. “Jax seemed pretty happy about it, and on the drive over Julia gave him the third degree about not scaring you off.”
I sucked in my bottom lip to conceal my growing smile. “Well, like I said, we’re just friends.”
She made a face, telling me she didn’t really care either way, and turned her attention back to the boys.
Picture after picture I took of them and I couldn’t stop giggling the entire time. I’d never seen Logan like that before. He looked young, happy, and carefree. After dodging their handfuls of muddy hay, Logan raced after Oliver. The young boy was squealing with laughter when Logan snatched him up and dangled him over the pigs.
“You win! You win!” Oliver cried, a giant grin still covering his face.
“Ahh, don’t give up so easily.” Jax laughed, smashing a pile of hay into Logan’s hair and grinding it in.
Logan set Oliver down, and tugged the hay out of his hair. He then scooped up as much as he could hold and turned toward his kid brother, but stopped suddenly and glanced over at me. My giggling abruptly ended and I saw the flicker of mischief cross his eyes.
I backed up, shaking my head. “Don’t even think about it.”
