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Gabby pressed her lips together. “Sorry for the drama.”
“Never be sorry for something someone else did. It’s one of my personal philosophies.”
To his relief, she smiled. “Sounds about right.”
He resisted the urge to tuck her hair behind her ear. She’d just had one man making unwanted advances. She didn’t need another doing the same. Especially not when that man was him.
“How much do you know about what happened between Henry and me?” she asked, heading to the living room.
He followed. “Not much. Although now that I know who he is, and based on the timing, I’m guessing he wasn’t completely faithful.”
“Nope.” She dropped onto a chair, seemingly heedless of the paint on her clothes. Ah well. He could clean it later if needed. “The awful part is, she wasn’t the other woman.Iwas. But I had no idea.”
“Of course you didn’t,” Logan said firmly as he sat on the sofa and Thelma tried to jump onto his knee. “That’s not the kind of person you are. It doesn’t matter which way around it was. He played you, and her too.”
Gabby’s face pinched. “I tried to tell her, you know.”
He frowned. “Who? His fiancée?”
“Yeah.” She pulled her knees to her chest. “I told her who I was and that I’d been dating him for a year. She thought I was a delusional fan and refused to listen.”
Logan whistled. “Wow.”
He’d be willing to bet that despite the dismissal, Henry’s fiancée had thought long and hard about what Gabby said. In his experience, women tended to be mistrustful when it came to their partners and other women. Even if she hadn’t believed Gabby at the time, she might have changed her mind. In fact, there was every possibility she had, and she’d kicked him to the curb. That would explain his appearing on Gabby’s doorstep out of the blue. As if she would take him back. She had more self-respect than that.
“He’s a complete loser,” he said.
“He’s a professional athlete,” Gabby said, as if that meant something.
Logan had been a professional athlete. It didn’t make him any better of a person.
“He plays with sticks and balls for a living.” He met her eyes so she’d know his ensuing words were serious. “You save lives. You’re a doctor.” She opened her mouth but he kept going. “Don’t try to tell me you’re just a veterinarian, as if that’s less than a doctor. Your patients can’t communicate what’s wrong with them, and you’re expected to be able to treat cows, horses, sheep, goats, deer, and probably a dozen other species too. You’re smart, beautiful, and successful, and he was an idiot who deserved to lose you.”
16
Gabby stared at Logan,at a loss for words. She couldn’t believe how fiercely he’d defended her. First, he’d stood by her side and faced down her demons—aka Henry—with her. He’d lied about them being together, which made her feel slightly less pathetic. Then he’d held her as if she were precious, and now he was breathing heavily after a speech that made her want to kiss him. She never knew he saw her that way. It was obvious they were attracted to each other, and they’d been building the foundations of friendship, but to know that he thought so highly of her came as a shock.
Don’t read anything into it, she told herself.It doesn’t mean anything.
But her heart wasn’t getting the message. All it understood was that Logan had supported her. He thought she was beautiful and smart. Her cheeks burned and her stomach fluttered. Even though she knew that feeling anything for him was a bad idea, she couldn’t help herself. How was she supposed to resist him when he was gorgeous and protective and caring? All traits she’d been seeking but had never thought to find in him.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Don’t thank me. It’s what any damn fool should know.” He cleared his throat and looked down at Thelma, who’d laid her head on his lap. “Did you finish painting before he turned up?”
“I did.” She accepted the change of subject gracefully. “Although I think I got as much paint on me as I did on the walls.”
He glanced at her and his lips twitched. “Are you sure the walls got half?”
She laughed. It felt good, after the intensity of the past fifteen minutes. A much-needed release of tension.
“Oh, that reminds me. I’ve got something for you.” He shifted Thelma off his lap and hurried out of the room.
She trailed behind him as he went outside, wariness warring with the desire to trust him. He opened the passenger door of his car and withdrew a box she recognized from her favorite chocolatier, which she’d discovered on one of her trips to Serenity Cove. He jogged over and passed it to her.
“You said you were craving the double chocolate truffles, right?”
She looked from him to the box in her hands. She opened it to reveal several rows of double chocolate truffles. Her insides flipped over. “Oh, my God. I can’t believe you bought these.”
