“Doesn’t matter what I think. It’s what you think that matters.” He handed her the sauce dish.
“I think I’m damn lucky to be having dinner with four handsome men, but it’s really kind of unfair. Four tall, dark, and blue-eyed brothers, with rock-hard bodies built for a fight? Seriously. What did your parents do, pay off the DNA police?”
Logan laughed and picked up the bowl of spaghetti. He leaned in close and whispered, “I may be built for a fight, but I think you know my body’s made for lovin’.”
***
IF STELLA HADN’T known that Mary Lou Wild was blind, she might not have noticed when they’d first arrived that Logan’s mother couldn’t see. Within a few seconds of their arrival in her living room, where she had been sitting in a recliner and knitting, Mary Lou had set her knitting needles aside and risen to her feet. She’d looked directly at Logan and opened her arms. Lovey, she’d said. Before Logan had a chance to introduce Stella, his mother had turned in her direction and smiled, as if she had sensed Stella standing beside him. She reached a hand out and drew Stella into an equally warm embrace, tugging at Stella’s ache for her own mother’s touch.
Stella watched her now as she ate dinner as if she weren’t blind. She seemed to sense where things were on her plate and never once fished for her glass on the table.
His mother folded her napkin and set it on the table beside her plate. “Lovey, dinner was delicious.”
Stella sat between Logan and Mary Lou, across from his brothers, Heath, Cooper, and Jackson. Sitting at a real dinner table with a real family again brought down more of Stella’s defenses. Logan’s knee kept brushing hers, and he’d draped an arm over the back of her chair. Her body pleaded for her to lean in to him, to give in to what they both wanted, but she was still afraid of what tomorrow would bring.
“You always have to outdo me,” Coop teased.
“That’s not hard to do. You never actually cook.” Logan turned his attention to Stella. “Coop’s idea of cooking dinner for the family is bringing takeout with him instead of having it delivered.”
Cooper pointed his fork at Logan. “Hey, I made burgers over the summer.”
“It’s true. He brought the premade patties and everything,” Heath teased.
“Look who’s talking,” Jackson countered. “Last week you brought frozen lasagna.”
“Boys, that’s enough bickering.” Every word Mary Lou spoke was layered in love for her children, and it brought Stella’s longing for her mother closer to the surface. “I’m thankful that you have dinner with me at all. You all have successful careers and you’re so busy.” She shook her head. “Stella, do you know that there isn’t a night of the week that one of my boys isn’t here with me? Not a single night, bless their hearts. They think I’m an invalid.”
“We do not,” Logan and Jackson said in unison.
“It’s our pleasure, Mom.” Heath reached across the table and touched his mother’s hand. “We’re lucky that you make time for us.”
“Oh, honey. Please.” She leaned toward Stella again. “Luckiest mother around, I tell you.”
Stella felt her throat thickening. What she wouldn’t give to have dinner with her mother. Just one night. Maybe now that Logan had figured out how Kutcher was tracking her, she’d be able to go see her without Kutcher knowing.
Maybe hope wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
“Good to hear your shoot went well today,” Logan said.
Stella wondered if he’d sensed her need to change the subject. He’d been checking in with her all evening. Making sure she was okay. It would be easier to ignore her feelings for him if he weren’t so attentive and caring.
Holy crap.
What am I doing? I don’t want to ignore my feelings. I want Logan—without Kutcher breathing down our backs.
“We’re shooting the teasers for a movie your friend Zane Walker’s in in a few weeks,” Cooper said to Logan. “You should come watch. It’ll be fun. We’re shooting in Sweetwater, by your cabin.”
“Really? Maybe we will,” Logan answered.
We?
The smile Logan flashed told her that he’d meant to use the word we, and it made her heart tumble in her chest. Darn heart. She was supposed to be keeping her distance, but it was hard to do around him, and being near his family made it even more difficult. They were warm and friendly, and she loved the way they teased one another. She’d often wished for siblings when she was growing up, and she imagined if she’d had them, they would have been as close-knit as Logan’s family. Maybe a few savvy older brothers would have warned her away from Kutcher in the first place.
“Logan said you met Willow,” Jackson said. “Did she make you her famous cupcakes?”
“The pink-frosted ones?” she asked, remembering the sweet deliciousness. “Yes, and they were delicious. It’s a good thing I don’t work with her all the time. I’d weigh three hundred pounds.”