Jo shot her a look. “But like Grace, you were in denial. Secretly you wanted him. Obviously.” She pointed to Joss’s wedding rings.
My next glower was directed at Jo. “I’m not in denial. I’m perfectly aware of my feelings for Logan because said feelings were crushed under his big stomping feet not too long ago. Perhaps I just don’t want to repeat the experience.”
Shannon placed a hand on my arm. “Grace, I know my brother. He doesn’t make the same mistake twice. He wouldn’t hurt you again.”
I stared pleadingly at her. “I just wanted a coffee.”
“Well, you’re getting a coffee with a side of lecture,” Joss said.
“You are very lucky I have a fear of confrontation and alienating people I care about.”
Joss considered this and then cocked her head at Jo. “That sounded vaguely confrontational to me – don’t you think?”
Jo nodded solemnly. “There was definite aggression in her eyes.”
“According to Logan, you have no problem confronting him.” Shannon smirked.
I closed my eyes at their teasing. “There’s no place like home.”
“I think that incantation requires ruby slippers,” Joss said.
I snapped my eyes open. “I shouldn’t make friends with smart women. They’re obnoxious.”
“That was definitely confrontational,” Jo informed Joss.
I immediately got up out of my seat. “If I’m going to sit through an hour of this, I’ll need that bloody coffee.”
By the time I got home my head was ringing with their voices.
“Logan is loyal to a fault. He’ll always have your back.”
“Braden trusts Logan. That says a lot about him; I promise.”
“I’ve never seen Logan so happy as he has been with you. When you’re fighting I know because he’s a broody, snappy bastard. You affect his mood.”
“Oh, that’s when you know a man is in love with you.”
“Give him a chance. Just one more chance.”
“Maia adores you. Doesn’t that count for something too?”
“Just think about it, Grace. Really think about it.”
When I’d gotten up to leave, Joss had taken one look at my deer-in-the-headlights expression and announced ruefully, “I told you we should have gone subtle. She looks like she’s about to upchuck.”
“Ellie said this would work.” Shannon had stared at me nervously.
“And we listened to Ellie, why?” Jo had said, sharing a similar expression.
“Because she’s the best at this cheesy-love stuff,” Joss had replied. “But I’m thinking reverse psychology would have worked better in this case.”
“Okay.” I’d sighed, grabbing my purse. “I am not an experiment in matchmaking. I appreciate the thought and genuine concern behind whatever the hell this was, but my head hurts and I feel a little sick, so I’m going home.”
They had offered me worried, apologetic good-byes, and I’d hurried out of there.
But the damage was done.
They had filled my head with descriptions of Logan’s best qualities, reminding me of all the reasons I had fallen in love with him in the first place. As much as I had grown to care about these women, right then I was irritated with them for making my life just that little bit harder.
I hated to admit it, but when Maia turned up at my door that evening, a part of me wanted her to go away. That part of me was the part that was secretly wondering if she had also been enlisted by Logan to break down my defenses.
I stared warily at her.
“Um… can I come in?”
I stepped aside slowly. “You may,” I corrected her automatically.
Maia grinned at me and strode inside the flat. I followed behind her, my whole body tense with anticipation.
Spinning around to face me, Maia wrinkled her nose. “I’m bored. School is finishing, I have no homework, and Dad is working overtime. Entertain me, Grace.” She pouted comically.
My whole body deflated with relief. Maia was just being Maia. I was never so thankful. “What would you have me do?” I grinned.
She blew air out between her lips and looked around the room thoughtfully. Her eyes stopped on my DVD collection and her face lit up. “Let’s go the cinema.”
I considered my workload and then I considered how difficult it was for me to work at the moment because I kept thinking about the man next door. I could do with the distraction. “Okay. Do you have something in mind?”
“There’s that new action flick with Nick McGuire.”
Nick McGuire was the new action hero of the moment in Hollywood and very, very pretty. I knew exactly why Maia wanted to go see the film, and it had nothing to do with well-sequenced car chases. I rolled my eyes. “Fine.”
We decided to walk into Morningside, where there was this wonderful art deco theater we both loved. You could either buy a ticket for an ordinary individual cinema seat, or you could purchase an armchair or sofa. We bought tickets for a leather sofa to share and headed inside.
“I need the loo,” Maia announced as I took my seat on the small sofa. “I’ll be right back.”
“Get some popcorn on your way back.” I handed her some money, and she nodded before disappearing out of the theater.
The trailers were finishing up and Maia still hadn’t returned. Sometimes the lines for refreshments could be terribly long, but she had been gone for quite some time and I was getting worried.
I’d just bent down to get my phone out of my bag when the leather of the sofa creaked and the whole thing depressed with someone’s weight.