The Posse (15 page)

He shot her a smile and
wink. “It’s a surprise. Do you trust me?”

“Of course I do.”

“Okay then.” Logan turned
down a side street. “Did you talk to Joseph today?”

“Yeah. Actually, I talked to
both of the kids. Joseph sounded good. He’s already totally in love
with that baby.”

“What about the baby’s mom?”
Logan glanced over at her.

“Not sure. He only had good
things to say about her and her family. He’s going to stay down
there for a little while, I guess, and get to know the baby, talk
with Lindsay about what comes next.”

“I’m glad he seems to be
handling it well. And you told Meggie? How did that go?”

“At first, she wanted to
drive down to Clearwater herself and tell Joseph what an idiot he
was. Her words, not mine. But she calmed down, and she’s agreed to
talk to him without screaming. So that’s something.”

“And how are you feeling
about the whole thing?”

Jude sighed. “I know I
wallowed in self-pity last night. But this morning, the more I
think about it, and after talking to Sadie...well, it’s not what I
would have planned for him. And I know it’s going to change his
life forever, and nothing will be easy for him ever again. But in
the grand scheme of things, he’s not hurt or sick. He didn’t break
any laws. Once he found out about the baby, he did the right thing.
So I guess I’m coming to terms with it, trying to see the
happy.”

She glanced around as Logan
pulled into a small, nearly empty parking lot next to the
beach.

“Logan, where are we
going?”

“To dinner. I told you.” He
parked the car and turned to Jude. “Now, when we get out of the
car, we’re leaving Joseph and Meghan and the baby and everyone else
in the world in here. We’re not worrying about them for the rest of
the night. Agreed?”

Jude frowned, but before she
could say anything, Logan added, “It’s not that I don’t love them,
too. You know I do. But you need a break from this, and I want you
to relax. Plus--” He grinned. “I’ll admit it. I’m selfish. I want
all your attention, just this one night.”

She laughed. “Okay, you got
it. Not another word about the whole thing. But I have to admit,
I’m a little lost.”

Logan helped her out of the
car. “How so?”

“I didn’t know about any
restaurant opening down here, and I know every hot dog stand in the
Cove. Particularly if it’s right on the beach.”

“Ah.” Logan twined his
fingers with hers and brought their hands to his lips. He kissed
her hand. “Did I say we were going to a restaurant?”

Jude cocked at eyebrow at
him as they climbed over the small riser that bridged the dunes. To
the right was a covered pavilion, and looking at it, Jude realized
that it was decorated with draped material. Music played
softly.

“Logan! What is this?”

They stepped down into the
sand, and Logan tugged her closer, wrapping his arms around her.
“This is dinner. Come on.”

They made their way over to
the wooden structure. A table was set up in the center, covered
with a white tablecloth and flanked by two chairs. A cooler and
tote sat off to the side.

Logan helped her on to the
pavilion and pulled out her chair. From the cooler he pulled a
bottle of wine and filled both glasses. He uncovered a cheese plate
and a basket of bread.

“This is amazing.” Jude
looked around with wide eyes. “What made you think of it?”

Logan sipped his wine. “I
remembered you saying once that going to a restaurant wasn’t much
fun for you, because all you could see was what they were doing
wrong or how you would do it better. So I was thinking about
takeout from a new place that opened near the office, but I didn’t
want to take it to your house or mine. Not tonight. And then I
remembered this place.”

“Good memories here.” Jude
glanced around. “And this cheese is delicious. What else do you
have for me?”

Logan winked. “Guess you’ll
have to wait and see.”

***

Jude had no idea how Logan had pulled
this off. The cold food—including cheeses, salads, a few different
wines and butter for the delicious crusty bread—was chilled in the
cooler, while the entrees and desserts were still toasty, wrapped
in special heating towels within the tote. 

“Oh, my God, Logan.” She
closed her eyes in bliss, savoring the short ribs that melted in
her mouth. “This might be the best thing I’ve ever eaten. It’s just
fabulous.”

He reached across the table
to squeeze her hand. “Good. Want a bite of my sea bass?” He scooped
a morsel onto his fork along with some couscous and held it in
front of her lips.

“Mmmm.” Jude smiled as she
moaned in enjoyment. “Okay, now I can’t say for sure which was
better, yours or mine.”

Logan’s eyes darkened. “Keep
making those noises, and we might not make it to dessert.”

Heat flooded Jude’s center.
She leaned forward. “We’re not within walking distance of your
house or mine. Or the Tide, even, for that matter. And as romantic
as this is, the floor would be pretty hard.”

“Jude, haven’t you noticed
how prepared I am here? Don’t you think I’ve scoped out a secluded
little spot in the dunes, behind the sea oats?”

When she stared at him, her
lips slightly open, Logan laughed. “Have I shocked you? I’m just
teasing you. Well, mostly. I really am tempted to sneak off with a
blanket, like everyone did back in high school during the
dances.”

Jude shook her head. “I
never did that, and neither did you.”

Logan quirked an eyebrow.
“Don’t you want to find out what we both were missing?”

“Not really. I know the
beach is pretty quiet this time of year, but the idea of getting
caught might...” She lowered her voice. “It might make me more
inhibited.” She leaned back in the chair, laying down her fork.
“Not to mention the possibility of getting sand in some
uncomfortable places.”

Logan laughed. “Do you think
that happened back in the day, with all those couples who came
skulking back to the dances after rolling around on the beach?”

“I happen to know it did.
Plus, sand fleas, other little critters...” She squirmed. “I guess
I’m old and boring. When I have a perfectly lovely bed at home,
just waiting--” Jude broke off, hearing her own words. Not that
Logan hadn’t made his intentions for this evening quite clear, but
she didn’t want to sound as though she expected him in her bed.

Logan picked up her empty
plate along with his own and returned them to the tote. He pulled
out two more covered plates.

“You’ve got to be kidding!”
Jude held her stomach, laughing. “I can’t eat another bite. Not
yet, anyway.”

“Okay.” He replaced them and
closed the tote. “Want to go for a walk then? Stretch your
legs?”

Jude rose and gave him her
hand. “That sounds perfect. Will all this stuff be okay here?”

“No one’s going to bother
it. And we won’t go too far.”

They left their shoes in the
pavilion and walked toward the surf hand-in-hand. Jude’s heart beat
a little faster as Logan’s thumb caressed her palm between their
entwined fingers.

“Last night--” he began.

“I want to tell you--” she
said at the same moment.

They both laughed, and Logan
tightened his grip. “Normally I would say, ladies first. But not
right now.” A small wave rush up to cover their feet.

“Last night was the most
amazing experience of my life. I’ve been thinking about it all day.
And I’ve been worrying, too.”

Jude glanced up at him.
“Worrying? Why?”

Logan pulled her closer,
tucking her beneath his arm. She felt him take a deep breath.
“Because falling in love with your best friend’s wife—even when
she’s his widow—is tricky business.”

If a rogue wave had suddenly
risen over the beach and knocked Jude to the ground, she would have
been less shocked. She stopped walking and stood with wide eyes,
robbed of all breath.

“You really didn’t know?”
Logan tipped her chin up to look into her eyes. “Jude, we slept
together last night. More importantly, I made love to you. It
didn’t occur to you that maybe it meant more than a romp in the
sack?”

Almost unconsciously, she
reached up and touched his cheek, fingertips tracing his jaw. “Romp
in the sack? Logan, really. Of course I didn’t think that.
But...love? That’s just...when? How long have you felt like
this?”

Logan looked over her
shoulder to the horizon. “Would it freak you out if I said I’d been
in love with you for nearly thirty years?”

She jerked back,
confused.

“I guess that’s a yes.”
Logan caught her shoulders and pressed his lips to her forehead.
“But don’t. Jude, I had a crush on you years ago. But Daniel was my
friend, and everyone knew you only had eyes for him. And he always
belonged to you. So, yeah, maybe if things had been different, if
you had a boyfriend who was a jerk, I would’ve made a move years
ago. But you didn’t. You were my best friend’s girlfriend, and then
my best friend’s wife. So I made the decision not to be in love
with you.”

Jude frowned. “You made a
decision? How do you do that? People don’t decide who they love. It
just happens.”

“To a certain extent, yes.
So maybe it’s more accurate to say I made a decision not to act on
that love.”

She nodded slowly. “When did
you change your mind?”

Logan kept his eyes leveled
on hers. “I didn’t think about it, Jude. It’s not like after
Daniel—after he was gone, that I thought, hot damn, I can go for
Jude now. It didn’t even cross my mind. All I wanted was to be
there for you.”

“When did it change?”

“I don’t know, exactly. But
one day you looked up me, laughing, and you took my breath away. I
couldn’t imagine living one day without you. And making you laugh
again became my top priority.”

Jude swallowed. “When were
you going to tell me how you feel?”

Logan moved his hands from
her shoulders up beneath her hair. He lowered his lips to cover her
mouth, moving gently at first and then with more insistence. When
he came up for air, he leaned his forehead against hers.

“I was going to do this.” He
spread his hand back to encompass the pavilion. “But I was going to
do it before we did...what we did last night.”

She looked down, toeing the
sand around a shell fragment. “Are you sorry about what happened
last night?”

“Hey.” He nudged her eyes
up. “No. Absolutely not. I’m sorry you were so upset, and I didn’t
mean to take advantage of that. But it was incredible, and I
wouldn’t change that for anything.” He ran his hands down her back.
“Are you sorry?”

It was something Jude had
been deliberating all day, but in the moment, there was only one
answer.

“No. I’m not sorry.”

Relief flooded Logan’s face,
and he pulled Jude hard against him. The sun was tossing its final
rays over the ocean as it sank on the other side of the world. The
last beams danced over her hair until it gleamed like ebony.

A light breeze blew across
the water, and in his arms, Jude shivered. Logan rubbed her bare
arms.

“Let’s go back up. I have a
carafe of hot coffee.”

It was nearly full-on dark
as Logan seated Jude at the table again. He fumbled with something
in the corner, and suddenly the pavilion was filled with twinkling
white lights.

Jude gasped in pleasure.
“Logan, it’s beautiful! Did you do this?”

He shrugged. “It was my
idea, but to be honest, I ran out of time. So I paid Karl—the kid
who works for Matt—to come string them up. I’m glad you like
it.”

“I do.” She smiled up as he
set a mug of coffee in front of her. “You’re full of
surprises.”

Logan grinned and reached
beneath the table. The background music that had set the tone for
dinner shifted, became louder. Jude recognized the opening strains
of Madonna’s voice as
Crazy For You
began to play.

Logan stood and offered a
hand. “Dance with me?”

Jude rose and let him pull
her close. Just as he had in her kitchen a few weeks before, he
wrapped one arm around her waist and held her other hand as they
swayed.

“When we were dancing at the
Tide the other night, this is what I wanted to do.” With one finger
beneath her chin, he tipped her lips toward his and kissed her.
They moved side to side as he explored her mouth, taking his time
and letting Jude set the pace. She met each stroke of his tongue
with her own. Logan’s hand moved up and down her back in sensuous
circles before he brought it lower and pressed Jude’s hips to
his.

He broke his mouth away to
kiss his way to her ear, where he nipped lightly at the lobe.

“Would it weird you out if I
told you that I always wanted to dance with you here? Do this on
the dance floor?” He moved his hand to her breast, kissing her
again, this time with less leisure and more passion. The thin
cotton fabric of her sundress didn’t hide much. Jude felt his
fingers skimming all around the sensitive nub as his mouth left
hers and traveled down her neck.