Page 27 of Perfect Persuasion (Love’s Second Chance #2)

Claire was utterly miserable. She’d been calling Logan since his departure that morning, but he didn’t answer his cell and it was always Derek who answered the home phone, not Logan. He was avoiding her, and he was doing a good job of it.

Absently, she twirled her spaghetti on her fork and stared down at her plate.

She’d completely lost her appetite, quite a feat, given her usual state of constant hunger, and didn’t even bother attempting conversation with Sophie and Trevor anymore.

The two were so nauseatingly, disgustingly in love that they even made eyes at each other over the dinner table.

It made Claire envious, she had to admit, though she certainly didn’t begrudge her sister’s newfound happiness.

She only wished she could procure a little of her own.

At least her mother had left. She’d been in a huff of disappointment, completely ignoring Claire but for the I-am-so-ashamed-of-you look she sent her before climbing into the Volvo. But she was gone and could wreak no more havoc.

“Claire, are you finished?” Sophie asked, cutting abruptly into Claire’s somewhat morose musings.

“Yes.” She dropped her fork and pushed back her chair. “I’m not really hungry after all.”

“Let’s go sit in the backyard and talk for a bit,” Sophie suggested, giving Trevor a look that said he wasn’t invited. “We can finish off the sparkling cider while we chat.”

Claire didn’t really feel like chatting. She felt like moping, and her face must have shown it because Sophie gave her a pointed look. “You don’t really have a choice.”

Claire looked at Trevor. “Is your sister this bossy?”

“Even worse,” he said with a wince.

“Sisters.” Claire shook her head. “You have my sympathy.”

Sophie gave an indelicate snort. “You’re the one who’s going to need sympathy if you don’t get your butt out onto the back porch.”

“Fine.” Since Sophie was right and Claire didn’t in fact have a choice but to obey her command, Claire grabbed the bottle of sparkling cider and two glasses. It was a sister thing.

When the two were comfortably ensconced in Sophie’s patio furniture, Sophie turned to Claire. “Let’s start at the beginning. How did your trip go?”

Claire sipped her sparkling cider and watched for a moment as a moth fluttered about the flame on a nearby tea light. “It was amazing. The trip wasn’t the problem. The part where we got back here and Mom attacked him is where everything went straight to hell.”

Sophie made a face. “It was bad,” she agreed. “But I think he’ll forgive you for it. Eventually.”

“Thanks,” Claire grumbled dryly. “I should have told Mom about it, I know. But I couldn’t ever bring myself to say it.”

“You have to admit, that’s not exactly flattering for Logan,” Sophie pointed out reasonably.

“I know, and it has nothing to do with him and everything to do with Mom. I guess I hated the thought of disappointing her, as juvenile as that sounds.” She sighed. “I didn’t know what to say to her, so I didn’t say anything at all.”

“You could have told her the truth.”

Claire groaned. “It seems so obvious now, but the truth isn’t always easy to say.”

“I know.” Sophie reached out and squeezed Claire’s free hand.

“But if you tell her, she’ll understand.

Right now, she thinks you’re the one in the wrong.

You have to explain the whole thing to her.

Believe me, once she finds out Garrett cheated on you, she won’t think him the perfect son-in-law anymore. ”

Claire drained the remainder of her drink. “Maybe you’re right,” she grudgingly agreed. “But before I fix things with her, I have to fix things with Logan.”

Sophie tilted her head to the side and considered Claire for a long moment. “I think you really want to make this work with him, don’t you?”

“I do,” Claire said, being completely honest with both herself and her sister. “God help me, but I do.”

“Then go find him.” Sophie smiled. “Don’t let him stew. Believe me, every time I let Trevor stew, it only takes longer to make him see reason again.”

“I think I will.” Claire rose and gave Sophie a quick hug, laughing when their bellies bumped. “We’ll soon be too fat for this.”

Sophie patted her round belly and laughed too. “Bite your tongue, woman.”

When Logan finally made it back to his house, the moon was a thin sliver of silver in the sky. The clock on his kitchen stove told him it was past two in the morning. God, had he really been gone that long?

After leaving Claire’s, he’d headed straight for LM, throwing himself into catching up on the work he’d missed last week.

He’d desperately needed distraction from the unsettling emotions piercing his gut after discovering Claire’s secrecy.

Only distraction had been a hell of a hard thing to achieve.

After poring over an excessive backlog of emails and listening to his nearly endless voicemail since he hadn’t checked either on his cell, he threw himself into examining all the accounts LM currently handled.

And still, his mind wouldn’t allow him to forget the sickening feeling of realizing Claire was too ashamed to tell her own parents he was the father of her child.

Over and over again, he relived the scene at Sophie’s house, the shame on Claire’s face, the horror on her mother’s.

Until a migraine hit him with the force of a freight train pounding into his skull.

It had laid him low for quite some time.

He hadn’t been aware of just how much time had passed until he stepped into the kitchen.

Christ, but he needed a drink. If only he hadn’t gotten rid of all his alcohol after Derek’s arrival.

He’d sell his soul for a shot of whiskey right about now. Anything to make him forget.

Damn it, he couldn’t take it anymore.

Logan tossed his keys onto the counter, wincing slightly at the way they jangled on the hard marble surface.

His headache still hadn’t completely abated, but it almost felt good to be in pain.

It matched the bleakness threatening to consume him.

He’d come so far, had made a name for himself.

He’d thought he was beyond anyone making him feel unworthy.

Somehow, Claire had the power to strip him right down to the bone and make him feel like nothing.

Hell, who was he kidding? He was nothing.

A zero dressed in designer suits, masquerading behind his CEO’s desk.

The awful truth had hit him tonight at the office.

He couldn’t blame Claire for not wanting to tell her mother about him.

After all, the pregnancy had been an accident.

Claire would never have chosen him as the father of her child and she was now merely making the best of a nearly impossible situation.

What could he offer her, or a child, for that matter?

Disgusted with himself and still furious with Claire, Logan strode from the kitchen into the main hallway. He heard the low rumbling of the television in the living room and assumed Derek was still awake. He paused, weighing the pros and cons of unloading his problems on his friend.

“What the hell,” he muttered after a moment of wavering. His feet carried him to the living room, expecting to find Derek the night owl grinning crookedly from the couch.

Instead, he saw Claire curled up on the sofa, the soft light from the flat screen illuminating her in an ethereal light. A throw was draped over her and her blonde hair fanned out in glorious disarray over a pillow. Logan’s reaction was immediate and instinctive.

What the hell was she doing here? How had he failed to notice her car when he’d pulled up?

Infuriated, Logan stalked over to the sofa, determined to shake her awake and tell her to leave.

But when he reached his destination and looked down at her, something inside him shifted, softened.

He was captivated by her striking features.

The small, pert nose, her lush, pink lips, high cheekbones, thick lashes.

In any light, Claire was beautiful. Tonight she was gorgeous.

The slight swell of her stomach was visible beneath the blanket and Logan clenched his hands to keep from reaching out and touching her.

He wanted to so badly he shook with it.

God.

She had brought him to his knees this morning, and now here she was, quietly snoozing on his sofa, looking like an angel when she had no goddamn right to.

Making him want to carry her to his bed and lose his anger in incredible sex instead.

What was it about this woman that rocked him, made him weak in ways he’d never dreamt possible?

She sighed softly in her sleep, burrowing down into the cushions.

Before Logan realized what he was doing, he sank to his knees.

His resistance left him in the same instant.

He reached out with a trembling hand and brushed a lock of golden hair from her face, his hand lingering to caress her cheek.

Her skin felt like hot satin against his fingertips and it amazed him that just this simple touch could send hot sparks shooting through his blood. He wanted more.

His questing fingertips traced a light path to her jaw, then slid over her slightly parted lips.

She sighed again, nestling the curve of her cheek into the palm of his hand.

Logan inhaled sharply, lust burning a path through him.

It was utterly ridiculous, but Claire’s innocent, unconscious gesture aroused him.

He wanted to claim her, to brand her with his kiss and with his body, to make her realize she needed him as fiercely as he needed her.

Damn again.

With great difficulty, he withdrew his hand and gently shook Claire’s shoulder. “Claire.”

She moved and made a mewling sound of protest in the back of her throat. Logan swallowed and tried again. “Claire. Wake up.”