Page 40 of Perfect Persuasion (Love’s Second Chance #2)

Logan didn’t speak. He turned his hand upside down so that his palm rested against hers, lacing their fingers together.

A rush of longing ran through her, more powerful than the contractions she’d experienced yesterday.

She wanted more than this mere touching of hands. She wanted to touch his heart.

“Say something,” she whispered, feeling suddenly vulnerable.

He cleared his throat, his fingers tightening on hers. “Maybe we can start over from this moment. Forget everything that’s happened before.”

Her lips trembled with a smile. “Forgetting is impossible.”

“I know.” Shifting closer to her, he took her gently into his arms. “God, I know.”

Claire curled into his familiar warmth, burying her face in his neck. She had missed this, missed him. Being so close to him, in his arms with no anger or misunderstandings between them, felt incredible. It felt, oddly enough, like home.

Or maybe it wasn’t so odd, after all.

Raising her face, she kissed him, devouring his mouth the way she wished she could devour the rest of his body. When the kiss finally ended, she met his gaze. “I’d like to start over with you. From this moment.”

“From this moment,” he echoed, kissing her again.

“Do you have any sevens?”

“Nope.” Claire shook her head, casting Derek a smug look. “Go fish.”

With a growl, he reached out and took a card from the pile resting at the edge of Claire’s bed.

While Logan was cooking dinner, Derek had decided to occupy her with an impromptu game of Go Fish.

She was currently getting the best of him and he had a meager pile of matches to prove it.

Despite the fact that it still felt more than just a little surreal to be playing cards with a famous man, she was having a good deal of fun.

She feigned deep thought for a moment, tilting her head to the side and pursing her lips. “Hmm. Do you have any jacks?”

“Damn it.” Derek forked over two jacks.

She held out her hand expectantly, wiggling her fingers. “Where’s the third one?”

He cursed again and slapped the third jack onto her palm. “There. Take it and be satisfied.”

Raising a brow at him, she put down all four jacks. “That’s another match. Sneaky of you to try cheating. Cheaters never prosper, you know.”

“Hey, I’m just trying to make it through this game with a shred of my manly dignity still intact. You’re kicking my ass.”

Claire grinned. “It’s not my fault you stink at Go Fish.”

The grin he sent her in return was wry. “I’m a little rusty. I haven’t really had any Go Fish opportunities since I was about six years old.”

“Did you play it with Logan?” She couldn’t help asking. There was so much about Logan that she didn’t know.

“Actually, no.” All traces of mirth vanished from his face. “That was before I met Logan. I used to play with my mother.”

“If you’d rather not talk about it, I completely understand.”

Derek shrugged, idly rearranging his cards.

“It’s not anything the press doesn’t already know, anyway.

You can read all the details on any of my ’unofficial’ websites.

” He paused, attempting to look more collected and nonchalant than he truthfully was, Claire could tell.

“My mom had a string of abusive loser boyfriends. One of them was driving Mom home from work one night and decided to stop at a bar on the way home. He got trashed and got in an accident about a half mile from our apartment. They were both killed.”

When he finished, Claire was in tears. “Oh Derek. That’s terrible.”

“My mother was an alcoholic too,” he continued quietly. “After the accident, I ended up in foster care. Which is how I met Logan, and he’s the brother I never had, so there’s a happy ending after all.”

Looking at Derek, Claire wasn’t really sure if he’d found his happy ending yet.

Logan was very close-mouthed about his friend, but she knew from bits of information she’d read in the newspaper or heard on the radio that Derek had severe addiction problems himself.

She also knew, since Derek had told her, that he’d recently completed treatment at the Starling Foundation, an excellent treatment facility that boasted a celebrity who’s who patient list. In this moment, he didn’t look like a self-assured, charismatic movie star.

He looked like a desperate man trying to find his way.

“Can I hug you?” she asked impulsively.

His mouth kicked up into a smile. “Be my guest.” He laid his cards down on the bed and stood, leaning down to wrap his arms around her. They remained that way for a few moments until Derek pulled away, looking embarrassed.

“I can’t remember the last time someone hugged me,” he murmured.

He had to be adored by thousands of fans across the world and yet no one hugged him. They were too in love with the blinding Hollywood brilliance to notice that the man beneath it was drowning. His life seemed so desperately lonely.

“You know, now that you’re stuck with me, I’m here any time you need to talk.” She winced. “It’s not like I’ll be going anywhere.”

Derek regarded her seriously. “I think you’re the right woman for Logan.”

His words threw her off balance. “We’re having a child together, but that doesn’t mean—”

“That’s not what I mean,” he said gently. “You care about him. I’ve seen the way you look at him.”

“Of course I care about him.”

“You love him.” His gaze was knowing.

That pronouncement shocked her. Rocked her world. Because part of her knew he was right. The other part of her didn’t even want to think about it.

“I don’t know,” she began, only to be interrupted by the arrival of a tray-bearing Logan.

“Dinner,” he announced with a flourish, “is served.”

Derek gathered up the discarded playing cards and tidied them into a pile. “I concede defeat,” he murmured. “I’ll leave you two alone. I have some errands to run.” He gave Claire a meaningful look. “Remember what I said.”

Remember it? It was currently all she could think about. That and how yummy dinner smelled, of course. She was a pregnant woman, after all, and Logan had proved a surprisingly talented chef. She looked forward to every meal he prepared for her, but for his company as much as for the food.

Derek, on the other hand, had obviously been last in line when the culinary gods were offering skills.

On their first day together with Logan in the office, Derek had cooked her macaroni and cheese, the boxed, impossible-to-mess-up kind.

Only he’d messed it up. She still recalled the gloppy texture and icky taste of it on her tongue.

“Claire.”

Her attention snapped to Logan, who had set the tray of food down on the empty portion of her bed that had so recently served as a card table. “Hmm?” she murmured, her gaze alternately eying up the soup on the tray and Logan himself.

“You’re daydreaming again. I don’t think you even managed to say goodbye to Derek beyond your autopilot wave.”

“Sorry.” She thought for a moment. “I don’t have an autopilot wave.”

Logan gave her a superior look. “Yes you do.”

Okay, so maybe she did, but that didn’t mean she had to admit it. She decided a change of subject was in order. “Is that your world-famous tomato-dill soup?” She sighed. “And smoked cheddar on toasted croissants?”

“Per your orders.”

“Mmm.” Grinning, Claire pulled the chair closer.

Logan had provided her with a stack of cookbooks, directing her to mark the recipes that most appealed to her.

“I have to admit that you’re giving me five-star treatment.

” She dug into the heavenly soup. “My mother can’t believe that you cook for me. ”

He tucked a stray tendril of hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering on her skin longer than necessary.

“Your mother isn’t exactly my personal fan club.

But I am trying to make it up to you and Baby Thumper.

” A crooked grin touched his lips. “Besides, a wise man told me that the way to a pregnant woman’s heart is through her stomach. ”

“It can’t hurt,” she agreed, pausing when she realized the implications of what he’d just said. Unless she was taking it too literally. “Are you?” she asked, unable to help herself.

He raised an eyebrow. “Am I what?”

She was almost afraid to say it. For a few moments, she toyed with her soup spoon before responding. “Trying to win my heart.”

His eyes were grave, darkened by intensity. “If I am?”

Claire felt unsteady at his response. “Is it for the right reasons?” She was afraid that this new tender and doting Logan was more a product of his guilty conscience than of his true feelings for her.

He leaned closer to her, his familiar scent invading her senses. “What are the right reasons, Claire?”

Logan had a patent way of turning her questions into more questions without providing a single answer. “I don’t know,” she said honestly.

Reaching out, he took her left hand in his and turned it palm up, his thumb stroking against her inner wrist. “I don’t want to be the man you’re stuck with.”

“Logan.”

“God knows you deserve better than me,” he continued, ignoring her protest. “Hell, nobody even wanted me when I was a kid and you know how cute everyone thinks kids are.” A self-deprecating smile curled his lips.

“I don’t feel like I’m stuck with you.” She hated that his past still had such a negative effect on him.

Her fingers closed over his. “I know your past is a sensitive subject for you, but I think it’s time you let it go.

I can’t answer for anyone else all those years ago, but I do know that I wouldn’t be here right now if I didn’t want you in my life. In our baby’s life.”

As if to assert its opinion, the baby lodged its foot right into Claire’s belly. She tugged Logan’s hand to the spot. “See? Baby Thumper agrees.”

Awe shone from his eyes. This was what he’d been missing with her gone from his life. These simple moments were meant to be shared.

His fingers slid to the hem of her maternity shirt. “Can I?”