“When do Tony and the others fly in?”
“Late tonight.”
“Are you going to the airport to pick them up?”
“No, I’ve arranged for a car service. Less likely for the paps to pick up on them arriving, or to connect Tony and me together.”
“Good idea. You have fun with your reunion. Give Tony my love, and say hi to Sarah and Callie for me.”
“Thanks, honey. I’ll see you in the morning?”
“Yes.” She kissed his cheek and moved on to her own trailer, where she spent the next hour pacing. It was still early in the evening, and she didn’t feel like reading or watching TV. What she felt like doing was giving Logan a piece of her mind. Which she wouldn’t do, of course. Not tonight, anyway.
He had a lot of nerve giving Colt a hard time. If he wanted to know something, why didn’t he come to her and ask her?
She already knew the answer to that. Because he was the most stubborn, uncommunicative man she’d ever met. And he made assumptions. Lots of assumptions based on—absolutely nothing.
Maybe if he actually had a conversation with her, he’d know she was just friends with Colt and had been forever. No, wait. She’d already told him that. Apparently he didn’t believe her, which meant he’d indirectly called her a liar.
She dragged her fingers through her hair while simultaneously wearing out the rug in the trailer.
This was getting her nowhere. She needed an outlet for her frustration, and she wasn’t going to find it here. She changed into her running clothes, put on her tennis shoes, then stretched before heading out of the trailer to take a run. Maybe a few miles in this oppressive heat would burn out some of her irritation.
She breathed in and out, even though it was like breathing fire, digging her feet in and pushing off as she got a head of speed going. She couldn’t run like she normally would if it wasn’t so hot, but she cleared her head and ran along the dirt path, concentrating on enjoying the scenery.
She often ran along the hills in L.A., though out there she couldn’t be alone. Not like here, where all she could see were hills and valleys and ponds. The landscape of trees was breathtaking, too, and she even glimpsed cattle as she came up over the rise on her third mile.
And that’s when she saw Logan’s truck, parked at the far end of the road. He was out there leaning against his truck drinking a beer and watching the sun go down.
Her first thought was to turn around and head back to the set. She’d gotten most of the mad out of her system on her run, and the last thing she wanted was to get riled up again. But she wasn’t a coward, either, so she slowed to a walk to catch her breath and stopped at his truck.
“A little late for you to be out, isn’t it?” he asked.
Still breathing a bit heavily, she said, “Last time I looked, I was an adult and capable of making my own decisions. And, as far as I know, I’m not on a curfew.”
“You seem a little mad.”
“Do I?”
“Yeah.”
He went around to the door and grabbed a bottle of water, unscrewed the top and handed it to her.
“Thanks.” She nearly inhaled half the contents of the bottle, which helped.
“You want to talk about it?”
“You went after Colt and questioned my relationship with him.”
“He told you about that, huh?”
“Yes, he did.”
“I’m not very reasonable when it comes to you, Des. And I don’t understand it myself, so I don’t think I can give you a good explanation for why I talked to him the way I did. But I’m sorry, and I’ll apologize to Colt tomorrow.”
Well, shit. Logan’s apology instantly burst her giant bubble of anger. And his explanation made it seem as if he felt something for her.
“Thanks. And what do you mean you’re not reasonable when it comes to me?”
He pushed off the truck and came toward her, swiping her sweat-soaked hair from her eyes. “Don’t ask me to define it when it confuses the hell out of me. You confuse the hell out of me. You make me feel things.”
She lifted her gaze to his, saw that confusion on his gorgeous face. It was almost as if he was angry with her. But within that anger, she also saw passion rise up, as it always did when they were together.
“Are you sure you’re not confusing sex with some other feeling?”
He wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her close. “I like having sex with you. There’s no doubt about that.”
“But when it comes down to having an actual relationship with a woman, my guess is that’s where you bow out?”
She gave him credit for not backing away. “Yeah. That’s where I bow out.”
“Why? What scares you about that?”
“Nothing scares me.”
Now she pulled away. “Bullshit. Be honest with yourself, at least, Logan. It’s your parents’ relationship, the way your mom reacted to living on the ranch that makes you hesitate with women, isn’t it?”
“So now you’re the expert on me, Des?”
“No. But it doesn’t take an expert to figure out that’s why you don’t do anything permanent with women. I can’t really blame you, either. Who’d want to take the risk of repeating the past?”
She saw him visibly relax. But she wasn’t going to let him off the hook so easily.
“But you have to realize that not every woman you meet is going to be like your mom, right?”
“I know that. Doesn’t mean I’m ready to settle down yet. Or that I’ll ever be ready to take that chance.” He turned and looked out over the valley. “It’s a tough life out here. It’s a lot to ask of a woman who isn’t born into it, who doesn’t have a natural love of the land.”
She walked over to stand next to him. “You want someone to love this as much as you do.”
“Yes.”
“Understandable. And I guess you haven’t found that woman yet.”
“I don’t think that woman exists. No one will be able to understand what it’s like to work the land as if you’re part of it, to live and die according to the whims of nature and the cattle market.” He glanced over at her. “Would you understand that? Could you feel a part of that?”
“Today? No. But a woman who loves you could learn to love the land and your work the same way you do.”