"Oh, don't you give me that ‘I don't date clientele' malarkey," Annmarie scoffed. She looked down to Terrence. "Nice woman?"
"I fell yesterday and hit my head," he said. "She lay on the floor with me to keep my spirits up 'til the medics showed up. Perfect stranger."
Annmarie turned her assessing stare back to her son.
"Don't even," he warned.
"Does she have a boyfriend?" Annmarie asked.
"Not that it's any of your business, or mine," Logan said, "but no, as far as I know."
"Then take her out tonight!" she pressed.
"No."
"No? Why not?"
"I'm making you dinner and we're watching a movie, remember?" he said.
"After today's treatment, I'll probably be asleep by nine," she said. "So you'll be alone, and she'll be alone. Take her out!"
Logan pursed his lips, reining in the rant he wanted to let fly.
"Stop looking at me like you want to spit nails," she said. "It'd make me happy to know you're doing something fun tonight. Something besides watching me snore on the couch."
"Easy with the guilt, okay?" Logan sighed. "I'm glad to be with you tonight."
"I am too. But you can do both. Dinner with me, then going out with a beautiful young woman. Sounds like a win to me."
Logan scrubbed his hands over his beard and growled in frustration.
"Didn't mean to cause trouble," Terrence said, grimacing for Logan's sake.
"You didn't," Logan said. "My mother means well. She just forgets sometimes that I'm a thirty-eight-year-old man who's capable of making my own decisions."
She waved him off dismissively. "Excuse me for not seeing the harm in asking a nice, apparently pretty woman out for a coffee."
"Oh, more than pretty," Terrence interjected. "I thought she was maybe a model or something until I found out who she was. That long, tall, skinny look, you know, with this loooong hair . . . and that face! She's striking."
Annmarie's brows lifted. She fixed her son with a mocking glare. "You're a wimp." She turned to Terrence and said, "It was nice to meet you, but I'm afraid Radiology is waiting for me."
"Can you get up there on your own, Mom?" Logan asked. "I left my phone in the truck. I'll meet you upstairs."
He said goodbye to Terrence, watched his mother get on the elevator, then went outside. Head down against the wind, he walked a few steps away from the entrance and took his phone out of his pocket. Shaking his head at himself, he punched in a number before he thought better of it.
"Hello?" Tess answered.
"Hey, Tess. It's Logan." He paced as he talked. "I just ran into Terrence at the hospital. We were going in, he was going out. He seems fine."
"Oh, that's great," Tess said. "He texted me last night and said he hoped they'd release him today. Glad to hear he got the green light. But why are you at the hospital? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Here with my mom for one of her treatments."
"Ah. I see."
"Yeah. So listen . . ." His pace picked up. "Terrence seems to be under the impression that you're going to be home alone tonight. Is that true?" Logan winced, hating the sound of his own voice just then.
Tess let out a little startled laugh, but said, "Well, yes. Why?"
"I'm making dinner for my mother," he said, "but she's here for radiation, and she's usually pretty wiped out after. She'll be asleep early, probably. So I was just thinking . . ." He looked around, seeing nothing. Was he really doing this? "Maybe you just want to be alone tonight, and I totally get that. But uh . . . if you wanted, my friend owns a coffeehouse. Quiet, very low key. We could just get some coffee, hang out . . ." He shook his head in horror at himself. He hadn't stumbled over asking a woman out like this since college. "No pressure. Just as friends, not like a date, really. If you even want to go out tonight. Some people hate going out on New Year's Eve." He grimaced hard. "Jesus, I'm rambling."
"You are. It's kind of cute."
He laughed at that. "Great. Well, I know it's short notice, but-"
"A low-key, no pressure, non-date sounds nice," Tess said. "What time should I meet you there?"
He blinked, stopping in his tracks. "Umm. I, uh . . . I'll pick you up. That way you can drink if you want. I never do, so I'm a great designated driver."
"Well, actually, I'm not drinking these days either," she said. "So, your call."
"I'll pick you up at nine thirty, if that's all right by you."
"That's fine. What am I wearing? This place is casual?"
"Extremely. Wear your yoga pants if you want."
"Gets better and better. Thanks for the invite, Logan. See you then."
"Great, you got it. See you tonight." He ended the call, shoved his phone in his pocket, and raked his hands through his hair. Holy shit, he'd really done that. And holy shit, she'd said yes, and holy shit, he'd be spending New Year's Eve with Tess Harrison of the New York Harrisons. He didn't know what had possessed him. It wasn't Terrence's hinting or his mother's interference. He never went on impulse like that anymore. Interesting. Huffing out a laugh, it flew out of him in a burst of white steam against the frigid air.
Chapter Six
"After you." Logan held the door open and Tess stepped into the small building. As she followed him farther inside, she looked around. Pale polished wood and vintage-looking chairs and love seats, all covered in rich fabrics and velvets. Dimly lit, the strings of colored lights strewn across the high beams and ceiling gave the room a soft glow, a more intimate feel. Country-rock guitar music played softly. Ford's Coffee House was a warm, cozy place. Tess liked it immediately.
"This is great," she said to Logan. "I already know I'll be back again."
He grinned. "Good, glad to hear it." He looked over toward the bar and called to one of the baristas. "Hey, Caleb. Ford held a spot for me?"
The young man behind the counter nodded as he said hi, then gestured toward a carved-back love seat in the far corner that had a "Reserved" card perched on it.
"Okay," Logan said to Tess. "That's ours."
"Oh really?" She looked up at him with a mischievous smile.
"Good to be friends with the owner." He winked and walked through the small crowd, bringing her along with a hand at the small of her back. The small touch warmed her. He leaned down to be heard over the music as he said, "It's not usually this packed, but with it being New Year's Eve and all, I wanted to make sure we'd have a good place to sit."
When they reached the love seat, covered in burgundy velvet, they took off their coats and sat, slightly turned so they were facing each other.
"Been friends with the owner a long time?" Tess asked.
"Ford? Yeah, since high school. Played football and baseball together." Logan stretched out his long legs, then leaned back a bit, easing into the plush cushions. He was such a big guy, even his most simple movements seemed powerful. "Ford's savvy as hell. He moved here after college to start up a business, and after a few different ones, started this place . . . maybe three or four years ago, now? Something like that."
"Good for him. He has great taste. This place is lovely." Tess swept her hair back over her shoulders. "So you guys grew up not far from here?" She stuck with the easy questions. Something told her even though Logan had asked her out-possibly to prove he wasn't holding his grudge anymore, that was her guess-it didn't mean he'd spill his guts. He was a private man, slow to open up, and that was fine with her. But it only made her more curious.
"We grew up in Arsdale," he said. "Maybe a half hour's drive west of Aspen. Not far at all." He leaned in, resting his elbows on his knees as he asked, "Where'd you grow up? New York, right?"
"Yes, on Long Island. On the North Shore. It's about a forty-minute drive east of the city."
"The city being New York City," he guessed.
"Yeah." She grinned and added, "To anyone who lives within a two-hour radius of it, we just call it the city."
He nodded. "I've never been there. New York City."
Her eyes widened. "Really?"