Crazy for Her(49)

Logan turned and stared at the house he had bought two years earlier. He’d long dreamed of having a beautiful home on the gulf, one where he could walk out his back door and feel the sand warm on his bare feet or stand under the night moon and feel the breeze on his face.

Except for necessities and what he gave Mrs. Jankowski and Maria, he had saved every penny of his Navy pay. When he left the military after twelve years, he’d had enough for the down payment. The first thing he did was start looking for a house.

The minute he walked in the door, he knew it was the one. It was the one time in his life he’d been selfish. Because he didn’t want Maria, whose taste ran to craftsman style, or Mrs. Jankowski, who preferred traditional, to try and influence his decision, he hadn’t told them he’d bought a house until the final papers were signed. It was his house and he wanted a contemporary with clean lines and no clutter. As different from his past life as possible.

Looking up, he admired the tall windows reaching from the ground floor to the second. In daylight, the views from inside were spectacular, and sometimes he stood in a room overlooking the ocean and pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

What had Dani thought of it? Maybe his ego needed to show her what he’d made of himself, because he had wanted to be the one to take her on a tour, wanted to watch her face, to hear her comments.

Did she like it enough to consider living in it? She was a writer and could live anywhere, whereas his company was in Pensacola, and as much as he loved the mountains, he didn’t think he could bear giving up his ocean.

Getting ahead of yourself, here, Kincaid. She’s given no indication she wants your ring on her finger. He finished the last of his beer, warm now, and went inside. Tomorrow, he would take her on a tour of K2.

Unable to sleep, Logan got out his copy of The Countess Takes a Lover and turned to the page he’d marked. A few chapters later, he stopped reading and stared out the French doors, for once not noticing the view. In the book, the heroine, Elena, wanted to be courted.

Did Dani? Was that a clue to winning her heart? Didn’t a writer, especially one who wrote romance, put their own desires into their stories, consciously or even unconsciously? Wouldn’t her hero act in a way Dani would want a man in her life to?

Believing he had stumbled on a way to learn her fantasies, he went back to reading, mentally noting all the things Jonathan did to make Elena fall in love with him. Because of his lack of experience with women, he could use all the help he could get. He stayed up half the night, and when he finished the book, fell asleep to ideas forming in his mind.

The next morning, he made a quick trip to the grocery store and then settled down at his desk, a cup of coffee in hand. At his best when he had a well-thought-out plan, Logan outlined a schedule for their time in Pensacola, along with notes on how to act and the things he needed to do. One thing that had caught his attention in Dani’s book was how much Elena loved Jonathan’s scent. Logan gave that a lot of thought.

For years, because of what he did, he had strived to have no scent at all. No one on his team was allowed to smoke, as the smell or the glow of a cigarette could result in being dead. They had also never used cologne, aftershave, or scented deodorant. But Elena loved Jonathan’s scent, so Logan made a list of some things to buy. Maria had given him a bottle of cologne one Christmas, and he could give that a try.

When he finished, he read over his notes and grunted his satisfaction. If his team knew he was planning a courtship with the precision and detail of a SEAL mission, he would be the butt of their jokes for years to come. He didn’t give a damn. Already he was having the time of his life and couldn’t wait to start.

Inclining his head, he listened to Regan cry. He smiled and shoved his courtship plan into a desk drawer. “Let the games begin.”





CHAPTER THIRTEEN



Dani pulled a chair to the picture window and settled in to nurse Regan. “Enjoy, my little stinker, because starting tomorrow your breakfast is coming in a bottle.”

Regan gurgled her answer. Dani looked down and experienced a bittersweet moment. This was the last time she would nurse her daughter. “You’re growing up, sweetheart, and I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

Regan grinned back at her without letting go of the nipple.

“You’re rotten, you know that, right?”

Someone knocked on the door. “Come in,” she said, expecting Mrs. Jankowski. Logan walked in with a cup of coffee in one hand and a yellow rose in the other.

Regan’s gaze shifted to Logan, and she let go of Dani and gave him a flirty grin. Dani lifted Regan and whispered in her ear. “You’re a little tease, but I really don’t blame you.”