“You must be very boring.” Cole smirked as he nudged Jarrett’s arm with his prosthetic elbow. “I don’t think Logan heard a word you said.”
“Sorry.” Logan blinked, forcing himself to concentrate. “Did you ask me something?”
“That’s okay,” said Jarrett. “It hasn’t been that long since I was in the same boat. I couldn’t think about anything but Rylie. Love can mess with your mind, that’s for sure. But it gets better.”
“Oh, I’m not in love,” Logan hurried to assure him. “Ellery and I are…”
How could he explain it? Those five-minute kisses were definitely not in the friend zone. But Ellery had stiff-armed every attempt to redefine the relationship, insisting they couldn’t be more than that.
“We’re taking it slowly.”
“Ah!” Cole and Jarrett exchanged a look Logan didn’t quite understand. Were they laughing at him?
“If you need any advice about women, Cole’s the expert.” Jarrett’s lip twitched at the corner, a dimple hinting at a suppressed smile.
“No, I bow to the man who had two sisters fighting over him.” Cole tipped his forehead toward Jarrett. “What is your secret, O Great One? How does one win the heart of not one, but two beautiful women at the same time?”
Finn chose that moment to pause his private conversation with Bran and pipe in. “But surely you recognize the true love champion.” He pointed a thumb toward his chest. “The man who inspired a woman to face certain death simply to be in his presence.”
“I’m not sure flying on a plane qualifies as facing certain death.”
“It does when you’re phobic,” said Finn. “The doctor said her body experiences exactly the same physiological reaction as if she were dying. I’d say, none of you can top that.”
“If you’re all through fluffing your tail feathers,” said Bran, “I’d like to hear Logan’s thoughts on the new branch. We’d talked about it being sort of a creative think tank with the best minds in the business, but I think Logan has some other ideas.”
“The think tank is still in the basic plan,” said Logan, “but I’d like to see what happens when we get some top game developers in with the utility app and engineering guys. I just think they might come up with the next great thing since the smartphone.”
“Like what?” Jarrett asked
“I don’t know,” Logan said. “But whatever it is, Phantom is going to own it.”
“Makes sense to me,” Bran said. “Those guys were us, ten years ago. Look what we did when we put our minds together.”
“Exactly,” Logan said. “Not that you’ve lost your creative edge. But you have other things distracting you now, like running the company.”
“What’s this going to cost us?” Jarrett asked.
“I’ll personally guarantee this branch will be financially self-sufficient,” Logan said. “I’ve got a few apps on the back burner I can always donate to the cause.”
“I’m guessing you aren’t interested in a nice steady salary,” Finn said with a hint of sarcasm.
“You’re right. If we do this, I want a share of the profits.”
“And what happens if we don’t agree?” Bran steepled his hands, his sightless eyes staring directly at Logan’s.
A chill rippled down Logan’s spine, but he wasn’t intimidated. “I’m sure we can reach a suitable compromise. But if we can’t, I’ll go on without Phantom’s backing. I suppose we’ll find ourselves competitors.”
Cole slung an arm around his shoulder. “You know how I feel about it. Phantom’s profited from all our previous partnerships.”
“You’ve always treated me fairly, and that’s rare these days,” Logan said, thinking of his father’s business and investment network.
“One more question,” Jarrett said, his brows bent low over his dark eyes. “You have assets. You could do a project like this without us—you already said it. What do you get from Phantom that you wouldn’t have on your own?”
“To be honest…” Logan swallowed hard. “I’ve been asking myself the same question, and I don’t know. You’ll just have to take me at my word.”
“Okay, Logan.” Cole reached his hand up and tipped an invisible hat where his Stetson usually perched. “If you’ll give us some space, I think we have some talkin’ to do.”
“All I want is a fair deal.” Logan stood, ready to grab Ellery and escape to the adjacent table. “And in three years, we’ll renegotiate. You take no chance of being tied to a sinking ship.”
“And no free ride if you turn out to be a dirigible,” Finn commented wryly.
Logan smiled. “Exactly.”
CHAPTER 17
TWO WEEKS LATER
Ellery was getting accustomed to cooking dinner with Logan. Side by side, they would chat while doing the prep work. They enjoyed trying new recipes, and Logan had a fabulous kitchen with every possible convenience. After dinner, they would adjourn to the couch, where she would study while Logan worked. It was comfortable. Too comfortable. She could see herself doing this every day for the rest of her life, which meant she was already in over her head. She shouldn’t have let herself get so attached to Logan.
The man was sweet and kind, despite his occasional awkwardness, but he made snap decisions. While Ellery would spend hours shopping online and comparing the best deals before making any purchase, Logan had ordered a leather sectional on impulse when he’d spotted the advertisement. When the furniture had been delivered, he’d deemed it awesome almost before he sat down on one of the recliners. But three weeks later, she’d walked into his house to find a different sectional.
“This one’s even better than the other one.” He’d pointed out the advantages of his new purchase. “It has integrated chargers for your phone and laptop and a built-in remote for the television.”
It was the pattern of his life, with everything from can openers to vehicles. He constantly upgraded to the newest whatever, discarding the perfectly good item without a second thought. And his personal life was no different. He’d gone to the wedding in Houston, intent on winning Allegra back, and returned to Austin in a new relationship with Ellery. Common sense told her he’d eventually move on to a bigger and better model.
“I knew it from day one. I shouldn’t have spent so much time with him,” she’d complained to Kara the previous day.
“Why not enjoy the moment instead of worrying about the future?” Kara had said. “You know better than anyone that none of us are guaranteed to live another day.”
