Personally, I think he’s good for you.”

“How can you possibly think that? You haven’t even met him.”

“I know that you have this fire about you that I’ve never seen before. You have these new people in your life. You have Maia, whom you clearly adore.”

I decided it was time to tell her about Sharon the American.

“Och, that’s nothing.” Chloe dismissed it with a wave of her hand as soon as I was finished telling her about the events of the evening.

I was affronted by the dismissal. “You’re clearly not listening. I am not Logan’s type. At all. And he’s not even my type. I don’t know how this happened. But I do know that he’s never going to see me as anything but a friend, and I’m going to end up getting my heart broken if I don’t do something quickly.”

Chloe raised an eyebrow. “Did you hear what you just said? He’s not your type. And yet here we are discussing how you have feelings for him. Who is to say that he hasn’t developed feelings for you?”

I shook my head, frustrated by her attempts at encouragement rather than discouragement. “He flirts with women he finds attractive. I’ve witnessed it. He has never flirted with me. Ever. Chloe, all of his women look the same. And they don’t look like me. If he’s not looking to get serious with his type, he is definitely not looking to get serious with me. He’s just going to have shady hookups on the side with women he doesn’t want to bring home to his daughter. I’m not going to be a shady hookup, and I wouldn’t want to be.”

Chloe scowled. “What the hell is it you want me to say?”

“I want you to help me get over him. Before all of this I’d been on one bad date after another. A few of those you sent me out on. I’m asking you to dig deep and search hard and find me the best bloody date you’ve ever found anyone. It’s time to remake the magic of Aidan and Juno.”

My friend did not look happy. “But —”

“But nothing. Logan is a dead end. Find me a through road!”

Her eyes widened with amusement. “Fine. I’ll find you the most perfect date ever.”

“That’s what I’m talking about.” I clinked my glass against hers, feeling better already.

As Maia helped me load the dishwasher a few days later, she turned to Logan, who was sipping a beer at my counter. We’d just finished dinner together. Again. “Since it’s Friday, can we watch a movie tonight?”

“Have you done all your homework?”

“Most of it. I thought I’d finish the rest on Sunday. There’s not much to do. Ask Grace.”

I glanced over my shoulder to find him looking at me questioningly. “She speaks the truth.”

His lips curled up at the corners and his eyes slid to his daughter. “Then we can watch a movie.”

“You too, Grace. Dad bought a new armchair and it’s awesome, but I’ll let you have it.”

I chuckled at her generosity.

“No chick flicks, please,” Logan added. “Don’t need the two of you ganging up on me.”

“We’ll vote,” Maia said. “And I promise not to vote for a chick flick. They’re crap anyway. It’s always about two idiots who apparently don’t understand the art of communication.”

“There is nothing wrong with a good chick flick,” I argued, but I did it laughing at her assessment of the chick flick. “But unfortunately, I can’t vote because I can’t come over tonight.”

“Why?” Maia looked disappointed.

“I have plans.”

“Oh. Well, change them.”

I laughed, but Logan said her name with warning and shook his head at her. “Perhaps Grace is spending time with her other friends, Maia. Remember she has those.”

Maia snorted. “Oh yeah. I forgot she had a life before we took it over.”

The two of them smiled mischievously at each other.

“You two are so funny,” I said dryly. “And wrong.”

“About?”

“My plans. I’m not seeing my friends.” I felt a fluttering in my belly and I knew it was part nerves for the date tonight and part excitement that tonight might mean the end of my infatuation with Logan.

“I have a date.”

My announcement was met with utter silence.

Maia was looking at me horrified, and Logan’s face had gone blank.

“A date?” Maia spat out as if it were a dirty word.

I gave a huff of laughter. “Yes, a date. I do go on those sometimes. I have to hide my horns and cloven feet to do it, but somehow I manage.”

“With who?” Logan practically barked from across the counter, his expression no longer blank.

He was glowering. Hard.

I blinked rapidly in surprise at the bark. What was this? Was Logan daring to play protective big brother?

Oh God, could my life get any more pathetic? I’d been relegated to “familial” in his book.

“A colleague of Chloe. She set us up. She said he’s wonderful.”

Apparently, he was a divorced father of two, and he was looking for something serious again after a year in the dating pool. As soon as Chloe heard that she said she knew she had to set us up. She said he was just what I needed.

I felt another burst of butterflies at the thought of meeting him.

“A blind date?” Logan was still scowling.

“Yes.”

“Because you’ve had such great luck with those in the past.”

I made a face at his reminder that he’d saved me from the last one. “Witness one bad one and you think you know everything.”

Maia suddenly marched across the room toward the door. “I’m going to pick a film,” she threw over her shoulder before disappearing.

“Maia?” I called out, concerned by her reaction. In response I heard nothing but the slamming of my front door. I shot a confused look at Logan.

He shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I’m still trying to figure out half of her moods.”

I chewed on my lip and slid onto a stool. “Maybe she feels like I’m abandoning her by not staying to watch the movie with you.”

“Maybe.”

“I hate disappointing her, but she has to appreciate that I have friendships outside of you two and that when I see other people it doesn’t mean I’m abandoning her.”

Logan nodded. “I’ll talk to her about it.”

“Thank you.”

He sighed and got up off his stool. “It’s like another language and there’s no one to teach it to me.”

“Teenage girl?” I smiled sympathetically.

“No. Women in general.”

“Well, that’s because we’re far more intelligent than men. It’s hard for you simple creatures to keep up.” I smiled beatifically.

He narrowed his eyes on me. “Very droll, Grace.” He turned to go and then seemed to think better of it. “So who is this guy you’re seeing tonight?”

“His name is Colin. He works at the estate agency with Chloe.”

“He sounds like a dick.”

I snorted. “How did you get that from those two pieces of information?”

“The only Colins I’ve ever met have turned out to be dicks, and estate agents are no better than smarmy salesmen.”

“He has a good job, he’s divorced, and he has children. He’s not a dick.”

“That makes him sound like even more of a dick.” Logan turned fully around now to argue.

“He sounds like he’s responsible and willing to commit!” I felt my temper genuinely start to rise at his overprotectiveness.

“Really? Responsible? So who is looking after his bloody children while he’s out on a date with you?”

“I imagine his ex-wife is. He divorced her, Logan. He didn’t kill her.”

“No, of course not. Why kill her when he can keep her around as a glorified nanny while he fucks beautiful, impressionable women.” He gestured to me in irritation.

I was stunned silent for a moment.

There was an undercurrent of true anger under his ridiculousness, and I felt stifled by the way he saw me. I might as well have been Shannon for the proprietary way he was treating me and talking down to me.

“I am not impressionable!” I snapped, and hurried from the room. “You can see yourself out! I have a date to get ready for.”