Page 51 of Consuming Logan

Logan smacked her bare bottom. “It had better not,” he teased, hugging her tighter to his chest. “You’re all mine.”

“You ready for round two?” he teased.

“Not quite,” she replied, her voice sounding far away.

He sat up. The coverlet slipped, and Ava adjusted it hiding her breasts. Logan frowned.

“What’s wrong, Ava mine?” She hesitated. He gripped her shoulders. “I hurt you. We’re getting another ultrasound in the morning. We can go before my follow-up appointment.”

She shook her head in denial. “You’d never hurt me physically. I’ve had three ultrasounds. The baby is fine.”

He took that to mean he’d hurt her in a less tangible way. “We’ll get another scan. Just to be safe,” he added, not wanting to alarm her.

“No,” she insisted, trying to push his hands away.

His jaw tightened. “Don’t tell me no. You and the baby are my responsibility. Now, will you tell me what has you upset.”

She toyed with his chest hairs, tugging too hard to be mistaken as playful. He didn’t flinch.

“At the store tonight,” she began, “something happened when you saw Brooke’s name.”

She appeared calm, but then he saw it. That telltale sign of her tongue stroking that damn scar to her lip. This subject made her nervous. Was she actually scared that he could somehow wound her?

“It caught me off guard,” he admitted.

Her lips thinned. “Okay,” she muttered, her tone conveying the opposite. “So, was it seeing Brooke’s name that had you spooked?”

“I don’t scare easily.” Logan had run the gamut of emotion in that over-the-top baby showroom, but he had never spooked in his life. “Speaking Brooke’s name is not a problem.”

When he’d met Ava, things had been different. Coming to grips with his past had been a process. One he thought he’d completed…then Ava told him about their baby. And, insert bad mixtape, press play.

Ava rolled her eye’s heavenward. “Fine,” she snapped. “There’s a part of you that still belongs to her. Why?”

Logan swallowed. “Every part of me. Everything that I am. It’s yours,” he growled. “You have me.”

“Do I?” Ava turned her gaze from his, but not before he recognized the vulnerability. Seeing the hurt in her eyes cut him deep. She’d given him a safe haven he’d never experienced with another woman, yet she didn’t feel the same when it came to his past. That’s the thing about loving a smart woman. She called him on his crap. Another reason why he cherished his connection with Ava. From that first day, he knew she would upend his life—for the better.

He gave her shoulders a gentle shake. “Yes.”

Silence stretched between them. He watched as the wheels turned behind her eyes. His gut tightened. Tell her. What if she misinterpreted why he’d kept the information a secret? Would she use it as a weapon against him?

“If, and that’s a big if,” she rasped, “I have every part of you.”

“You do,” he assured her.

“Then what does Brooke have that belonged to you?” Her voice shook, and he knew admitting that truth landed a bruising blow.

Logan’s gut twisted. Ava’s ability to dissect his defenses to uncover his past failures was uncanny. “I’m a pediatrician. Pregnancy is a temporary condition with lasting consequences for mother and baby. I’m cautious.”

Ava’s gaze met his. The question and answer session would continue.

“Three fetal sonograms in a week,” she shrugged. “Even for you, that’s crazy.” When she took his hand and placed it over her belly, he let her. He felt the warmth of her skin, the added tautness where his baby grew in safety under the pads of his fingers. “Why do you fight me on returning to work?”

When he opened his mouth, she placed one finger over his lips.

“What, Ava mine?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t you dare try to use the attack to excuse for your behavior. Give me some credit for knowing the man I pledged my love to.”