Page 60 of Consuming Logan

“You don’t have to work at all, Ava mine.”

“With twins on the way, two incomes are better than one.”

“I provide for you and our children,” he groused.

Ava bit back her retort. She would never challenge his pride by insinuating he needed help in caring for their family. But Logan struggled to curtail his anger, hiding his resentment at his slow recovery. Logan wanted back in the OR. He pretended to enjoy being Mr. Homemaker, but he missed the surgical suite. Lunches contained apples with the skin surgically removed and sandwiches with sculpted edges. Yeah, things had gotten that crazy. One ray of sunshine, no one had been selected for the chief position.

“Give me until twenty hundred,” she said.

“English, Ava mine.”

She could hear his frown through the phone line.

“That’s eight o’clock tonight for you civilian types.”

He chuckled and some of the rightness that existed between them spread in her chest. When she had left home this morning, he seemed desperate for her to stay. Guilt rode the forty miles in the passenger seat. Wrapping up her plans early might work.

“I could shave off an hour,” she offered.

A knock sounded on her door before it opened. Ash stood in the doorway, a tall cup with visible steam in his hands. Ava smiled and gestured him inside.

“There’s my work wife. Here’s your treat. Black and strong just the way you like it.”

Ava’s mind reeled. Oh, my Todd why in the name of all things holy would Ash refer to her in such a ridiculous manner? Logan reacted before she did.

“Ava mine?” Logan sounded more alert than she’d heard him in days. “Who is he?”

“Ah,” she waved Ash away. Logan trusted her, but he was in a weird, insecure place with his health and career. The last idea he needed in his head was a threat of the masculine variety.

“What’s that bastard’s name?” Logan’s voice cut through any gratitude she would’ve expressed. She pulled the phone receiver from her ear, covering the microphone with her palm.

“Give me a minute,” she whispered to her colleague.

“Sure thing,” Ash mouthed, backing away with an apologetic grin.

“Ava,” Logan snapped. She stiffened at the change in his tone. “What asshole is serving you coffee and innuendo?”

Ava waited till she heard the click of the door closing.

“Answer me,” Logan demanded.

She rubbed at the pinch that formed between her brows. Logan didn’t like secrets, especially when it pertained to her. Still there was the fact that he had not met all of her coworkers, a point of contention between them. She tried to explain that the military staff rotated at unpredictable intervals and there was no way that he would have the opportunity to meet every person that she worked with. Furthermore, she didn’t see the need for him to police her colleagues.

“Logan,” she kept her voice calm. “That was, Ash. You’ve heard me mention his name before.”

He grunted. “I thought you worked late nights. Not you and Ash the Asshole.”

She laughed. “I never said that. We just finished a long meeting. He was considerate enough to bring me my one and only cup of coffee for the day.”

“You never mentioned that some guy calls you wife and brings you coffee.”

“Hello…, Logan. That’s just office talk.” Ava frowned. Ash had acted out of character. She wondered why. “Really, it’s not a big deal,” she laughed it off, trying to deescalate the situation.

The line fell quiet. Ava pulled the receiver from her ear staring at it. Had he disconnected the call?

“Logan, you there?”

“Yes. I don’t like him.”