Page 7 of Consuming Logan

“I knew it. You’re having a deployment baby,” Isabeth practically shouted. “I’m in charge of the office baby shower and—,”

Ava calculated they’d conceived three and a half to four months ago. And the wedding, oh my Todd, only a three-ring circus tent would hide her pregnant belly.

“I have to go.” Ava disconnected the call, she needed to be with Logan. She placed a hand over her belly, protective of the precious life she carried. Already in love with her baby.

Looking down at the slight pooch she’d dismissed just minutes before, she whispered, “Mommy loves you,” trying out the new title. Her eyes watered as her heart beat wildly behind her ribcage. She was going to be a mother and she suspected Logan’s plan for them had just hit a major speed “baby” bump.

Ava needed to tell Logan the great news. Opening her email, she typed while she spoke aloud. “I’m coming to you.”

Chapter 3

“Give me the exclusive to cover all the events leading up to your wedding.”

Whoa. Kylie Rivers caught Logan off guard with the request. This interview, conducted in the SCMC executive board room, should have ended thirty minutes prior. The space echoed the power of the usual occupants. A bourbon-colored cherry wood table, the executive’s metaphorical football field, sat in the middle of the rectangular room. One day very soon, this would be his game to command. Coordinating tri-fold presentation boards, bookcases, and executive floor to ceiling cabinets spoke to the quality and expense poured into the furnishings. Logan breathed in, the citrus scent in the air easing his frustration. He had plans for Ava after their announcement party and he had to prepare. The doctor’s orders included a steamed bath, scented candles, floating Stargazer lilies, and lots of sweat tonight.

“Not going to happen.” Considering how his woman felt about Kylie’ serial interviews, Logan envisioned his bride, future mother-in-law, and his secondary ally, Granny Lou, handing him his head for even suggesting such an intrusion.

“The cameras love you—as do the good citizens of Shell Cove.”

The society page journalist, relaxed in her chair, settling into the certainty of him falling prey to temptation. Today marked their eighth discussion in nine months. Kylie had recorded practically every detail of his professional life, and some private ones Ava spurned him for divulging.

“Your point, Kylie.” Andrew and Ariss Walters had become as much a part of Logan’s life as their daughter. After wasting his twenties with the wrong woman, he didn’t want to mess up with Ava… or her family. With his marriage, he gained a trusted partner who included him in a loving familial unit. The thought of damaging either, especially Ava, drove his overprotective tendencies to the brink. Call him a Shakespearean character, but he’d lay down his life to spare hers.

Clearing her throat, Kylie pressed her advantage. After a series of interviews, she understood how much he wanted Ava, the new job, the notoriety. He wanted it all.

“Marriage is a big deal.” She leaned forward in her chair, like a coach trying to motivate her star player to perform. “You enjoy sharing your success stories, your research, the ‘Masters family philanthropy,’” she raised both hands to gesture with air quotes. “Why the hesitation?”

Logan felt a rise of heat along his collar. He knew why he refused. It went deeper than Ava’s disapproval. During medical school, he’d thought himself in love, but now, he realized it had been a cheap imitation. Muscles along his jaw tensed, his fingers curled into fists. Thinking of all the media training his mother drilled into him in childhood, he forced his body to unwind. He’d bragged about his whirlwind love affair with the fellow medical student. Until the truth, or rather, the lie of happily ever after was sliced open like a raw slab of rotten meat. Humiliation would have been kinder.

“Hesitation? Did I stammer when I said, no.” After Brooke’s infidelity he never imagined trusting a woman with his heart and supporting his future vision. He had perfection this time. Logan welcomed the bone deep satisfaction of a man in love with the right woman. Watching his brother Darwin find happiness with his wife, Rebecca Lynn, gave him hope. Hope his parents’ marriage never inspired. “A happy home comes first.”

Logan saw the transformation take ahold of Kylie, the gleam formed behind her studious brown eyes. Between teeth with a slight overbite, she gripped a metallic gold pen, a figurative smoking gun in the wrong hands. He shifted, suddenly uncomfortable in his seat. What was she up to?

“So, Ava is the problem, then?”

Logan’s smiled slipped. With narrowed eyes, he glared down at his usually friendly journalist. Right, the two words were polar opposites.

“Ava’s off limits,” he shot back, his tone sharp and drenched in a clear warning.

She held his gaze, in open challenge. Unapologetic, she’d insinuated Ava would ever hinder him.

“Hmm, I wonder if,” she rasped, clicking the pen tip against her notepad, “… maybe the rumors that your mother and the bride-to-be have bad blood are true?”

He realized Miss Rivers had done her research. Ava might be right about this one. Logan didn’t like to be pushed, especially when he’d made it clear the subject was off limits. Just then, the sound of a woman’s heels clicking on the tile floors echoed in the hall before the conference room door opened. Susan Holbrook, a fellow SCMC Foundation member and a family friend materialized in the doorway.

Without his usual closing statement, Logan stood to his full height. “We’re done here.”

“Logan.” Susan beckoned him to expedite his departure, a note of excitement in her voice. He noted genuine happiness in the soft contours of her face, her ocean blue eyes joyous. Logan regarded the short blonde, her brilliant blue eyes still capable of arresting a man’s speech. Well into her sixties, Susan possessed the classic beauty of iconic starlets, Monroe, Mansfield, and Bacall. “Join me in the hall.”

“Sure thing.”

Like a second mother to him, but less prickly cactus than Maribelle, Susan earned his staunchest supporter award. Four years ago, Randall had targeted Ava with his predatory schemes. The former Operations Officer had tried to blackmail her into his bed in exchange for professional favors. Susan had united with his father to have Randall terminated and removed from the board. He trusted her and her enthusiasm intrigued him. Had something happened?

Kylie came to her feet. “I guess this concludes our interview?”

“Good guess.” She took her time gathering a well-worn leather brief bag, her iPad tablet, and her camera. How many more delays would he have to endure?

With a long-legged stride he reached her in half-a-dozen steps, and she pivoted her body allowing him to exit. Whereas Susan held his highest regard, the man next to her, fellow surgeon Franklin Xavier evoked the opposite reaction. A contender for the chief position, his colleague held himself erect to the likeness of fossilized wood.