Magic Kiss (Hope Falls Book 11) (3 page)

So she’d remained single. And celibate. The no-nookie portion of her lifestyle had more to do with her not being the kind of girl who could have one-night stands, even in the name of research. She’d tried a few times over the past year and a half, but those attempts had been disastrous. Like, Guinness Book of World Records Disaster Dates.

Her phone buzzed, and her eyes shot to the clock as panic rose up inside her at the thought that she might be late. When she saw that it was only seven forty-five a.m., a full hour and fifteen minutes before she was due at her meeting, she breathed a sigh of relief. When she picked her phone up and saw whose number was on the screen, her breath of relief quickly morphed into nervous pants.

What the…? Why was he calling? Was it fate? Did he somehow know she was in the city he lived in and in desperate need of
water
?

The phone buzzed again. With shaky hands, she pressed the green circle to accept the call and then brought the device to her ear.

“Hello?” Her voice was shakier than Jell-O on a washing machine, and her cheeks were hotter than asphalt on a one-hundred-degree summer day. There was nothing she could do about him hearing her unsteady tone, but she was counting her blessings that he hadn’t FaceTimed her. At least her strawberry impression wasn’t obvious over the phone line.

“Emma, this is Logan Dorsey.” His deep voice washed over her like a wave crashing onto the shore.

Goosebumps broke out all over her skin. “Hey, Logan.” She was striving for casual but feared she might’ve come off as breathy as Marilyn Monroe singing “Happy Birthday” to the president.

Every single cell in her body was alive with tingles, shivers, and all kinds of feelings she hadn’t experienced since…since she’d seen Logan four years ago. All she could think about was if she felt this inspired from simply hearing his voice, how much more inspired would she feel if she saw him and…

“I have Drew here.”

His words sliced through her lust fog with samurai-sword precision. Still, her brain couldn’t quite process what he’d said.

“You have what?” Her voice was no longer breathy. Nope. It was back in full force.

“Drew. He just showed up on my doorst—”

“Drew’s here!? In New York!?” Her voice rose several decibels, to a level some might even describe as yelling.

“No, he’s in California. In Hope Falls. I’m staying here for…a while. He got my address off of the birthday card I sent him.”

Her mind tried to compartmentalize the information it’d just been given.

Drew wasn’t at camp in Lake Tahoe.

He was in Hope Falls.

With Logan.

Who was in California.

Not New York.

She tried to temper her voice. “Let me talk to Drew.”

Her son’s voice came over the line. “Hi, Mom.”

Calm. She needed to remain calm. She was three thousand miles away, and even though she wanted to lose it, that wouldn’t help anything.

“Hey, Drew. Why aren’t you at Camp Pine?”

“I wanted to see Logan.”

Yeah. Join the club, buddy.
“Okay, but you can’t just leave camp. What did you do? How did you get to Hope Falls?”

She remembered Logan mentioning that his brother, Levi, had moved there several years ago. If memory served, it was about forty-five miles from Tahoe. Where her son was supposed to be.

“I snuck out after lights out and took a bus.”

“A bus!” she screamed before trying to regain her composure.

Deep breath.
In through her nose, out through her mouth. Her son was alive and safe. That was what
really
mattered.

“Why did you do that?” she managed to ask calmly, albeit through clenched teeth.

“Because…” Drew paused, not finishing his explanation.

“Because why?” Emma prompted.

“Because I want to know about my dad.”

And just like that, at her son’s words, Emma’s heart didn’t just break—it was crushed with a sledgehammer. She’d talked about Andrew as much as possible. It had seemed to be enough when Drew was younger, but over the last couple of years, he’d started saying things like he wished that his dad had had brothers and sisters or his grandparents were still alive.

Andrew’s father had passed away when he was seven, and his mother had passed the year after they’d lost Andrew. Emma was pretty sure she died of a broken heart from having lost her only child.

Logan Dorsey had been like the brother Andrew never had. Which made her body’s response to hearing his voice all kinds of wrong. She pushed that thought down to deal with the bigger issues.

“Mom, are you mad?” Drew timidly asked.

“We’ll talk about it later. Put Logan back on the phone.”

“Okay.” Her son sounded simultaneously relieved and a little scared.

Good
, she thought.
He
should
be scared
.

Clearing her throat, she rolled her shoulders back and tried to mentally prepare herself for the sound of Logan’s voice once again.

“Hey.” Logan said just one word, but the timbre suffused through her like butter melting in a hot frying pan. It spread and sizzled all the way from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.

Apparently, she should’ve prepared herself
physically
, not
mentally.
Live and learn.

Emma shook her head, trying to pull herself together. “I’m so sorry about this. I’m going to catch the first flight out of JFK. I’ll be there as soon as I can. If you can just keep an eye on him unti—”

“We’re fine here. Don’t rush. Take care of whatever you have to. There’s no need to change your plans,” Logan said.

Then her phone beeped.

Pulling it from her ear, she saw that it was the camp calling. Apparently, Drew’s great escape had finally been discovered, which begged the question: how had her ten-year-old son been able to sneak away in the first place and then not have it noticed for hours?

“I’m sorry. Can you hold on one sec? The camp’s calling.”

Before he could respond, Emma clicked over.

“Hello.”

“Mrs. Locke, this is Molly from Camp Pine. We have a situation–”

“I just spoke to my son. He left the camp last night to go visit a family friend.”

“Oh, thank God!” Molly exclaimed. “His bunkmate woke up to use the bathroom and noticed that he wasn’t there. Chuck then woke up their counselor. We checked everywhere, but there was no sign of him or his belongings.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Emma apologized.

“Will he be returning to camp?” Molly asked.

Emma could practically hear the woman crossing her fingers and toes and holding her breath.

Drew could be difficult. He was smart. Too smart for his own good.

“I’m not sure. I’ll get back to you shortly.” She disconnected the call as Molly was telling her something about not getting a refund.

A refund? Yeah, her son had run away under their watch and they thought she cared about a refund.

Clicking back over, she apologized again. “Sorry about that. They just realized they had a runner.”

Logan chuckled, and the sound made Emma’s heart skip.
No
, she reprimanded herself.
There will be no skipping of heartbeats.
Not caused by Logan Dorsey, anyway.

Trying to get back on track, she cleared her throat. “Listen, I appreciate the offer, but really, I can’t impose. I’m going to cancel my meeting and will be there as soon as I can get a fligh—”

“It’s not an imposition. I’m taking some time off work and I’m here in Hope Falls for some R&R. Drew can hang out, and we’ll see you when we see you,” Logan explained with authority, as if it weren’t up for debate.

Which apparently worked, because Emma heard herself saying, “Okay.”

“Good luck with your meeting.” Logan’s tone grew deeper, and Emma wished that it were liquid so she could bathe in it.

“Thanks.” Annnnd just like that, Miss Breathy was back.

“Bye, Emma.” The way he’d said her name made her knees go weak.

“Bye, Logan.”

As she disconnected the call, she glanced up in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips were puffy, and she looked like someone who’d done a lot more than just had a phone conversation. Pulling her blazer down, she tried to focus on her upcoming meeting and not on the fact that her son had run away and, in the next twenty-four hours, she would be face-to-face with Logan Dorsey.

One thing was certain: she was definitely not lacking in the
inspiration
category anymore.

‡

A
fter pulling on a pair of cargo shorts, Logan grabbed a white T-shirt from the closet. He’d left Drew playing video games in the living room while he had taken a shower. When the kid had noticed that he had a PlayStation 4, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Then, when he’d found out that Logan had
Halo
,
Batman: Arkham
Night
, and
Minecraft
, his little head had practically exploded.

Logan had always used video games to unwind before he’d started working on bikes, and he still did. It was mindless yet challenging. When he turned thirty, he’d thought about hanging up his controller and giving away his console and games to the Boys and Girls Club, but now, he was glad he hadn’t since they were entertaining his unexpected houseguest.

Stepping out of his room, Logan heard laughter and unfamiliar voices. Unfamiliar
female
voices. As he rounded the corner of the hallway, he saw Drew standing with the front door open, talking and laughing with two women Logan had seen around town a few times. Kelly, a blonde who had waited on him at the café, and the redhead he’d seen at the coffee shop, were both wearing cut-off jean shorts and bright bikini tops they filled out well.

When the redhead noticed Logan walking up, her face lit up and she lifted her hand. “Hey, Logan!”

The blonde also purred a greeting. “Hey, handsome.”

It took every bit of self-control Logan had not to roll his eyes. “Hi.” Then he stepped beside Drew, who looked like he was more than enjoying the fact that two half-naked women were standing a foot in front of him.

“Kelly and I just stopped by to see if you”—the redhead smiled brightly and directed it towards the kid—“and
Drew
wanted to go rafting with us.”

“Can we?” Drew looked up at him, his blue eyes wide with hope.

“Um…” Logan didn’t want to disappoint the kid, but this was a bad idea.

Indecision wasn’t something he was used to experiencing. He never waffled. In his line of work, it could be the difference between life and death.

“I don’t think we’ve ever been formally introduced.” The redhead reached her hand out. “I’m Vivien. My sister Audrey and I own Brewed Awakenings.”

He knew that. He’d seen her there, and he never forgot a face.

As he shook her hand, the blonde broke in, pulling Logan’s hand from Vivien’s.

“And I’m Kelly. I waited on you at Sue Ann’s,” she said, shaking his hand as she spoke.

Logan nodded; he remembered that too. He’d frequented Sue Ann’s Café several times. Not only was it pretty much the only restaurant in Hope Falls, but it also had amazing food. And the owner, Sue Ann Perkins, was one of the nicest and most genuine people he’d ever met. She was what he’d always imagined a grandma would be like, but since he’d never met either of his, he had nothing to base that on.

Removing his hand from Kelly’s grip, Logan took a small step back. Normally, he didn’t retreat, but something about the look in Kelly’s eyes made Logan feel like prey, and he was pretty sure he was being hunted.

Placing his hand on Drew’s shoulder, he began shutting the door. “Today’s not good, but thanks for stopping by.”

“Maybe another time,” Vivien said hopefully as Kelly’s bottom lip stuck out in a pout.

“Maybe.”

As the door shut, Logan found himself shaking his head. He’d never understood why grown women thought pouting was cute. It wasn’t.

Moving to the kitchen, he asked, “Are you hungry? I have cereal and frozen waffles.”

When Drew didn’t respond, Logan looked over his shoulder. The kid was staring at the closed front door in disbelief.

“Drew,” Logan said a little louder.

It snapped the kid out of his bikini-girl trance.

“Huh?”

“Cereal or waffles?”

“Cereal.” Drew followed Logan into the kitchen before asking with sincerity, “Do girls who look like that always come to your door?”

Logan’s lips twitched as he tried not to smile. “Sometimes.”

“Oh.” Drew looked down at his feet, and Logan could tell he wanted to ask more.

Logan opened the cabinet, removed several boxes of cereal and two bowls, and set them on the island countertop. Then, after having retrieved the milk and two spoons, he and Drew sat on the barstools and filled their bowls with their preferred cereal choices; Drew went with Captain Crunch and Logan went with Lucky Charms. For every other meal, Logan tried to eat healthy—lean proteins and vegetables. But there was something about sugary cereals and frozen waffles covered in syrup that he just couldn’t give up. Much like video games.

“Did you say you didn’t want to go with those girls because I’m here?” Drew asked as he chewed a large spoonful of cereal.