How hard had it been for him to take that step toward her? To make the decision to ask her out, even though he’d known being seen in public would raise eyebrows among their mutual acquaintances?
Had he really thought they were headed toward a serious relationship, despite the casually calculated beginning to their relationship? Had he really believed it might even lead to marriage, regardless of his wariness of that particular institution? Had he maybe believed that they’d be one of those rare couples who somehow made it all work out?
Dare she even hope that the odds just might be in their favor this time?
Maybe she should have talked to him about these questions, rather than freaking out, as he’d correctly labeled her reaction. She was becoming more and more convinced that she’d acted like an idiot, but now she wondered if it was too late to do anything about it. How could she face him now and try
to have a rational conversation about their future? After she’d said all those terrible things?
She climbed out of the car and closed the door, darkening the interior again. An overhead pole lamp and her yellow porch light provided illumination for her to trudge safely toward her front door, though her mind was still filled with those unsettled questions about Logan. She jumped nearly a foot backward when a dark shape separated from the shadows beside her porch, growling.
Only when her heart began to beat again did she realize that the shape was Ninja and that the sound was his happy rumble-purr. Her knees went weak with relief, then stiffened again in anticipation. She looked around eagerly for Logan. Where was he?
“Logan?”
Ninja nudged against her, and she noted that he was panting a little. She rested a hand on his head. “Where’s Logan?”
He couldn’t be in her house; she’d never given him a key. Besides, Logan wouldn’t leave his dog outside like this. But surely Ninja hadn’t escaped the inn and come several miles here on his own?
She opened her door and he bounded inside with her, both of them greeted by her happy cat. She filled a bowl with water and set it on the kitchen floor, then watched as Ninja began to lap at it. She was becoming increasingly convinced that the dog was a runaway.
“Something tells me you’ve been a bad boy,” she said to him even as she drew out her phone.
She hesitated a moment before dialing Logan’s number, but then swallowed hard and pushed the call button. He could be frantic about Ninja’s whereabouts. He needed to know his dog was safe.
His phone rang several times, then the call was sent to his terse, no-nonsense voice mail. He didn’t have a landline, only the cell, so she left a message. “Um, Logan? Hi, it’s Alexis. I just found Ninja at my front door. I’m bringing him home now and I’ll turn him over to Bonnie and Paul if you aren’t there. I thought you might be worried about him.”
Disconnecting the call, she pulled out her car keys again. “Okay, pal, let’s go,” she said to the dog, taking hold of his collar. “But you’d better prepare yourself. You’re likely to be grounded without TV or video games for a week for this stunt.”
The dog made a chuffing sound she’d have almost sworn was a laugh, but he accompanied her willingly enough outside to her car.
* * *
Logan prowled the grounds of the inn long after he’d sent Paul and Bonnie inside, futilely waiting for his dog to return, scanning the drive and the hiking path for any sign of the mutt. He’d tried settling in for the night in the cottage, but he couldn’t relax. Nothing on TV could hold his interest, he couldn’t read, couldn’t just put up his feet and chill. Every time he tried, his eyes were drawn to the rug where Ninja would usually be lying at this point. So he could sit there brooding about Alexis and Ninja, or he could go out looking for the dog again. Of the two options, the latter had sounded more appealing, so here he was, restlessly pacing the paths. Maybe he’d go inside again soon. Not that he expected to get much sleep that night, for lots of reasons.
Would he be making his nightly rounds alone in the future? He sighed and pushed a hand through his hair, more miserable than he could remember being in a very long time.
He had just turned halfheartedly toward his home when he heard Ninja’s funny growl behind him. Drawing a sharp breath of relief, he turned just as the dog bounded up to greet him joyously.
“Damn it, Ninja, you scared the hell out of me.” Thinking there was no one to see his momentary display of weakness, he dropped to his knees to give the wiggling, whining dog a rough hug. “Do not do that again, you got it?”
He turned his head just in time to avoid being licked right on the mouth.
With a tired laugh, Logan pushed himself to his feet, wiping his face with the back of one hand. “Okay, we’re going back—”
Something made him stop talking and look around. He was sure his eyes were playing tricks on him. “Alexis?”
For a moment, he thought he saw a pale figure standing behind her—one of his sisters, perhaps. But then she stepped forward into a pool of light and he saw that she was alone.
“I tried to call you,” she said. “You didn’t answer your phone.”
Automatically he groped for his belt, then realized he must have left the phone in his living room when he’d gone in earlier. “Uh, left my phone inside. What are you doing here?”
“I brought Ninja home. I found him standing outside my house when I got home from having dinner with my mother and stepfather this evening.”
“How the hell did he get to your house?” Logan asked in bewilderment.
“I think he walked. He was panting and very thirsty when I found him.” She sounded as flabbergasted as he was by the dog’s inexplicable behavior. “He didn’t give me any trouble at all when I put him in the car and brought him back.”