Beautifully Knight (Jordan Knight Fanfic, Liadan #5)

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-LOGAN-

"No, Logan!"

"Why?"

"Why?"

"Yes, Hailey, why?"

I could hear the blood rushing through my veins as I shivered from the breeze blowing into the screens of my parents' sunroom and I tried my best to lower my voice that had escalated to an unexpected high.

My heart was pounding and tension was gradually settling between my eyes with every passing second. I pinched the bridge of my nose, but even that wasn't enough to relieve it.

Hailey perched her hands on her hips and stared back at me with wide eyes as her lips parted for a second and then she pressed them back together. A mix of a groan and gasp escaped her mouth and she tossed her hands into the air.

"Why do you care?" She implored. "Why are you so invested in where I live? It's not any of your concern!"

"Oh, it's not?"

"No, it's not!"

"So what were the past two weeks about then, huh?"

"Fun."

"Fun?"

"Yes fun. Just fun. Nothing more. Nothing less. You owe me nothing and as soon as I find a way to pay you back—"

"You don't owe me anything—"

"Nothing in this world is free, Logan. You've incurred expenses during my stay and I want to reimburse them."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, well not everything in the world is about money either. Sometimes people just do things to be kind or because they care. Not because they're expecting something in return."

"But aren't you? Isn't that what this is about? You're expecting something in return? You want a commitment from me?"

I sighed, "Hailey—"

"No, Logan, this whole situation was a bad idea from the start. I knew better than to invite you back to my place and yet I did it anyway—"

"And I'm glad you did, aren't you?" I interjected. "Didn't you say you didn't know it could be like that?"

She blushed, "That was liquor and lust talking that night."

"Was it? We weren't drunk this morning and I'd say that was beyond what I knew it could be too."

"Logan," she sighed. "There's more to a relationship than that."

"You think I don't know that? You met almost all of my family today," I told her as I took a step closer and I watched her body visibly anticipate my touch."The benefit of being the youngest is that I've gotten to see a lot of long-term relationships. All of my siblings have been married for at least ten years. I know it's not going to be like what we're doing right now forever. Relationships change and evolve over time, but I think we've got a spark."

"I come from a big family too, Logan. And from what I've seen, relationships don't just change, they get complicated," she replied. "My relationships have been complicated."

"I've had my share of relationships too, but honestly, all they've done is make me realize just how much I like you, Hailey. I like the small things like listening to you snore while I work on blueprints on rainy days or watching you pace across the living room and practice presenting your research memos to the legal team or the way you dangle a pen from your mouth while you type ferociously when you get in a rhythm or the way you get the words to New York, New York wrong."