All of Me: A Small Town Romance (The Bridesmaids Club Book 1)

Chapter 2

Tess sighed as she poured herself a glass of orange juice. The café's morning rush was over. She could have a break and enjoy some peace and quiet before the lunch crowd descended.

Logan sent her a sunny smile. "Do you want to share a pancake? You look as though you need it."

Tess scowled. "No, thanks."

He cut another pancake in half and shrugged his shoulders. "You don't know what you're missing."

She knew what she was missing, and she still didn't care. Her head was pounding off her shoulders. She'd swallowed two Tylenol halfway through the Groovy Grans' breakfast, but it hadn't made any difference.

"Moonshine can do that to you if you're not careful." Logan drizzled more maple syrup on his last pancake.

Tess watched him put the cap back on the bottle and pick up his knife and fork. After the Groovy Grans left the café, Logan went home, had a shower and returned to eat his promised pancakes.

"How do you know I was drinking moonshine?"

Annie left a grilled cheese sandwich in front of Tess. "I told him. Logan and I were talking and I happened to mention our late night."

Tess looked at the sandwich. She didn't know if she could eat it.

Annie put the weekend newspaper on the table and patted her shoulder. "I'll look after the café. Take as long as you need."

"Thanks, Annie." Tess watched her friend walk to the front counter.

Logan grinned. "You should go for a run. It sweats the alcohol out of your body."

Tess flicked open the paper and ignored him.

"So we're back to bickering buddies again? I wondered how long our truce would last."

She kept her eyes locked on the paper. "We didn't have a truce and we aren't buddies. Although I do appreciate your help this morning."

"Nice to know there's a heart in there somewhere."

Logan didn't seem particularly devastated by her lack of enthusiasm where he was concerned. And he shouldn't be. They weren't friends, but she supposed he could be called an acquaintance. Especially after her disastrous attempt to find out why he was living in Bozeman.

Apart from the café, the only thing they had in common was that he was a reporter and she hated reporters. Most days they didn't have a lot to say to each other.

Logan cleared his throat. "The pancakes were good."

She looked up. "Thanks."

He took a sip of coffee. "What I don't understand is how you can be so nice one minute, then in the next breath turn into an ice maiden. Someone must have burned you real bad."

Tess' eyes narrowed. "I believe the correct phrasing is 'really bad'."

"So who was he? Some heart-throb who spurned you at the altar? Or maybe you didn't get that far. Maybe he dumped you for your best friend and you've never forgiven him."

She opened the next page of the newspaper. Logan didn't know how close he was to the truth. Except it hadn't been as simple as her boyfriend running off with her best friend. Her best friend had died and Andrew Gibson had walked away a free man.

Logan wiped his mouth on a napkin and took his dirty dishes across to Annie. Before he left the café, he stood beside Tess' table.

He leaned down, close enough that she could smell his aftershave and the clean scent that was all man. "Someday you'll tell me why you don't like me. And, when you do, I'll show you how wrong you are."