Luck Be a Lady - Cathie Linz [73]
“And I get the same rush from my husband, the sexy owner of Smiley’s Sewer Service,” Sue Ellen said. “It’s all about being with the man you love. That’s where the rush comes from. And our husbands face risks too, you know. Sewers aren’t always safe. And Cole could get attacked by a mad dog or something.”
“Putting those happy thoughts aside,” Emma said with a roll of her eyes. “Getting involved with a cop has a special set of emotional demands.”
Megan nodded. “Yes, I know. They see physical and verbal intimidation as ways of getting the job done.”
Emma frowned. “Has this cop of yours shown any sign of that with you?”
“No. He just rolls his eyes at me.”
“That’s not all he does,” Faith said. “He took her to see the meteor shower the other night so she could wish on shooting stars.”
“Aww,” Emma and her sisters said in unison.
“Says the woman whose husband proposed to her at a White Sox game.” Emma and her sisters looked at Megan blankly. “Faith is a big fan,” she explained. “Her husband is a former Force Recon Marine.”
“Another man accustomed to taking risks for the completion of the mission,” Faith said.
“Why do we love the men we do?” Megan said.
“Because they’re our soul mates,” Faith said.
“I agree,” Emma said. Leena and Sue Ellen both nodded.
“Not that I’m falling in love with Logan,” Megan quickly added. “I just wanted to clarify that.”
“Right.” Emma and her sisters gave her an eye roll.
“No, really. I’m not,” Megan insisted. “No way.”
“Give it up, sweetie,” Faith said. “You’re not convincing anyone.”
Megan didn’t care about convincing them as much as she was determined to convince herself, hoping that the more she said it, the more she’d believe it.
Chapter Fifteen
As Megan approached her building after work the night before Thanksgiving, she saw someone standing there. It wasn’t Danny the doorman as she first thought. It was Logan. He had this way of just appearing, just as he had a way of not calling her.
The only reason she didn’t kick him to the curb was that he looked like he’d already been through hell. Sure, he had that sexy stubble thing going on, but he also had dark shadows under his eyes. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he said gruffly. “Can we talk? I just wanted to explain what happened when I was called away by Buddy the other night.”
She sighed. She could make him stand out here in the cold or she could have him come up to her condo. She chose the latter option, telling herself it was because she was on the verge of having her teeth chatter. That didn’t mean that she wasn’t tough. “Come on in.”
Logan didn’t say anything in the elevator on the way up to her floor. He didn’t speak until they were in her living room and she’d invited him to sit on her couch. Instead he was pacing back and forth.
Megan tossed her keys into the carved wooden bowl she’d gotten at the Gold Coast Art Fair and leaned down to pet Smudge before straightening to face Logan. “So what happened? You don’t look like you’ve gotten much sleep lately.”
“A case I’ve been working on. I’ve been putting in a lot of extra hours. I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch.”
“Is everything okay?”
He shrugged. “Buddy told me that my dad had fallen off the wagon after being sober for five years.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“It was an intervention.”
“For your dad?”
“No. For me.”
She frowned. “You have a drinking problem?”
“Not a drinking problem. I have nightmares, as you know.”
“Lots of people have nightmares.”
“Exactly. I tried to tell them that.”
“So why did they feel you needed an intervention?”
He shifted from foot to foot. “Have you heard of PTS?” he said abruptly.
She nodded. “Post-traumatic stress.”
“They thought I had it.”
“Do you?”
Another shrug. “My partner Will was killed in the line of duty a year ago. That’s what the nightmares are about.”
“I’m sorry.”
“He died in my arms.”
Megan didn’t know what to say.
“The shot hit him in the neck. I sensed something was up beforehand, but I was too late.”
“So you felt guilty?”
Emma had touched on survivor guilt