Insider (Exodus End #1)(142)
Author: Olivia Cunning

Still holding her boobs with one arm, Toni rolled down the window when her grandmother reached the side of the car. Toni took the proffered fluffy pink robe and slid her arms into the sleeves. Next she wriggled her feet into a pair of slippers.

Her grandmother leaned into the car and extended her hand to Logan, who took it uncertainly.

“I’m Joanna. You must be the guy with all the flowers.”

Logan felt a blush rush up his neck to his cheeks. “Yeah. That would be me trying to get your granddaughter’s attention.”

“I’d say it worked.” Joanna chuckled and released his hand.

“I’m Logan, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Logan. Come on inside for breakfast,” she said. She picked up Logan’s shirt from the ground and instead of handing it to him, she carried it with her into the house.

“She took my shirt,” Logan said.

“Can’t blame her,” Toni said. “You look scrumptious in nothing but those jeans.”

Toni rolled up the window and shut off the car before climbing out into the chilly, damp air. She flipped the seat forward to let him out, and he hopped around in the gravel on one foot as he rescued his other shoe from beneath the car.

Once he had it on, he drew Toni against him and ran his hands over her terry-cloth-encased ass to pull her closer. He leaned in for a kiss, but she turned her head.

“You do not want to kiss me right now,” she said. “My breath is toxic.”

“I do want to kiss you right now,” he said, capturing her jaw in his hand and turning her face toward his. “I want to kiss you every morning.”

She buried her fingers in his hair and smiled up at him. “Okay, but no tongue until I brush my teeth.”

“A little tongue,” he bartered. He closed the distance between their mouths, stroking her upper lip with the tip of his tongue as he drew away.

Staring up at him with wide eyes, she took a step back. And then another.

“Oh my God!” she cried. “My breath really is toxic. Your face is melting off!”

She dashed up the steps, and laughing, Logan chased after her. In the kitchen, her mother’s harsh stare drew him to a halt. His smile faltered.

“Logan is here!” Birdie yelled, running in his direction with three dogs on her heels. She looked him up and down, her eyes overlarge and inquisitive behind her thick glasses. “Where is your shirt? Are you going swimming?”

Logan covered his chest with one arm, similarly to the way Toni had concealed her breasts in the car. “Someone took it.”

Joanna grinned as she handed his shirt to him. “Someone misplaced it,” she corrected before she returned to the stove to stir a pan of scrambled eggs.

Logan gratefully tugged his shirt on over his head, and he swore he heard more than one disappointed sigh in the room.

“I’m going up to shower,” Toni said. “Keep Logan company while I’m gone.”

And then she left him there. With her family. He would have tried to join her in the shower if three pairs of eyes weren’t watching his every move.

“Do you need help with anything?” he asked Toni’s grandmother, glancing toward the stairs in hopes that Toni had just secured the world record for fastest shower ever.

“You’re a guest,” Joanna said. “Have a seat.”

He’d much rather have had some mundane task such as buttering toast to keep him occupied, but he sat on a stool at the kitchen island and fought the urge to pull out his cellphone to pass the time and avoid awkward questions.

“Not there, silly,” Birdie said. She took his hand and urged him from his perch, leading him to a square blue-gray breakfast table in a corner nook. “We eat over here.”

“As you wish,” he said with a cordial nod, and Birdie giggled in delight.

He watched her collect plates and set one in each spot while Joanna manned the stove. Eloise hadn’t moved since he entered the room. She was watching him so closely that he considered hiding under the table. After several uncomfortable moments, he met her gaze and held it, which apparently was her cue to sit at the table beside him.

“I’m not sure what Antonia told you about the incident with the tabloid,” Eloise said.

“Just that she wasn’t the one who sold our stories.”

“It wasn’t her,” Eloise said, licking her lips. “I didn’t act alone, but ultimately, I am responsible.”

“You!” Logan blinked at her, unable to fathom what she’d just told him.

“I wish I hadn’t done it. I don’t want this incident to damage Antonia’s future career prospects or her um, friendship . . .” Eloise tilted her head toward him as if waiting for him to qualify what she was saying. He shrugged and shook his head, not sure what she was going for. “Or damage her friendship with you.”

Oh, she was baiting him for relationship information. “I wouldn’t be here if it had damaged our friendship,” Logan said. “I knew she wasn’t capable of hurting people she cares about. She isn’t like that.”

Eloise closed her eyes and nodded. “I always worry that she’s too soft, too good, too gentle for her own benefit and that the world will chew her up and spit her out. But maybe instead of her changing to try to appease cruel reality, the rest of the world would do better to become more like her.”

Yes, exactly. He was surprised he and her mother saw eye to eye on something like that.

“I’ve got her back,” Logan said.

“Do you think it would be best to break our publishing contract with your band—”

“No!” He hadn’t meant to shout, but if there wasn’t a contract, there would be no reason—besides him—for Toni to return to her place on tour.

“—and let Toni pursue the book’s publication independently?” Eloise finished.

Logan rubbed the back of his neck. He had no clue what would be best for the book or the band or Toni in that regard. All he cared about was that she would be at his side.

“I don’t know,” Logan said. “Why don’t you ask Toni? Or Sam. He’s the one who thought your publishing house was best for the job. There has to be a reason for that.”

“It’s because Toni does excellent work,” Eloise said with a smile. “I don’t give her enough credit. I’ve been trying to get everything in order so I can retire and hand the reins over to her—”

“You’re retiring?” Joanna said, dropping a bowl of biscuits on the table with a thud. A few popped out of their container and rolled toward the floor. Luckily Logan had fast reflexes.