The very day after the doctor declared Logan’s ribs and ankle healed, Logan was out jogging with Marie. Despite all her attempts to get him to take it easy for a few days, Logan, full of nearly a month’s worth of unused energy, was out the door before she even had her shoes on.
“Logan, have ya ever even been joggin’ before?” Marie asked as she locked the front door.
Logan stood with his arms crossed over his chest, an eyebrow arched as he smirked at Marie. “Are you implying that Boris is in better shape than I am?”
Marie returned his smirk and rolled her eyes. “Actually, Ah was questionin’ yer sanity, but if ya wanna have a race with Boris, don’t let me stop ya. Just don’t come cryin’ t’ me when yer havin’ a hard time breathin’ ‘cause ya’ve never jogged before.”
“Oh ye of little faith,” Logan declared, wrapping an arm about Marie’s shoulders and guiding her towards the end of the driveway. “I am in excellent shape, Marie. Or at least I was before I was forced to spend a month as an invalid. Think of this as my coming out party.”
“An’ just what are ya comin’ out o’, Logan? The closet?” Marie teased, grinning broadly.
Logan stared at her as though she were mad. “Out of the closet? What on earth are you.... Hey!” In an instant, Logan had Marie flung over his shoulder and began spinning around in circles. “Please tell me that I heard wrong. Considering what we’ve been doing the past few weeks, I’d think you’d know better than anyone that I’m not hiding in any closets.”
Marie squealed as Logan smacked her ass. “Not mah fault! Yer the one who said ya were comin’ out o’ the closet. Now would ya put me down ‘fore ya hurt yerself again? The doctor said that yer ribs aren’t completely healed an’ that ya still hafta take it easy.”
“I’m fine, Marie. See.” To prove his point, Logan began jumping up and down with Marie still in his arms. After a few jumps, Logan staggered, nearly falling to the snow covered ground.
As his grip on her waist faltered, Marie slid off Logan’s shoulder and crouched down in front of him. “Logan, are ya all right?” Marie cried, tenderly cupping Logan’s cheeks and raising his head. “Did ya hurt yer ribs?”
As soon as she caught sight of his face, Marie gave a frustrated cry and shoved Logan backwards into the snow. Logan was grinning from ear to ear and just barely managed to snag hold of Marie’s wrist and he toppled into the snowbank. He was kind enough, however, to make sure that Marie landed on top of him and not in the snow. Marie landed sprawled across his chest and Logan grinned up at her as he wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tight against him.
“That wasn’t very funny, Logan. Ah was scared that ya’d hurt yerself,” Marie chided as she pressed her face against Logan’s throat in an attempt to steal some of his warmth. “Are ya really all right or did ya actually hurt yerself?”
“I’m perfectly and one hundred percent all right, darlin’,” Logan murmured against the top of her head. “But do you think you could get off of me? I’m lying in snow and my ass is gettin’ kinda cold.”
Marie pulled back and grinned down at Logan. “Is poor little Logan’s bottom gettin’ cold?”
Before Marie could react, she found herself trapped on her back with Logan hovering over her. He was grinning like a madman and Marie couldn’t help but join in. Then, moving as though in slow motion, Logan began to lower his face towards hers. However, Logan was going too slow because almost as soon as he began brushing his lips against hers, Boris plowed into him from the side, knocking him over.
Rolling onto her side, Marie promptly burst out laughing when she caught sight of Boris standing upright on Logan’s chest.
“Will you quit your laughin’ and tell your dog to get off o’ me,” Logan grumbled as he stared up at Boris.
Surging up onto her knees, Marie crawled across the snow towards Logan and Boris. Giving Logan a quick grin, Marie wrapped her arms around Boris’s massive neck, hugging him tight. “Now, Boris, as much as Ah appreciate ya gettin’ Logan off o’ me, Ah’d kinda like t’ have him back now. ‘Cause we can’t go fer our jog t’ Martha’s till ya do.”
Seconds later, Boris was sprinting towards the end of the driveway, allowing Logan to rise to his feet. After sufficiently brushing the snow off his rear end, Logan reached down to help Marie to her feet. He held her against him for a few minutes, rocking their hips together in an impromptu dance in the driveway.
“So are we gonna go jogging or are we just gonna stay here dancing all day?” Logan inquired as he dipped Marie.
Marie burst out laughing as Logan pulled her back up. She flung her arms about his neck as he began to spin her about in circles. She was beginning to regret making him watch Dirty Dancing the night before. “Yer the one who started dancin’ not me.”
“Excuses. Excuses....” Logan drawled, finally setting her back down on the ground. So how ‘bout that jog? I’ll race you on the count of three. One.... Two....”
Before he got to three, Logan took off towards the end of the driveway where Boris was bouncing in a snowbank and barking loudly.
“Yer cheatin’!” Marie shouted as she began chasing him down the driveway. “Logan, get back here!”
Logan glanced back at Marie over his shoulder. “Come and get me, darlin’! You’re supposed to be the jogging expert!”
“Logan Brenden Hunters get back here!” Marie shrieked as she sprinted to catch up with him.
Considering Logan had never jogged a day in his life, at least not in his seven month remembered past, he was better at it than Marie making her wonder whether he had jogged regularly before he lost his memory. It took her almost a mile to catch up to him. And while she was already breathing heavily, Logan didn’t look the least bit winded. He glanced over at her and winked, a crooked smile playing on his lips.
The entire way into town, Marie and Logan raced, Boris bounding happily between them. Some of the time, Logan was in the lead. Every so often, Marie would catch up with him and then sneak past him. However, most of the time, they two jogged side by side with Logan occasionally leaning down to gather a handful of snow to toss at her. Whenever Marie would try to do the same thing, Logan would block her path to the snowbanks so that she couldn’t get at the snow.
When they finally got into town, the pair dodged pedestrians and passing cars. No one really seemed to be annoyed with them, just confused by the way they were acting. Especially when Logan began jogging backwards down the middle of the street with Marie chasing after him.
“Logan!” Marie cried as she reached for one of his outstretched hands. “Yer gonna fall! Be careful, ya dolt! Ah don’t feel like seein’ yer brains splattered on the ground!”
Logan gasped and pressed a hand over his heart. “Why, Marie, I do believe that you’re worried about me?”
“No, Ah’d just rather not feel nauseous ‘fore Ah hafta eat!” Marie retorted, swiping a handful of snow off the hood of a parked car and tossing it at him.
While Logan was still in the process of wiping snow from his jacket, Marie suddenly turned sharply to the right, heading for Martha’s diner. Logan was quick to chase after her, catching up to her just before she reached the doors. Yanking open the door, Logan slid into the diner with Marie following less than a second after her. Boris ran a close third slpping in just after Marie.
The eyes of everyone were glued to Marie and Logan as they stood awkwardly just inside the door. After a moment, Logan grinned broadly and nodded his head before leading Marie towards the counter.
“Ah can not believe that we just did that,” Marie grumbled under her breath as she hopped up on a stool next to Logan. She could feel her face flush and knew that it was not because of the jog.
“So you must be the infamous Logan I’ve heard so much about,” Martha said as she came to stand in front of them. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Logan took hold of Martha’s hand and pressed a kiss against her knuckles. “The pleasure is all mine, my lady.”
Her cheeks flushing, Martha swatted the air in front of Logan. “You little scoundrel! No wonder Marie is so taken with you.”
“Martha!” Marie gasped, her eyes widening.
Motioning Martha forward, Logan pretended to whisper in her ear though he spoke loud enough for Marie to hear. “If it counts, I’m quite taken with her as well.”
Martha patted Logan’s cheek, a well documented sign that she approved of him. “Since I already know what Marie and Boris are going to have for breakfast, I need to know that you will eat.”
“Give me the biggest breakfast combo that you’ve got,” Logan told her, not even bothering to look at the menu.
“He has quite an appetite, doesn’t he?” Martha asked Marie with a conspiratorial wink. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll have your food ready.”
As soon as Martha disappeared towards the kitchen, Logan spun around in his seat to face Marie. Grabbing hold of her knee, Logan turned her towards him, unable to keep a smile from his face. “I really needed this. I just didn’t know how much until just now.”
“Ya really surprised me, Logan. Ah honestly didn’t think that ya’d make it halfway inta town,” Marie said, reaching up to cup his slightly frigid cheek. “Maybe ya were a marathon runner in yer last life.”
Logan snorted at that and rolled his eyes. “Highly unlikely. There’s no way in hell I’d wear those shorts. I’m thinking military. They have to do all that jogging with those heavy packs, don’t they? Much more dignified.”
“Ah could definitely see ya in a military uniform,” Marie agreed, nodding her approval. “No crew cut, though. Definitely not.”
“What, you don’t think I’d look good with a shaved head?” Logan asked, pretending to pout.
Marie made a face and shook her head. “Definitely not! Ah like yer hair just how it is. Especially when ya fall asleep an’ some of it falls down over yer face.... Ya look real beautiful like that.”
Logan faked a scowl, raising a hand to cover hers which still rested on his cheek. “I thought we had a discussion about you watching me while I sleep.”
“Ah must o’ missed that,” Marie murmured, completely forgetting they were out in public until Martha placed cups of coffee in front of them. She pulled back quickly then, her cheeks once again heating up.
A few minutes later, Martha brought out their breakfasts and set them before the pair. “So, Logan, what do you do for a living.”
Logan winced slightly as he began cutting up his sausages. “Right now nothing. I kinda lost my job when I broke my ribs and just got the okay yesterday from my doctor saying that it was okay for me to work again.”
It was, after all, close enough to the truth, Marie reflected. Logan couldn’t have continued as a fighter with broken ribs. One wrong punch and he would have ended up stabbing himself in the lung with one of his ribs.
“Are you good with cars?” Martha inquired as she retrieved the coffee pot to refill their cups.
Logan swallowed what was in his mouth, nodding his head. “Sure. I fixed up my Harley. I got it real cheap ‘cause it was pretty much a piece of junk but it works great now. Like it was brand new.”
“Then I’ll have to get a hold of Cal,” Martha said with a nod. “He owns a garage and has been looking for someone since Dennis moved south with his fiancée. Hired a few local boys, but they didn’t work out. Knew absolutely nothing about cars. I swear, nowadays kids spend more time in front of televisions and computers and don’t learn anything about real life.... In fact, I’m going to go call Cal right now. Hold on a second.”
Five minutes later, Martha was back to tell Logan that Cal was interested in meeting him and that he should stop by as soon as he got the time. Logan thanked Martha profusely and Marie could tell that Logan was genuine about his gratitude. She knew that Logan had been kind of anxious about finding work and was equally glad that Martha had been able to help him.
After returning home for a quick shower and a change of clothes, Logan headed back into town on his bike to see Cal about the job. The entire time that he was gone, Marie was hyperactive and couldn’t get a single thing done. She tried writing, but couldn’t get David across the room to speak to Abigail. Boris was no help in distracting her. He had parked himself down in front of the fireplace and refused to move despite all of Marie’s enticements of bacon and left over pizza.
By the time Logan returned an hour later she was practically climbing up the walls. As soon as she heard him pull into the driveway she was at the door, waiting for the news.
“So? What happened with Cal?” Marie demanded eagerly as Logan loped towards the front door.
Logan said nothing and his face didn’t give away any hints either as he slipped past Marie and into the cabin.
Marie growled in frustration and spun around. “Logan, come on! Ah’m dyin’ here! What happened with Cal?”
Still silent, Logan removed his boots and jacket before heading into the living room. He got himself settled on the couch before looking over at Marie with a large smile on his face. “Cal said he’d feel better if I took a few more days to make sure my ribs are healed up so I shouldn’t come in to work until Monday.”
Squealing with delight, Marie bounded across the room and onto Logan’s lap. “That’s wonderful, Logan! Ah’m so happy fer ya!”
“Thanks, darlin’,” Logan said as he wrapped his arms about Marie’s waist and repositioned her so that she was straddling his waist. “For everything you’ve done for me since picking me up off the side of the road. For the first time I actually feel like I’m going somewhere with my life.”
“Ah’m glad Ah stumbled across ya too,” Marie murmured, winding her arms around Logan’s neck and leaning her head against his shoulder. She slowly shifted her head closer to his throat and began pressing soft kisses against his skin.
Logan moaned and held onto her tighter, pulling her against him. “Mmmm.... Keep that up and you could end up having a problem on your hands.”
Marie grinned against his throat and wiggled her hips dragging another groan from Logan. “An’ just what kinda problem would that be?”
“This kind.”
Faster that Marie thought possible, she was lying on the couch with Logan crouched between her legs. He was leaned forward, resting his elbows on either side of her head. Grinning softly, Marie reached up to slide her fingers into Logan’s hair, pulled his face down towards hers.
“Ah think this is more o’ a celebration than any kind o’ trouble,” Marie purred as she began sliding her leg over Logan’s calf.
Logan lowered himself down on top of her, but still allowed most of his weight to rest on his elbows. “I think that you may just be right.”
In front of the fireplace, Boris rolled his eyes and turned his head away from what was going on across the room.