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discomfort, and feeling like maybe, this time, Logan s warning was warranted.
Stay, I said. I can talk to Logan later.
She hesitated another moment, studying my face, then offered a tiny smile, sat down and pulled out
the chair beside hers. I took it.
Kelley Armstrong Beginnings 101
We spent the next hour talking. Logan did most of the talking. Typical. More than once, I got
the impression he was steering the discussion in directions he hoped I couldn t follow. Yet
Elena always managed to bring it back to a three-way conversation.
When Elena talked to Logan, I watched her expression. It wasn t the same as I d imagined.
She seemed less guarded than she usually was with others, and more animated, but not nearly as
much as I d envisioned. Her gaze tripped to the side now and then, and I was pretty sure there
was extra wattage in the smiles she tossed my way. Pretty sure, but not certain.
As for Logan, I knew him well enough to pick up his signs of interest. When Nick, Logan
and I went out, Nick never made the return trip home with me. That was a given. Put him in a
bar with more than one woman, and he could always find someone suitable. It took a lot of
looking for Logan to find someone he liked, and even when he did, more often he went home
with a phone number rather than the girl herself. When he did find something that sparked his
interest, it was obvious and, sitting at that table, watching him with Elena, I saw all the signs. I
told myself it was just Logan being Logan, always finding a way under my skin, always
challenging me. But I wasn t sure that was it.
After the first half-hour, I started watching the clock. At 11:45, I cut Logan short.
Lunch, I said. We have to get lunch or you ll be late for your next class. Logan?
There s food here, food out on Bloor Street just north of campus, and food back in my
apartment. I ll meet up with you at my office later. I took my keys from my pocket. You
want these?
Elena looked at me, brows knitting, and I knew I d committed some social misdemeanor. I
glanced at Logan for a clue, but he rubbed at a smile and avoided my gaze.
Kelley Armstrong Beginnings 102
I m, uh, sure you want to eat with Logan, Elena said.
Not really.
Logan choked on a laugh. And you wonder why you ve never met any of his friends
before?
I glared over at him. Had you called, or otherwise told me you were coming, I d have left
lunch free. But I have plans. With Elena. I m buying her lunch to celebrate her continued
employment.
I thought you said I was buying lunch, she said.
I was kidding.
Good, Logan said. Cause you d put the poor girl in hock. She d need a second job to
pay for it. Have you seen how much he eats?
Elena grinned. I have. Which is why I planned to take him to McDonald s.
Well, consider yourself saved from that fate, cause I m buying, Logan said. You re the
townie, Elena, so you pick the place. Someplace good. My mom sent me a check this week,
which is how I could afford the gas money to get up here. Every few months she surfaces from
her stupor, remembers she has a son, and sends guilt money, which I promptly blow on the most
frivolous, unnecessary expenses I can find. That way, neither of us feels guilty about it.
Elena laughed. I shook my head. I never knew how Logan did that, tossing out the most
private tidbits of his life as if they were nothing more intimate than his name or phone number.
Shall we go? he said, grabbing Elena s empty coffee cup. What time s your class?
One-thirty.
Lots of time then. Is it journalism?
She nodded. Advanced interviewing techniques.
Kelley Armstrong Beginnings 103
Oooh, could use some of those in my pre-law course. I ll sit in on it with you.
You can t do that, I said. It s against the rules.
Both Logan and Elena laughed.
Words we never thought we d hear Clayton Danvers say, Logan said. Profs don t care if
you sit in not if you ask them first and ask nicely. If I get in shit, I promise not to mention your
name. Now come on. I have fifty bucks burning a hole in my pocket, and I intend to have it
gone by one-thirty with no alcoholic purchases involved. He grinned over at me. Think
you re up to the challenge?
I shrugged and headed for the door.
After her class, Elena returned to finish her shift. Not that she got much work done, between
answering Logan s endless questions about our project and arguing with me over the
interpretation of data. This was an ongoing debate, a spirited disagreement over two ways to
interpret our research findings. Her interpretation was wrong, of course, but I liked challenging
her about it, if only to see her temper flash. Yet I had no interest in renewing a personal debate
in front of Logan. When she got to that part of the explanation, though, there was no way around
mentioning our disagreement, if only in passing. Logan jumped on it and had to hear both our
arguments. Then he promptly declared that Elena s interpretation made more sense. This from a
guy who has never taken an anthropology course in his life, has never read any of the articles we
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