“We were just lamenting the hospital’s version of lunch,” I said, waving my hand towards the tray of food. “I was going to go out and get us some real food.”
“Then I’m your favorite person today,” Mack said, grinning. “I got some subs from Deluccio’s. Everyone at work raved about them.”
I grabbed Logan’s arm without thinking. “The subs from Deluccio’s are amazing! They must put crack in their bread or something. We eat them all the time.”
I looked down at my hand on Logan’s arm and started to draw back. I had been careful not to be affectionate with him because I didn’t want to push him. Despite things going well today, it had been kept on an impersonal level. I didn’t want to alienate Logan by demanding too much too soon.
Before I could pull my hand back all the way, Logan grabbed it and held it firmly in his. I looked at him in surprise, but he was looking past me at Mack. There was a territorial gleam in his eye that I recognized, and it gave me a spurt of hope.
“Why are you here?” Logan’s tone wasn’t friendly, and Mack’s grin faded. He looked confused, hurt even, by Logan’s confrontational question.
“You’ve been friends with Mack since law school,” I said, trying to smooth things over. “You were looking forward to him coming into town for work because you hadn’t seen him in a while.” Logan’s jaw was still tense so I spoke quickly, trying to get him to realize that Mack wasn’t the enemy. “Remember how I told you about the accident you were in back in L.A.? Mack was the one who was there for you at the hospital.”
Logan’s jaw relaxed a lit
tle, but he still didn’t look too friendly. He turned to me with his eyes narrowed. “How long have you two known each other?”
I looked at him in surprise. “Me and Mack? I only just met him on Monday at dinner, before the accident.” It suddenly dawned on me that Logan was jealous. Despite not remembering me and our relationship, there was obviously enough there for him to be suspicious about Mack.
“I just came by to bring you lunch,” Mack said with a shrug of his shoulders. Despite his easy countenance, I saw that his sharp gaze didn’t miss a thing. “I can leave.”
Mack had been there for me when I had needed him, and I knew the real Logan would hate for him to feel unwanted.
“Don’t be silly,” I said with a smile. “We could never turn away a man bearing Deluccio’s subs.”
Logan nodded, although not as enthusiastically. “Thanks for bringing lunch.” He glanced down at his tray. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to choke down their version of meatloaf.” When he looked up, he had a friendlier expression on his face but he kept a firm grip on my hand. I wasn’t complaining. I felt a thrill from having physical contact with Logan again, even if it was just holding hands.
Mack’s expression was unreadable as he handed out the subs. “How are you feeling?” He glanced at our intertwined hands before taking a bite of his sandwich.
“Better. Not remembering everything yet, but Madison has been helping me.” It felt weird to hear Logan call me Madison. It sounded so formal when I was used to him calling me Maddie.
“I’d be happy to help in any way I can,” Mack said. “I’m not sure how much you remember about our law school days.”
I could see Logan warming up to Mack as he asked him questions about their past. It was obvious from Mack’s answers that he and Logan had been very good friends, and Logan’s walls started to come down. By the time we were done eating, Logan was relaxed and joked easily with Mack.
Mack glanced at his watch and sighed. “I have to get back to work. I have back-to-back meetings for the rest of the day.” He glanced at me. “Do you mind showing me the way out? This hospital is a complicated maze and I got pretty lost trying to find this room. I’m not sure which way is out.” He gave me a meaningful look, and I realized that it was a weak excuse to speak to me alone.
“Sure,” I said. I glanced at Logan who didn’t seem perturbed by Mack’s request. His previous jealousy had obviously been assuaged. “I’ll be right back.”
I followed Mack out of the room and he waited until we were a few feet from Logan’s door before speaking. “I figured it was better for me to warn you than for you to be surprised.” He grimaced. “Kristina found out about Logan’s accident. She called me today pretty upset about it. Apparently, she’s still friendly with a couple of Logan’s co-workers back in L.A. and she found out from them. She interrogated me about Logan’s condition, but I didn’t tell her anything.” Mack sighed. “She said she’s taking a flight out here as soon as possible. She’ll probably be here by tomorrow.”
My stomach dropped at Mack’s revelation. The last thing I needed was Kristina sticking her nose in when I was trying to help Logan regain his memory. Even worse, since he didn’t remember me, Logan didn’t really have any loyalty to me. What if Kristina was somehow able to get Logan to fall for her? She had done it once before.
“Fuck,” I cursed. “Why the hell can’t she just accept that things are over between her and Logan? All she’s going to do is confuse him.” I looked at Mack pleadingly. “Can’t you stop her from coming?”
Mack held his hands out in defeat. “I can’t control what she does. You seem to think she and I are friends or something. She was simply Logan’s girlfriend back in L.A. Now she’s merely an acquaintance of mine, if even that.”
I rubbed my forehead, suddenly feeling exhausted. Things seemed to be whirling out of control. Logan’s memory loss was hard enough to deal with. Now this.
“Thanks for telling me,” I said wearily. “At least I know to watch out for her.”
Mack put his hand on my shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “Don’t worry. Even with Logan’s amnesia, you have nothing to be worried about. I saw the way he looked at me when I first got here. He saw me as competition for you. Despite not remembering you, he obviously has feelings for you if he’s being territorial.”
I knew he was trying to make me feel better, but nothing could make me feel better about the prospect of Kristina’s arrival. “Are you still going back to L.A. on Friday?” I knew Mack had been planning on being in Chicago only until the end of the week, but I was loathe to see him go. He was an ally, and now that Kristina was on her way here, I needed him more than ever.
“I’ll probably extend my stay to at least Sunday. We’ll see.”
I was relieved by his answer, and surprised myself by giving him a quick hug. He patted my back, probably nonplussed by my hug, and left.