Newborn Conspiracy (21 page)

She took a moment to process all of that. "So, Collena isn’t guilty of any wrongdoing?"

“No, I don’t think so. Donnie wanted to make it look like she was a dirty cop to help his case."

Mia drew in a long breath. "He tried to ruin so many lives."

“But he didn’t succeed" Logan leaned in and kissed her. Not a peck on the cheek, a full-blown kiss that eased some of her tension. "Once the police make sure it’s safe to get us out of here, I’ll take Tanner and you home."

“Home?" she repeated.

He lifted his shoulder and suddenly looked a little uncomfortable. That made Mia uncomfortable.

Oh, mercy.

She’d known from the moment she made love with Logan that they were going to have to face this. Where did they go from here? Yes, they had a child, but now that the danger had passed, they didn’t have a real reason to be with each other 24-7.

Well, no reason other than she wanted to be with him.

Mia waited a moment to see how she felt about that and was pleasantly surprised to realize that she did indeed want Logan in her life.

But did he?

She probably would have launched into a mental debate, but the sound of the bathroom door opening put that on hold.

Dorien came out holding Tanner. Logan and Mia both got up and despite Logan’s injured leg, they hurried to them.

But nothing was wrong.

Tanner was wide awake and looked perfectly content.

“I thought you might want to hold him," Dorien offered.

Mia agreed. She took Tanner, nuzzled his cheek and then immediately passed him to Logan.

That eased some of the weariness in Logan’s eyes.

It eased her, as well.

“I’ll go check on Jason and the police," Dorien volunteered.

Mia welcomed the time alone. It was indeed priceless watching father and son bond. It was hard to believe that just days earlier she’d thought Logan wasn’t father material.

She’d obviously been wrong, “I want him to have your name," Mia said. Though before she heard the words leave her mouth, she hadn’t known she was going to say it then and there. "Tanner Crandall McGrath.

That’s the way it should be."

Logan nodded. Just nodded. And she saw him swallow hard."Thank you."

He didn’t add any more, especially what Mia wanted to hear, so she decided to risk it. If she put it all out there and he refused her, then she’d just learn to live with it.

“Where’s home?" she asked.

Logan lifted an eyebrow."What do you mean?"

“You said after the police gave us the all clear, we could go home. Where’s home?"

With Tanner cradled in the crook of his left arm, Logan slid his arm around her waist and led her to the bed so they could sit. Apparently, this was going to be a long conversation.

Mia automatically braced herself for the worst.

But then, she looked again at the scene in front of her and refused to give in to negative thinking. They were alive and they had their precious baby. It wasn’t necessary to put labels and definitions on their relationship.

Even if that’s what she suddenly wanted.

“Home can be anywhere you decide it is," Logan finally said.

She huffed. Then smiled at the firestorm of emotions.

“I’m in love with you," she said.

There. It was all out there now. Tanner was no longer the six-hundred-pound gorilla in the room. Her feelings were now the big thing they had to deal with.

Unfortunately, Logan’s way of dealing with it was to stare at her and not say a word.

“Did you hear me?" Mia asked.

“Clearly." The corner of his mouth lifted and he reached out and skimmed his finger along her cheek. As usual, just that brief soft touch was more than enough to make her ache for him.

"When did that happen?"

“When I had sex with you." But then, she shook her head. "It wasn’t just sex."

He made a soft sound of contemplation, which could have meant anything.

“Would you like to know when I fell in love with you?" he asked.

Mia truly wanted to know the answer to that, but the question simply took her breath away.

"You’re in love with me?" she clarified, though she had to speak around the rather large lump in her throat.

“Very much so." He leaned in and kissed her, “I fell in love with you when I saw you nursing Tanner."

She thought back to that particular event and realized it’d happened before Logan and she had made love. "Really?"

“Really," he verified.

His voice was smoky and thick and his eyes fixed on her. With that heat and intensity simmering between them, Logan kissed her again. And again. The kisses probably would have continued if Tanner hadn’t kicked at her arm. That little movement garnered both of their attention.

They looked down at their son, “I want to get married," Logan said.

Mia’s breath was already thin from the kisses and that statement made her even more light-headed, “Is that a proposal?"

“It is."

“Then my answer is yes."

The corner of Logan’s mouth didn’t just lift, it turned into a full-fledged smile. Mia realized she was smiling, too.

“Let’s get married tomorrow. Tonight," he corrected. "We can fly to Vegas. Tanner can be our best man. And we can honeymoon in Fiji and then go home."

Oh, that did it. Mia didn’t just melt, she turned to mush. "Sounds good to me."

“Which part?"

“All of it. Yes, to marriage, Fiji, and home." Mia had to blink back the tears."So where’s home?"

Logan slipped his hand around the back of her neck, eased her to him and kissed her until she was breathless, “Home is anywhere you are."