Katie woke up before dawn the following day.

One of her favorite things to do was walk on the beach at sunrise, and she did so whenever she could. She hadn’t mentioned it to Logan the night before because he wasn’t naturally an early riser like she was. She figured she could borrow one of the Andersons’ bicycles and ride out to the beach on her own.

No one else was up when she came downstairs. She was fully dressed in shorts, tank top, and light hoodie, with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was putting a K-cup into the coffee maker in the silent kitchen when a sound from behind her surprised her.

She turned around to see Logan approaching, looking rumpled and disturbingly sexy in a black T-shirt and beat-up gray shorts. He gave her a slow smile as he leaned against the counter next to where she was standing.

She experienced a shiver of excitement she didn’t understand.

“You didn’t have to get up,” she said, pleased when she sounded normal.

“I wanted to. Were you going to requisition my car to drive to the beach?”

She shook her head. “Borrow a bike.”

“It will be a lot easier for me to take you. I like seeing the sunrise too.”

This was ridiculous. There was absolutely no reason for her to feel so giddy right now.

No reason at all.

Logan was just being nice in coming with her. It didn’t mean anything special.

“Thanks,” she managed to say. “I’m glad.”

They filled travel mugs with coffee and drove the five minutes it took to cross the waterway and get to Wrightsville Beach. Logan parked his Mercedes in a mostly empty public parking lot, and they started walking down toward the ocean.

There was a brisk breeze, so Katie was glad she’d worn the hoodie, but she took off her sandals so she could feel the sand between her toes.

The sun was just starting to rise above the water with fuzzy streaks of gold, pink, and orange. They’d timed the walk perfectly since now they wouldn’t have to walk in the dark.

She smiled over at Logan and was surprised to discover his eyes were resting on her face.

Fighting a wave of self-consciousness at the strangely intense look in his eyes, she asked, “You don’t think I’m strange to get up so early just to watch the sunrise, do you?”

“Of course not. I can see how much you love it.”

She wasn’t sure what to say to that, so she didn’t say anything.

They walked for a few minutes, and when she glanced over at him again, she saw he was still looking at her. “What? Why are you staring at me that way?”

He blinked and gave himself a little shake, as if he hadn’t realized what he was doing. Then the corner of his mouth lifted in a familiar teasing expression. “You act like you’re all cynical and world-weary, but you’re really not.”

“What does that mean? I’m plenty cynical. Anyone would be with my job.”

“No, you’re not. No one can bask in the sunrise the way you do if they were really cynical. You can’t fight the romantic in you.”

“I’m not romantic!”

“If you say so.”

She tried to maintain her indignation with him, but she couldn’t really. He knew her well. He was right about her. Walking on the beach at sunrise wasn’t an aberration for her. It spoke to the heart of who she was. One of the reasons she’d gotten so turned off on romance was because the broken relationships she witnessed had crushed sappy daydreams of love, beauty, and commitment she’d entertained most of her life.

She’d always wanted a man who would stand beside her all her life. It hurt when it felt like that wasn’t a realistic possibility.

Logan reached out with one arm to pull her into a half hug—maybe so she knew he was just teasing her—but he kept his arm there as they walked.

She liked the feel of it.

She liked the way they didn’t need to speak, the way they understood each other perfectly.

She liked that he felt so warm and strong and real beside her.

She didn’t know why she was having all these feelings this morning, but they were deeply unsettling. Logan had always been her friend. She didn’t want him to be anything else.

It made absolutely no sense for him to be transforming from friend to man in her mind this way, without any reason at all.

In an effort to get her thinking back on track, she said, “So when we get to your reunion this afternoon, do we need to decide on a backstory for our fake relationship?”

He blinked a couple of times, as if she’d broken him out of some sort of trance. He cleared his throat. “I guess, so we’re on the same page if people ask. But we should keep it simple.”

“Yes. As close to the truth as possible so we don’t get confused. We met through Sarah and Chad, were friends first for a long time. Then we gradually just fell in love. That’s easy enough, I guess. It sounds like it…” She trailed off as she realized what she was saying.

“It sounds like it what?”

“It sounds like it could be true.” There was nothing revealing or unusual about that comment. She didn’t know why the words caused her cheeks to burn with heat.

“Yes,” Logan agreed, staring out at the warm light of the sun, reflecting on the water with sparkles and bursts of light. “It sounds true.”

She was glad he wasn’t looking at her while she recovered herself. She wanted to feel normal again and didn’t know how to do it. She needed to bring up a new topic of conversation.

Something different.

Something easy.

Something that wouldn’t make her blush in this ridiculous way.

She was so flustered that the topic she brought up wasn’t at all what she’d intended—or what she’d needed it to be. “So why don’t you have a girlfriend for real?”

Logan gave a little jerk, and his eyes shot back to her face. “What?”

“You heard me. Why don’t you have a girlfriend for real?” Now that she’d brought the subject up, she needed to commit to it or else he would wonder what was wrong with her.

She was in this conversation now, whether she wanted to be or not.

He gave a half shrug. “I don’t know. What kind of question is that?”

“I know your career takes up most of your time, but that doesn’t rule out relationships. Don’t you want to be married and have a family?”

For some reason she was holding her breath as she waited for him to answer.

It took him a minute before he finally said, “Yes. I’d like to be married and have a family.”

“So why don’t you get one?”

She suddenly hated the thought of him getting a girlfriend, a wife, having kids with another woman. She hated the thought so much she almost shook with it. The feeling was completely irrational and totally unfair, but she couldn’t fight the resentment at some other woman claiming Logan as hers.

She could see it all so clearly just then. She could picture it happening in her mind. Logan would meet a sweet, beautiful woman—small and soft and blond and clingy—and he would fall for her hard. Completely. He’d pour himself into love completely, and he would do anything for that woman. All his time and effort and devotion and big heart would be focused entirely on her. All his body too. He’d marry her. They’d have babies. He’d be blissfully happy.

And Katie would lose him completely.

She had to force the extended visual into a dark corner of her mind because it started to nauseate her.

“It’s not as easy as just wanting one,” Logan said before she’d fully recovered herself.

She forced down her unworthy response and made herself think about what was best for Logan. “True. But you’re never going to get a wife if you don’t step up.”

“Step up?”

“Yes. Step up. And take what you want.”

He chuckled, and there was an ironic edge to the laughter that she couldn’t quite understand. “Got it. Step up and take what I want. I’ll work on it.”

She wondered if he was serious.

She wondered what she’d do if he started to step up and go after other women.

She liked to think she was generous and altruistic, but she suspected maybe she wasn’t.

She wanted to keep Logan for herself.

Before she could mull too deeply on those reflections, she was surprised out of them by Logan muttering, “Shit.”

“What?”

He gestured toward another couple on the beach, throwing a ball to a dog who was running out toward the waves. “I know him. He was in the chess club.”

“Well, that’s okay,” she said, peering at the man in front of them. “We’ll just need to pretend to be a couple right now.”

She reached out to take Logan’s hand, telling herself it was only sensible since she was supposed to act like his girlfriend.

But her pulse sped up ridiculously as soon as Logan’s hand tightened around hers.

Logan called out a greeting, and it took a minute for them to reach the other couple and their golden retriever.

“You’re up early, Anderson,” the man said. He was shorter than Katie and thin, with dark hair and glasses.

“Katie wanted to see the sunrise.” Logan was smiling as he reached out to shake the other man’s hand. “This is Katie Ross.” He turned to look at Katie. “Mike Holman and his wife. I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten your name.”

“Lisa,” the woman said. She wasn’t very attractive, but she looked nice and friendly.

After the introductions, Mike gave Katie a long look, like he was sizing her up. Then he glanced back at Logan. “So you got a girlfriend at last.”

The tone was teasing, but the words caused Katie to stiffen her shoulders with a bristling of resentment. She put on an intentionally sappy smile and put an arm around Logan’s waist. “He had girls hanging all over him for the longest time. I was lucky enough to get him.”

Mike and Lisa laughed as if they appreciated this display of affection. They talked for a few minutes about the get-together that afternoon, and then Logan said, “Enjoy your morning. We’ll see you later.”

He took Katie’s hand and started to walk away.

Katie didn’t say anything until they were out of earshot of the other couple. Then she gave Logan a questioning look.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. “We were always in competition in chess tournaments and with grades. We pretended to be friends, but we never really were.”

“I guess feelings like that never really go away.” She glanced over her shoulder and saw that Mike was still watching them.

She waited a few seconds, and then she turned Logan around to face her.

He looked surprised. And absolutely irresistible in the golden light of the morning.

“He’s still watching,” she murmured by way of explanation.

Logan nodded. Then his expression changed and he took her face in both his hands. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers.

Shivers of pleasure and excitement radiated out from the touch of his lips, filling her entire body. She made a little sound in her throat because the kiss felt so incredibly good.

Logan’s mouth withdrew after just a minute, and then with an audible intake of breath, he kissed her again, this time more deeply. His tongue played against her lips, and one of his hands gripped the base of her ponytail.

Her body was throbbing and boneless when she finally found the will to pull away.

Logan was flushed slightly, and his eyes were clouded, like he was unsettled by the kiss too.

She had to say something to break the tension.

She had to.

Otherwise she was going to say or do something she could never take back.

Finally she managed, “That should be convincing.”

Logan blinked. Then cleared his throat and started to walk again. “Yes. Thanks for helping me out.”