Pheromonal: One Night With the Alpha novel Chapter 38

Chapter 38: His Explanation

"Or," Logan counters, but Penelope interrupts before he can finish his thoughts.

"Officer Everett, we’re scared. We’re two women who can’t stand up to anyone strong enough to kill Scott. You understand that, don’t you?"

He rubs the back of his neck and looks toward the ceiling with a long, heavy sigh. "Look. I’m not trying to look down on your feelings, or make light of the situation. It’s not that at all. It’s just that I know who these deliveries are from."

I stare at Logan, my brow furrowing as suspicion coils in my gut. Before I can voice my thoughts, Penelope blurts out, "Are these from you?"

Logan groans, and my heart skips a beat. Penelope whirls toward me, her fist connecting with my shoulder in a playful punch. "I knew it! I knew the first delivery wasn’t something scary!"

My mind reels at Logan’s admission. The apple fritters, the clothes—all from him? Why? He was so cold. So distant. For God’s sake, he’s looking into me as a suspect over my ex-fiance’s murder.

Penelope, ever the voice of my inner thoughts, asks the burning question. "Why have you been blowing hot and cold, Logan?"

Logan’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "How am I blowing hot and cold?"

I can’t help but scoff at his obliviousness. Penelope echoes my sentiment, her tone serious. "How can you even ask that question?"

Logan holds up his hands, a gesture of surrender or defense—I’m not sure which. "I’m not trying to blow hot and cold at all." His eyes seek mine, an earnestness in them that makes my chest tighten.

I meet his gaze, my own hard and unyielding. The whiplash of his behavior—from passionate lover to denying helping me to cold interrogator to... whatever this is—has left me raw and confused. "Leave," I say flatly.

Logan drops to one knee, grabbing my hand. His proximity sends a jolt through my body. "Nicole, please let me explain."

A bitter laugh escapes me. "What relationship do you think we have between us? Why should I listen to anything you have to say?"

Before I can say more—and oh, boy, is there more—Penelope’s hand clamps over my mouth. I shoot her a glare, but she ignores me, focusing on Logan. "Explain your behavior in jail and when interrogating Nicole."

I want to push her hand away, to tell Logan to get out and leave us alone. But a part of me—a traitorous, hopeful part, totally drugged up and bribed by his pheromones—wants to hear what he has to say. So I remain silent, even as I give my best friend, my ride-or-die, the death glare out of the side of my eye.

Logan takes a deep breath, his eyes never leaving mine. "I know I’ve been... inconsistent. But there’s a reason for it." Both of his hands wrap around my one, squeezing gently. "When I first saw you, Nicole, I didn’t know who you were. But I knew you were my mate. Knew you were mine, from the hair on your head down to your sexy toes."

"Sexy toes?!" But my words are muffled through Penelope’s hand.

Seriously, who can say something like that?

"But then I found out about Scott, and I thought..."

He trails off, but no empathy flickers inside of me. He’s the idiot who didn’t talk to me first. I refuse to feel bad for him.

"I made a bad decision, thinking I was doing the right thing. I admit it. You cut me off at the knees. I felt like the biggest heel, a failure of a mate, and less of a man. And when you activated your ward..." He gives a lopsided grin. "I was on my ass. Literally. Got knocked across the hall. It’s a hell of a good ward. You should get more." freёwebnoѵel.com

I nod. It is a good ward.

"So, the jail," Penelope prompts him.

Logan winces. "Small problem here. I don’t have the ability to tell you the truth about that."

"I swear, Nicole. It’s not what you were thinking. I just literally cannot tell you why I treated you that way. I can only say that—" He stops abruptly with another wince. "Okay, I can’t say anything about it. I can only beg for you to trust me."

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