Last Christmas

Chapter Four

December 2009

"Good, you're home," Cooper said, when he came in from work that night. "You've been avoiding me, man, and I know it's about this whole Georgie thing. Something don't smell right with you and her suddenly being all hot for each other. Since when?"

"What are you? My Mom? Why do you care? I like Georgie and she likes me. What does it matter to you?"

"Cause this is coming out of nowhere! We talk about everything and I don't know you're sleeping with Georgie? Why the big secret?"

"Cause it's Georgie! You know she don't just sleep with anyone and I just got out of a thing with Lulu, who is the one woman Georgie can't stand. I can't believe Maxie went and became like best friends with her after Lulu ruined Georgie's marriage that way. Talk about loyalty! Maxie ain't got none!"

"You were sleeping with Lulu for years and talking about marrying her, so it's pretty ironic that now you are on Georgie's side over some ancient history between those two."

"Sometimes I ask myself if I never should have been with Lulu in the first place. My life went totally off track dating that crazy dame! I am not letting her drag me down no more. Whatever I got to do in order for her to get it through her stubborn head that me and her ain't gonna have another go round together, that is what I'll do."

"Including letting everyone think you're into Georgie now? When you've never even paid a bit of attention to her before. So is that what this is? Just another Logan sex bet?"

"Why'd you go and bring up that bit of bad history? I thought you let that go years ago?"

"I thought you wouldn't do something so stupid again but it looks like you're up to your old tricks another time." Cooper walked off to take a shower after work.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Logan sent Georgie a text.

Logan: Coop isn't buying that we're the real deal. He knows me too well.

Georgie: Do not confess. You know he will end up telling Nadine and she can not keep her mouth shut.

Logan: Can you come over tonight? We got to convince Coop. Lulu will hound him for the truth. She is like a dog with a bone when she wants something or someone.

Georgie: You sure you don't want her back?

Logan: 100 percent. I'm over the drama. Come over. We can watch a movie.

Georgie: What time?

Logan: A.S.A.P.

Georgie: I will bring the popcorn. See you soon.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Once Cooper came out of the bathroom, after taking a shower, he was wearing just a towel.

Logan was in the living room, down the hall. He called out "Just a head's up, Georgie is on her way over."

Logan didn't have to see Cooper's face to know that his best friend was thinking: what is this guy up to now?

Cooper's only response was a grunt to show he had heard Logan.

Cooper would be a hard sell, where this whole fake dating thing was concerned, but the sooner he bought it, the sooner other people would too. Logan had come up with this plan with one goal in mind- get Lulu to be convinced he was not getting back with her- and one night's sleep hadn't changed his mind that this was his best shot of getting what he wanted. Lulu could get just as obsessed with him as he got with her. Always thinking that no matter what had gone down between them or what either one of them had done that they could still make it work. Logan always bought into that, too, cause he wanted to make it work just as bad as Lulu did.

Until he didn't. Until he was done.

Now Logan knew the only way he was going to get a happy future was to put Lulu Spencer, his ex, firmly in his past. Yeah, maybe it wasn't great to use Georgie as the bridge to better days, but Georgie was getting plenty out of this too. Logan had watched her suffer through all the endless questions about her dating life during the first engagement Maxie and Spinelli had. That was six months ago, over the summer. And he had watched hee duck and dive those questions again last night.

People were too damn nosy. Old people, especially, wanted everyone paired up, settled down and thinking about babies, before they got too old to come to the wedding and enjoy babysitting the babies. Georgie was just about to graduate college. It could be another decade before she married and had kids, if she ever did, and all that was cool.

Unless you were Great Aunt Ida from Texas and then all that was a problem to be fixed cause in her day people were married and had a couple kids by 21.

Logan could tell it was just about driving Georgie crazy to constantly be justifying her own life and the fact she was single. If you can't beat em, join em, Logan thought, and let them think they are getting what they want.

Georgie and Logan would both get through these holidays together. It would be the first time they had any use for each other, other than him ordering from her at Kelly's. There were plenty of times they were barely friendly to each other and certainly never really friends. But Logan realized last night they could be just what each other needed, and his feet took him outside to the balcony before his mind could talk him out of it.

Logan rushed to the bathroom to quickly freshened up since Georgie was on her way over. They had to put on a good show for Cooper. Maybe even kiss again.

That was one part of this whole thing that had Logan shook to his core: kissing Georgie Jones was good. Really good. Like amazingly good. Better than it had any right to be for someone he had zero romantic feelings for.

Weird.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cooper had went to the kitchen to make some dinner, when he heard a knock on the door. He called out to Logan to let him know Georgie was there, before Cooper went and let Georgie in.

"Hey, come on in," he said. "Logan will be out in a minute."

"Thanks, Coop." Georgie was carrying a brown grocery bag.

"So, you and Logan, huh? I never would have thought you two would get together."

"Yeah, well, I thought I'd be the one marrying Spinelli and we see how that worked out. Life is funny that way, you know?"

"You and Spinelli were a thing?"

"Back when you and Maxie were still together. Can you believe it was just last Christmas? Sorry. I don't mean to poke the wound. But you seem totally over my sister and happy with Nadine now."

"A year can change a lot for sure," Cooper said. "So how long has this thing between you and Logan been going on?"

"Define going on." She headed for the kitchen. "Can I put this stuff down? You don't mind, right?"

"Have at it." Cooper followed Georgie into the kitchen. "So there was no overlap with Logan and Lulu and Logan and you, right?"

"I should let my Dad know you'd make one hell of a detective."

"Sorry! I didn't mean to get all up in your business. This whole hook up thing is throwing me for a loop. I never pictured you two together."

"Logan has only had eyes for Lulu since the day he moved to town, and trust me I know that he may get back with her at some point, but he's the first guy I've wanted to be with in a year so I'm taking my chances. He's a good guy. He's worth it. You should know that better than anyone, right?"

Georgie didn't realize that Logan had walked up and was leaning against the doorway in-between the kitchen and living room.

"For sure," Cooper said, and then he noticed Logan. He nodded at him. "Hey, I'm gonna grab some dinner and then get out of your guy's way."

Georgie turned around and smiled at Logan. Their eyes met and held, warmth in both their gazes.

Georgie's voice was soft when she said "Hey, hun."

Logan reached out for her hand. She put her hand in his. He tugged her close. They shared a soft kiss. "Thanks for coming over, doll."

"Sure. I missed you."

Logan chuckled. "You just saw me last night. I remember when you could go a whole week without seeing me and then greet me with: I was hoping you had moved away."

Georgie threw back her head and laughed. Logan chuckled. Cooper was still skeptical but there was definitely something between these two.

He just felt like there was more to the story than them simply falling for each other. He couldn't help the feeling this was some kind of scheme, and when Cooper had a feeling, it was usually spot on.