“Ma’am, with all duerespect,” he said, in a tone that suggested the amount of respect she was duerounded down to zero. “Unless you’re about to make an unqualified apology toAshley for both that remark and the way you’ve treated him his whole life, it’dbe better for everyone present if you back off.”
Logan paused, looked aroundthe room, and then turned back to me.
“You got anything else tosay?” he asked softly. Everything about him told me he was willing to standhere and hold my hand while I aired every grievance I’d ever had with them.
I shook my head.
“No,” I said. “I’m donehere.”
“I’d appreciate a littlespace,” Logan said.
I’d never seen him like this,taking charge, asserting himself. It made sense that he had it in him, but itwas sostrangeto see calm,mild Logan right on the verge of losing his temper.
He had a long, long fuse,but I was willing to bet the resulting explosion wouldn’t have been pretty.
Thankfully, I wouldn’t have to findout. Dad, to my surprise, ushered Mom and Maisie out of the room, Grandmafollowing after a moment and heading back out of the house.
The silence held for anotherhandful of heartbeats.
I’d said everything I wantedto.
All this time, I’d been hidingwho I really was away from my family because I was afraid of upsetting them.Afraid of making things awkward for them.
When had theyevercared about me?
“Is that offer to go withyou still open?” I asked once I was sure we were alone, my voice trembling.
I shouldn’t have worried.The way Logan’s face lit up made my stomach flip.
He took a step toward me,warmth and comfort andloveshining in his eyes.
“I’m not leaving you here,”he said. “That, umm… that doesn’t mean you have to come stay withme, I’ll take you toGabe’s place or wherever you want to go, but…”
I closed the gap between us,reaching out to take Logan’s hand. Toying with his fingers, I tilted my headto meet his eyes, and took a deep breath.
“I love you, too,” I said. “Ididn’t get the chance to tell you before.”
Logan surged forward. Strongfingers curved around the back of my head, holding me in place while his lipspressed against mine. The hard, desperate kiss of a man who hadn’t been sure he’dever be allowed to do this again.
A surge of pleasure flowedthrough me as Logan adjusted his grip, moved his hand to my neck, slowed thekiss down. I could have kissed him for hours and not gotten tired of it.
Whole days in bed exploringeach other’sbodies would have been nice, too.
“I’ll help you pack,” hemurmured against my lips. “We can find a nicer place to stop this time.”
Laughing, I pulled back tolook at Logan, taking in his face as if for the first time.
He loved me.
And I loved him.
And he was promising to takeme away from all this. Or at least, back to the life I’d built for myself.
My Prince Charming.
“Do people tell you you’rebeautiful?” I asked, resting my hand on his chest. “Because you’re stunning.”
I loved it when Loganblushed, and I’djust found another way to make him do it.
