Logan's Redemption (13 page)

Too nervous to sit, Doriana stood next to the couch, hugging herself against her fear.

Logan’s gaze pierced hers. “No one will hurt you while I’m here.”

“Please stay with me until the morning.”

He was at her side in two steps. Reaching out, he rubbed his thumb over her cheekbone. “I won’t leave you.”

His eyes told the truth of his words. He wouldn’t abandon her, not tonight. Bittersweet sorrow tightened her chest. A long time ago he’d pledged his heart forever. He hadn’t kept that promise. She released a sigh, determined to forget about the past for now.

He studied her. She read concern in his eyes, but something else, something smoky and dark. The heat of arousal pulled low in her belly and she dropped her gaze. She couldn’t allow hope into her heart. She’d learned that lesson a long time ago.

“Get some rest,” he said. “I’ll listen to the phone message then settle down on the couch. You’re safe now.”

“I’m not sleepy,” she said. “Would you like some tea?”

He nodded. “Okay.”

“I’ll be in the kitchen while you replay the message,” she said, hurrying out of the room. “I can’t hear that vileness again.”

* * * *

Logan hit the play button on the answering machine. The evil spewing from the mouth of the scum who threatened Doriana made white-hot anger boil through him.

Who was ‘pretty boy?’  Josh? Was the slime ball on the phone stalking Doriana? Rage pounded through Logan. He’d tear the city apart until he caught the jerk.

He found Doriana leaning against the kitchen sink, her head down and her body rigid. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her against him, liking the way her head fit under his chin. She slowly relaxed and he held her closer.

He inhaled her cologne, expensive and spicy, not the usual rose scent she wore to work. Had she been with the Josh guy earlier and worn the cologne for him? He closed his eyes against the sudden pain that gnawed at his insides. That didn’t matter. She’d called him, not Josh. She needed him and he wouldn’t let her down.

She felt so good, as if she belonged in his arms. For a few minutes he allowed himself to imagine that she was his again. He straightened. He had a job to do. He would protect her and keep her safe.

“I listened,” he said, still holding her against him. “Sick bastard. He blocked his number from your phone’s ID system. Maybe the phone company can find the number. We’ll call them in the morning. Stupid jerk recorded his voice. Maybe the phone company can use that.”

He pulled her closer. “No one will hurt you, Doriana. I promise.”

“I know.”

She turned in his arms to look up at him. The trust in her eyes threatened his control. It would be so easy to give in to his baser instincts, to kiss her full lips until she begged for more.

“How about that tea,” he said.

She smiled through the tears that glistened in her eyes. “And some pumpkin pie.”

“With whipped cream?” he asked, smiling.

“I’ve got whipped cream.”

“Then we’re all set.”

* * * *

Doriana, sitting across from Logan at the center counter in her kitchen, smiled at his unabashed enjoyment of the dessert. Cinnamon and nutmeg and ginger tea laced with honey melded with the soft sounds of jazz playing on the radio. She could almost forget the ugliness of the past few hours. Could almost tell Logan about Josh.    

“My mom made the pie,” she blurted. She couldn’t tell him about Josh.

“Can you cook like this?”

She laughed. “Not at all. I didn’t inherit the cooking gene from Nonna or Mom.”

“You’ve got whipped cream, though.” His crooked grin warmed her more than the mug of tea she cradled.

“Logan, thanks for coming over. Things are strained between us sometimes, but you were there for me when I needed you.”

He gave her that lopsided grin again. Her pulse did a little dance.

“All in a day’s work,” he said. “You are my boss after all.”

She laughed. Logan could always make her laugh. “I think this goes above and beyond your job description.”

His intense look made her glance quickly away to stare at the clock on the wall behind him. Was it really only midnight?  

“Doriana?”

She turned to him.

“Did you love him?” he asked.

Her chest constricted. “Love who?”

“Your son’s father.”

“Why do you ask that?”

He shrugged. “I wanted to know. But it’s none of my business.”

“I loved him very much,” she said.

“What happened to him?”

Tell him. Tell him
, her conscience urged. “He left. Logan, I...”

“He’s a fool,” Logan said.

“What?”

“The guy who left you.” His jaw clenched.

“He’s no fool,” she said.

“How can you defend him after what he’s done?”  Anger sparked from Logan’s eyes.

Doriana half rose in her seat. “You don’t know...”

“Forget it,” Logan said. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

She blew her breath out and settled back. “Okay.” Guilt curled around her heart. She should tell him. She couldn’t. She had to think about it.

“Great pie,” he said, smiling.

Despite his smile, anger lingered in his eyes. “Nothing like home-baked pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving,” he said, pushing his empty plate away.

She studied him. Thick lashes framed golden-green eyes. She’d always loved Logan’s eyes.

“If you keep staring at me like that, I may forget I’m a nice guy.”

Her face heated. She cut a chunk of pie and put it in her mouth. She chewed slowly, wishing she could digest her wayward thoughts away.        

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

She swallowed her pie. “Where did you have Thanksgiving dinner?” The question slipped out.  

“I ate with the guys at the shelter.”

She choked and took a quick sip of tea.

“You live in a shelter?”

He smiled. “No, I’m not that hard on my luck. I helped serve meals at the shelter. I do it every Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s what people without families do.” Sadness flicked in his eyes for a few seconds.

Fighting her guilt, she reached out to put her hand over his big one on the counter. Should she have invited him to her parents? She couldn’t. Too much was at stake.

“That’s a very generous thing to do,” she said.

He pulled his hand away. “Don’t give me more credit than I deserve.”

“You have no one?” she asked. “You never talked about your family. Before, I mean.” She chewed her lip, wishing she could bite back the words. She hadn’t wanted to bring up the past, their past.

He stiffened and a muscle worked in his jaw. “My mom died when I was thirteen. I don’t know if my dad is dead or alive, and frankly I don’t care.”

The bitterness in his voice and the loneliness that washed over his features squeezed her heart with pity. She knew he didn’t want her pity.

“No matter what he did he’s still your father.”

“Don’t go there, Doriana.”

She studied the golden tea in her cup. The clock on the wall ticked loudly, but time seemed to stop. Releasing her breath, she looked into his eyes. “You left me.”

Surprise widened his eyes before he quickly recovered and the cool mask slipped on again. “I had to go.”

“Why?”  Now that she’d opened the cage to the ugly monster between them, she couldn’t put it back.

Tension held him rigid. “It was a long time ago.”

She knew by the stubborn line of his jaw that he wouldn’t say more. Her shoulders sagged.

“Go to bed, Doriana.”    

“I’m not sleepy.”

“You’re probably more tired than you realize.” He stood. “Go on up. I’ll clean the kitchen. You’ve had a rough day.”

She pushed herself off the chair. “You’ll stay the night?”

“I’ll stay as long as you need me.”

She looked deeply into his eyes before turning from the room. How long did she need him? Just for tonight? There was a time when she couldn’t imagine life without him.

* * * *

Doriana brushed her teeth, fluffed her hair and bit down on her lips to give them color. “What are you doing?” she asked her reflection. Trying to make herself attractive? She was going to bed. Alone. Logan would sleep on the couch. And that’s where he’d stay.

She padded to the bedroom and opened a dresser drawer. Her fingers brushed over a silk nightgown, a sexy extravagance that she’d never worn. “No you don’t,” she whispered.

She pulled out a high-necked cotton gown and slammed the drawer shut, locking away the silk and her own dangerous desires. Doriana slipped the nightgown on and buttoned the neckline. Too bad she couldn’t button the restless yearning that fired her senses. Her body and soul cried out for the warmth of Logan’s arms and the passion of his kisses.

“Stop it, Doriana.” Fear and insecurity had weakened her. That’s all it was. Logan walked out on her once and he didn’t care enough now to tell her why. She’d made a life for herself and Josh without him. She didn’t need Logan. So why did she feel this aching loneliness?

She yanked her bedcovers down and climbed into bed. She would not think about Logan. She would not dream about him. Doriana reached over to turn off the bedside lamp. Josh, framed in his latest school picture, smiled back at her. His eyes and smile, so like Logan’s, seemed to mock her. She opened the night table drawer and slid the picture in.

She lay in the darkened room, listening to the house sounds. Did her house always creak like this? Did Logan lie awake on the sofa and think of her? They had a son, but they’d never spent the night together. Now she and Logan slept a floor apart, breathing the same air, hearing the same sounds. So close and yet they might as well be an ocean away.

She punched her pillow as if the act might purge her thoughts. A faint sliver of moonlight glimmered through the sheer curtains to reflect on the ceiling. Did the moonlight skim Logan too?

The shatter of glass brought her upright. Logan.

She threw back the covers and leapt out of bed. The staccato of her heart kept beat with her feet as she raced down the stairs. A break-in? The alarm hadn’t gone off.

The pillow and blanket she’d given Logan were folded on the couch, but no Logan. A string of soft curses came from the kitchen. She hurried toward the sound and froze when she reached the doorway.

Logan, clad only in jeans, swept away broken glass with a broom.

She couldn’t quite stifle her laugh.

“Damn.” He turned toward her and dropped the broom, letting out an exasperated sigh. “Sorry about the mess. I broke a glass.”   

“Don’t worry about it,” she said with a shrug.

They stared at each other. His masculine beauty held her. Her gaze scanned his muscular chest, covered with a light matting of golden hairs that narrowed to a vee before disappearing into the waistband of his jeans. Her throat went dry. “You’re very tan,” she said in a whisper.

She clutched at the neck of her nightgown as his hot gaze traveled her body. She glanced down. The bright kitchen light made the thin cotton of her gown transparent as silk. Her face burned and she knew she blushed.

“Go to bed, Doriana.”

The roughness of his voice hit her raw emotions, releasing the tension of the past weeks and the numbing fear earlier tonight. A sob escaped her. Her knees watered and her body sagged. Logan grabbed her before she could sink to the floor.         

She clung to him, digging her nails into the firm skin of his shoulders. Tears spilled from her eyes.

He brushed a tender kiss on her forehead. “It’s okay. It’s been a tough night.”

She gripped his shoulders and pressed her face against him. The rough hairs on his chest brushed her sensitized skin, filling her with an aching awareness. She inhaled his male scent, woodsy like the leaves rustling outside.

“Sweetheart,” he said. “I know you’re upset, but I think you’ve scarred my shoulders with your nails.”

She jumped back, swiping at tears. Hysterical laughter bubbled out of her. Logan’s hands spanned her waist.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” she said, finding her voice.

“It’s okay, Dorie. You didn’t hurt me.”

At the catch in his voice she locked her gaze with his. He stared at her with eyes darkened by desire. She reached out to skim a finger along the fullness of his lips.

He groaned and gently pushed her away. “Leave before we do something we’ll both regret in the morning.”

He was right. But why did she feel so...cheated?

His gaze softened and he brushed his thumb over her cheekbone. “I know you’re scared. I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep. Okay?”

She nodded.

Logan followed her up the stairs, so close his body heat warmed her. No one would harm her while Logan was in the house. But who would protect her heart?