One Night With You (8 page)

The cabin was cool. Under the covers with Logan wrapped around, she felt all toasty warm and comfortable. She didn’t ever want to move. But with morning, reality came crashing down.

She had screwed things up royally. She never should have started going out with David. She never should have let it drag on as long as it had and she never should have agreed to marry him. Shame flooded her as she realized she hadn’t just been trying to fool herself. She’d been using David as well.

Right now, in the cool, quiet morning, she could even admit to herself why. Bo was in love with Logan and always had been. She didn’t like it. Love was messy. Love was painful. Her dad had gone through hell when her mom died.

It was something Bo hadn’t ever really wanted to experience, that deep, tearing loss. It was part of the reason she’d always held herself a little apart. With David, it had been easy.
Any
of the other guys she’d dated—holding herself apart had been easy.

It wouldn’t be with Logan.

She was in love with Logan. She didn’t like it—hell, the thought of it flat out terrified her. She suddenly had that insane urge to take off running again. Running far, far away and this time, maybe she’d stay away more than four years. A decade might work.

Marrying somebody else wasn’t going to fill the void in her heart.

But letting herself believe in a happily ever after with Logan didn’t seem like much of an option, either.

She felt it when he woke up. His sigh drifted across her shoulder, warm and soft, and he stretched a little. Bo could feel the length of his cock against her bottom. The rigid length throbbed. Involuntarily, she pushed back against him.

His chest vibrated against her back as he rumbled, “Morning.” His hand stroked up her side to cup her breast and Bo closed her eyes against the wave of want that washed through her.

Logan, seemingly oblivious to her inner turmoil, lifted up on his elbow so he could nuzzle her neck. Tears stung her eyes and Bo closed them so he wouldn’t see. “Playtime’s over, Logan. Let me up.”

He stilled. That tense, eerie stillness of his that she always hated. Slowly, he lifted his head so he could look down at her. Bo could feel the weight of his stare and she opened her eyes, only to wish she hadn’t. That hard, intent gaze focused on her face and Bo had to fight the urge not to squirm away. He made her feel like he could see right through her. “You haven’t given me your answer,” he said. His voice was silky soft but no less intimidating for it.

But she wasn’t going to let him push her around. Logan was a bully. She loved him but he was a bully and always had been. Carefully, she reached up and closed her hand around his wrist, tugging on it until he stopped caressing her. “I don’t owe you any answers, Logan. I never have.”

His lids drooped over his eyes, shielding them. A tiny, humorless little smile quirked at his lips and he murmured, “You so sure about that? Not even for what happened four years ago?”

Bo blushed hotly as blood rushed to her face. But she wasn’t going to get into this with him. She wasn’t going to bare her soul, not with Logan. “What about what happened four years ago, Logan? We had sex. That’s all.”

His hand came up, curving over her neck. Bo swallowed and she felt the light pressure of his hand against her throat. His eyes blazed and his face no longer looked so expressionless. But the rage she saw there was just as unsettling as the complete lack of emotion. “Just sex,” he murmured, stroking his thumb up and down her skin. “That’s all.”

He nudged her thighs apart with his knee. He pressed up against her and Bo clenched her jaw to keep from moaning out loud. “And last night? Just sex?” He pressed his lips to her throat, his tongue stroking the skin just above her pulse. “You want me to believe this was just sex too?”

“What else could it be?” she demanded raggedly.

He rocked against her, cuddling close so that the head of his cock caressed her clit. He didn’t answer her. Instead, he said, “I want that answer, Bo. You want to leave here, you answer my question. Do you really love him? Can he make you feel like I do?”

Furious and hurting, Bo shoved at his shoulders. She bucked against him, trying like hell to get away from him. “What is this? Some sick game of one-upmanship? I know you’re competitive, Logan, but this is ridiculous.”

“Competing?” His mouth came crushing down on hers and he pinned her thrashing body to the mattress. His hands came up and caught her wrists, manacling them to the bed. He used his hips to pin her lower body in place as he kissed her. Deep, hard and rough—there was nothing of the tender lover he’d shown her in the middle of the night. Nothing. Once more, that strange, irrational fury seemed to be driving him.

He was furious over something and he damn sure wanted her to know it. “You think this is about some kind of competition?”

He lifted his head and snarled at her. Then he lifted up and shoved away from her. He climbed from the bed and moved to the other side of the room, like he didn’t trust himself to be that close to her.

Her voice shook as Bo said, “I don’t know what to think, Logan. Four years ago, you took me out to dinner—exactly two dates—and then you fucked me blind. Yesterday, you kidnapped me and spent the night doing the same thing all over again. I don’t know why and I don’t know what else you want from me.”

“I fucked you blind four years ago because I love you, damn it!” He shouted it so loudly that it was a wonder the glass didn’t break. He crossed the room and bent over the bed, planting his hands on the mattress by her head and looming over her. “Get it? I love you.”

His voice dropped and he said it again, “I love you.”

Bo felt like the bottom of the world had just opened up beneath her feet. He hadn’t just said that…had he? He was looking at her, staring at her with a weird look in his eyes. He had an expression on his face that was…gentle. Or at least it seemed gentle. Bo didn’t want to trust that look at all. She couldn’t. Tears blurred her vision and she shoved against his chest. “Let me up.”

“Bo…”

Her voice broke as she screamed, “Damn it, let me up!”

Logan’s face went blank and he slowly withdrew. Bo scrambled out from under him and climbed from the bed. With stiff, jerky motions, she grabbed a shirt from the foot of the bed and shoved her arms into it. She groaned as his scent surrounded her. Her hands shook as she tried to button it. Shaking too badly to manage it, she ended up just overlapping the edges and crossing her arms over her chest to keep it closed.

“Bo? Look at me.” She jumped as Logan moved closer and when her eyes met his, she had that deer-in-the-headlights look.

He reached for her and she backed away so fast, she tripped over her feet. Logan tried to catch her but she smacked at his hands. She stumbled away a little bit and said, “This is insane.”

“No.” He kept his voice soft as he closed the distance between them. “This is the sanest thing I’ve done in quite a while. I love you.”

She flinched a little and hugged herself even tighter when he reached out for her. But oddly enough, that made him feel a little bit better. He knew Bo—better than she knew herself. He knew that look in her eyes. He’d seen it before.

She was scared. Bo didn’t handle scared very well.

Had she looked like that when she’d run away from him four years ago? He captured her face in his hands and used his thumbs to arch her face upward. Still her eyes wouldn’t meet his. Nervous too. “Why did you run away, Bo?”

“I didn’t run.” Finally her eyes met his and her chin went up stubbornly. “I had an assignment.”

“Yeah, good excuse. And was part the assignment refusing to take my calls? Refusing to call me back? Hanging up on me? Was that part of your assignment too?” Logan asked. “What about coming back home and hooking up with my cousin? Was that an assignment?”

He wasn’t mad, though. It was the first time he hadn’t gotten mad when he thought about her with David. “No answer for me, Bo?” He rubbed a thumb over her lower lip. She jerked back and ended up hitting the wall. Logan followed her, pinning her there.

Her face was hotly flushed and her eyes glittered up at him. “What do you want me to say? Fine. I ran away from you. So what?”

“I already know you ran,” he muttered. He dipped his head and licked her lips, tracing the outline of them with his tongue. “I’ve known that since it happened. Now I want you to tell me why. Although I think I already know.”

If she could have melted into the wall, she would have done so, Logan mused. She had already pressed herself hard and flat up against it, holding herself completely rigid. He didn’t have to ask anything else—he knew.

Bo didn’t handle deep emotions well. They scared the hell out of her. She had closed herself off when she’d lost her mother and even though she might let people matter to her, she still kept them at a careful distance.
That
was why she was marrying David. She wouldn’t have to worry about completely falling in love with him.

That was why she’d run from him—she didn’t want to let Logan in. She loved him just as much as he loved her. Knowing how badly she handled any kind of serious commitment, he knew love terrified her. “You want to know why I think you ran?” he murmured against her ear. “I’ll tell you.”

Bo simply closed her eyes and dropped her head. Logan laughed and slid his arms around her waist. He nuzzled her neck and said, “I’m starting to figure it out but why don’t you tell me?”

She muttered softly, “This whole mess is insane, Logan, you know that?”

“Answer me, Bo. Tell me why you ran.”

Bo lifted her head a little and glared at him from under her lashes. He kissed her nose and continued trying to cajole it out of her.

Logan didn’t do playful much and it was a good thing. That charming smile, his whispered demands were just a little too endearing. She was trying to remember what he’d done—kidnapped her, hauled her off to some cabin by a lake—and she still wasn’t sure she completely understood the reasons.

Liar
. She remembered the look in his eyes when she had put her ring on. Fury. Possession. Jealousy. Yeah, possessiveness was definitely one of the reasons he’d done this but not because of some weird competition thing. He really did love her. Suddenly, her throat went tight and she had to struggle to get air in.

Love
.
The real thing
.
It was something Bo had avoided most of her life, even if she didn’t like to admit it. His hand pressed against her cheek and he eased her face back up to his. “Look at me, Bo. Don’t be afraid.”

Afraid? She wheezed out a harsh breath of air and blinked, trying to focus on his face.
Afraid
didn’t really cover it. Terrified did. Yeah, terrified was good.

“You and me, we can do this. Hell, we’ve been handling it most of our lives. Doing it together can’t be any harder than doing it apart.”

His lips touched hers and she mumbled against his mouth, “Wanna bet?”

Logan laughed. His other arm wrapped around her waist and he pulled her tight against him. He’d managed to slip his hand inside her shirt so his arm was pressed against her naked back and her breasts were crushed against his chest. “Yeah, why not? I’ve been going without you for years, Bo, and it’s hell. I don’t want to do it anymore.” He bit her earlobe gently and then muttered, “Come on, Bo. Tell me.”

She turned her head and murmured into his ear, so softly, so quietly, she wasn’t sure he could even hear her. But by the look on his face when he looked down at her, he’d heard her.

He bent his head and whispered against her lips, “That will work for now. But sooner or later, I’m going to make you scream it.”

Epilogue

“Ouch.”

David looked up from the ring in his hand to find Dusty staring at him from the doorway. Outside, he could hear a car door slam. From the window, he could see the drive and he couldn’t resist moving to watch as Logan held the door open for Bo.

His right hand was throbbing and his knuckles looked a little swollen. That pain was nothing to what he felt inside though, as he watched Logan drive away with Bo at his side. As much as it hurt, David couldn’t say he was too surprised.

“You eavesdrop too much,” he said tiredly to his cousin as Dusty walked into the room and joined David at the window.

Dusty just shrugged. “Bad habit.” They watched until neither of them could see the car anymore. Dusty was the first to move. He turned and braced his back against the wall next to the window, staring at David with sympathetic eyes.

“Neither of them wanted to hurt you,” Dusty said softly. “Logan’s always loved her, though.”

David cocked a brow. “So have I.”

“But she doesn’t love you. Not like she loves him.” He glanced back out the window and sighed, a deep, hard sigh that made his shoulders rise and fall. “Got to admit, though, you’re handling it better than I would have. I would have done more than punch him.”

Flexing his fingers, David, “He’s still got a jaw like a rock.”

“Goes well with his head.” Dusty pushed off the wall and shifted back and forth on his feet. “You okay with this?”

Now David laughed. “Okay?” he repeated. He smiled bitterly and shook his head. “No. I’m not okay. But what can I do?” Now his smile turned sad. He went back to contemplating the ring in his hand. “Like you said, she doesn’t love me. And I guess I always knew that. Doesn’t mean I’m okay with it. Or that I have to like it.”

“This love crap totally bites, if you ask me,” Dusty said.

David just smiled. “I’ll drink to that.”

Suddenly Dusty grinned. “Hey, why don’t we do just that? Logan’s got a bottle of scotch stashed away that he’s been saving. Why don’t we drink to the happy couple?”

David started to say no. Then he stopped and thought about what he’d just lost to Logan. The least Logan owed him was a good stiff drink. He tucked the ring away in his pocket and said, “Yeah, let’s do that.”

About the Author

They always say to tell a little about yourself! I was born in Kentucky and have been reading avidly since I was six. At twelve, I discovered how much fun it was to write when I took a book that didn’t end the way it should have ended, and I rewrote it. I’ve been writing since then.