She turned her head aside. “I can’t do this, Logan.”
He froze, his face going hot. How could he be so stupid? The passion he’d felt in their earlier kiss had only been an act.
“I’m sorry.” A band tightened around his chest. “I forgot you were just pretending to like me. I let myself start hoping.”
“Logan, that’s not—”
“Forget it! I’ll be fine.”
“Logan, wait—”
“It’s not your fault I’m so awkward.” Humiliated, he tried to stand up, but fingers gripped his elbow and tugged him back.
Her voice trembled. “Logan, I’ll show you how I feel…”
A hand snaked around his neck, and the next thing he knew, his face was wrenched toward Ellery’s. Her lips pressed against his. Hungry. Passionate. He wondered at her intent, but only for a moment. Then all rational thought left his mind. His arms wrapped behind her back, crushing her against him as if he could keep her there forever.
Her heart thumped against his. She couldn’t fake this, could she? It had to be real.
She tore her lips away and dropped her face into her hands. He heard a soft sob.
“Shhh!” Confused, he tugged her against his chest, smoothing his hand up and down her back. “Why are you crying?”
“I can’t handle getting hurt again.” Her hands muffled her voice.
“I can’t promise I won’t screw things up.” He peeled her hands away and replaced them with his. “I know I’m awkward. I’ll probably say the wrong thing. Do the wrong thing. But I’ll try my best, and you can help me. Can’t you take a chance with me?”
He waited, mentally crossing his fingers as he tried to read the thoughts behind her closed lids, leaking tears.
“I’m willing to try it.” She looked up through a fringe of dark wet lashes. So strong, yet so fragile. “But there have to be limits.”
“I agree to any and all conditions.” He grinned as he bent to nuzzle the soft spot under her jaw where her blood was pulsing like mad and trailed his lips across to her delectable mouth. When their lips met again, it was as if she were oxygen to his suffocating lungs, breathing air for the first time in five years. His hands tangled in her hair. He drank in her passion, like liquid fire in his veins.
“Logan…”
“Yes?” He pressed a kiss to each of her eyelids.
“You don’t understand what the conditions are yet.” Her hand came up between them and pushed against his chest.
With an audible groan to express his frustration, he sat back and folded his arms. “Go ahead. Hit me with your conditions.”
A lovely bit of color glowed in her face.
“The first condition is we can’t do this anymore.”
His chest contracted. “No kissing?”
“I’m not saying we can’t kiss at all, but…” Her gaze went to her hands, twisting in her lap. “You can’t kiss me like that. I need to be clear-headed.”
I think I’d prefer you weren’t.
“No problem,” he said, keeping that thought to himself. “All my future kisses will be so boring you’ll probably fall asleep when our lips touch.”
“Yeah, right.” A smile ghosted across her lips. “And I think we need a time limit, too.”
“Okay, we won’t kiss for more than an hour at a time.” He ought to be able to kiss her senseless in that amount of time.
“I’m not joking, Logan. I have to be careful, or I’ll get hurt again.”
Her eyes darted toward the doorway, and he jerked his head around. Relieved his mother wasn’t standing in the shadows, he turned his attention back to Ellery.
Her puddled eyes looked up and locked with his. For a moment, he glimpsed the pain behind them, and it ricocheted into his chest, his ribs clenching around his lungs. In that moment he knew he’d do whatever it took to protect her, even if it meant giving her up. He prayed that wouldn’t be necessary.
“Why are you so certain I’m going to hurt you?”
“I’m not certain.” Her chin trembled. “But if we set limits and I guard my heart, I won’t have to take that chance.”
“What can I do to make you feel safe?” Moving slowly so as not to startle her, he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
“We just have to stay on the same page.” She straightened her back and cleared her throat. “We both agree this is temporary. We like each other, but we aren’t in love. And when the time comes, we’re going to part as friends.”
The same page? We’re not even in the same book.
“Agreed.” He gave a nod.
Surely I can change her mind. I just have to take my time and choose my words carefully.
CHAPTER 13
