“It will. It’s a die-hard tradition to get wet, but my part’s done. We can hang out at home if you’re okay with that. I want to spend some time with my parents, and we can leave for the city in the afternoon?”
“Yeah, that’s fine.” Then I asked the one thing that had been troubling me. “What’s wrong with your mom?” At my question, the hand stroking my chest stilled. I grasped her fingers, squeezing gently. “Logan?”
“She’s sick.” She got off me. Wrapping her arms around her waist, she walked to the edge of the patio and stared into the mist-drenched garden. I waited. When she faced me, there was so much pain in those liquid gold eyes, it made me want to go over and hold her close. Protect her from this hurt.
“Mom was diagnosed in her twenties with type one diabetes and high blood pressure. There were ups and downs through the years, but with medication, she persevered.
“Four years ago, she suffered a severe stroke, and it affected her left side badly. It took time and therapy to be able to s-speak again…” Her voice trembled. “Then two years later, she had another. She was walking down the stairs when it happened. She fell… she broke her left hip and wrist. It was so bad, we thought we’d lose her. The surgery was long. Painful. It’s taking her time to recover…”
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.
Logan was worried, I saw it in everything she did—in fact, in everything her family did when it came to Mrs. L. Was it the money that prevented them from getting a caregiver? Because I knew Mr. L worked from home to be close to her.
“What does your father do?”
“He’s a tax consultant.”
Instinctively, knowing money would be a touchy subject, I braced my arms on my knees and broached it carefully. “A caregiver would be helpful.”
“My dad takes care of her.”
“Logan, this is me, talk to me. Is it the money?”
She cast me an unreadable look. “Don’t worry about it. We’re fine.” Cool. Firm.
Irritation surged. I jerked to my feet and crossed to her. “Don’t tell me not to worry about you—”
“There you guys are!” Ray stumbled over, half asleep, almost tripping over her own two feet. She dropped onto the swing and snuggled under the throw Logan had tossed aside. Spying the mug, she picked up the Milo and took a long drink.
At the interruption, I had to rein in my frustration, more pissed that Logan appeared relieved at the intrusion.
“C’mon, let’s go get some breakfast.” She headed for the door. “This weather looks like it’s going to worsen with those heavy clouds.”
Ray flung the throw aside and hightailed it after Logan, empty mug in hand.
The sisters disappeared indoors. The knot in my gut grew. Though she’d explained about her mother’s illness, there was more. Things she didn’t want to tell me.
My thoughts as dark as the clouds above, I followed them indoors.
After breakfast, and with the rain coming down steadily, Ray decided to skip the fair, too, and got another friend to take her place. Both girls curled up on the couch beside their mother. I took the two-seater.
Being around the Logans, my irritation faded somewhat. Ray, as usual, was the loudest, telling everybody about the famous model Logan was painting and how full of himself he was. At the realization that Logan would see the asshole naked again, my mood took a nosedive.
It’s her job I tried to tell myself, but that shit didn’t cut it. At all.
“Let’s watch movies,” Ray piped up.
Their father snorted from behind the Sunday paper. Maybe I should have paid attention to Mr. L’s grunt because Logan suddenly shot up and darted for the DVD player. Ray groaned. “Aw, crap! Ila, please, not those boring ones. Put on Tangled, let Max see his namesake.”
Did Ray not know me at all?
“My choice,” Logan smiled evilly at Ray, putting in a DVD. “I got here first. And Max is hardly the Disney type. His tastes probably run to blowing up houses and high-speed car chases.”
At her teasing, the disquiet inside me eased. I arched an eyebrow. “That’s sexist.”
“Is it? Great! Then we’re watching Casablanca!”
Shit. She got me there. With a smile, I dipped my head in acknowledgement.
Laughing, she turned away. I wondered if her parents would mind very much if I stole their oldest daughter away and kissed her senseless. Last night? It left me reeling at how beautifully she’d let me in, let me love her my way. But it also bothered me that she didn’t trust me enough to share everything, would keep her family life separate from me.
Baby steps, Max. Hell, I may have told Logan about the accident because I didn’t remember anything there. Truth was, I’d barely disclosed any of my shit, and wondered if I ever would, especially the sessions with my shrink, even if that had ended a long time ago. I couldn’t bear to see the revulsion on her face at what I’d done to keep the nightmares at bay.
“Never get in between these two,” Sean Logan’s voice hauled me back out of the hole I was close to falling into. “Especially when it comes to movie selections.”
Logan crossed back to her seat, but Ray dropped lengthwise on the couch in a pout, her head on her mother’s lap, and stuck out her tongue in victory. At the childish display, Logan shrugged and sat beside me, making me wish the couch wasn’t adjacent to her parents.
What the hell, they already knew about us, so I didn’t see the point in pretending any longer.
I slipped my arm around her shoulder and drew her closer. Both her parents cast us contemplative stares. Logan gave them a small smile, curled her feet beneath her and settled against me to watch the movie.
An hour into the film, I stroked her arm and said, “The acting’s not so great is it?”
She ignored my comment, lips pressed into a thin line. But I was determined to get a reaction from her. “Whoa. The guy just got hit, and he takes a few minutes to fall?”
Her father laughed.
Logan’s gaze whipped around to me. Glared. “Are you going to criticize every scene? Then you might as well go do something else. I like old movies.”
A smile tipped my mouth at the fire in her eyes. Now that I’d tasted her passion, I wanted more—I wanted everything that was her, but I knew better than to say that. “O-kaaay. No more comments. Movie it is.”
My cell vibrated. I retrieved it from my jeans pocket. At the truncated message, I bit back a curse.
“What is it?” Logan asked.
“Jack.” I pushed to my feet. “Excuse me,” I told her parents. “I have a friend waiting outside to see me.”
“Oh, do invite him in, Max,” Mrs. L said with a warm smile.
“Of course. Though I can’t promise he will.” Because I was going to kill him. I didn’t need a damn babysitter.
I strode outside to the black Porsche idling there. Jack slid the window down, not caring that the heavy drizzle was wetting his precious leather interior. I slapped a hand on the roof. “You’d better have a damn good reason for being here.”
Jack grinned. “I missed my best bud, so here I am.”
“I gave you the address in case of emergencies. Missing me hardly constitutes one.”
He pouted. “You don’t call, don’t write anymore—”
“What am I? A sixteen-year-old school girl, doodling your name all over my diary?”
He perked up. “You keep a dairy—”
“Dammit, Jack!” I glared.
He smirked. His red-rimmed gaze shifted past me to the doorway where I was sure Logan hovered. “Hey, that’s the chick from the club—Ray’s sister, right? How about setting us up?”
“Jack,” I snapped, seconds from punching my best friend.
He eyed me thoughtfully for a second. Grinned. “Rrright. Ain’t gonna steal your chick, man, if that’s what you’re worried about. Knew there was a woman involved somewhere in this with you being AWOL. Though I can’t understand why you’re going territorial over this one when you never gav
e a shit before if we shared, except warning us off Ray…”
Christ! I scrubbed a palm over my damp face. Jack in this mood wasn’t a good thing.
My friend’s bleary gaze darted forward again, his sardonic expression morphing into frustration, his fingers tapping restlessly on the steering wheel. “I thought we could go catch some waves”—his gaze flickered back to the house—“but you’re busy.”
“What’s going on?”
Another long silence. Then Jack turned fully, and I saw the purple contusion around his right eye and jaw. His bruised knuckles. “What the hell happened?”
A shrug.
“Shit! You hit Lawson?”
“Yeah. Bastard had it coming. Now Marie’s mad at me. Fucker threatened to get a restraining order slapped on me. So, yeah, that’s my amazing weekend. How was yours? No, don’t answer that, at least one of us is having a better time. Let’s go get a drink.”
I was used to Jack’s family drama and his loathing for his brother-in-law, but that he’d hit the bastard increased my concern for him. “Dammit, Jack, lay off the booze. With Lawson after you, you need to be sober and deal with this before shit hits you.”
“I’m not drunk…well, not enough, but I soon will be. And I can handle dickhead Lawson, the love of my sister’s screwed up life.”
Hell, shit! “Move over, I’m driving. Right now, I’m finding you a place to sober up.”
“You’re like a bloody girlfriend. Don’t have one of those for that very damn reason,” he grumbled. “I’m fine, just a little fucked up in the head from going home. See ya, bro.” He revved the engine, then gunned the Porsche out of there. The tires squealing, he came to a screeching halt at the T-junction, nearly taking out the front of a SUV turning onto the street.
Logan appeared beside me with an umbrella. “You’re wet.”
I glanced at my damp tee and jeans. “It’ll dry.”
Then I looked at her, and my heart squeezed, so damn grateful I had her in my life because I sure didn’t want to go back to living in that emptiness I saw in my friend’s eyes. One I was closely acquainted with. It sucked big time. If anyone had told me back then that I’d meet a girl who would fill my life and ease the bleakness inside me, I’d have told them to fuck off.
“C’mon.” She grabbed my hand and we ran back to the porch. She dropped the dripping umbrella to the floor, then looked me over and smiled. “Guess the umbrella didn’t help, huh? I’ll go get a towel.”
I didn’t care about that. I desperately wanted her mouth on mine before we went back inside.
The sound of a vehicle pulling in the driveway had me cursing. Dammit, Jack. Now what?
I pivoted and frowned at the silver Lexus parked behind my Jeep. Not Jack. When Logan stiffened against me, I realized exactly who it was, and more, I understood why he’d come.
My jaw clamped, I drew her close and stroked her arm as we waited.
Logan’s ex got out, looking like he was off to a photo shoot, sporting gray dress pants and a black button-down.
He sprinted to the porch. Grimacing, he swiped the rain from his hair, as if a little water would scar him. “Ila, thank God you’re still here. Please, I need to talk to you.”
Her mouth tightened, and relief filled me. Good. She’d tell this asshole to get lost.
After a moment, she turned to me. “Max, can I have a minute, please?”
In disbelief, I stared at her, and at the pleading look in her eyes, anger corroded my stomach like a vat of acid exploding. Without a word, I stalked inside, shutting the door behind me, fighting not to slam it.
Back in the living room, I didn’t sit, too edgy and too damn furious to remain still.
“Where’s Ila?” her father asked.
“Outside,” I had to push the word through gritted teeth.
Ray jumped up from the couch and peered through the window. “That’s Devyn’s car—oh, crap!”
Mrs. L got up in distress. “My poor La.”
Sean Logan rose, too, his expression hard, his eyes darkening like a thunderstorm. “Sit down, love,” he patted his wife’s arm, “I’ll deal with this. He dares to shows his face here after what he did? I will kill him.”
“No, sir, that’s my prerogative,” I told him, feeling like a buzzing detonator. “Logan’s mine. And he has two minutes.”
Ila
A chill settling inside me, I rubbed the goosebumps from my arms. Max was mad at me. But I needed closure. It had been two years—two years since I stood in the study doorway of Devyn’s house and prayed that it was all a nightmare.
I leaned against the balustrade of the porch and waited.
Two years older than me, Devyn still had that boyish look about him. He drew closer, stopping a few feet from me, shoved nervous fingers through his inky hair, disheveling the neat look he preferred. Then he slid his hands into his pockets and locked his pleading gaze on mine. “I’m sorry. Ila, I’m sorry about what happened. About everything.”
The remnants of anger that still burned inside me had the words tumbling out. “You’re sorry?”
“Ila, please—”
“You not only cheated on me, but you did it with my cousin, despite knowing how much she dislikes me and my family. God, I was so naïve.”
His nostril flared, his expression tightening. “It was a mistake, Ila, one I bitterly regret. You canceled dates, ignored me when I needed you—”
“My mother was ill—she had a stroke! We thought we’d lose her,” I cried as old hurt and betrayal seeped through me. “You couldn’t give me that much? Where was your compassion, Devyn? You, who supposedly loved me.”
“I still do.”
I shook my head. “It’s too late.”
“No! You loved me once, you will again. I’ll do anything...” He reached out a hand in a pleading manner. I stepped back. “Please, Ila, give us another chance, don’t throw away all those years we had together because of one little mistake.”
“A mistake? Did your dick just slip out of your pants and into Simi?”
A dull red stain crept over his bronze skin. “Ila, please, I waited two years, gave you time.”
Tired of all this and knowing the closure I’d always wanted had occurred the moment Max had stepped into my life, and that it truly was over, I said quietly, “I didn’t throw us away, you did. Goodbye, Devyn.”
“No—” He grasped my wrist when I turned to leave. “You need time, I’ll give you more. I tried to talk to you then, Ila, but your father refused to let me near the house or you. Later, I found out you were gone—”
“You hurt me, Devyn.” I pulled free. “What you did broke me, crushed my heart so badly. There is no coming back from that. We are over.”
His face paled as if he was sick. “I’m not giving up. I guess it’s only fair you have your moment with him,” he spat out, as if Max was something vile. “When you’re done, I’ll be here, waiting.”
“You’ll be wasting your time.” That he would actually consider letting me sleep with another…I shook my head and turned away.
He grabbed my arm again, fingers biting into my flesh, and yanked me back.
“Dammit, Devyn—”
“You’re still mine,” he snapped. His mouth crashed down on mine in a hard kiss. Shocked at the sudden assault, it took me a moment to react. Tearing my mouth free, furious, I slammed my hands on his chest. “Don’t you ever touch me. I’m not yours—”
“Let her go.”
At that dangerously cold voice, I spun around, my heart in my throat.
Oh, no! If Max saw Devyn kiss me—
Max was tough. Dangerous. A fighter. Devyn, not so much. The only thing he probably ever fought for was parking space, and even that was doubtful. “Max, it’s okay. We—”
Whatever else I would have said dried up at the icy fury in his green eyes. He pinned those razors-like eyes on Devyn. “Don’t ever put your fucking hands on her again.”
“You think she’s yours?” Devyn sneered. �
�She will never be. She was mine first!”
Max didn’t react to the provocation, but a tick beat furiously in his jaw, the tendons in his neck taut like steel cables. No matter his cold facade, Max’s control was barely leashed. Devyn had no idea Max could smash him to pulp.
“Devyn, go,” I said warily. This beautiful Sunday morning with my family was turning into a complete disaster. “There’s nothing more to be said.”
“No!” He stepped toward me. Max blocked him.
Devyn’s face darkened. “Do you really think this boy,” he sneered the word, “can give you what you want? I don’t care if they own half of San Francisco. He’s never going to give you the perfect life you’re waiting for. He’ll use you then throw you aside and move on to another. You’ll just end up his whore, like all his others—”
Max’s fist smashed into Devyn’s face, sending him flying over the rails and sprawling on the wet grass. Max leaped over the balustrade and grabbed him.
“Max—no!” I ran down the steps, but my father was there, he caught Max’s arm and shook his head. I’d never seen Max this angry.
My father turned to Devyn, who rose and gingerly swiped the blood seeping from his split lip. “Get off my property, and stay the hell away from my daughter!” His tone could have cut steel. “You should have thought of the consequences of your actions. Now live with it. Come on, sweetheart.” Dad put his arm around my shoulders and steered me indoors.
But I wanted Max to hold me, to tell me that what Devyn said was a bunch of lies. Illogical it may be, after all, I’d set the rules for our relationship, and Max had simply obliged.
I glanced back at him, but he was staring at Devyn’s fast receding vehicle, his expression cast in granite. Trying to breathe through the ache in my chest, I walked inside.
Mom looked me over, her eyes dark with anxiety. “I’m fine,” I hastily reassured her.
Max walked into the living room. There was no softening of his hard features.
“Damn idiot,” Dad muttered.
“It’s okay, Dad.”
“No. As your father, I should have broken his damn legs, or at least held him down so you could hurt him.”
Breathless (Players to Men) Page 19