by LuAnn McLane
He was silent for a moment longer, and Bella’s stupid heart beat faster. A big part of her wanted him to say that there was no way he could keep his hands off her, and if any other guy even thought of looking at her, he would punch him in the face. Silly, she thought with a mental shake of her head. She barely knew Logan, so her attraction to him could only be physical at this point. Madison’s whole gut thing was pure bologna.
Logan still didn’t answer until he pulled into the parking lot. After killing the engine, he finally turned her way. “Look, I made a promise to myself and to Ty that I’d look out for you like a big brother.”
“And I told you I don’t need you to do that.” Big brother? Ugh!
“Maybe, but all the same, I probably won’t be able to stop myself. But I’ll try.”
“Good. We’re on the same page,” she said, but didn’t really mean it. “Okay, let’s go on in.”
“Wait.” Logan reached over and put a hand on her arm. “I have only one request.”
“What?” she asked breezily, and tried her damnedest not to be affected by his warm hand on her arm.
Logan cleared his throat and hesitated for a second.
“Logan?”
“Before we start this whole big-brother, platonic thing, I’d like just one kiss.”
“What?” Bella asked in a pitch just short of a shout. “Are you kidding me?” she added in a much lower but no less exasperated tone.
He shrugged slightly. “To get it out of my system, so I don’t walk around wondering for the rest of my life.”
“To get me out of your system?” She angled her head and cocked one eyebrow. “Really . . . and then just dismiss me.” She snapped her fingers. “Just like that.”
“Okay, maybe that didn’t come out just right.”
“No, I think it came out just the way you wanted it to.” Bella felt anger wash over her. Men are dogs. . . . Oh yeah, right—cockroaches. Why did she keep forgetting that?
Logan gave her a sheepish look, as if he knew what she was thinking. “Bella, forget that I asked.”
“Oh no, you don’t.”
“What?”
“Let’s get out of the truck so we can do this right.”
“No . . . really. I’ve just been thinking about it and—”
“Well, you won’t have to wonder any longer.” Bella reached for the door handle and got out of the truck. She put her purse down on the ground and stood there fuming. Well, if Logan Lannigan thought this kiss was going to be a little ole peck, he was so wrong that he’d soon forget he was oh, so wrong. Get me out of his system? Ha! Bella was hell-bent on giving him a kiss that would haunt him for a lifetime!
“Get on over here, cowboy!”
As soon as he reached her side, Bella fisted her hands in his shirt and yanked him forward. He landed against her with a solid thump that knocked her backward against the truck. The door handle bit into her back, but Bella barely felt it.
“Bella, listen!”
“Shut up!” She pulled his head down and pressed her lips to his. Her kiss was born of anger, but what started off hard and punishing quickly melted like butter on a hot griddle. And, God, the man could kiss. His lips were firm but pliant and his mouth was oh, so warm. He tasted slightly of mint, and the spicy scent of his aftershave filled her head. When his tongue tangled with hers, a hot jolt of desire uncoiled in her stomach and spread like wildfire. Bella clung to his shoulders and pressed her body closer. She tilted her head and deepened the kiss, and when she nipped his bottom lip with a love bite, she noted with satisfaction that Logan moaned. Oh, wait. That moan came from her own throat. Damn . . .
Bella moved her hands from Logan’s shoulders to his chest so that she could give him her planned, quick, dismissive shove and then march away in a huff. But when he threaded his long fingers through her hair, she became lost in the kiss.
Her plan had totally backfired.
But never in a million years would Bella let Logan know it. She finally mustered up the will to end the delicious kiss, but did it by slowly licking her tongue across his bottom lip and then pulling back to look up at him. “So, am I out of your system?” she asked in what was supposed to be a harsh tone but came out soft and husky.
“Not even close,” Logan responded, and gently traced his fingertip over her bottom lip.
Bella wanted to suck his finger into her mouth, but she smacked his hand away. “I guess it sucks to be you,” Bella said, but it was difficult to be snarky with a hot shiver running down her spine. Hotshot Logan was the kind of guy she should run like hell from, and so she clung to her anger like a lifeline.
“Yeah, it does,” Logan admitted with a slight grin, but there was an edge of sadness in his eyes that offset his teasing tone. He opened his mouth as if to say more, but then cleared his throat and remained silent.
Bella was thrown by his reaction, but when she felt herself soften, she sternly reminded herself that he wanted to kiss her and then dismiss her! Purge her from his system or whatever! She swallowed a squeal of pure frustration. When would she ever learn? David could suck her in like Coke through a straw, and she was already repeating the same mistake.
“If it makes you happy, you damned well proved your point.”
“Well, sorry about your luck.” Bella somehow managed to push him away even though she wanted to yank him back for a repeat performance. With a little lift of her chin, she picked up her purse and turned on her heel. She dearly wanted to stomp away, but it was damned difficult when her legs felt weak and rubbery. And of course stomping away was moot, since they were headed for the same condo. Wow, can my life be any more screwed up? “Well you’re sure out of my system. No, wait. You were never in my system!” Bella punched the elevator button with her thumb so hard that it hurt, and she gave a little yelp of pain.
“You okay?”
“I think I just broke my thumb, but other than that, I’m just fine and dandy.” Of course, she was far from fine, and she wasn’t quite sure what dandy meant. The events of the past week were catching up to her, and she was dangerously close to crying.
They stepped onto the elevator and the doors closed with a whoosh. Bella wished for piped-in music, but there was only silence. What was it about elevators that felt so doggone intimate?
“Let me see it,” Logan requested.
“See what?” She refused to look at him and kept her gaze on the climbing numbers.
“Your thumb.”
“I’ll live,” Bella responded, even though her thumb was really throbbing.
“Come on. I’ve hurt my hands a million times over the years. Let me see if it’s jammed or sprained but not broken. But if it’s stoved, I’ll need to pull it out of the socket.”
“No!” She widened her eyes and cradled her hand protectively away from him. Luckily, the elevator doors opened and she rushed out into the hallway. Although she was tough in so many big-city ways and could hold her own against anybody, when it came to blood or bodily injury, she was a complete and total wimp. “I told you, I’m fine,” she said, but the quaver in her voice totally betrayed her. To add insult to injury, when she tried to twist the key in the lock, pain shot up her arm and the key fell to the hardwood floor with a soft clink. “Oh, damn!”
“Bella, let me do it,” Logan offered in a gentle voice, and stood there, all blond, blue-eyed, and caring. He almost made her forget why she was pissed at him. Right. Because he’s a guy or something.
“Okay,” she said in a small voice, and stepped aside. “But once we’re inside, you’re not coming anywhere near me or my hand. Got that, buster?”
15
Terms of Endearment
“Buster?” Logan straightened up from picking up the key and her purse and gave Bella an amused look. “Really?”
“Pain is shooting from my thumb and short-circuiting my brain. Give me a break . . . buster.”
Logan’s smile faded and he stepped back for her to enter, and then walked in and flicked on a light. �
�Does it really hurt that much?” As an athlete, Logan was no stranger to injury, especially his damned elbow, and he was used to sucking it up. But he couldn’t stand the thought of Bella hurting. She stood there so tiny and so gorgeous, and he wanted to pick her up and carry her, for some insane reason.
She shrugged her slim shoulders but cradled her hand, and it bothered him. “Look, I am, admittedly, a complete wimp when it comes to pain.” She rolled her eyes. “I’ll live,” she insisted, but swallowed hard. “I’m acting like a damned drama queen. My poor mother used to work a full day and then come home and create her jewelry. I used to play up anything remotely painful to get her attention. I’d wail at a simple paper cut or a stubbed toe. Old habits die hard.”
“Well, at least let me make you an ice pack.” Logan sighed as he walked over to the kitchen counter. Luckily, he located a plastic grocery bag. He filled the bottom with ice and tied it shut. “Have a seat,” he said, and he was relieved when she sat down without protest.
“I’m sure it’s nothing. I’m just being a big old baby.”
“Well, let’s see.” He knew her admission was meant to minimize her injury, but damned if he didn’t picture her as a little girl craving the attention of an overworked single mom. Logan’s heart went out to her even though he couldn’t exactly relate. His father was on him like white on rice, wanting to know his every move from what he ate to when he went to bed each night and everything in between. All Logan ever wanted was to escape and play some Nintendo with the other kids in the neighborhood.
And pain? Pain was supposed to be overcome. Logan wished he had a dime for every time he had been told to walk it off, suck it up, and get back in the game. And the irony of it all was that doing just that might have ruined his career and his father’s dream of seeing his son pitching in the major leagues. Instead, here he was in Cricket Creek, Kentucky, tending to a woman he barely knew yet who managed to bring out protective, tender feelings that he didn’t even know he was capable of having. And the even crazier part about it was that he was beginning to like it way too much.
Logan sat down and scooted his chair around to face Bella. “May I take a look?”
“You promise not to yank on it or anything?”
“I promise.”
“Really?” She looked at him with wary brown eyes.
“Your opinion of me might not be high, but my word is always good.”
She gave him a jerky nod. “Okay.”
“Thank you. . . . I think.” Logan gently picked her hand up and placed it in his palm. The base of her thumb did appear slightly swollen. “Can you move it?”
She tucked her bottom lip between her teeth and oh, so slightly wiggled her thumb. “Ouch!”
“Hurt?”
She nodded, causing a lock of her sexy-as-hell hair to fall across her face. “A little.”
“I’m sorry that I pissed you off, Bella. This was my fault.” Without thinking, Logan reached over and tucked the silky softness behind her ear. His knuckles brushed against her cheek, and damned if he didn’t long to lean over and kiss her.
“I overreacted. Like I said, I’m in a dark and twisty place where men are concerned. David was cheating right under my nose, and your dismissive comment sent me over the edge. I guess I’m feeling pretty low right now.”
“Don’t let that ass clown do that to you.”
Bella pressed her lips together and nodded. “I know. I just can’t get past it.”
“Bella, you seem like there’s more fire in you than that.”
“You must think I’m a wimpy little drama queen. I assure you that I’m not.” She gave him small smile. “Well, at least the drama-queen part.”
“I don’t think that at all.” Logan inhaled a deep breath to clear his head, but her subtle floral scent made him want to moan. Her small hand looked so feminine resting in his big palm, and he dearly wanted to bring her injured thumb to his mouth and kiss it. He almost laughed, thinking there wasn’t an inch of her small but luscious body that he didn’t want to explore with his mouth. “Bella, I’m going to look at it a little bit closer, okay?”
She groaned. “I guess so.”
Logan gently examined her thumb, hating it when she winced. “It looks to me like you’ve probably just strained some ligaments. If you ice it down and take an ibuprofen for the inflammation, you should be good to go.” He draped the bag over her hand. “It might be sore for a couple of days.”
“Oh, that’s cold!”
“I know, but keep it there.”
Bella glanced up at him. “I guess you’ve had countless injuries like this, only worse, especially your elbow.” She reached over and traced the scar on his forearm. “And you played with pain.”
“I was taught at an early age that it’s part of the game,” he said with a shrug. “No pain, no gain, as my dad used to say.”
“When you were a little kid?” She blinked at him in disbelief.
“Yep.”
“That’s awful! You needed your boo-boos kissed!” she sputtered, and dislodged the ice pack.
Logan laughed and put the ice back.
“I’m serious.”
The compassion in her eyes was genuine, and Logan felt a pull of emotion that he didn’t expect. “I know, but boo-boo sounded funny,” he said, though he was glad to see her feisty nature return. But when she frowned and traced the scar once again, his smile faded. Her gentle touch and sympathy were things he rarely got and always craved.
“What about your mother? Surely she showered you with kisses?”
Logan hesitated. Bella was hitting on sore spots that he never talked about. He shrugged as though it didn’t matter. He had often hidden tears of pain on his pillow when he had wanted his mother rubbing his head and soothing him with tender words. “I knew she wanted to. I could see it in her eyes.”
“Wanted to? But you were her little boy . . .”
“Standing up to my father caused huge arguments, and so after a while she stopped trying.” He shrugged again. “I guess it made me tough.”
“I hope that Ty doesn’t let you pitch until you’re healed,” she said.
“He won’t.”
“As long as you’re honest about the pain,” she said, and then looked up from his arm. “Promise me you will be.”
“I’ve learned from my mistakes—believe me,” Logan answered, and then sighed.
“Me too,” Bella said with a sad smile. “Hey, I’m sorry about the kiss of anger.”
“I asked for it, remember?”
“Yeah, you did,” she accused, but it lacked her earlier heat. “Jerk,” she added, but it was said softly, and damned if she didn’t look at his mouth as if wanting to kiss him again.
“Guilty,” he said gruffly, and put the ice back when she moved it. “Look, Bella. We’re both putting our lives back on track. This is a kick-ass condo that neither of us can afford on our own, and if we stay out of each other’s way, we can make this arrangement work. I promise not to get out of line again. But I will be looking out for you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
“But I’ll keep my hands to myself.”
“Thanks. I think I’m okay to go to bed now,” she said with a soft smile.
“Sleep well,” he said in what he hoped was a matter-of-fact tone. He watched her walk out of the room and then sighed. Keeping his hands off Bella was going to be damned difficult, but guarding his heart was going to be even harder.
16
Forever Young
“You make me feel like I’m eighteen again, Jessica. I swear I could make love to you all night long.” Ty eased her back against the mound of pillows and began nuzzling her neck.
“Mmm,” Jessica groaned, and slid her hands up his bare back and then down to cup his ass. “Don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t,” he assured her with a low chuckle. He loved her boldness and hoped it was a sign that she was feeling more comfortable
with him and continuing to let down her guard.
“And thank you for the wonderful back rub. You turned my tense muscles into warm jelly. I don’t think I’ve ever been so relaxed in all my born days.”
“Hmm. I was just at your fortieth birthday party. That’s a lot of born days ago,” he teased.
“Oh, well. You’re no spring chicken either, Mr. Triple Threat.”
“I know, but I wasn’t kidding. I don’t feel like it when I’m with you,” he said, and meant it. “You’ve put the zing back in my step.”
Jessica blushed and covered her face with her hands.
“Hey,” he said, and gently pried her fingers from her cheeks. “There’s no need to be embarrassed.” Ty leaned back on one elbow and cupped her chin. “You work hard and deserve to be pampered. And I love doing it. All you have to do is ask.”
“Now, that’s an offer I can’t refuse,” Jessica said with a wide smile that lit up the room.
“Oh, baby. Damn, I just want . . .” Ty began, and then paused to shake his head. “Wow,” he said, and gave her a lopsided grin.
“Wow . . . what?”
“Noah said something to me at your birthday party,” he began again, but then had to get his emotions under control before going on.
“What did he say, Ty?” she gently prodded.
His grin faded and he gazed at her with serious eyes. “Noah said that it made him happy to make Olivia smile. I flippantly told him that he was whipped.” Ty shook his head and rubbed the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. “Ah, but I absolutely get it now,” he said softly, and then swallowed hard. “Jessica, I’d do anything to keep that smile on your face.”
“Oh, Ty.” She reached up and held his cheek in the palm of her hand. “My God . . .” She closed her eyes and pressed her lips together, but emotion that she was always so good at controlling escaped, allowing two fat tears to leak out of the corners of her eyes.
“I think you missed my point. I said, smile . . .”
“I’m sorry. I seem to be overcome lately. I don’t really understand it myself. How’s this?” She complied with a trembling lift of the corners of her mouth that simply tore him up. “Better?” she asked, and when she opened those amber eyes, he was lost.