A Second Chance at Crimson Ranch (12 page)

Chapter Ten

I
t didn't take Logan long to catch up to her. Olivia's neighborhood was about a half mile from the center of town. By the time he'd left the bar, snow had started falling. Heavy flakes left a slippery coating on his truck's windshield as well as the roads.

Olivia was wearing boots, but not the kind made to trudge through snow. Hers were black, knee-high heels with dark denim tucked into them. He saw her moving slowly up the hill toward her house. She had on a light wool jacket and he knew the material of the black scoop-neck sweater she wore underneath was soft and thin. All night he'd been trying not to stare at her but he hadn't been able to help wondering if she was indeed wearing that red bra he'd caught a glimpse of earlier.

He pulled to a stop at the curb next to her, but she didn't look over at him. He beeped once, horrified when she whirled to face him and her feet came out from under her. He threw the truck into Park and jumped out, reaching the sidewalk just as she made it to her hands and knees.

“Don't come anywhere near me!” she yelled.

He felt like the biggest jerk on the planet. “Let me help you up.”

“Don't touch me.” Her voice was as sharp as a knife blade.

He watched helplessly as she struggled to her feet in the dim light from a nearby streetlamp. She dusted off her knees and smoothed her hands slowly along the front of her coat.

He saw her wince and took a step forward. “No,” she said, holding up her hand. “I'm fine.”

“At least I can drive you home.”

“How did you tear yourself away from that rousing pool game anyway? I can't believe your barnacle would let you go so easily.”

“My barnacle?”

She gave an irritated wave of her fingers. “The woman who's been stuck to you all night.”

“I don't care about her.”

“You obviously don't care about me, either.”

“That's not—”

“Don't say it.” She stalked toward him, slipping once. She righted herself as she stood in front of him, her eyes bright and spitting fire. “If you changed your mind, all you had to do was tell me, Logan. I wasted a lot of time and energy anticipating this night.” A wry smile crossed her face. “And I've been dealing with the most uncomfortable wedgie in the world for hours.” The smile vanished in an instant. “I'm a big girl. I'm used to rejection. Rejection I can handle.” Her eyes focused on some spot over his shoulder. “But the public humiliation is getting old. I'm done with it.”

“I didn't mean to humiliate you, Olivia. I promise.”

“Right,” she said on a ragged breath. “Dumping me off on your friends while you flirted with every woman in the place except me. That was a new low. Even Craig did his running around behind my back until the end. Everyone except me knew. I may have realized it somewhere deep inside. But at least I got to pretend.”

The pain in her eyes sliced through him. He'd put that pain there, and he cursed himself over and over. “You don't understand.”

“You're right. If you didn't want me, all you had to do—”

He grabbed her by the arms, ignoring her gasp of protest. “I do want you,” he whispered, bending his head to look into her eyes. “I want you so badly it practically brings me to my knees every time I look at you.”

He opened his gaze to her, let her see the intensity of his desire for her.

Her lips parted as her eyes clouded with confusion. “Then why?”

Releasing her, he turned away. “I thought I could ignore my past and it would go away. But today it landed on the doorstep in the form of Jim Thompson. How can I possibly risk tarnishing you with everything I've seen and done?”

“I'm not a fragile decoration, Logan. I can handle more than you think.” She put a soft hand on his arm. “I liked meeting Jim. You obviously mean a lot to him.”

With his back to her, he scrubbed his hands over his face. “He's been in jail, Olivia.” Logan took three long steps away from her and then prowled back, stopping short before he allowed himself to get too close. “That's the sort of person I'm friends with. That's who I bring into your world.”

He ran his hands through his hair, frustrated that she still looked at him with kindness. “I'm not good for you, Olivia. I've done bad things, would have done worse if I'd been given half a chance. I courted trouble and I almost consider myself lucky that damned night happened. It straightened me out when I needed it most. But it also changed me, or maybe Beth's death changed me. I don't know. But I can't be the man you need me to be.”

“How do you know what I need?” There was a spark in her voice he hadn't expected.

He looked at her then, surprised to find her glaring at him, hands on hips. “I only meant—”

“I know what you meant. You think you know me. Everyone does. I'm the one who doesn't make trouble, who deals with whatever mess someone lays at my feet and then asks for more. I'm a doormat, just like my mother. I don't make waves. I smooth the rough edges for everyone else, right?”

He didn't answer but she was halfway to the truth. Olivia wasn't weak, but she'd done more than anyone else to smooth his own rough edges.

“There's more to me than that, Logan. I thought you saw it and that's why I wanted this. I don't want to be coddled or handled or pushed aside when things get messy. I don't need to be protected from you or by you. There's more to you than you think, too. That's why I wanted to be with you.”

She paused and her mouth thinned. “Well, that and because any woman in her right mind and most who aren't would want to be with you. Mainly I want to feel again. To feel something for myself that doesn't have anything to do with my mother or my ex-husband or my responsibilities. I want it to be about
me
.”

She jabbed the tip of one finger into her chest, as if to convince them both. Logan felt his mouth drop open. She looked so beautiful and fiery standing in front of him, snow swirling around her head.

“You know what?” She looked over her shoulder and then back at him. “This night is about me. I'm divorced now. Single for the first time in years. I'm not going to slink home and wallow in some sorrow that I don't really feel. I'm glad to be rid of Craig. I'm better off without him.”

Logan nodded slowly. “You are.”

“Don't patronize me. I'm sick of people handling me with kid gloves. Somebody wants me, even if you don't. There's a guy in that bar who wants me. Someone who isn't too much of a coward to act on it.” A brittle smile flashed across her face. “And I'm going to find him.” She turned on her heel and walked away.

Oh, hell no.

* * *

Olivia made it half a dozen steps, propelled forward by righteous indignation, until her boot heel caught in a crack on the sidewalk. So much for a graceful exit. Her arms flailed as she went down, but before she hit the pavement, strong arms came around her middle. Logan hauled her up against his chest, pinning her tighter as she struggled.

“Don't lower yourself to going after some random hookup,” he growled into her ear.

That's exactly what she wanted, an outlet for the tension and anger that coursed through her veins. “You're not the boss of me,” she said, not caring how juvenile she sounded.

He held her close until she quieted. “You're better than this, Olivia.” His voice was softer now, a gentle whisper against her skin.

She turned in his arms, assuming he'd push her away. His hold on her didn't loosen. She looked up into his face, surrounded by his strength and his smell. The anger she'd felt seconds earlier disappeared so quickly her legs almost gave out. “You are, too,” she answered quietly. “You're a good man, Logan, in spite of the mistakes you've made.”

She saw the pain in his gaze and something more, a tiny splinter of hope, as if he'd been waiting for someone to say these words to him all his life. For the moment she ignored her own hurt and chafed pride and spoke from her heart. “I believe in you. I believe you can make your life whatever you want it to be if you'd only give yourself a chance.”

“All I want is the chance to earn it.”

Her hands trailed slowly up his chest and neck until she cupped his face between her fingers. If he rejected her again now she might die on the spot, but she couldn't stop herself. “Then take it.” She lifted onto her toes to press her lips to his mouth.

For several long seconds he didn't move.
This is it
, she thought.
This is where I test whether a person can actually die of embarrassment
. But when she went to pull back, his hand cradled her head, and he crushed his mouth to hers with a bone-stirring need that took her breath away.

He engulfed her with his heat, his desire. The kiss deepened until she couldn't tell where she began and he finished. He rained kisses along her jaw and neck, making her legs go weak when he traced his tongue over her racing pulse.

A moment later her feet left the ground as he scooped her into his arms.

“I can walk,” she protested even as she snuggled deeper into his warmth.

“The next time you're on your back tonight,” he said, his voice a whisper full of a promise, “is going to be when you're under me.”

He opened the door to his truck and placed her gently on the seat, his finger pushing aside the hem of her sweater and delving down to trace the sliver of lace covering her hip. Her stomach turned to Jell-O at the touch. “You know that you don't have to buy any kind of special panties for me.” His cool fingers traced along her burning skin. “I'd actually prefer if you wore nothing at all.”

She swallowed hard as he closed the door and the truck's interior went dark. Her mind switched to overdrive as he got in and pulled onto the street. It was too bad, she thought, that he couldn't just have taken her there on the sidewalk. These minutes to think about what was coming were doing her nerves no good. She might want adventure but that didn't mean she wasn't scared out of her mind.

“Don't,” he whispered, as if he could read her thoughts. “This is what you want.”

She nodded dumbly, then shivered as her body finally registered the night's crisp chill.

Logan cursed under his breath and fiddled with the controls for the heat, turning the vents her way. They fishtailed slightly as he took a corner too quickly. The streets were empty but still she gripped the passenger door handle like a lifeline, needing to be grounded by something in this moment.

By the time they reached her house, Olivia was shaking in earnest. The melting snow had seeped through her coat and sweater. Her skin felt icy and her teeth chattered. She knew it was as much from nerves as the cold but she couldn't stop her reaction.

She'd only had one boyfriend before Craig and she was a traditionalist at her core. When she'd married, she'd never again expected to have sex with a man other than her husband. Now here she was, single again and about to embark on an encounter with a man who was so different from her ex it was almost comical. She'd felt self-conscious enough with Craig, but what Logan might expect and how she was certain to fail him had her wanting to run.

Suddenly a part of her longed for her usual boring evening with cookies, milk and whatever chick flick she could find on TV. She was a lot less likely to make a fool of herself if she didn't try.

It took her a moment to open the door after Logan parked next to the garage. By the time she swung out her legs, he was waiting. She tried to shoo him away. “I can make it to the house,” she muttered, then all but tripped out of the truck. He gathered her in his arms, taking her back steps two at a time.

“I'm fine,” she said again, the words a little garbled, as her teeth were chattering so hard she could barely make a coherent sound.

“You're a human popsicle.” He opened the door to the kitchen, kicked off his boots without putting her down and headed to the stairs. “Which one is yours?” he asked as he came to the top.

“All the way at the end.” She buried her nose into the skin at the base of his throat.

She felt him twitch. “You really are freezing,” he said on a heavy exhale.

“Y-yes,” was her only answer because she didn't want to embarrass herself any more by trying to speak through her chattering teeth.

He set her on the edge of the bed and stripped off her coat before kneeling in front of her. He reached out and flipped on the small lamp on her nightstand. He sat back and unzipped one of her boots, his movements as quick and efficient as a mother might be when her child returned from playing in the snow. She closed her arms over her chest, moving her hands up and down to get the circulation going again.

“Lean back,” he told her and she did so without thinking only to try to bolt up again as she felt his fingers on the button of her jeans. He placed a hand on her chest, gently pushed her down.

As he tugged her jeans down over her hips, she squeezed her eyes shut, then peeked out of one. Logan was on his feet, staring down at her, his blue eyes dark as his gaze raked over her body.

“I've changed my mind.” His voice was a husky whisper. “The lingerie is worth it.”

Olivia cracked open her other eye. “Worth riding up my back end all night?”

His mouth quirked. “It's a small price to pay.”

She huffed out a small laugh. “Maybe for you.”

“Only for me,” he answered and bent forward to cover her mouth with his. As his hand trailed up her bare leg, she shivered again, more from his touch than the lingering cold.

He felt the movement and lifted off her, bringing her up into a sitting position and stripping her shirt over her head, tossing it aside with a jerk of his hand. Before she knew what was happening, he pulled back the comforter and shifted her so she was lying on the bed, head on the pillow. He turned her on her side and climbed in behind her, bringing the comforter back over both of them as he snuggled her into his chest.