“Really?” a deep voice rumbled from the trees behind her. “And just who is going to take care of you?”
* * *
The forest was no place to be with that storm so close, but it wasn’t like Logan had much of a choice. Tanner had said they were warning of heavy rain. Fingers crossed, that meant he could eliminate the worry of fires started by dry lightning. The regular stuff was dangerous enough. If he hurried, he might be able to make it to Harley’s hunting cabin before the worst of it hit. He just prayed that the hunting cabin was still standing after all these years.
Heading directly for the cabin would mean postponing his hunt for Allie. It would mean leaving her out here to face dropping temperatures and lightning strikes on her own, and that simply wasn’t acceptable.
In the distance he heard something he’d been hoping to hear for hours.
“Grainger!”
He’d found her. The shortcuts had worked.
Forging through the trees, he spotted her at last, off the trail, standing in underbrush up past her calves. Wearing shorts.
“What the hell were you thinking?” he muttered.
For a woman who’d been born and raised in these mountains, she sure didn’t seem to have the bare-bones knowledge of a native. He’d seen wet-behind-the-ears tourists, who’d never spent a single day of their lives in the mountains, who had better sense than to head off into the back country dressed like that.
“You’re going to be just fine,” she said to the creature in her arms as he approached. “I’ll take care of you.”
That from a woman whose legs already sported a network of scratches and who was going to be freezing her ass off in about fifteen minutes.
“Really?” he asked. “And just who is going to take care of you?” Because it was obvious to him that she wasn’t capable of doing it.
Something sounding like a high-pitched squeak came out of her and she jumped, literally, a good two inches off the ground, twisting toward him at the same time.
“Jesus, Logan!” She clutched the bundle of fur she held to her chest, her eyes open wide. “You scared me half to death.”
“Only fair,” he answered, ignoring how this wasn’t the first time she’d said those words to him. “Because you had me worried half to death. What were you thinking heading up this far all by yourself? Without a plan and without even telling anyone where you were headed?”
He was fully aware that it was fear sparking his anger, but that knowledge didn’t change how he felt. His heart still pounded at the thought of all that could have gone wrong with this scenario. He’d been called out on too many rescue operations for hikers in trouble who thought they knew what they were doing and who had been much better prepared when they’d set out than Allie had been today.
“Well, sorry.” Her tone was anything but contrite. “But Grainger didn’t bother to leave a detailed itinerary of his travel plans for the day, so just how was I supposed to tell someone where I was going? And what I was thinking was that I needed to find this damn dog before he ended up as a coyote snack. The absolute last thing I need from you is—”
Thunder boomed overhead, obliterating her words. Apparently he’d have to live a while longer without learning what she didn’t need from him. Right now, he had more important concerns. A glance to the sky told him all he needed to know. The rain would be miserable, but not life threatening. It was the lightning that presented the greatest danger.
“We can’t stay out here.” He crossed the distance between them, taking her by the elbow as he spoke. “This is only going to get worse.”
In typical Allie fashion, she pulled her elbow away. “I don’t see what choice you think we have. It’s not like we can outrun this. It’s taken me all day to get here.”
“Your grandpa’s hunting cabin is just a little farther up this trail. If we keep moving, we might get there before the worst of it hits.”
“Then again, we might not,” she muttered as the first big, wet drops splattered against the foliage around them.
She grumbled, but at least she followed along with him when he started forward.
The cold rain was pelting down in earnest by the time they made their way to the little cabin. Logan’s relief at finding the place was short-lived when he spotted a lock hanging through the latch on the door. He didn’t remember that being there the last time he’d been to the cabin.
“Damn.”
Neither the knife nor the small flashlight he carried would be heavy enough to break the lock, and in spite of his many skills, he had no abilities as a lock-pick.
“Here,” Allie said from behind him. “Try this.” She slipped the leather strap of her walking stick off her wrist and offered it to him.
“Lock looks too new for me to be able to break it.”
“Maybe,” she conceded. “But that latch thingy looks like it must be at least a hundred years old. I bet a couple of really good whacks will knock it out of that wood, screws and all.”
It was worth a try. The first hit reverberated up Logan’s arms and into his shoulders, but barely budged the rusted metal. The third hit bent it out far enough that he could slide the heavy walking stick under it to use as a pry bar to pop the old metal loose.
Within minutes the door swung open and he scanned the interior with his flashlight before ushering Allie inside.
The place was a cabin in name only. Harley hadn’t bothered with any of the amenities that modern-day hunters might consider a necessity. Two bare army surplus cots, a table and two chairs made up the furnishings, along with an open shelf built along one wall. An old coffeepot sat on the top shelf, next to some neatly stacked metal cups and plates and, on the shelf below, a kerosene lamp that was likely older than Harley. That was it. Bare bones. There weren’t even any windows, though the cracks around the door served the purpose pretty well.
“F-fireplace,” Allie said as his light swept the interior again, her voice shaking as she shuddered with the cold. “A-and dry wood. Th-thank you, Papa Flynn.”
Now that they were safe from the immediate danger, survival instincts kicked in and Logan set about doing what needed to be done. First things first. They were all soaked to the skin, and both Allie and the dog were shivering with the cold.
Logan pulled one of his two silver emergency blankets from his pack and wrapped it around Allie’s shoulders before he set about building a fire. A quick check of the chimney assured him that, though spiders had been busy building webs inside, there were no obstructions that would prevent them from starting a fire.
Once the fire roared to life, he pulled off his T-shirt and hung it over a chair to dry. Behind him, Allie clapped her hands. Whether her applause was meant for his action or for the fire, he wasn’t sure. He turned around to ask, and found her pouring the last of her water into a bowl she then set in front of the dog… the dog that she’d wrapped in the blanket he’d given to her to warm her up.
“Allie, the dog has fur to keep him warm. He’s going to be fine.” Whereas she was still shivering.
“I know. But he’s so wet right now. And frightened out of his little head by the storm. He feels safer all cuddled up inside that blanket. I can hang out by the fire.”
He started to tell her how ridiculous she was being, but the words dried up in his mouth when she walked toward the fire, pulling her T-shirt up and over her head to hang on the chair next to his. When she began to unzip her shorts, he suffered a major coughing fit as the words that had clumped in his mouth backed up into his throat. Or maybe it was just his own saliva drowning him rather than dripping out as drool.
She paused, shorts halfway down her legs, to send him a look. “What? It’s not like you haven’t seen me in my underwear before.”
True. He’d also seen her out of her underwear, and that was the memory flooding his mind—and all his blood vessels—as he watched her now.
“You should peel out of your wet pants, too, if they’re going to have any chance at all of drying.” She w
iggled her eyebrows as a big grin lit her face. “I won’t attack you. I promise.”
That made him smile.
“Okay, then. As long as my chastity is safe.”
“It is. Though I can’t promise the same for your blanket.”
“I knew it!” He sat down close to her and looped his arm over her shoulders, drawing her close within the shelter of his blanket. “I finally find the perfect woman and she only wants me for my body heat.”
Next to him, she stilled. “I want a lot more from you than body heat, Logan.”
Him too. But it was as good a place to start as any. He turned into her, intending to lower her to her back but, for the first time, he met with resistance. Her open palm pressed against his chest and she scooted a few inches away from him.
“What’s wrong?”
“I want more,” she repeated, “but not under any false pretenses. I have something I need to tell you.”
* * *
This was the moment Allie had promised herself. The moment she would take a chance on total honesty. She’d just never imagined they’d be sitting together in their underwear when it arrived. All she had to do was open her mouth and let the truth roll out.
She took a deep breath and began. “You know that I dated your brother, Ryan, right? Back in high school.”
“So I’d heard.”
What was that tone she heard in his voice? Suspicion? Disapproval?
“Did he ever tell you why we broke up?”
“He never even told me you’d dated, Allie. Katie’s the one who mentioned it. Right after you first came back to Chance.”
Okay, this is it. Tell him. Just say the words.
“I need to tell you about what happened between us. About why Ryan stopped seeing me. You need to know.”
“I don’t care why you broke up with Ryan. What happened between the two of you when you guys were in high school doesn’t matter to me in the least.” In spite of his words, that same suspicious look still knitted his brow. “Not unless you still like him and that’s why you’re seeing me.”
Something close to a hysterical giggle bubbled up in the back of Allie’s throat, burning until tears clouded her vision. “No, that’s not it. In fact, it’s more like the other way around.”
“I don’t understand where you’re going with any of this, Allie.”
One more deep breath to calm herself, to stop the shivers of dread, and she forced herself to confess.
“My senior year, I decided to stalk Ryan. Nothing else had worked and I felt like I was running out of chances. I hounded him until he asked me out. I made myself the perfect girlfriend so he’d continue to see me.”
She paused, her heart pounding so hard in her chest she expected that any minute the sound would drown out her words.
“And then he dumped you? For some other girl?” Logan reached for her hand but she pulled away.
The last thing she deserved was his pity.
“No. Then he found out that I’d betrayed him. Lacey told him my secret. That I’d been dating him in hopes of getting closer to you.”
“Me?” Genuine surprise replaced the suspicion in his eyes. “Why would you… I wasn’t even in Chance then.”
“I know. That was why I thought dating Ryan was my only way to get to you. It was stupid and deceitful and wrong. I really liked your brother as a friend. And letting him think otherwise was awful of me. I’ve regretted it ever since.” Allie paused again, drawing in a long, shuddering breath. “But that’s what I did. And I couldn’t let us get any closer without making sure you knew what kind of person I really am.”
“What kind of person you were,” he corrected, a soft smile curving his lips. “You were worried I’d be upset about something you did when you were seventeen?” He cupped her face in his hands, his thumb stroking against her cheek. “Oh, babe, that would never happen. So you did something stupid at seventeen that you regret. We all regret the stupid stuff we did at seventeen.”
“But you said the thing you hated most was deceit, and that’s what I did. I deceived Ryan, and knowing how you feel about something like that has been eating at me. I was the definition of stupid.”
Logan slid his hands to her shoulders and pulled her to him, her head resting on his chest. Underneath her ear, his heart pounded almost as hard as hers.
“No, Allie, you weren’t. If either of us was the definition of stupid at seventeen, it was me. I proposed to Shayla at seventeen. You think you deceived Ryan by dating him because you had some fleeting little crush on me. But I did something much worse. I deceived myself. Because I wanted to find that perfect girl to settle down with. Because I wanted what I saw between my parents every day of my life, I convinced myself that Shayla was the one.” He stroked his hand down her hair and gave her a quick hug. “It took me a long time to realize you have to let go of the stupid stuff you did when you were a kid. It doesn’t matter. It’s what you do with your life now that matters.”
He didn’t care what she’d done in the past. As if some huge pressure had been lifted, the tears that had only threatened earlier spilled out and rolled down her cheeks. Relief settled over her and she wrapped her arms around his neck, snuggling closer to him.
“It wasn’t a little crush,” she said at last. “And it wasn’t fleeting. Since we’re clearing the air and all.”
His hand stilled on her hair. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I’ve felt this way about you since my eleventh birthday, when you gave me a Nancy Drew book all wrapped up in shiny silver paper.”
“I remember that.” A chuckle rumbled through his chest beneath her ear. “You do realize I had nothing to do with that gift, right? I didn’t even know it was your birthday. I was just coming over to hang with Matt and my mom handed me a gift to give to you. I just delivered a package.”
“You did more than that,” she said, remembering the moment as if it had been yesterday. “You walked in the door and smiled directly at me, as if you’d come just to see me and then you tugged on my braid and wished me a happy birthday.”
“Yeah? And then I took off with Matt and never gave it another thought. So that’s why you thought you liked me? Because I brought you a book?”
“I didn’t say that was why. Who knows why? I said that was when. And I didn’t say I liked you. I said…”
Her words trailed off as she gathered her courage to speak of the feelings that would expose her vulnerability. She’d gone this far, she might as well go all the way.
“What?” he asked, his eyes searching hers.
“What I meant was that was when I first realized I loved you. Was in love with you. I always have been.”
“And now?” he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.
“Now more than ever,” she replied, closing her eyes as his head dipped close and his lips claimed hers.
“Knowing that makes what we’re about to do all that much sweeter,” he said, rolling her to her back, one hand protectively cushioning her head as she lay down.
Thunder rumbled overhead and rain beat down on the wooden roof at a constant tattoo, isolating them from the rest of the world. No people for miles, no phone service, nothing to interrupt them.
Cocooned in their own private ecstasy, Allie relaxed into Logan’s embrace, eager to finish what they’d started the night before.
His hands roamed over her body, slowly, possessively, filling her with a whole new level of desire for him.
“Now,” she whimpered, lifting her hips into him.
“Time doesn’t matter here,” he whispered into her ear. “We’re taking it slow. I want you to remember every minute of this.”
This was one experience she intended to savor, tucking every single minute of it into her memory. But memories or no, slow wasn’t working for her. Slow was a game of torture.
A game two could play.
When she slid her hands between their bodies and wrapped her fingers around the length of his hardened
shaft, slow apparently stopped working for him, too.
An involuntary groan of pleasure burst from her lungs when he entered her, plunging deep before he paused, his body hovering over hers.
“You’re beautiful,” he said, his voice cracking as he slowly pulled out before driving in again. “Beautiful lying under me, your eyes filled with surrender.”
“You don’t read eyes very well, do you? That’s not surrender you’re looking at.” She pushed against him, rolling until he was on his back and she sat atop him. “That’s triumph you’re seeing, pure and simple. It works like this.”
She began to move back and forth in an undulating motion, until he grabbed her waist, stilling her. Twining her fingers through his, she encouraged his hands up to her breasts while she resumed her movements from before.
Her body tensed with pleasure only moments before his did, and when it was over, she lay down, curled next to his side, his arm cushioning her head. Never in any of her fantasies had she felt this wonderful.
Logan lay on his back, his eyes closed. His chest rose and fell in a steady cadence, his slow, rhythmic breathing the most relaxing thing she’d ever imagined. By turning her head only slightly, she was able to study his profile.
That she was here with him now was almost beyond belief. She had no more secrets to carry around. And nothing she’d told him had changed his mind about how he felt about her. At least, she assumed it hadn’t. It would be easier to be sure of that if she actually knew how he felt about her. But other than that one minor issue, everything was perfect. Almost perfect. Perfect would have involved him replying to her declaration of love with a similar admission.
She trailed a tentative finger across the muscles in his chest and his eyelids fluttered open. When he turned on his side and pulled her close, the lazy grin on his face left no doubt as to his intentions. Intentions she was more than willing to play an active role in fulfilling.
TAKE A CHANCE (Chance Colorado Series) Page 18
