Counting Stars (A Donnelley Brother's Novel) (28 page)

“Please,” I answered,
rising from the table to meet her at the counter as she handed me
the glass. “Thanks.”

“We can join the men
outside or we can sit out front and chat without Logan
eavesdropping on everything we say.” She winked. “It’s up to
you.”

“You think he’d listen
in?”

She chuckled. “Have you
seen the way that man watches you? He hangs off your every word. I
think he’s in love with you, Reese.”

At her last words,
spoken so casually, I felt my heart jump in my chest and my cheeks
flushed pink. “I don’t know.”

“Well, I know my son and
I can verify that he’s completely smitten with you.”

I blushed even deeper.
“In that case, I think we should go sit on the front porch.”

“Good choice.” She
picked up her glass of wine from the counter to waddle across the
house to the front door.

I followed her onto the
porch, settling down on a painted wooden chair. Curling into the
back of the chair, I pulled the throw pillow onto my lap, resting
my glass of wine on the pillow.

Gracie lit a little
lantern on the table between us. “So, tell me how your month
went?”

“It was good.” I
shrugged, trying to find that comfortable place I’d always had with
Gracie. She waited patiently, knowing how difficult I found it to
open up to others about my feelings. “Um, at first it was a little
tense between Logan and I.”

“I figured it would
be.”

“We bickered until we
just didn’t anymore. Before anything romantic happened, Logan was
more friendly than anything else. I don’t really know how we
started, um, seeing each other.”

“Logan is a good man and
he’s very taken with you. Have you told him about Derek?”

At the mention of
Derek’s name, I thought my heart would ache, but it didn’t.
Instead, I felt a calm sort of happiness at being able to talk
about him this way. “I did.” I took a sip of wine. “Actually, he
knew about Derek before anything really started happening between
us. I feel really grateful to Logan for helping me through my
pain.”

“I’m so happy I went
with my gut and placed you in Logan’s care.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You
weren’t playing match-maker, were you?”

Gracie threw her head
back and laughed. When she grew quiet again, her eyes were
twinkling. “It was Collin who suggested that, wasn’t it?”

Blushing, I admitted.
“It was.”

“He’s so suspicious.”
She shook her head. “I really don’t understand why.”

I nodded. “But he’s not
right, is he?”

“What do you think?” She
pinned her eyes on me and I shifted.

“Um, I don’t know.” I
shrugged. “That’s why I’m asking.”

“Well, I didn’t break my
ankle on purpose.” She laughed. “But once it was done and I had to
find someone to take over your tour, I won’t lie, I did choose
Logan with the hope that you might connect.”

“How could you have
possibly known we would react this way to each other?”

“I had no clue you would
react this way to each other, Reese.” Her eyes were wide. “I
figured you guys would test one another, teach new things, and
maybe become friends. I had no idea Logan would take to you the way
he did. That is a surprise to even me.”

Absently, I traced the
rim of my wine glass as I considered her words. “Thank you for
placing me with him. You were right, Logan did teach me a lot.”

“Darling, I think you
taught Logan just as much as he taught you.” She smiled softly and
her eyes were far away.

“How do you mean?”

“Logan is a hard man,
Reese.” Her expression was far away. “He’s been hurt and he’s not
very trusting anymore. But you’ve shown him how to trust again, and
for that, I will forever be thankful to you.”

My heart was beating
fast at her words. Logan had been hurt. This was something I had
suspected, but he hadn’t shared the intimacies of his pain with me.
Instead, he’d always been so focused on my pain. “Who hurt
him?”

Gracie stiffened as she
realized I didn’t know what she was talking about. “I think that’s
something for you and Logan to discuss.”

Chewing the side of my
cheek, I nodded. “He’ll tell me when he’s ready.”

“You won’t push him for
answers?”

The shock in Gracie’s
tone made me feel slightly prickly. Why would I push him for
answers he wasn’t ready to give? And why would she think I’d push
him? Do I come off as that kind of girl?

I spoke quietly. “No. I
won’t push him. When Logan’s ready to tell me, he will.”

“Most women would demand
answers, why aren’t you?” Gracie asked seriously and as I looked
straight into her eyes, I realized she wasn’t judging me. She was
simply curious.

I answered honestly.
“Logan never pushed me for answers about Derek. He waited, letting
me know he’d be there when I was ready.” I paused. “But he never
pushed me. Not once.”

“And so you’ll wait for
him?”

At her words, I felt my
heart swell in my chest with emotion. “Yes. I’ll wait for Logan.”
Closing my eyes, I leaned my head back and breathed in the clean
night air. “He’s worth it.”

I felt Gracie’s hand
cover mine and I opened my eyes to see her leaning over the table
between us to reach me. Her eyes were misted with emotions that
tugged on my heartstrings.

Shakily, she spoke. “I
knew you were a good soul when you first emailed me, Reese. I don’t
know how I knew, but I knew. You have a heart of gold and I
couldn’t imagine anyone better for my son.” Her words turned
hoarse. “Thank you for saving him.”

I shook my head, not
wanting to cry. “He saved me.”

“Reese?” I
heard Logan call my name from inside the house, his booted feet
pounding against the wooden floor with every step closer.

Gracie waggled her
brows. “I told you that man can’t keep away for long.”

I didn’t have time to
reply before the front door swung open and Logan appeared with
blankets in his hand. “You’re both wearing a dress, sitting
outside, in the middle of the night.” He sighed, handing both
Gracie and I a blanket. “Wrap up if you’re staying out here.”

“Logan,” I huffed. “Are
you being real right now?”

“Very real, city
girl.”

I rolled my eyes as I
stood to take the blanket from him. Wrapping it around my body, I
snuggled back into the chair. “You do know that it’s summer right
now, right?”

Gracie chuckled, but
Logan spoke. “Summer or not, it’s a little chilly and you’re not
sitting by a fire. You don’t need to be getting sick.”

I raised a brow. “I’m
fine.”

“
And there’s mosquitoes out here too.” He folded his
arms across his chest and I couldn’t help but
think—
yummy.
“If you were wearing jeans and a sweater,
things would be different. But you insisted on wearing a
dress.”

I blinked up at him.
“You don’t like my dress?”

“Of course I like your
dress.” He spoke low. “But I like your body free of mosquito bites
and cold sweats from getting yourself sick.”

“Logan.” I protested.
“I’m a big girl—I can take care of myself.”

“I want to take care of
you, Reese.” He placed his hands on the armrests of my chair,
leaning down to face me. My heart raced. “Let me take care of
you.”

“Okay.” I agreed simply.
Surprise flashed in his eyes before it was dominated by raw
hunger.

He straightened, his
eyes pinned on me as he spoke to Gracie. “Thank you for dinner,
mom. But I’m going to take Reese home now.”

From the corner of my
eye, I saw Gracie rise with a splitting grin on her face. “You two
have a lovely evening.” She leaned down to kiss my cheek before
straightening to kiss Logan’s. He bent his knees just enough so
that she could reach her lips to his cheek. As she passed by, she
mumbled. “Damn kids.” And then she disappeared into the house.

With Gracie gone, Logan
pulled my hand into his. Tugging me up from the chair he said,
“We’re leaving now.”

“Shouldn’t we say
goodbye to everyone else?”

“No.” He shook his head.
“We’ll see them again.”

I chewed the inside of
my cheek. “I should take this blanket inside.”

“Bring it with you.” He
commanded. “We’ll bring it back tomorrow.”

“Logan, you’re acting
like a caveman.”

He grinned. It was a
legendary shit-grin. “I’m just a man trying to take my woman home
to bed.”

“Ah,” I nodded. “Your
woman,”

“Yes.” He stepped closer
and his husky breath kissed my lips. “My woman.”

“Okay,” I agreed
again.

That one word was all
Logan needed to pick me up in his arms, blanket and all, to carry
me to his truck. Still holding me in his arms, he opened the
passenger door to place me in the seat. Leaning forward, he pressed
his lips to mine. His kiss was slow and sweet—torturous. When he
pulled away, I moaned. I actually moaned.

Logan closed the door
and I snuggled down into the seat, lifting my feet up onto the seat
as I pulled the blanket tighter around me. Like always, Logan was
right about blankets. He always seemed to know when I needed them
before I did.

I watched him climb into
the truck beside me and as he started the engine, my heart pounded
in my chest. I knew exactly where he was taking me—and what for. I
don’t think I had ever been more excited for anything in my entire
life.

“I can’t wait to be with
you.” I stated and then blushed at my boldness. Logan swallowed and
I watched the bulge in his jeans grow. Feeling emboldened, I
continued. “I want to feel you inside of me, pounding into me,
filling me. I want to feel your lips on my skin, your fingers
exploring my body.”

“Jesus, Reese.” His
voice was husky. “Continue and I’ll pull over. We’ll never make it
to the bed—or the counter.”

I laughed. “I don’t care
where we are, Logan. As long as I’m with you.”

I had never spoken truer
words. I didn’t know until I spoke them aloud that Logan had become
everything to me. In my quest to find release from the pain of
Derek’s last morning—his absence from my life—I’d found a pure kind
of love with a man I never would have given a second glance before
taking a chance on this Ranch. I do believe now that there is
reason for everything. In pain, lessons are learned and chances are
taken. Heartache can restrict, but it can also set you free. For
me, losing Derek was the worst thing I had ever had to live
through, but it was his death that led me here—to Logan. I am in no
way happy Derek is gone, but I am healed enough to admit that I
have been so very blessed in finding two beautiful souls to share
my heart with. In my time here, I’ve realized that life it too
short to refrain from love.

Logan placed his hand to
rest in my lap as he drove along the vacant gravel roads. “You’re a
beautiful woman, Reese.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how I
became so lucky as to have you.”

“I’m the lucky one.” My
reply wasn’t much more than a whisper, but it was still loud in the
cab of the truck.

We didn’t say anything
more as we drove to Logan’s house. His hand remained in my lap
throughout the drive and when we pulled up outside the house, I
wasn’t nervous or excited or even unsure. I was humbled. I was
humbled because I was with a man who owned my heart, in a beautiful
world. And soon, I would tell him how I felt.

Logan closed the door of
his bedroom and not even a second later his hands were tugging at
the hem of my dress. “I need you, Reese.”

“Take me.” I pleaded.
“Whenever you need me, Logan, I’m here for you. I’m yours.”

“Mine.” He repeated and
then my dress was on the floor and his lips were on mine. He kissed
me so rough and hungrily, it almost hurt, but I didn’t care. I
wanted him closer, harder, rougher. I liked this side of Logan—the
side that couldn’t get enough of me.