TAKE A CHANCE (Chance Colorado Series) (25 page)

“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.

Soon enough, they’d have to get themselves together and head down the mountain. But for now, she was more than happy to settle for almost perfect.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

With a sense of confidence Logan hadn’t felt in a very long time, he pulled the clipboard from under the seat of his pickup, adjusted his cap, and headed up the sidewalk to Golddiggers.

“I’d like to see your manager,” he announced to the young woman standing just inside the door. “I’m here for your fire inspection.”

He could thank Allie for his being here today. It was as if in finding her, he’d found a missing piece of himself. A missing piece that had kept him from getting on with his life. His relationship with her had made him whole again.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Logan O’Connor surprising me yet again.” Shayla walked toward him, her hand extended in welcome. “When Carla told me someone was here for the fire inspection, I expected it to be Tanner. What’s up with that?”

Though he’d known he was likely to run into her today, this wasn’t at all what he’d expected. Rather than the slinky, satin-clad vixen version of her he’d prepared himself to encounter, this was a thoroughly scrubbed, makeup-free, jeans and T-shirt version. He hoped for her sake that this was the real Shayla.

He shook her hand, only mildly surprised to find that the action carried with it absolutely no emotion whatsoever. The past just might be behind him, where it belonged.

“Strictly a business call, Shayla. Your number came up on my list instead of Tanner’s this year.”

Not exactly a lie, but close enough that he found himself scanning over the form on his clipboard rather than making eye contact with the woman. Coming here had been more of a test he’d set up for himself. A test he was happy to realize he was passing.

“All righty, then,” she said with a smile. “Let’s hit the kitchen and get this over with. You can see for yourself all the exits are marked. All my extinguishers are up to date, and I want you to know, I called in an electrician from Denver to go over all the wiring the day after our little fire incident.”

“Do you have documentation for that?”

She laughed and held open the kitchen door for him to enter first. “You want to see the paperwork to prove I’m telling the truth? What happened to my sweet, trusting Logan?”

You happened.
That being his first thought meant that he hadn’t yet completely put the past behind him. But the fact that he didn’t say it out loud convinced him that he’d come a long way.

“I’d like a copy to attach to the inspection report since I witnessed firsthand that there was a problem.”

“In that case, yes, I have paperwork on it, from a fully licensed company. I’ll make sure you have a copy in your hot little hands before you leave.” She leaned back against one of the kitchen workstations, her arms crossed in front of her. “Let’s get one thing straight up front, Logan. Regardless of what you might think of me, I don’t cut corners when it comes to my business. I have big plans for Golddiggers and taking shortcuts won’t get me where I want to be.”

“Understood,” he said, still not completely convinced she was being honest with him. “I’ll try to make this as quick as possible and get out of everyone’s way.”

The kitchen was a hive of activity, with what appeared to be a full staff busily cleaning and prepping food. He had specifically waited until the afternoon so that he’d arrive after their lunch rush and before they began preparations for the dinner crowd, but, from the looks of things, he’d miscalculated.

“Shay?” A young woman pushed through the kitchen doors, her expression strained. “Thank goodness. The liquor distributor is here and the order is short.”

Logan didn’t recognize the newcomer, and in a town the size of Chance, that said something.

“Not again!” Shayla snapped, already moving toward the door. “Sorry, Logan. I have to deal with this. Staff in here will be heading out shortly, but there should be someone left around to answer any questions you might have until I return. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”