“I…I…” She shook her head. His revelations shook her to her core. She needed to process. Needed time to think. “I have to go.” Without looking back, she fled the house and ran outside, jogging along the beach until she lost her breath.
“I believe you,” she whispered. And she did. She was so overwhelmed by emotion she was damned near choking on it. She clasped her hands together and stared at the ocean, enjoying the warmth of the sun and the gentleness of the breeze.
What the hell did she do now?
Six
Logan saw it in Hayley’s eyes. The spark. The one she’d had every time she was near him before he’d fucked up the best thing in his life. He couldn’t let her go. Not without telling her one last time how much he loved her. Not without pleading, scratch that, begging her to take him back. If she wanted him to give up his money, change his name, and live in a shack, he would do it in a heartbeat if it meant she’d give him a second chance.
He raced after Hayley, following her out of the hotel and across the sand. Was this it? Had he lost her for good?
Hayley had found a secluded area, away from the hotel, to think. She stared out at the ocean, trying to gather her thoughts. Logan had dropped all kinds of revelation bombs on her all at once, and she felt shell-shocked.
“Hayley!” Logan’s sudden shout had her jumping out of her skin. She watched him slow to walk as he gauged her reaction and finally stopped within arm’s reach. “The thought of losing you again, losing you forever, wrecks me. But I want you to be happy. And if that means you need a life without me in it, then okay.”
His words drove spikes through her doubts. He loved her. And she loved him.
They’d figure out the rest.
God, she was nervous. Logan being within arm’s reach boggled her mind. Her pride had acted as a shield, pushing him away for so long. She knew her forgiveness was the only thing that kept them apart. “I… I’ve missed you,” she finally admitted. “I’ve missed you so much.”
He enfolded her hand into his own and lifted it, palm up, for a kiss. Her pulse leaped at the sweet touch. “You are my heart, Hayley.”
“And you’re mine,” she said softly.
“You got to know the real me. You didn’t know about my family’s wealth. You didn’t care about what kind of society points you could get from being seen on my arm. You preferred me in jeans and T-shirts instead of Rolexes and tuxedos. I’d found a genuine, loving, beautiful woman who saw me as normal. Who wanted me because of…?”
“Your kindness. Your humor. Your inability to cook.”
He laughed. “Yes.”
Hayley licked her dry lips, desire fluttering in her belly. He brushed her cheek with a calloused thumb. “Let’s belong to each other again, Hayley. No pretense. No secrets. Just us. Raw and naked and together.”
She heaved a breath, excitement trapping the air in her lungs. She sucked in calming breaths, but her body still trembled. “Yes,” she said. “Yes. Logan…”
He slipped his hands under her dress, his fingers sliding up her thighs, lifting the dress until her thong underwear was revealed. His fingers looped under the band and drew them down. “I love you,” he murmured. “I love you.”
She’d lost the ability to speak. Her mind fogged with desire, its heat prickling her skin. God, she was so wet.
He waited, demanding nothing. His tender patience released her from lingering doubts. The deed fluttered away in the wind as she let it go, and with it, her inhibitions.
Hayley unbuttoned the top of her dress. Her breasts were small, like grapefruits, and didn’t need the annoying harness of a bra. Logan’s eyes darkened as he watched her reveal them, cup them, and offer them.
Leaning forward, he suckled the hardening nipple of the left tit, the pressure of his mouth, the swirl of his tongue, shooting fire down to her groin. She moaned, arching back to offer him more. He switched to her right breast, lavishing attention on the aching peak.
He sucked, kissed, licked for endless, wonderful moments…then he used his hands to knead the sweet flesh, pinching and tugging the nipples until Hayley panted and moaned and wiggled.
Her knees quaked, threatening to buckle. She pulled Logan’s head away from her chest, and stared at him, knowing her eyes had the glazed look of someone on the edge of orgasm. Her body shivered with terrible need.
“We can’t.” His face looked stricken, so she amended her words. “I mean, we can’t here. Not on the beach. Someone will see us.”
Logan chuckled. “Claire is busy. And other than her, it just the two of us.” He nuzzled her ear. “You. Me.” He kissed her neck. “And the sea. I’ve missed you, Hayley. I can’t wait another second to hold you.” He suckled her lower lip as he cupped her breast. “To taste you.” He dipped his head and licked her rigid nipple. “To be inside you.”
“Yes, yes.” The heady rise of passion throbbed between her thighs.
“Pull up your dress for me,” he commanded.