“What the fuck are you talking about?” Anger makes me push the door open and slam it shut behind me. She takes a step back into her foyer and keeps eye contact.
“He told me you’d done this before.” She motions to the card. “You don’t know how much it hurt me,” she says and her voice cracks and her eyes glass over. The strong suit of armor crumbles into dust and the pain I know she’s feeling comes through as her shoulders hunch and her arms wrap around herself. “I couldn’t believe you’d do this to me,” she says in almost a whisper before wiping the tears from her eyes.
“Never,” I say just above a murmur, taking another step forward and slowly pulling her into my chest. “I would never. I have never done that. I would never do anything to hurt you,” I whisper into her hair. Her body is tense and stiff, but after a moment, she relaxes against me.
“He lied to me,” she says softly, letting her cheek rest against my hard chest. Although anger is coursing through my blood, holding her in my arms is taming the beast that’s pacing inside of me. I’ll save my anger for them.
Right now she needs me.
“I don’t know what to believe.” She speaks so low, I barely hear her. She pulls away slightly, and it cracks a barrier that’s kept me from taking her. Her words trigger something in me. A need to prove to her that she’s mine. That I would never hurt her.
I take a step forward and then another. Her eyes widen and stare back at me as her back hits the wall of her small apartment foyer.
“I didn’t do that to you.” There’s a hint of anger in my voice. I’m angry that she doesn’t trust me. “I didn’t set you up and I will make him pay for hurting you.”
She still seems slightly uncertain and I hate it. “I’ll destroy him for what he did to you. He tried to hurt me. Not you. You got caught in the crossfires.”
She looks wounded and raw, so full of emotion and I’m not sure which is winning out.
I take her shoulders in my hands to steady her and lower my lips so they’re almost touching hers. “You need to trust me, Rose.”
Her eyes search my face and her breathing picks up. Her plump lips part and she sinks her teeth into her bottom lip with her eyes on my lips.
It’s all I can take.
I crash my lips against hers and cage her small body in.
She instantly melts into me.
“Rose,” I say her name reverently and then push her back against the wall, crushing my lips to hers. My dick hardens and presses into her stomach. I’m angry and frustrated, but mostly relieved. I need her. I need her to feel what she means to me.
I pull back, and look down at her.
“I’m sorry, Logan,” she says in a hushed voice, staring at me through her thick lashes, willing me to believe her. “I didn’t-”
I cut her off, pressing my mouth to hers, my tongue diving into her mouth. My fingers spear through her hair as I kiss her with every bit of passion I have. She pulls away, breathing heavily.
“Please, Logan. You have to know. I’m so sorry. I-”
“Stop.” I close my eyes and rest my forehead against hers. “I-” I stop myself before I say words I shouldn’t. My chest pangs with pain and I ignore it. I ignore everything and whisper into the hot air between us, “Just let me hold you.”
She leans up and presses her body to mine. “I need more,” she whispers. My hands roam down to her waist and ass, until I finally pick her up and carry her to her sofa.
I lay her down and kiss the crook of her neck as she frantically unbuttons my shirt.
“I need you, Logan,” she says with shortened breath. “I lo-” I crash my lips to hers and move between her legs, intent on making everything up to her the best way I know how.
I give her all of me. Everything I have.
Even though I know it won’t be enough.
Chapter 31
Charlotte
Please give me the strength to get through this, I think to myself as I step out of the Parker-Moore building with Eva.
We’re on our way to a press meeting involving the quarterly report of Parker-Moore.
Unfortunately, I’ve been assigned to answer questions about the new direction of Parker-Moore sales department. Despite not wanting to go, I’m required to be there. It’s going to be awful, I just know it. My stomach has been fluttering with butterflies all morning.
Still, not all things have been bad. Yesterday was my first day back at work and no one said anything about the photos, thank God. But people kept coming up and talking to me, making small talk. I knew they were just trying to fish out how I was doing, so it didn’t bother me. It did get old after awhile, however.
I hope they’ll stop it there, I tell myself as Eva and I climb into the stretch limo that’s waiting for us. Because the constant hovering makes me feel uncomfortable.
“Are you alright?” Eva asks me as I settle down into the plush leather seats. She’s dressed sharper than usual today in a crisp black suit, her hair done up into a single braid down her back, and her makeup is flawless.
I nod my head and say, “Yes, why?”