When You're Ready (Ready #1)(33)

And now I was thinking about the picnic again. Every time I looked at him, I remembered the way his hands felt moving over my body and how his mouth moved against mine. I had no idea what came over me, but if he hadn’t yelled stop, I’m not sure I would have. The heat and chemistry between us had awoken a part of me I thought was gone. Something raw and real. I didn’t know where our path together would lead, but tonight I felt like anything was possible.

Logan fixed his much smaller dessert plate and we both took a seat on the comfortable sofa in the parlor. He poured two cups of coffee from the carafe Ms. Thompson left on the coffee table, and I snuggled into the feather pillows, angling my body toward Logan as I dove into my plate piled high with desserts. I moaned in delight as the sugar and chocolate melted in my mouth. I felt contented and happy.

“So, what do you think she’s going to do with all those leftover desserts?” I feigned innocence.

He laughed, “Don’t worry, she’s sending all of it home with us. I made sure of it.”

“Yes!” I shouted but then said, “Geez, how much did you pay this woman?”

He just rolled his eyes so I continued to eat.

“You have chocolate, right there,” Logan said, leaning forward and motioning to my mouth. His eyes zeroed in on my lips, full of heated intensity.

“Oh.”

I opened my mouth, reaching out with my tongue to catch it, but he beat me to it, licking the chocolate from my lip, before kissing me long and slow.

He eased back; his eyes alight with fire and grinned, looking very smug.

“I think I got it.”

“You know, I think I could have taken care of that myself,” I snickered.

“But my way was much more fun. And besides, Maddie told me I could kiss you, so I plan on doing so. A lot,” he assured me.

“She did?” I asked, surprised.

“Yes. When I got to the house today, she gave me her permission to kiss you. I politely said thank you, and then chased her around the room while she squealed. Good times,” he grinned.

“I really have no idea why she’s feels so safe around you.”

“Hey!” he cried, dejected.

“No,” I giggled, understanding how that could have been misunderstood.

“I didn’t mean it like that. I just mean I don’t understand why it was so instantaneous. You walked into that exam room and she trusted you immediately. She’s never treated another person that way,” I explained.

“I felt it, too. With her. With you, too,” he paused before saying, “I always feel that need to care for my patients, but when I leaned down in that hospital bed and she curled up in my arms as I examined her, I don’t know...something inside of me clicked. I’ve never felt so fiercely protective over a patient before. If that’s even one tenth of what you feel as a parent, I don’t know how you do it. I suddenly couldn’t imagine the thought of her in pain. And then I saw you. Even in those vomit soaked clothes, you had me on my knees. When I mentioned the CT and you panicked? I saw that fear in your eyes and all I wanted to do was make it go away.”

I’ve never told him why I panicked in that hospital room.

“Ethan,” I explained, “He kept getting these horrible headaches. His doctor ordered a CT first. It came back normal. Months went by and we thought everything was fine. But he kept getting headaches and I got more and more nervous. But Ethan swore it was fine because of that CT. Finally, I convinced him to go see someone else. His new doctor ordered an MRI, and that’s when they found the tumor which hadn’t shown on the CT,” I said in a low voice, still hating myself for not pushing harder. If I had been more adamant, sent him to a doctor sooner, would he still be here?

But then I would have never met Logan.

Sometimes life didn’t make any sense and you just had to stop thinking.

“It’s very rare for a CT to be wrong. You know that by now I’m sure?”

I nodded.

Silence filled the air as we finished our coffee. It wasn’t an awkward silence that was so typical on a first date, but the silence of two people who were comfortable enough to know that sometimes words didn’t need to be said.

I finally took a glance up at him from my coffee cup, noticing his eyes looked more gray than blue in the low light. The room smelled of burning candles and shadows flickered along the walls as the flames danced. Logan’s hair had fallen into his eyes a bit, and I absently brushed it back, letting the inky black strand slip through my fingers.

“We seriously suck at dinner conversation, don’t we?” I said, still enjoying the feel of my hands in his hair.

“Yes, awful,” he agreed. “We should definitely make out instead,” he added playfully.

“Horndog,” I teased.

Ms. Thompson strolled back into the parlor, candle in hand, muttering an apology for her interruption. She looked like she has bad news.

“Again, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I just heard on the radio that the main road out to the interstate is blocked by a downed tree. It may be morning before they can get it off the road. I think you two are stuck here for the time being.”

Oh my God, I was stuck in a Bed and Breakfast with Logan. I didn’t know whether I should jump for joy or pass out in fear.

Logan turned to me, worry clearly showing on his face.