Between You and Me

Her eyes, heavy-lidded and dark with desire, locked with his. He realized she was breathing heavy too, and fire seared through his veins, leaving him stunned.

“Happy New Year,” she whispered.

“Happy New Year,” he whispered back. His fingertips trailed along the side of her face. Her skin was impossibly soft. He felt like he was in a trance.

Something vibrated against her leg. With a start, she realized it was her phone, which she’d left beside her on the love seat. Blushing as she laughed, she picked it up to look at the screen. “My brother,” she said. “He’s always the first to call on New Year’s.”

“Which one?” Logan asked. His voice felt thick in his throat and the room seemed a little hazy. His blood still pounded through his veins, and his jeans felt way too tight.

“Charles,” she said. “Do you mind . . . ?”

“Of course not, take the call.”

He sat back and gulped down the cider as he watched her briefly chat on the phone. That had been a hell of a kiss. And yes, he’d initiated it, but she’d taken it a step further. She’d been as into it as he was. Damn, she was so gorgeous. And sexy, and . . .

He downed the rest of the drink and set the empty glass on the table. Whatever was bubbling up inside, he had to put a lid on it immediately. So what if that kiss showed the attraction was mutual. So what if it’d been steamy as hell and made him want to lay her back on the love seat and take her right there. She’d been very clear: no dating for her. She wanted to be alone.

They were friends. Kind of. And that was all they would be. If they ever kissed again, it’d have to come from her. He wouldn’t push it. He was an honorable man, he’d respect her boundaries, and that was that.

Her eyes met his as she wrapped up the call, and a catlike grin spread across her beautiful face. Damn, he wanted her. The force of it gripped him with claws, the rock-hard evidence still straining painfully against his jeans. He schooled his features into neutrality and took some deep breaths, willing the haze of lust to dissipate. The memory of that mind-bending kiss would have to last him, and that was all there was to it. Tess Harrison was off-limits.

* * *

Tess enjoyed the warmth and quiet inside Logan’s truck as he drove her home. The black sky outside was filled with stars. “It always amazes me,” she said as she stared out the window, “the sky here at night. Seems bigger than in New York. And the stars! You can see so many. And they truly sparkle. It’s breathtaking.”

“I know what you mean.” Logan’s deep voice was soft. “I didn’t realize how much I loved it until I moved away. The sky is different here, I think. Seems that way, anyway.” He kept his eyes on the road as he maneuvered around the bends of Red Mountain in the dark. “When I moved from New Orleans, I spent a lot of nights sitting outside, just staring up at the stars. It was . . . very soothing. Calming.”

“Sounds very Zen,” she said.

His cynical grin delighted her. “Yeah, well, that’s about as Zen as I get, I suppose.”

“Too pragmatic for all that?” she guessed.

“Yeah. I’ve just . . . seen too much, I guess.” His lips flattened into a thin line. “Gave up on things like that—Zen, inspirational crap, magic, all that—a while back. I used to think everything happened for a reason. Then I came to realize it’s all bullshit. Sometimes, bad things happen and there’s no goddamn explanation. That’s it.”

His voice wasn’t hard, but the words were. She wondered what he’d seen to make him feel that way. The lines around his eyes crinkled as he squinted into the darkness. He lapsed into a darkness of his own at times, and she wanted to know why. She wanted to know him better.

But he was something of a loner, a man who cherished his solitude. And things he’d told her tonight had only reinforced her suspicions: The man was an island. Which was fine, but she needed to focus all her energies on herself right now, not on this enigmatic man and what made him tick, no matter how alluring she found him. No matter how he could kiss her and make her feel like he was both devouring and revering her at the same time.