But then, she hadn’t really lost Logan, had she? How could she, when he’d never been hers to begin with? And that line of thinking just made her hurt all over again, so she stared into the eyepiece of the electron microscope and lost herself in the world of spores.
In the background, she heard the door open, followed by several sets of footsteps. It was probably Phillippa and some other lab tech. Whoever it was, she wasn’t interested in talking to them. She just wanted everyone to leave her alone to find her way back to some sense of normalcy.
Grace continued to stare at the slide in front of her, marveling at the pace of replication the new spores were exhibiting.
“She’s right over there,” Phillippa said.
“Yes, I see her,” a man said.
Chills skittered across Grace’s shoulders at the sound of that voice. She pulled away from the microscope and turned in time to see Phillippa step out of the room and close the door behind her.
“Logan?”
“How are you, Grace?”
“I’m…” What was she? Not fine, certainly. Lonely? Miserable? Unhappy? In love?
He didn’t seem to need an answer, just walked over and handed her a folded document. “This is for you.”
She stared at the papers in her hand, then back at him. He looked wonderful, although his eyes and mouth showed signs of strain. It didn’t matter. He was still the most handsome man she’d ever seen. And the only man she’d ever loved. Tears swam in her eyes, blurring her vision. She whipped around so he wouldn’t see her swipe her hand to brush away the tears.
“What is it?” she asked numbly.
“It’s a deed to the palmetto grove and that hillside in the rain forest where the wild palms grow. If you’d stuck around a few more days, I could’ve given it to you before you left.”
Her hand fisted on the papers and she gawked at him. “What? Why? Why would you do this?”
“Why?” He folded his arms across his chest. “Because now you’ll always know for sure that the spores are safe.”
“They’re safe?”
He shook his head in annoyance. “Damn it, Grace, you served me with an injunction against building anything on that land in perpetuity. So yeah, they’re safe. What I don’t understand is why you felt like you had to have sex with me to save the damn spores. You could’ve just asked me.”
She gasped. “I didn’t have sex with you to save the-”
“You didn’t trust me, Grace. Don’t you know I would never destroy anything that was so important to you?”
“I didn’t-”
“Look, Grace. To be honest, it was never about you or the spores anyway. We moved the site of the sports center two years ago.”
She frowned at him. “But I saw the plans.”
“You saw an old set of blueprints that I was just looking at for reference. So next time you’re snooping, check the dates.”
“You were never going to build near the spores?”
Logan studied her for a long moment, his face unreadable. “No.”
She exhaled heavily. “I thought…”
“You assumed I was such a jerk that I would unceremoniously tear up the rain forest and destroy the entire ecosystem of the island just to build a few tennis courts. That makes me sound like a pretty big jackass, all right. No wonder you took off.”
“I-I thought…”
“You thought I was too stupid to understand what it meant to you.”
“No. I’ve never thought you were stupid.” She groped for the words. “I just thought you didn’t care.”
“I cared,” he said tightly. “It was you who didn’t care. It was you who didn’t trust.”
She tried to blink back the tears but it was too late. Her cheeks were wet with them. “Logan, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think you cared about my research.”
“I care about
He turned to leave.
“I wanted you,” she whispered.
He turned back around and laughed shortly. “You’re way too smart for that.”
Then he left.
The room was silent except for the sound of Grace’s heart shattering. Grabbing a fistful of tissues, she collapsed onto her lab stool and buried her head in her arms.
She didn’t know if a body could survive this much heartache. And the fact that she’d inflicted so much pain on Logan made her pain even worse. She wanted to crawl into a hole and hide, she felt so awful. Could her crippled heart withstand this much agony?
A minute later, she felt a hand on her back.
“Logan?”
“It’s me, Grace,” Phillippa said. “I eavesdropped through the door. I’m so sorry.”
“Oh, God, I’m an idiot,” she wailed.
Phillippa grimaced. “Yeah, I kind of think that might be true.”
Grace looked up through her tears. “Whose side are you on?”
“Sorry, honey.” Phillippa patted her back again. “But wow, that guy must really love you to give up that land for you. And to come all this way just to tell you so? How do you feel about him?”
Sniffling, Grace rubbed her stomach. “I feel sick and dizzy and clueless and stupid. My heart aches and my throat feels like there’s a boulder stuck in there. It’s hard to swallow. Everything hurts and I can barely stand up, I feel so miserable.”
“Ah,” Phillippa said, nudging her glasses up her nose. “Sounds like you’re in love with him, too. I would say you’re probably going to have to do a lot of groveling to get him back.”
Back on the island, Logan was making everyone crazy. He would complain to anyone who was willing to listen that he felt used, abandoned and betrayed. And since he was the boss, everyone felt compelled to listen.
He grumbled to Aidan about how pissed off he was that once again, he’d trusted the wrong woman and he would never risk his heart again.
He didn’t mention to a living soul that he missed Grace more than he would have ever thought possible. The days were miserable, but the nights without her were torture. He couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t eat. Hell, he couldn’t even enjoy a damn walk on his own damn island because he kept
Aidan popped open two beers and handed one to Logan.
“Thanks,” Logan muttered, and took a big gulp.
Aidan sat down in the chair across from him. “Dude, you’ve gotta stop bitching and moaning to the staff. You’re starting to sound like a girl and I think you’re scaring the housekeepers.”
“Tough,” Logan said.
Aidan didn’t speak for a time and they both drank their beers in peace and quiet. But it couldn’t last.
“You know,” Aidan said, “you once told me that part of Grace’s charm was that she didn’t expect anything from you.”
Logan’s eyes narrowed on his brother. “I never said that.”
“Yeah, you did,” Aidan said. “But listen, there’s nothing charming about having low expectations. It’s heartbreaking, is what it is. Grace obviously learned the hard way to lower her expectations when it comes to a man having feelings for her.”
“Since when did you become a philosopher?”
Aidan spoke through clenched teeth. “I’m just trying to help you out here, bro. It’s painful to see you acting like such a jerk.”
“Look,” Logan said, “I made a mistake falling for Grace and I’m determined to put that mistake behind me. It
