Chapter Seven
Logan frowned as Courtney froze in his arms, her body still pressed to his.
“Who’s that?” he asked her. Her body was stiff. Had he been wrong to give in to her?
“I don’t know.” Courtney was starting to shake. “Did you lock the door before we came up? I can’t remember.”
He nodded. “I slid the bolt shut.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “Thank god.”
The knocking stopped, but then her phone began to ring. She picked it up from the nightstand. The screen was angled so he couldn’t read it, but from the expression on her face the call was unwanted.
“It’s Carl.” Her voice was thin.
“Who’s Carl?” He blinked.
Her eyes were wide as they met his gaze. “My brother-in-law.”
“That’s him banging on the front door?”
She nodded, her mouth quivering. “I think so. I should take this.” She slid her finger against the screen, then lifted the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
“Court, it’s me. You okay? I saw a car outside your house and got worried.”
Logan could hear the deep voice reverberate from her phone. He swallowed hard, waiting for her response.
“I’m fine.” Her eyes darted back and forth. “That’s Lainey’s car. She dropped something off earlier and left it here.”
“It doesn’t look like Lainey’s car.”
“It doesn’t?” Her whole body was trembling now. Logan stroked her hair, trying to calm her down, but she felt feverish all over again. “Um, maybe she borrowed it.”
Logan wanted to take the phone from her ear and tell this Carl guy to give Courtney a break. She was sick, for God’s sake.
Yeah, so sick you just had your way with her. You’re no better.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” The deep voice reverberated through the phone. “I can come in and sit with you for a while. I just got off shift.”
“There’s no need,” Courtney blurted. “I’m fine. Just tired. I’m going to get some more sleep and hopefully be better in the morning.”
“Okay. And I’m glad you locked your door. You don’t know who’s out there. Sleep tight, Courtney. I’ll call you in the morning.”
“Thanks.” She swallowed hard and ended the call, her frightened eyes meeting Logan’s again. “I’m such a bad liar. Do you think he knows?” She started scrolling through her phone. “I should call Lainey. Oh god, I have to ask her to lie for me.” Her breath caught in her throat. “What if he runs the plates? He’ll know you’re here.”
“It’s a rental. That’s all he’ll get.” Logan’s voice was soft. “And you can call Lainey in the morning. Is she a friend of yours?”
Courtney let out a mouthful of air. “My best friend.”
Something else he didn’t know about her. But then again, what did he know? It wasn’t as though they’d shared every deep and dark aspect of each other’s life. This wasn’t about that. It was about sex.
“What if he comes back?” Courtney whispered. “What if he finds out you’re here with me?” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Oh god, this is so bad.”
Logan stared at her for a moment, trying to work out how to make this right. “Do you want me to leave?”
She shook her head. “No, he could still be outside.”
Logan brushed his fingers over her cheek. “I’m not scared of him, if that’s what you’re worried about. And I can’t figure out why you are either. I know he’s your brother-in-law, but what we’re doing here isn’t wrong. You’re not married and nor am I. We’re not cheating. We’re not breaking the law. We’re two adults consenting to sex.”
“But it’ll hurt him, don’t you see? And his parents if they find out. And for what? A hook up?” She tugged at the sheet, pulling it up to cover her chest. “Is it worth hurting people just for that?”
Logan blinked, trying to find the right answer. “We both agreed that was all it was…”
“I know we did.” She let out a mouthful of air. “And it worked. It made me feel alive again. But I can’t hurt the people I love, Logan. Not after everything they’ve been through.”
“Do you want me to leave?” And damn if that didn’t feel like a kick in the gut. She opened her mouth, then closed it again, her brows knitting together.
“It’s okay,” he said softly. “I get it. We weren’t looking for complications. I shouldn’t have come, at least not when you asked me not to.”
“It was really sweet that you cared for me.” She gave him a half-smile.
His chest clenched. Because he had wanted to care for her. But that wasn’t what she’d wanted. How had he read it so wrong? For a moment when they were making love he’d wondered if they could somehow make this work. Because she’d felt like everything right then.
Damn, he was being an ass. Of course they couldn’t make it work. She was country and he was city. There was no way she’d ever come to Boston, and he’d never ask her to. He’d only let her down, the same way he always did.
You’re never home when I need you.
I called all night and you never picked up.
Why can’t you love me the way you love your damn restaurants?
He’d heard all that and more. And they’d been right, every one of them. He’d had enough therapy to know he was simply bad at relationships. Hadn’t had one yet that ended in a good way.
And it looked like this one was going in exactly the same direction.
So why did his heart feel like it was being squeezed by a vice grip?
“I’ll leave for the airport at sun up,” he told her, pressing his lips together. “Maybe we should just… I don’t know… let this go. I don’t want to cause you any more pain.” His chest felt heavy, making it harder to breathe.
“You think we should end it?” Her eyes looked glassy.
“Don’t you?”
Her bottom lip trembled. “I guess… if you think we should. It’s not as though we could ever be anything more than friends.” She glanced up
