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“Come to rub salt in the wound? Or maybe you need more personal anecdotes to add to your story.”
“I didn’t write that.”
“Sure you didn’t. But even if that’s true, then someone did your dirty work for you.”
“I didn’t tell them any of that, I swear. I would never do that to you.” She looked sincere, but her words said otherwise.
“I wish I could believe you.” A lump lodged in his throat. He glanced away, forcing it down.
“I don’t know how Blue found out about it, but she had to be behind this. She warned me as much. Told me that she would have to take matters into her own hands if I didn’t concede. She said she’d give me a few days, but she must have come across this information and decided it couldn’t wait.”
“You know what I don’t get?” he said, ignoring everything she just said because it was all a load of bull.
“What?” She paused, and he felt her eyes on him.
“Why lie? If you were going to tell them about my past, fine. It may hurt, but losing a patient isn’t exactly groundbreaking news for a doctor. But to tell them a boldfaced lie, that the baby was mine, and I was solely responsible . . . it’s so much worse. Sharing facts is one thing, but the lie, that’s what kills me most.”
“It wasn’t me.” Marti stepped forward, hands outstretched, pleading. “I warned you. I told you this might happen. Remember? When I said if there was anything in your past to hide that the media might dig up? Well, they did, and Blue took the truth and twisted it for clickbait.”
Enough. He slammed the bottle down on the counter next to him, heart shattering with the sound. “So this is my fault?”
“No. It’s not your fault, but it’s a side effect of being in the spotlight.”
“Funny. I don’t see them degrading your character.”
“If you think I wanted this, that I’m happy they—”
He took a step toward her, closing the gap. His breathing shallow, his pulse a jackhammer in his veins. “You made it perfectly clear what you wanted. And you were right. We’re over. Congratulations. You didn’t even have to lift a finger. They did your dirty work for you.”
He started to turn away, done with this conversation when she reached out and fisted his shirt in her hands. Yanking him forward, she crushed her mouth to his.
He’d like to say he had enough self-control to push her away. He’d like to think he was a stronger man, but he wasn’t—he didn’t.
His hands slid to the back of her head, holding her in place as he devoured her. His lips moved with hers in a punishing dance. Their breathing grew ragged as he angled her head, kissing her harder until they both gasped for air. Until he had nothing left to give.
This kiss was all pain. It was every “what if” he’d experienced in the last week—everything that could have been. All that he ever wanted.
He pulled away roughly, causing her to stumble back. Only he didn’t reach out to steady her. That was someone else’s job now.
She caught the back of her legs on the couch and her hands flailed, reaching to the sofa for balance. Then she blinked up at him, her face flushed with the heat of their kiss—a kiss that Logan was sure could ignite the world—and he couldn’t take it.
He turned away, unable to face her any longer. She was so beautiful it made him ache, and she looked at him like he could save her—save them—but the damage was already done. Worse yet, she had been the one holding the knife, inflicting the wounds.
He leaned against the wall, completely spent. Squeezing his eyes closed, he pressed his forehead into the drywall.
“I care about you so much,” she whispered.
He opened his eyes, frozen as her words sank in and his vision cleared. Any second he’d move and the spell would be broken; her words would dissolve into thin air.
“I think I might even love you,” she added when he said nothing.
Logan laughed. Talk about a punch in the nose. All his hopes crashed with that one ominous word—think.
“Wow. You think you might love me? Fantastic. Let me throw a parade. Shout it from the rooftops. Listen up, New York, Marti McBride might be in love me.”
“I’m sorry. This isn’t easy for me,” she said, fisting her hands by her side.
“Oh, and it is for me?”
