“If I’m gone, Kathleen will step into my role and you’ll get the position you deserve.”
I launched to my feet and came eye to eye with him. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re not going to quit; you’re like me. Your job is everything to you.”
The mocha-colored eyes blinked slowly. “No, it’s not. I can find another job, but I can’t find another you.”
This was impossible. Here he was, willing to fall on his sword for me and give me exactly what I wanted. But how could I let him do that? How would he not resent me if I allowed this?
“No,” I said. “Just wait a minute.”
“I can’t do another day of this. I tried not to fall in love with you, but you made that impossible. I can’t rein this back in. And I don’t want to.”
He was only inches from my face, gazing at me, and he hadn’t moved. I’d been the one to close the distance between us. Logan had lost control over his carefully maintained self, because of me.
“We’ll figure it out,” I said. “We’re both too determined not to, so don’t go quitting in the meantime. I just need a few more days to accept what happened.”
“You don’t have to. Let me make it right.”
“Wait,” I said, frantic. “Logan, just wait.” And I think my panicked voice echoed that night when I’d been strapped to the table and unable to follow him. His hand slipped behind my neck, cradling my head into his kiss that was exactly like our first, magnified a thousand percent. Slow. Seductive. Filled with so much love and intensity I was powerless to stop my surrender.
“I’d wait forever for you,” he uttered and returned to his task of shutting my brain down with the simple touch of his lips.
My hands came to rest on his jaw, gritting against the stubble there when I eased it back. I held his face in my hands, his eyes on mine. And in this moment, I knew we would be all right. He was willing to give everything up for me, and I knew I’d give everything up for him, if I had to.
“Give me the weekend,” I said. “Don’t do anything until Monday.”
Disappointment ringed his eyes. “The weekend? You’re not coming Sunday?” Because Sunday was the marathon.
“I don’t know,” I lied, and hoped it was convincing, since a plan was rapidly taking shape in my mind. He’d caught me completely off balance when he’d taken off my blindfold, and a little part of me hungered to do the same to him.
He let me slip from his hold, confirming again he wouldn’t do anything foolish before we spoke again on Monday. I hurried to my cube, ignoring the dirty looks. They could go fuck themselves. I didn’t need that supervisor position. This company had already given me more than enough.
It gave me him.
I ducked out of the building at lunch to call Nick, thankful I had the number saved in my phone from the time he’d texted me their progress on a run. His voice was so much like Logan’s it was unnerving. “I was hoping you could help me,” I said.
“I’m still married, so if this is another shower request, my answer is no.”
“You’re hilarious.” I was glad he couldn’t see me blush. “I wanted to surprise Logan . . .” I just realized he might not know that Logan and I were taking space. “Have you talked to him recently?”
“Yeah, I had to call him on Wednesday to tell him about the awesome stress fracture in my foot.”
“In your foot? What about your race?”
“I guess I’ll have to try to beat Logan next year.”
Months of training, gone. “God, that’s awful.”
He made a noise, sort of an oh well. “It happens. What did you want to talk about? Logan said he’d screwed something up at the office and you weren’t too thrilled with him right now.”
“I’ve gotten over it,” I announced to myself. “But Logan doesn’t know that yet, and I was kind of hoping to show him on Sunday. If you’re not running, are you still planning on going?”
“Oh yeah. Hilary had made up some signs for me, and I thought I could use them on Logan. Some of them will be epic.”
“Do you mind if I still tag along?”
“Of course not.”
“Great, thanks. Can we keep it on the down-low? ”