I stood. “We don’t really need to finish this dinner.”
He looked up at me, his mouth gaping like a fish. “We ordered already—”
“You can eat. I’m going home. I’ll get my sister to come and get me.” I dropped my napkin on the table then and marched across the restaurant. In the lobby, I stopped and pulled my phone out. I’d had it on vibrate, but I immediately saw there were several texts from Amber and even a missed call. Hoping everything was all right, I clicked on the voicemail first. Her breathless voice filled my ear.
“Georgia! Georgia! Oh. My. God. I can’t believe—”
“Georgia.”
The deep voice hit me like a punch to my solar plexus. Breathing was impossible. I lowered the phone from my ear, my heart a painful thump in my chest. I turned, forgetting about my sister.
“Logan?” He looked amazing. A little rough. Like he hadn’t shaved in days. His clothes were wrinkled against his tense body. But that only made him more beautiful. More dangerous looking. “What are you doing here?”
“Did you mean what you said? In your text?” he demanded.
I moistened my lips and took a step toward him, trying to remember what I had texted, but I couldn’t think beyond the sight of him.
“You said you wish you could do things over,” he supplied, the blue of his eyes washing over me.
I nodded, remembering.
He continued, his voice deep and raw and hitting me in places that I never knew a voice could touch. “Because I don’t want to do anything over. Every minute . . . I’d do every fucking minute of it again even if that’s all I could have. But I gotta know. Is it? Do you want more?” He lifted a hand, motioning vaguely to where I stood. “Or are you staying here?”
“I don’t want to stay here,” I said in a rush.
“Good. Because I drove all this way hoping to hear you say that.”
The air released from me in a whoosh. Home. Dartford. Him. Yes. YES. Tears welled up in my eyes.
“Is everything all right, miss?” The hostess, an older lady, looked Logan over in his faded jeans and T-shirt disapprovingly.
And I didn’t care. I nodded dumbly, happiness rolling through me.
Logan watched me closely, his blue gaze intense, peeling away my layers.
“Everything is . . . great.”
Logan closed the distance between us then. He seized me by the face, his touch all at once gentle and rough. His need was palpable. I knew it, recognized it, because it was the same for me.
His hands cupped my cheeks. His fingers splayed wide, each finger a burning imprint. “People wait their whole lives for this. Sometimes half their lives pass before they find it. Sometimes they never do. They settle for something else. Or nothing at all. But we found each other now, Georgia. Do you know how lucky that makes us?”
My chest tightened, emotion clogging my throat, but reality was there, biting at the edges of this beautiful moment, threatening to burst the bubble with the question of how I could make this all work. Love wasn’t going to feed and clothe me and get me through school. “I know, but . . . my parents—”
“What do you want, Georgia?”
He was the first person to ask me that. To care what I wanted. My mother never once asked me what I wanted. She never asked what was important to me.
“I came here for you, Georgia, but if you really want to stay here . . .” He released a deep breath and dropped his hands from my face. “I’ll go.”
A sob burst from my lips. “No. I want you! I want to be with you.” I reached for him, grabbing hold of his head and tugging his face down to mine. “Don’t you dare stop fighting for me now. For us.”
I couldn’t let him go. I chose him. The rest I would figure out.
He kissed me, swallowing the sound of my sob. His hands flattened against my back and hauled me against him.
The hostess sputtered from where she stood a few feet away, but we ignored her.
“I won’t,” he muttered between hot, fevered kisses. “Never.”
“You little whore.”
I tore my mouth from Logan with a gasp to see Harris standing just beyond us with hands balled at his sides. “I came here tonight willing to give you a second chance and you’re ready to spread your legs for this loser who got you arrested.” Logan’s arm tensed under my fingers.
“Harris, enough!” Words burned on my tongue. I wanted to hurl insults at him—and not even for calling me a whore. I wanted to hurt him for calling Logan a loser.
“No, this was good,” Harris continued. “I needed to see this. Like I would even want to put my dick where this punk has been.”
Logan slipped from my grasp before I could even snatch hold of his arm again. He was across the lobby in quick strides and struck Harris in the nose.
Harris flew back into the hostess stand. He shook his head as though to clear it and then charged Logan, wrapping his arms around him and tackling him to the floor.
They went down with a crash on the floor, limbs flailing, fists connecting. The terrible sound of bone on bone filled the air. The hostess screamed.
I danced around them, trying to look for a way to separate the two of them, but they were a tangle. Logan landed more hits, but Harris wouldn’t give up. Somehow they managed to get on their feet again. Locked together, they rammed into a wall, rattling pictures depicting the Tuscan countryside. The hostess danced around them, screaming for them to stop.
I grabbed Harris’s shoulder. “Harris, stop it!”
He twisted halfway and gave me a push that sent me careening into the wall. I slipped down to the ground, a frame falling with me, shattering glass everywhere.
Logan shouted my name and rushed to my side, both hands gently closing on my arms as he lifted me to my feet.
“Georgia! Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” My voice trembled past my lips, a warble on the air. My hands shook.
Logan frowned, his forehead knitting with concern. He didn’t see the sucker punch coming, but I screamed as Harris’s fist connected with his cheek.
Logan slammed into the wall and I forgot all about my fall and shaking limbs. I attacked, jumping on Harris like a monkey. I clawed his face, leaving bloody scratches. I didn’t stop there, raining my fists on any part of him I could reach. Face, shoulders, chest.
I was still cursing him when Logan peeled me off. Gasping, I looked around. The lobby was suddenly full. Waitstaff, gawking restaurant goers. And two uniformed Muskogee police officers, their steel-eyed gazes fixed on me.
He looked up at me, his mouth gaping like a fish. “We ordered already—”
“You can eat. I’m going home. I’ll get my sister to come and get me.” I dropped my napkin on the table then and marched across the restaurant. In the lobby, I stopped and pulled my phone out. I’d had it on vibrate, but I immediately saw there were several texts from Amber and even a missed call. Hoping everything was all right, I clicked on the voicemail first. Her breathless voice filled my ear.
“Georgia! Georgia! Oh. My. God. I can’t believe—”
“Georgia.”
The deep voice hit me like a punch to my solar plexus. Breathing was impossible. I lowered the phone from my ear, my heart a painful thump in my chest. I turned, forgetting about my sister.
“Logan?” He looked amazing. A little rough. Like he hadn’t shaved in days. His clothes were wrinkled against his tense body. But that only made him more beautiful. More dangerous looking. “What are you doing here?”
“Did you mean what you said? In your text?” he demanded.
I moistened my lips and took a step toward him, trying to remember what I had texted, but I couldn’t think beyond the sight of him.
“You said you wish you could do things over,” he supplied, the blue of his eyes washing over me.
I nodded, remembering.
He continued, his voice deep and raw and hitting me in places that I never knew a voice could touch. “Because I don’t want to do anything over. Every minute . . . I’d do every fucking minute of it again even if that’s all I could have. But I gotta know. Is it? Do you want more?” He lifted a hand, motioning vaguely to where I stood. “Or are you staying here?”
“I don’t want to stay here,” I said in a rush.
“Good. Because I drove all this way hoping to hear you say that.”
The air released from me in a whoosh. Home. Dartford. Him. Yes. YES. Tears welled up in my eyes.
“Is everything all right, miss?” The hostess, an older lady, looked Logan over in his faded jeans and T-shirt disapprovingly.
And I didn’t care. I nodded dumbly, happiness rolling through me.
Logan watched me closely, his blue gaze intense, peeling away my layers.
“Everything is . . . great.”
Logan closed the distance between us then. He seized me by the face, his touch all at once gentle and rough. His need was palpable. I knew it, recognized it, because it was the same for me.
His hands cupped my cheeks. His fingers splayed wide, each finger a burning imprint. “People wait their whole lives for this. Sometimes half their lives pass before they find it. Sometimes they never do. They settle for something else. Or nothing at all. But we found each other now, Georgia. Do you know how lucky that makes us?”
My chest tightened, emotion clogging my throat, but reality was there, biting at the edges of this beautiful moment, threatening to burst the bubble with the question of how I could make this all work. Love wasn’t going to feed and clothe me and get me through school. “I know, but . . . my parents—”
“What do you want, Georgia?”
He was the first person to ask me that. To care what I wanted. My mother never once asked me what I wanted. She never asked what was important to me.
“I came here for you, Georgia, but if you really want to stay here . . .” He released a deep breath and dropped his hands from my face. “I’ll go.”
A sob burst from my lips. “No. I want you! I want to be with you.” I reached for him, grabbing hold of his head and tugging his face down to mine. “Don’t you dare stop fighting for me now. For us.”
I couldn’t let him go. I chose him. The rest I would figure out.
He kissed me, swallowing the sound of my sob. His hands flattened against my back and hauled me against him.
The hostess sputtered from where she stood a few feet away, but we ignored her.
“I won’t,” he muttered between hot, fevered kisses. “Never.”
“You little whore.”
I tore my mouth from Logan with a gasp to see Harris standing just beyond us with hands balled at his sides. “I came here tonight willing to give you a second chance and you’re ready to spread your legs for this loser who got you arrested.” Logan’s arm tensed under my fingers.
“Harris, enough!” Words burned on my tongue. I wanted to hurl insults at him—and not even for calling me a whore. I wanted to hurt him for calling Logan a loser.
“No, this was good,” Harris continued. “I needed to see this. Like I would even want to put my dick where this punk has been.”
Logan slipped from my grasp before I could even snatch hold of his arm again. He was across the lobby in quick strides and struck Harris in the nose.
Harris flew back into the hostess stand. He shook his head as though to clear it and then charged Logan, wrapping his arms around him and tackling him to the floor.
They went down with a crash on the floor, limbs flailing, fists connecting. The terrible sound of bone on bone filled the air. The hostess screamed.
I danced around them, trying to look for a way to separate the two of them, but they were a tangle. Logan landed more hits, but Harris wouldn’t give up. Somehow they managed to get on their feet again. Locked together, they rammed into a wall, rattling pictures depicting the Tuscan countryside. The hostess danced around them, screaming for them to stop.
I grabbed Harris’s shoulder. “Harris, stop it!”
He twisted halfway and gave me a push that sent me careening into the wall. I slipped down to the ground, a frame falling with me, shattering glass everywhere.
Logan shouted my name and rushed to my side, both hands gently closing on my arms as he lifted me to my feet.
“Georgia! Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” My voice trembled past my lips, a warble on the air. My hands shook.
Logan frowned, his forehead knitting with concern. He didn’t see the sucker punch coming, but I screamed as Harris’s fist connected with his cheek.
Logan slammed into the wall and I forgot all about my fall and shaking limbs. I attacked, jumping on Harris like a monkey. I clawed his face, leaving bloody scratches. I didn’t stop there, raining my fists on any part of him I could reach. Face, shoulders, chest.
I was still cursing him when Logan peeled me off. Gasping, I looked around. The lobby was suddenly full. Waitstaff, gawking restaurant goers. And two uniformed Muskogee police officers, their steel-eyed gazes fixed on me.
