She sat up, her hair falling over her breasts. One dark nipple peeked out between the raven curls, and he quickly turned away. She looked way too damn sexy sitting there with the sheet wrapped around her hips, her lips swollen and moist from sucking him.
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"Okay," she finally answered, rising and tossing on a pair of sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt. She wound her hair up and grabbed a clip from the dresser, pinning her hair loosely.
Fuck, even dressed like that with her hair a tumbled mess she still looked desirable.
His cock fired to life again, and he all but ran to the door.
"Logan, wait!"
He cringed, but stopped and turned around. She approached and paused a few inches from him.
"Thank you. For yesterday at your parents. For last night, too."
He nodded, unable to say what he needed to say to her. Tell her it's over, you moron. How fucking hard is that?
Instead, he grabbed her and planted a passionate kiss on her lips, then quickly pulled away and stepped outside before he did something incredibly stupid.
Like walking back in there and making love to her.
Forever.
*
"He hurt you, didn't he?"
Sophie looked up at Josh. "No, he didn't."
She wouldn't let Logan push her away. She wasn't going to leave things between them unsettled, no matter if Logan was avoiding her.
"When did you see him last?" Samantha asked, handing Sophie one of the new crystals they'd received in today's shipment.
"Sunday." Four days ago. No calls, and he hadn't come by. Not that she'd expected him to.
Okay, maybe she had expected him to.
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"You slept with him, didn't you?" Josh said, his voice accusing.
"That's none of your business, Joshua."
"Since when? Everything about your life has been my business, Soph. For years.
Now you can't confide in me anymore?"
She rubbed her temples, more confused than ever. No man had ever mattered enough to her to withhold how she felt, but she knew if she told Josh about Logan, it would only hurt him more than she already had.
"Josh, look. I know how you feel about me, and I just don't think it's a good idea if I tell you about my sex life."
He inhaled sharply, jaw clenching. "Well, there's my answer, then. You did sleep with him."
Before she could say anything else, he left the shop.
Sophie felt horrible. She'd never led him on, but she still hated hurting him.
"He's working on it, Soph," Sam said, patting her hand. "He told me he's been dating this girl who teaches at the college."
Sophie stared wistfully at the closed door, wondering if she should go after Josh.
"Really? He didn't mention her to me."
"And he probably won't. You know how he is--how he's always been. He hides his feelings from everyone, and the one time he--"
She paused, and Sophie nodded. "I know, I know. The one time he bared his heart, I stomped all over it." Burying her head in her hands, she mumbled, "I'm between a rock and hard place with Josh. I don't know what to do to make it right with him."
"There's nothing you can do. He has to find his own way. He's still young, for a man, Sophie. This burning torch he's carried for you since elementary school will pass once he finds the woman of his dreams."
And no one would be happier to see him find a woman who would love him like he deserved to be loved.
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"I'll talk to him," Sophie said.
"Do whatever you think is best. Now, tell me what's going on with Logan."
She groaned. "I don't know. Sunday was...magical. Perfect. Hot, passionate, we even shared magic."
"But?"
"But he hurried out of there so damn fast Monday morning that you would have thought his pants were on fire. And I haven't heard from him since."
Not that she'd called him, or tried to see him. She wanted to give him space to think, and maybe that had been a mistake.
"Go after him. You already know he's not going to come to you willingly. If you want him, search him out."
She was just cowardly enough to not want to have the door slammed in her face if she did just that. "I don't know. I haven't had a vision in a few days. Maybe the danger to him and his family was false."
"Maybe you're just a coward and this has nothing to do with the visions and you know it."
Sometimes it sucked to have a best friend who knew her so well. "You're right. But really, Sam, how many times should I let him get close and then run away before I give up?"
"Depends on how you feel about him."
Sam gave her a pointed look.
"I don't know how I feel. No, wait, that's not true. I'm crazy about him, Sam. He makes my heart pound, and oh God the sex is amazing, but there's also something so vulnerable about him, as if he's got this huge fear of not measuring up. It's odd, because that's so not like his outward persona."
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"Look. This is going to sound hokey as hell, but I really believe true love only comes around once in a lifetime. And if you don't grab it when you see it, it's lost forever. If you love him, honey, then grab it."
She nodded, contemplating her next move. First she needed to talk to Josh and smooth things over with her friend. Then she'd work on Logan after that.
*
She found Josh at the park, knowing that when he needed to brood, that was where he'd go. It's where he always ran off to, even when they were kids and his mom had left for one of her overnight or several night jaunts, leaving Josh alone with his alcoholic fa
ther.
If anyone needed love in his life, it was Josh. She sat next to him on the bench, not speaking, just staring at the trees and the playground, remembering their laughter, how easy it had been for the three of them to bond as children.
How tight that bond had always been. Until lately.
"Josh, I miss you."
He didn't turn to look at her. "He's going to hurt you, Sophie. You're chasing a fantasy. Logan Storm is never going to give you what you want and what you deserve."
"I wish it were you, Josh. I really wish I could--"
"It's not that," he interrupted. "Not anymore." Then he did turn to her, his eyes the same gentle brown that had made her feel his warmth. "Despite the fact that you and Sam seem to think I'm pining away over you, you're wrong. I've found someone, and I like her. A lot."
She smiled and reached for his hand. "I'm happy for you, Josh. That's all I ever wanted for you. For all of us. To love and be loved in return."
"I know that now. Hey, I'm a guy," he said with a sharp grin. "I like to think I'm irresistible to the ladies. When you didn't want me, I had...ego issues."
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Giggling and feeling much more lighthearted than she had in awhile, she asked about his new girl.
"She's a professor at the college. New to town. She's from Nebraska. Such a sweet thing, too, Sophie. You and Sam would really like her."
The animation in his face, the excitement in his eyes, told her she'd gotten her friend back. She hugged him. "Bring her around the shop sometime soon, okay?"
"I will. Now, about you and Logan. You gotta listen to me, Sophie. I only want you to be happy. And pining away for a man who clearly doesn't love you is a lot like...well, a lot like what I was doing with you."
How could she explain that it wasn't the same at all? "I'll give it some thought, Josh." She kissed him on the cheek and headed toward the shop. She had a lot of thinking to do. About what Josh said as well as Sam.
And about what the next step was with Logan.
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Chapter Eleven
One week. One fucking entire week and Sophie hadn't called or tried to see him.
She'd seen plenty of his family, though. How the hell she got involved in helping with the wedding planning for Shannon and Aidan was beyond his ability to understand.