Saving Savannah (Haven, Texas 3)

“You guys?” She frowned slightly. “Why would you be at fault?”

“I was supposed to be with you that day.” The darkness in his voice surprised her. She frowned, thinking back.

“You were going to come with me. But something came up on the ranch. You had to stay.”

She’d forgotten that. How had she forgotten that? But then, it seemed she’d forgotten a lot. Or suppressed it.

“If I’d been with you then you wouldn’t have stopped. He wouldn’t have taken you.”

Oh, no. No, no, no. Had he been living with this guilt, and she hadn’t noticed? How hadn’t she known? Regret coursed through her, and she had to wait for a moment before she could speak without crying.

“It’s not your fault.”

“No?” His face closed down, his shoulders hunching in. “How do you figure that?”

“Because you had no idea what would happen. I’ve driven to Freestown probably a hundred times by myself, and nothing bad ever happened. You didn’t do this, Logan, he did.”

“It’s my job to take care of you.”

She shook her head with a small smile. “Logan, you can’t protect me from everything and everyone. If it’s not my fault then it’s not yours, either.”

They stared at each other for a long moment. He drew her against his chest once more, and she sank into his embrace, drinking it up. “I like holding you like this. I’ve missed it.”

“You have?” she asked breathlessly.

“Of course, I have. Why would you ask me that?”

She glanced down, twisting her fingers together.

“Savannah, talk.” His voice was low and commanding and it sent chills of longing through her. She used to complain how bossy he was, but she’d actually missed the way he took command.

She looked over at the door, the floor, staring at anything but him. “You haven’t touched me much lately. I thought maybe you didn’t want to.”

The sound of a door banging made her jump, her heart race. Logan tightened his arms around her. “It’s just Max.”

“Savannah? Logan?”

“In here,” Logan barked back. She winced, covering her ears with her hands.

“Sorry,” Logan said sheepishly.

Max appeared in the doorway, and she gasped at the sight of him. His right eye was swollen, his jaw bruised. There were scratches on his arms, and his clothing was disheveled.

“Max? Are you okay?”

Max was harder to read than Logan. But he’d always opened up to her. Or she thought he had. Until she’d seen the unpaid bills in his desk drawers. She wondered if Logan knew about them or if Max had kept them from him as well since he did all the bookwork for the ranch.

“What are the two of you doing?” Max snapped.

She stiffened, pulling away from Logan. But the other man tightened his hold on her.

“Stay there,” Logan barked. She stared up at him in surprise.

Max frowned at Logan. “Don’t snap at her.”

“I’m not. I’m giving her an order not to move away. Because I like touching her and I haven’t done it enough lately. Neither of us has.”

Her breath caught as Max moved his dark gaze to her.