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."Logan laughed.*'The beauty of a small town— someone's private business is always more jaw-dropping than our own.'*"That's one of the reasons I'm here," Cynthia said.'*You came to tell me about your cousin DeeDee?"She shook her head."No.I came because I heard that Elena O'Brien is living with you.""She's not living with me," he corrected hastily.If that got around, Elena would skewer him."She and her sister are staying in a separate apartment from mine.""Oh." Cynthia looked disappointed."I thought we could exchange congratulations.And I wanted to thank you, too.""Thank me for what?""For showing me what passion is." She grinned."/showed you?""In a backhanded sort of way.I thought the comfortable relationship we had was something to build a lifetime on.But then I found Nicky." Her face glowed."It's not comfortable, it's not even easy, but he makes me feel so alive,'^Logan shook his head.Cynthia had always been as cool as the cucumber masks she slathered on her face every Sunday night.It should be impossible to consider her a passionate woman—^if he hadn't seen the look in her eyes when she mentioned her fiance's name."I'm so happy for you," he said, though her definition of a "not comfortable" and "not easy" pas-sion made him distinctly wncomfortable."Come here and give me a hug."If Logan had wanted to make Elena's life miserable, he couldn't have done anything more than offer himself up—and then leave it to her to decide whether to take him.She hadn't slept a wink the previous night and she'd been distracted all day long.At noon, she'd run from her day job to the high school for a meeting with the senior prom committee.What a waste of time that had been.She couldn't recall a thing they'd decided and she was going to have to remember to abase herself to the ferocious secretary of the conmiittee to get a copy of the meeting minutes ASAP.For all she knew, she'd volunteered to chaperon, and she'd promised Gabby she'd do anything but that.Now, here it was, a beautiful May evening, and she was no nearer to a decision regarding Logan.She hesitated at the bottom of the steps leading to the Victorian's wide front porch.Something told her he'd want to know her decision the instant she walked inside.If only she wasn't such a lousy judge of men! Following the disaster with Logan, she'd steered clear of boys until her senior year in high school.Then she'd spent a few months dating one of those bad-boy types—^no coincidence that he was the exact opposite of Logan—^but he'd abruptly stopped calling whenher grandmother had died and she'd taken on the responsibility of her sister.Four years later, a burgeoning relationship had fallen to ruins when the man realized Elena didn't have time to play corporate girlfriend, let alone corporate wife.After that, men hadn't seemed worth the trouble.She'd been a busy woman with a little sister to raise.The men she met never paid any attention to Gabby and they'd hardly seemed interested in Elena herself.They'd only seemed focused on the way she looked.But Logan.Logan seduced her with his canng.It frightened her, because his support and strength sounded so appealing.What if she came to depend upon it and then he left her?And leaving her was exactly what was going to happen.He'd suggested they get close so that they QO\M finish things between them, after all.Would that really work? Could she spend time with him as a way to achieve a clean ending? It sounded risky, but there was the fact that Elena's best friend was married to his brother.If she and Logan didn't do something about the ever-present tension between them, there would be stressful social situations for years to come.A warm breeze blew across her face.It smelled like gardenias and it instantly brought to mind Annie's wedding.They'd both carried bouquets of the fragrant, creamy-white flowers, and, as maid of honor, Elena had paraded toward the altar, feeling almost bride-like herself in a long satin dress.She'd dared topeek at Logan, standing as best man beside his brother, and for a second or two she'd let herself imagine it was her own wedding and she was walking forward to join her life to his.Oh, that was such a dangerous sort of imagining! And she had to admit she didn't think these fantasies would go away unless she took drastic measures [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]