Page 124 of Tattered (Lark Cove 1)

I’d do the same. If I truly thought she’d be happier here than in Montana, we’d stay. I’d sacrifice my home and job and family so she could be with her dad. But I knew deep in my soul that my girl needed open space and big skies.

“She’s all that matters.”

He brought a hand up to my cheek. “Not all.”

A tear fell onto his thumb. “I wish—”

“I know.” His eyes were still full of pain, but there was understanding too. “Me too.”

Logan blew out a deep breath and stood from the bed. “I don’t

know what to do.”

I shrugged. “There’s nothing to do. We move forward. We make Charlie’s life as happy as it can be.”

“And what about us?”

I looked at my lap and let a few more tears fall onto my dress. “I think it would be better to end it now. Before it gets even harder.”

“Even harder?” He scoffed. “Thea, I am in love with you. I have a ring in my suitcase that I’d hoped to give you tonight. How could it get any harder?”

My shoulders began to shake. “I love you too.”

“Just not enough to stay.”

My entire body flinched. The pain burned hot for a moment until anger took its place. “You could move. Why are we the ones who have to make the huge life change?”

He shook his head. “I can’t. My career is in New York. My family too. You’re not the only one who’s proud of what they’ve accomplished and doesn’t want to give it up.”

“Okay. Then we’re back to where we were.” I swiped my eyes dry. “The impossible.”

He stopped pacing, his balled fists relaxing. “I don’t want to fight.”

“Me neither.”

I didn’t want us to end on bad terms. We had years ahead of us as Charlie’s parents, and they’d be easier if we could end this amicably. We had to find a way to move past the pain and just focus on raising a happy child.

Logan crossed the room to take my hands and pull me to my feet. Then he wrapped me in his arms, breathing in my hair. “I don’t want to let you go. Being with you. Having Charlie. It’s the happiest I’ve ever been. But my family. My career. I can’t—”

“It’s okay.” I relaxed into his chest. “I understand.”

And I did. I didn’t blame him for needing to stay. But we’d hit a dead end on our conversation and there wasn’t anything more to say.

I leaned back, standing on my tiptoes to press my lips against his.

He returned my kiss without hesitation, taking charge like he always did.

I melted into him completely, telling him through my touches how desperate I was for things to be different.

We stripped each other bare and fell into a tangled mess of limbs under the bed sheets. Neither of us wanted to break away to turn off the lights. Logan made love to me with his weight bearing down hard, like he wanted to keep me pinned to this place. He moved over me with a ferocity I’d never seen before. The despair in his eyes never really gone, just masked by heat.

And through it all, I held him tight, whispering the three words I’d never say to another man, memorizing the way he said them in return. I love you didn’t scare me now.

It was just . . . the perfect end.

“Hello.”

I looked up from my lounge chair as Thomas and Lillian came out to the patio. “Hi.”