Logan spent the rest of the afternoon pretending to work, and then he had dinner with his family and Katie. He acted like everything was normal, but inside, he was obsessing over how to ease the heartbreaking anxiety in Katie’s eyes.

He could live with not having everything he wanted. He could live with only being Katie’s friend.

But he couldn’t live with Katie hurting this way, especially since he was the one who had hurt her.

He had to think of something to do that would fix things.

And he had to stop thinking about how it had felt in Katie’s arms, Katie’s body, that afternoon.

Sloan and Maria had come over again for dinner, so it was a full table. As he tried to make casual conversation over boiled crab and roasted vegetables, he kept looking over at Katie discreetly, trying to read her thoughts from her lovely, strained features. Several times he caught her giving him the same kind of looks.

She thought their friendship was ruined, but he couldn’t let that happen.

After dessert and cleanup, it was just nine o’clock, but Katie murmured to him that she was tired, so she thought she’d go up to bed early.

Logan knew that meant she wanted to be alone.

He walked up the stairs with her, and they stood staring at each other in front of her door, the way they’d done earlier that day.

He had absolutely no idea what to say to make this all better. All he wanted to do was grab her, sink into a kiss, swing her into his arms, and carry her into the room, over to her bed. He wanted to take her until both of them were limp and satisfied.

That wasn’t what she wanted though.

She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Instead, she took a step forward and stretched up to give him a light kiss on his jaw. “If you keep giving me those worried looks, your face is going to freeze that way.”

He was so surprised and relieved that he choked on a soft laugh. “I am worried.”

“I know. So am I.”

“Just tell me what you need me to do. If you need some space, if you need me to back off for a while, if you need me to… to never touch you again, I’ll do it. I promise I will.”

Her eyes filled with tears that didn’t fall. “I don’t… I don’t know what I need, Logan. And it’s not just about me. And I’m worried about you too.”

“You’re the most important thing.”

“Not to me.” She took a long breath that raised and then lowered her slim shoulders. “I love you, you know.”

His heart leapt at the gentle words. He couldn’t stop it from doing so. Even though he knew her statement didn’t mean what he wanted it to mean. She only meant as a friend.

Not as the love of her life.

He cleared his throat. “I love you too. And that’s why we’re going to get through this.”

“I hope so.” She looked like she might say something else, but instead she turned away from him and stepped into her room, closing the door behind her.

As he headed back downstairs, he felt a little better than he had going up.

At least she was talking to him, smiling at him, kissing his cheek. She wasn’t pulling away from him.

That was so much better than he’d feared might happen.

His parents were in the living room—his dad reading in his favorite leather recliner and his mom working on a laptop. Logan went into the kitchen to get something to drink and was surprised to see Sloan still seated on a stool at the kitchen bar.

“Where is Maria?” Logan asked, taking a bottle of water out of the refrigerator.

“She went home.” He put down the phone he’d been focused on. “She gets tired early with the pregnancy and everything.”

“And you didn’t want to go with her?”

Sloan gave a little shrug. “I don’t get to see you all that often, so I figured I’d stay.”

Logan was both surprised and pleased by this display of brotherly feeling, although he suspected Sloan had sensed that something was wrong with him.

His suspicion was confirmed when Sloan asked, “So what’s going on with Katie?” He’d kept his voice down so their parents in the other room couldn’t hear.

Logan sat down on the stool beside his brother and took a long swig of water. “I have no idea.”

“There was some definite tension over dinner. Maria thought Katie was going to cry a couple of times. You weren’t an idiot to her or something, were you?”

Logan let out a soft, ironic exhale. “I don’t know. Maybe I was.”

“Have you told her how you feel?”

Logan had never told his brother—or anyone else—how he felt about Katie, but he wasn’t really surprised that Sloan knew anyway. “Kind of.”

“Kind of doesn’t really work in these situations. Believe me. I know. Just tell her. Straight out. All the way.”

“She doesn’t want to hear it.”

“How do you know?”

“Because she’s told me—quite clearly. She doesn’t want a relationship.”

“People say that all the time. I used to say it. I changed my mind when I met Maria. Maybe Katie will change her mind too. You’ll never know until you take the chance.”

It wasn’t as easy as his brother was implying. Logan had let Katie know how he felt this afternoon. He’d let go of all his suppressed feelings in a wave of passion at the beach house. She had to know he wanted more than friendship.

She had to.

And afterward she’d told him quite clearly that it wasn’t what she wanted.

Sloan went on as if Logan had said this out loud. “How can she know you want to offer her everything unless you tell her?”

Logan sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. “I’d rather have something with her than nothing.”

“But maybe you can have everything.” Sloan stood up and clapped Logan on the back in a supportive gesture. “I know this from experience. You’ll never find out unless you’re willing to take a risk.”

Logan sat perfectly still as his brother went to say good night to their parents and then left the house altogether.

It was several minutes before Logan finally made up his mind.

When he did, he stood up and looked down at himself. He still wore the black T-shirt and old khaki trousers he’d changed into after the reunion. His hair was probably a mess. He definitely needed to shave. He didn’t look particularly impressive at the moment.

It didn’t matter.

He needed to do this now.

He walked upstairs, made a quick stop in his room, and then knocked on Katie’s door.

After a moment, the knob turned and she swung it open.

She’d changed into a little white tank top with lace straps and light blue cotton pajama pants. Her hair was loose, and her feet were bare. Her face was scrubbed clean.

His heart and body both surged with appreciation, with desire, with ownership.

She looked young and fresh and innocent and beautiful.

She looked like she was his.

She blinked at him in confusion. “Logan, what is it? Is everything all right?”

He shook his head and tried to speak, but no words came out.

“Logan?” She reached out and touched his chest very lightly.

His blood surged again at the little touch.

“I’m stepping up,” he said at last.

Her eyes widened, and her cheeks flushed slightly. “You’re…”

“Stepping up.”

He could see from her changing expression that she was remembering their conversation that morning on the beach. She would know exactly what he meant.

“I’m stepping up, and I’m taking what I want,” he continued, his voice unnaturally thick.

“You’re taking…” She was visibly breathing faster now as she realized what he was saying.

“What I want.”

“And what you want is…”

“Is you.”

Her lips parted, and he couldn’t possibly resist the lush curve of them. He reached out to take her face in his hands and leaned into a hungry kiss.

She responded immediately, beautifully. Her body softened, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her body against his.

She wanted him.

She wanted him.

He could feel it so clearly in her response to him.

He pushed the door closed with his foot and gathered her up into his arms so her legs were wrapped around his waist. He carried her to the bed and laid her down, excitement and desire slamming into him in hard waves as she pulled him on top of her without hesitation.

“Katie, baby,” he murmured against her skin as he worked on ridding her of her pajamas so he could press little kisses all over her soft body. “This is what I want. You are what I want.”

“I want you too,” she gasped, arching up as he tended to one of her nipples with his tongue. “Logan, I want you so much. I didn’t mean to. I thought I… didn’t. But I just… I just can’t help it. I… I… only want you.”

Now his heart was throbbing as much as his blood, his groin. She did want him. This afternoon hadn’t simply been an outlet for her sexual frustration.

He knew—he knew—this was right. This was exactly where they were supposed to be.

She was as responsive to his touches as she’d been that afternoon. She was almost writhing with pleasure and frustration as he stroked and suckled. Her cheeks were deeply red now, her hair was mussed, and she was biting her lower lip so she wouldn’t cry out too loudly.

They were in his parents’ house, after all.

He was so aroused and overwhelmed by feeling that he knew he wasn’t going to make it very long. Her little hands were pulling at his clothes, so he helped her get rid of them so that he was as naked as she was.

He’d gotten a condom from his room before he knocked on her door, so he pulled it out of the pocket of his trousers before he dropped them onto the floor.

Her eyes were wide and deep and almost wild as she watched him. When he’d rolled the condom on, he positioned himself between her legs.

She was just as needy as he was. She pulled him closer, pressed her hips up to help him sink inside her more quickly.

Then they were moving together, her arms and legs wrapped around him. Hot. Hungry. Holding nothing back. He kept kissing her for as long as he could focus, and then he grunted softly as they worked up toward orgasm. He managed to hold out long enough for her to find release in gasps and shudders before he let go of his control completely.

He was still giving her clumsy kisses as he came down from his powerful release. He was hot and sticky, and his arms and legs felt weak.

And he also felt better than he ever had in his life, like he’d finally found his perfect home.

Katie was clinging to him as if she couldn’t let him go.

“This isn’t wrong, baby,” he murmured against her neck. “This is exactly the way we should be together. It’s still us. Just more of us.”

“I know.” Her fingers were tangling in his hair now. “I know.”

He let out a relieved exhale. “So… so do you think this is what you want?”

“It is. Logan, it is. I want you too. So much.”

He groaned as the months of desire and patience and frustration and aching need all came to a delicious fruition. He kissed her slowly, deeply before he reluctantly pulled away to take care of the condom.

She reached her arms out to him afterward, and he pulled her against him, covering them both with the sheet and blanket.

He was so exhausted he wasn’t sure how long he could stay awake.

It turned out it wasn’t very long.

He’d fallen asleep before he could say anything else.