I got to my feet and began brushing off the packed snow. “The only thing that hurts is my pride. I’m suppose to be impressing you.”

“Oh, I’m impressed,” she teased. “It’s not every day I have to save the FBI agent.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ve got jokes. I see how you are. You wait until a man is down to break out your seductive powers.”

When she smirked and placed her hands on her hips it was too cute to ignore. I grabbed a hold of the elastic of her pants and pulled us both down on the cold snow floor. She squealed until she realized I was preventing her from getting wet. With us both bundled, I brought my hands around her back as far as they would allow. “I think you need to kiss me to make me feel better.”

“Oh, so you’re one of those guys – all needy and shit?”

“Maybe I am. Is it a bad thing?”

“Only if you take advantage of it. I mean, I don’t mind taking care of a man, but when he gets lazy I’m going to kick his ass back in gear.”

Her hat was starting to fall off. I reached up and placed it back securely on her head. “If you haven’t noticed, I enjoy taking care of people too.”

“I’ve noticed,” she mentioned before her lips hit mine. When she pulled away our eyes were locked on each other. “I like being like this, Logan. I hope when we get home we’ll continue whatever this is between us.”

Her words were like the shrill of a tree right before it cracks apart and falters to the ground beneath it. I may as well have been underneath of a falling tree. That’s how bad I felt when she started talking about having a relationship with me. How was I to answer? How did I tell her I wanted the same thing, but knew it would never happen?

“You make me want things, Cassie. All this time you’ve been living in my house and I never knew we could have this. We’ve wasted so much time ignoring each other.”

“So let’s change it now. We can go slow. I’ll stay in my room every night. We can date like normal couples do. Maybe you could even take me out on a couple dates.”

“Will you let me cop a feel when the night is over?”

“I might let you do more, if you treat me right.” This was a catastrophe. Had I known this would occur I never would have called her parents. Instead I’d discovered something amazing and knew I couldn’t have it. I flipped us over and started to get up, before helping her to her feet.

“If you keep attacking me I’ll be forced to take you back to the room and show you a good time.”

She smacked me on the ass. “Don’t worry, Agent Campbell, I’m going to need you to warm me up later.”

It was enough incentive to want to take off the skis and call it a day, though Cassie had other plans. She took off down the mountain, only looking back to make sure I was going to follow. I held my breath and pushed off, praying I could make it to the bottom without wiping out again.

Chapter  29

Cassie

I really thought he’d be a better skier. Throughout the day I ended up teaching him a few things to help him stay on his feet. It was fun and entertaining seeing him struggle with something, when I’d always admired his precision with everything else in his life.

After a long day on the slopes, we retreated to the room to warm up in the jacuzzi tub. Unlike the day before, we didn’t have to waste time bickering about what we wanted and why we shouldn’t act on it.

Twenty-four hours later and we were stripping each other down, rushing to get as close as physically possible. Once inside the tub, Logan took his time washing me, massaging my shoulders, and placing chaste kisses every place his tender lips could reach. He washed my hair, working the lather in with his fingertips, and then rinsing with his hand shielding my eyes. I found it to be so enduring. It was the little details I picked up most with Logan. It made me feel like he was too good for me, but I wasn’t about to stop what we were doing because I felt I didn’t deserve him. If he wasn’t complaining, neither would I.

“This is nice,” I mentioned as he continued rinsing the soap from my scalp.

“It’s my pleasure. I like pampering you. I know I’ll be rewarded later,” he teased.

“I’m open to suggestions. It’s not every day I get to be treated like a princess.”

He sort of shocked me when he changed the subject. “What was it like for you growing up on the farm, Cassie? Were you daddy’s little girl?”

I spun around and looked him the eyes. “Why would you bring that up?”

“I want to know more about you. It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”

“It’s not that. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss them. To answer your question, yes, I was daddy’s little girl. My sister Cammie is older, but only by ten months. She was always pretty independent, while I required more attention. The four of us kids were all close in age. I guess my parents were like wild rabbits when they were younger. I’ve been told my mother was pregnant while still married to another man. He was violent with a criminal record. Anyway, long story short, my father sort of saved her from him. They fell in love, and once she got pregnant my dad popped the question.”

“Wasn’t she still married. Isn’t that what you just said?”

“He died. He abducted my mother and several other family members and held them at the ranch in Kentucky. This woman he’d been screwing around with ended up shooting him to save my mom. It’s a long and crazy story, but it ends with all of us being born.”

“Wow. I thought I have stories to tell.”

“Oh, you have no idea. My family has a ton of drama, but at the end of the day they’d do anything to stay together.”

“Why’d you leave then? Do you not have the same values?”

I slid to the other side of the tub, feeling as if he was judging me more than usual. “I left because I thought Brant was my future. I left because I was the biggest idiot on the planet.”

“I just don’t understand why you feel like they’d never welcome you back.”

He’d hit a nerve and I couldn’t let it go. “I need to get out of this water. My hands are starting to prune up.” I climbed out and wrapped a towel around me before he ever realized what was going on. When I exited the bathroom he said nothing. He didn’t ask me to come back, or say he was sorry for pushing. I was pretty angry about it.

Logan came out of the bathroom a few minutes later. He climbed on the mattress where I sat and pulled one of my hands up to his lips. “Don’t be mad at me, Cassie. I shouldn’t have pried. It’s none of my business. I just hate knowing there are people who love and miss you.”

I rolled my eyes, because he was apologizing, but still did it anyway. “Seriously?”

“Sorry,” he repeated. “Let me make it up to you. Let’s go have a nice dinner and then we’ll come back and watch a movie in bed. I promise not to bring it up again.”

I was fine with his idea, but there was something he deserved to know. “I can’t face my mom, Logan. That’s why I can’t go back. The things I said to her are unforgivable.”

He stroked the side of my face. “Mothers are stronger than you think. You’d be surprised how much someone is willing to let go just for a second chance. We only have one life, Cassie. I know you don’t understand it from my point of view, but I know what it’s like to never be able to see my parents again. Mine are gone. They’re dead and buried. Your parents are still around. You won’t know how things could turn out if you never try to resolve them.”

“I can’t.” I shook my head. “Maybe you have a point, but I still can’t face them. I can’t look into their eyes and face the fact that I tore out their hearts for a piece of shit like Brant.”

“I have to look at it differently than you. If you never moved to Vegas with Brant, we wouldn’t have met, and we’d never be here right now.” He ran his hand over the back of my hair. “I’m happy I met you, Cassie. I’m glad I could be the one to save you. It’s been nice coming home and knowing you’re there.”