day when I was grown up."
"She told you that?"
His soft kiss found my lips. A number of times
Logan had kissed me, and not once had I felt as
aroused by his clumsy, boyish approaches as I did by
a man who obviously knew exactly what to do to
make my skin tingle. When I should have known better, I responded much too quickly, then jerked away. "You don't have to take pity on me and make
up lies."
"I would never lie to you about something so
important." Both his hands cupped my head so he
could tip it at an angle that suited him, and his next
kiss on my lips was more intense. I could hardly
breathe. "The more I think back, the more I remember
how much I loved your mother."
Gently he eased me back on the hill of hay,
holding me close to his chest, as my arms rose
automatically to encircle him. "Go on. Tell me more." "Not now, Heaven, not now. Just let me hold
you until the storm is over. Let me think more about
what's happening between us. I have held back from
loving you. I don't want to be just another man who
hurts you."
"I'm not afraid."
"You're only eighteen. I'm twenty-three." I couldn't believe what I said next. "Jessie
Shackle-ton was seventy-five when he married Lettie
Joyner who lived ten miles outside the Willies, and
she gave him three sons and two daughters before he
died at age ninety."
He groaned and buried his face in my wet hair. "Don't tell me anything more. We both need to think
before it's too late to stop what's already begun." Wonder filled me. He did love me! It was in his
voice, in the way he held me and tried to warn me. With the pounding of the rain overhead, with