Their hair was damp, but their bodies were warm. Warm enough that they sat there contentedly for quite some time, before she twisted around with a little smile.
“...bath time?”
TEN MINUTES LATER, Lacy and Logan were soaking in the tub. Nestled down amongst a sea of lavender-scented bubbles. The light of a dozen candles flickering over their skin.
“You know,” Lacy murmured, casting a sudden look over her shoulder, “you made a serious miscalculation in coming here today.”
He gazed down at her, kissing the top of her hair.
“Oh yeah?”
She nodded happily, snuggling deeper into his arms. “Your plan backfired. If that was your version of punishment...then I’m interrupting your showers from now on.”
He laughed quietly, tightening his arms around her waist. They hadn’t done a lot of talking since getting into the water, they’d done a lot of thinking instead. Cuddling comfortably in the restful silence. What Lacy had been thinking about, Logan didn’t know. But for him, it was easy. There was only one thing on his mind.
She had called him Dylan.
Just once. When he was inside her. When she was gazing up into his eyes. She’d whispered the name without thinking, and it was like a dagger to the chest.
He had to tell her. He should have told her the day they met. The first moment she showed him those pictures and accused him of cheating. He should have told her then.
Now...was it too late? Could she ever forgive him? Ever understand?
“What are you thinking about?”
He looked down with a start to see her gazing up at him, a contented smile painted across her lovely face. His chest tightened and his mind raced—searching for something plausible. For something that wouldn’t break her heart.
“I was wondering...why you started your detective agency.”
Perfect. That was neutral ground, right?
Lacy’s eyes widened in surprise, then her entire body wilted with a tired sigh.
...or maybe not?
“A few years ago, I was dating this guy. Jeffrey.” Her voice tightened at the word, then she continued on in a soft monotone. “We’d been together for a really long time. Since high school, in fact. He was my first real boyfriend. I trusted him completely...”
She trailed off, gazing into the light of the candles.
“I never would have guessed that he was cheating on me the entire time.”
Logan’s mouth fell open in shock at the abrupt end to the story. What the hell kind of guy would do such a thing? And who, in their right mind, could possibly do it to Lacy?
His fists clenched in a belated sort of rage, before relaxing slowly and wrapping even tighter around her skin. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, feeling genuinely heartbroken for the girl cradled in his arms. “I’m so sorry that happened to you. How did you find out?”
She flashed a tight smile, as her eyes gazed years into the past.
“He got sloppy. I came home one day to find them both lying in our bed.” Her lips curved up in a wry smile. “Kind of hard for him to deny it then.”
For a second, both of them were quiet. Then she pushed past it with a deliberate smile.
“After that, I decided to use my experience to help women in the same situation. Women who were so caught up in the love, that they couldn’t see the lie. Make a career out of my silver lining. Does that make any sense?”
...so caught up in the love, that they couldn’t see the lie...
Logan was completely frozen, paralyzed by those simple words. With every beat of his heart, he felt as though the guilt would overpower him. With every faltering breath, he felt as though he would die if he didn’t confess the truth.
But then she would leave. And he’d never see her again.