“I know I won’t.” Even without Logan, it had to happen. I would have gone back to Dartford. He just helped me reach the decision that much sooner.

“Hey,” I said suddenly. “You know this is the first time we’ve had sex in an actual bed? We’re getting boring.”

His chest rumbled with laughter against me. “I’ve been arrested twice in the last month. I’m okay with boring for a little while. Something tells me with you it won’t last.”

I pouted at him and he kissed me again, drawing my bottom lip into his mouth. My fingers ran down his chest, over his quivering stomach and even lower. He was already hard. I lifted wide eyes to him. “Again?”

“Every night you’ve been gone I’ve thought of you. Of being with you again . . . inside you. I missed you.”

Smiling mischievously, I glanced around the hotel room. “This is kind of a nice room.” I smoothed my hand over the crisp sheets. “A nice bed.”

“Good.” He kissed me long and slow and deep. “Because I got us a late checkout.”

Epilogue

One year later . . .

Logan pressed a kiss on my neck as he came up behind me in front of the bathroom mirror as I was applying mascara. He was naked and wet from the shower. His hand drifted to my belted robe, nudging his erection against my backside.

“Hey.” I tsked, covering his hand with my own and stopping him from completely disrobing me right there. “None of that right now. We’re going to be late. I should have started getting ready sooner but someone emailed me this awesome new chapter . . .”

His gaze locked on mine through the mirror. “Did you like it?”

“Like is an understatement. I loved it. When do I get the next chapter?”

He grinned. “Oh, I don’t know.” He gripped my hips, better positioning himself against me. “Maybe you can bribe me for more—”

“You already make me barter for chapters,” I reminded, motioning vaguely in the direction of the living room, where my guitar sat near the futon. It no longer hid in my closet. It was a well-loved and well-played instrument. At Christmas, Logan had surprised me with guitar lessons. In addition to everything else on my plate, I now took lessons once a week. We teased that we had a bartering system going, but Logan liked to hear me play and I liked to read his stories. Win-win.

“I had something else in mind this time . . .”

I groaned, nerves sparking, everything in me responding to him. “Logan, we’re already not going to be on time.”

“Half an hour. Max,” he coaxed.

“It’s Pepper and Reece’s engagement party,” I reminded him as he brushed back the hair from my neck and nibbled along my throat, sending a delicious shiver through me.

“They won’t notice if we’re a little late.”

Turning, I gave in and kissed him. We’d been like this ever since he moved into the apartment above Mulvaney’s with me for the summer. Insatiable. There was something to be said for waking up together every day. Sleeping together every night. There was forever in his eyes, and it never got old.

As soon as I returned to Dartford last summer, I went to Dr. Chase and explained how I was suddenly without finances. He helped push my paperwork through the campus’s financial aid department. I’d missed all the deadlines for aid, but his influence went a long way, and I was able to continue my courses and pay for my textbooks in the fall.

Reece and Pepper let me remain in the loft, so that saved me from paying for the dorm. They refused any efforts I made to pay them. Dr. Chase hired me as his assistant throughout the year. I was learning a lot, making great connections, and earning some money. Enough to eat at least and cover the essentials. And there was Logan.

During the year, he lived in the dorm, which was covered by his scholarship, but spent weekends and a couple nights a week with me—when he didn’t have baseball practice or a game. Occasionally, he still worked at Mulvaney’s, catching a shift here and there. Over the holidays I worked downstairs, too, helping Cook in the kitchen.

I didn’t have money for pedicures anymore or extravagant shopping trips, but what I had was enough. It was more than enough. I was happy. I had Logan and my friends and a future I was excited about.

Mom and I had talked a few times. We were getting there. She was still struggling with the choices I was making, but she had stopped trying to bully me into her way of thinking. Mostly because it wasn’t going to change anything, and she knew that now. It wasn’t going to change me. She had agreed to let me keep my car and even covered the insurance. I’m pretty certain my father had a hand in this—he’d mailed me a check at Christmastime, which went a long way to cover my bills. I wasn’t too proud to accept the help.

On our last call, she had mentioned coming to see me. I told her that would be nice. I looked forward to her getting to know Logan. She had started to ask questions about him. His baseball career interested her. Knowing Mom, she was readjusting her fantasy for me, envisioning me being married to a Major League baseball player.

“Thirty minutes,” Logan repeated, his blue eyes beyond inviting as he unknotted my belt and slid the robe off my shoulders. The terry cloth pooled at my feet.

I shook my head and used my sternest voice on him. “Logan, this isn’t happening.”

He stopped and sighed. “All right.” Bending down, he picked up my robe and handed it to me.

I plucked it from his hands and tossed it across the bathroom. “Thirty minutes isn’t going to cut it.”

He laughed, wrapping his arms around my waist and lifting me off my feet, bringing our naked bodies flush with each other. He walked me out of the bathroom, my toes not so much as grazing the floor. I didn’t need to see to know he was carrying me toward our bed.

“So . . . forty-five minutes?” Grinning, he came down over me on the bed, his arms bracketed on either side of my head.

I cupped the side of his face, reveling in the love for me shining in his eyes. Reveling in touching him, having him, loving him. A pang punched me in the chest. Love was this. Exhilarating and lifesaving. I could never give it up and never place a time limit on it.

I kissed him, whispering against his lips, “We have all the time in the world.”

IT WAS MORE LIKE an hour later when we left the apartment and another thirty minutes before we walked into Reece and Pepper’s house. Happy shouts greeted us. We hugged the bride-and-groom-to-be and endured the friendly jibes for being late. Em eyed my still-damp hair with a knowing smirk. I blinked innocently.