Her Cruise Ship Surprise | ✔

Chapter Five

"As responsive as ever I see."

She elbowed him and pushed the door open, stomping into the room. It was just like him to invade her personal space. Something he had loved doing before, too. No amount of time would let her forget their bodies entwined in a lover's lock.

"You're a dick," she snapped.

He slipped his shoes off and sat on the bed he was sleeping in earlier. "I think we've already established that."

Tamara flexed her fingers, itching to deck him. The man deserved to be pummeled. She'd been all set to go to dry grad with him. They'd even hired a limo to go in style and he never showed. She'd never seen him again. Whenever she tried to call him to find out what happened, she'd never been able to get through to him.

The pain of that night stayed with her, growing with each passing breakup. Reminding her again and again that men were callous, hard shitheads that would leave you in the lurch. They were a fuck-em-and-leave-em breed. And if that's what they did, then why should she be any different?

She had taken control instead of giving it to them from then on out. She'd leave when she chose to leave and not the other way around. Her heart now belonged to no man or so she had to repeat to herself a hundred times when it started to drift in Logan's direction. Now he was here again, as sexy as ever, and Tamara wanted to ring his neck.

"It's good to see you, Mara."

"Don't call me that!"

If they had cell service, she'd give Caleb and her family an earful. The one thing they didn't give her was an internet or cell phone package, and she didn't feel like going through the hoops to get it.

"You used to love it," Logan said, his eyes following her around the room. Her back was ramrod straight and her hands were rolled into fists as she tried to make sense of their predicament.

Finally she collapsed on the chair by the desk with her back to him, resting her elbow on the desk and her forehead in her hand. "Just leave me alone."

"Mara," he said softly moving onto the bed behind her, resting his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Tamara smacked his hand away and she turned to face him, tears filling her eyes. She wiped them away viciously with her hand. "Your apology is 14 years too late."

Logan watched the tear trail a path down her cheek and sucked in a hard breath, feeling very much like he had just gotten sucker punched in the gut. When he went to reach for her again, she scrambled off the chair, her back against the balcony door.

"Let's get one thing straight. We may have to share a room, but that doesn't give you the right to touch me, kiss me, or anything else. You got that?" He nodded, and then she continued her tirade. "And it doesn't mean I have to talk to you."

Tamara stormed off to the bathroom, leaving him running a hand through his wavy blond hair as a heavy weight settled on his heart. He knew he wasn't going to get anywhere without telling her everything.

Walking over to where she had disappeared, he leaned against the wall, staying silent for a moment. He didn't really relish the idea of telling her the truth, especially given that she was a cop. He may be a free man now, but that didn't mean people didn't harbor their own thoughts on the matter.

Logan took a deep breath and ventured into the unknown. "Did anyone tell you why I left?"

"I don't care," came her broken voice.

"I want you to know that I didn't leave you because I wanted to. I didn't have a choice."

She gave him a disgruntled chuckle. "Sure, you didn't."

"I was all set to go to Dry Grad with you. Hell, I paid for the damn limo just the day before."

He had bought his tux and spent every last penny he had to create a special evening for her. He even had a ring tucked away in his pocket and was going to propose later at the hotel. But events didn't play out quite as he had envisioned. Those events brought him to this point, begging for an audience with her.

When Caleb suggested a cruise to him, he knew that this was his one chance to make things right and re-live what should have been the best night of their life. His past was in the past now and he was ready to live out his future—if she'd have him.

"I even bought you a turquoise corsage," he said. The bathroom was silent, except for the odd sniffle that seemed to find its way through the cracks. Knowing she was crying hit him like a bulldozer. "Please, Mara, we need to talk."

Flipping the lock, she opened the door. Her eyes were red and puffy, her tear-stained cheeks were rosy, and yet, she looked like the most beautiful woman in the world.

"Man, you're gorgeous."

"You wanna talk," she said, squaring off with him, her arms crossed tightly across her chest. "Talk! You only get one chance so you better make it damn good."

"I was in jail."