THE BRAVO BOYS - SNAKE EATER [book three]

Chapter THIRTY SIX

Shelby Quinn

... later that night ...

I sit in the back of Lincoln's SUV, restless and dreading the obligatory date ahead of me.. It's bad enough that my hair is primped into long wavy curls and the little black dress I'm wearing is riding up my thighs to expose a glimpse of my scars.. But to make matters worse, the infuriatingly handsome man sat beside me won't even acknowledge my existence..

If icing me out were an art form, then Logan Nash could teach a damn masterclass on it. The Hacker has practically given me frostbite with his cold shoulder. His laser focus remains glued to the screen of his laptop as we wait for Tyler Bennings' towncar to arrive at the Northbank restaurant across the road..

Okay, so maybe I'd been an asshole to him for the stark disillusionment he'd dropped on me last night, and obviously I regret my defensive reaction more than anything else, even more so now that I've had time to cook my temper.. But the way he freezes me now is utterly arctic.. I feel the frigid sting of his absent attention and I don't like it at all..

Logan had made the ultimate confession, he had told me he loved me and I had all but reached into his chest and rip out his heart..

His beautiful, generous heart..

Why am I so scared of his feelings?
Why am I terrified of this aching need I have for him?
And why do I fear that I can't live without it?

I need a do over!

All I want is to hold his hand, to kiss his lips and for him to say those three words just one more time.. But I'm so afraid that I'll never hear them again..

Goddammit Shelby!

Why couldn't I just accept his affection for me and return it like any other normal girl in love?

Looking at him now I realise just how hard I have fallen for him and it hurts..

God, I love the little crease in his furrowed brow when he concentrates..
I love the golden flecks of sunlight in his rich amber eyes that sparkle when the light hits them just right..
I love the slope of his symmetrical nose and the single freckle that decorates his upper lip..
I love that he speaks his mind and doesn't pander to what others want to hear..
I love the way says my name, that he teases me with the title of 'Barbie' to antagonise me and that calls me 'Butterfly' when he is being particularly sweet..
But mostly, I love the way he puts aside his prejudices for the people he cares about.. The way he would sacrifice those things he so steadfastly believes in to protect me.. I love that selfless, giving heart of his, the one that adores his beautiful niece, driving him to do what he believes is just and fair..

Logan may be abrasive in manner and cock-sure to the point of bordering on arrogance.. But he is the first man to ever really care for me.. He sees the parts of me that are so much more fragile and vulnerable than I ever wanted anybody to know..
He has revealed the real me and now I can't unknow the frightening truth..
That I am head over heels in love with the infuriating, indefinable, unimaginably attractive Logan Nash..

Oh fuck.. I need him to forgive me!

I watch his practiced fingers flitter over the backlit keyboard as he continues giving me the silent treatment and I tug at the hem of my dress, desperately trying to cover the pale scars that glow in the evening light, covering my thighs like scarlet spiderwebs..

Shit.. Why the hell did I let Cassidy talk me into wearing this skimpy outfit?

Somehow he'd convinced me that I could pull it off, but now that I am out in public, I couldn't feel any more out of place..