Page 67 of Switching Places

“I know.”

She turned away slightly, hunching closer to the fire.

Logan reached out and cupped her chin, turning her face to his. Her eyes were swollen. Had she been crying? Something loosened inside.

“Tell me something about her.”

She blinked furiously and jerked her head away from his hand.

“Lily and I are twins. Our folks split when we were seven. Since then I’ve lived with Mom in Virginia. She remarried about a year or two after the divorce. I have two half-brothers and a half-sister. I’m a librarian.”

He waited, but she offered nothing more.

“Where do you live in Virginia?”

“Charlottesville. It’s a pretty place, but miles from the ocean. I like it here, I feel like I’m on the edge of the world.”

Her voice was faint, wistful.

“I’m sorry, Logan. Sorry I didn’t tell you who I was at the very beginning. But I couldn’t believe at first that you could possibly believe I was Lily. Then I thought you only stopped by each time because you thought I was Lily. I didn’t think you’d find me very interesting.”

“We’ll never know, will we? Where’s Lily?”

“She went to see if she could find some more marshmallows.”

He heard the tears in her voice and deliberately hardened his heart. Crystal had used similar tactics to try to explain her motives, excuse her behavior. He hated a woman in tears. It made him feel so ineffective. But he’d die before letting Emma Carter know that.

When she reached out and touched his arm, he looked at her.

“Logan, I never meant to deceive you. I want you to know that. And how much I enjoyed spending time with you. I’ll have wonderful memories of my visit to California. I never meant to hurt you. Pretending to be Lily was childish. It started out as make-believe, and then got out of hand. I feel so badly about that.”

“I imagine everyone who gets caught feels that way.”

“No, it’s not just because you found out. I tried to tell you last night. This morning my intent was to find a way to tell you that maybe wouldn’t make you so angry. The last thing I want is for you to be upset. I want only happiness and joy for you.”

“You could have fooled me.”

She swallowed hard and met his gaze bravely.

“I was falling in love with you. I wouldn’t have hurt you for the world. It wasn’t deliberate lies on my part. I didn’t start out thinking let’s see if I can fool Lily’s neighbor. You thought I was her when we first met. I’ve always thought she led such an exciting life. I wondered if I could fool someone into thinking plain shy Emma Carter was really her sophisticated worldly sister. And then it just kept going and going.” She tightened her fingers slightly. “I’m truly sorry.”

“You have a funny way of showing love,” he said.

“How would you have me show you?” she asked, leaning just a little closer.

His eyes narrowed. “Despite everything, I still want you, cupcake,” he said.

He could see her swallow hard, her eyes searching his in the uneven firelight.

“I want you, too,” she whispered. Slowly she leaned forward until her lips were a hairbreadth away from his.

Logan remained still. How far would she take this? When she closed the distance and kissed him, he knew he’d take whatever she offered. He wanted her with an intensity that shocked him.

He wrapped his arms around her slight body and pulled her into his lap. His lips responded to her tentative foray with a mastery of experience. Blood pounded through him as he sought oblivion to reality with the fiery heat of passion. She tasted sweet and warm and desirable. Her soft body melted against his.

He would miss her. How could he let her go?

But he did. Setting her beside him on the log.

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