He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not

especially liked that it had a chaise lounge on the far side of the room shoved up beneath a large picture window. It was a cozy reading spot and she intended to make full use of it tonight. Her nerves were so on edge she doubted she’d be able to sleep.
    After pulling the shades and drapes closed, she grabbed a blanket off the end of the bed, snuggled into the oversized chaise, and settled down to read.
    A few minutes later she heard Logan coming up the stairs. His footsteps echoed down the wooden hallway toward the other end of the house where both of their bedrooms were located.
    When he didn’t immediately come down the hall looking for her, she ruthlessly squashed the twinge of disappointment that shot through her, and flipped the page of her novel. It wasn’t like she wanted him to come looking for her. It was just that it would make her feel better to hear him beg her to unlock the door, beg for her forgiveness.
    Was it too much to hope for a little groveling? After the day she’d had she felt like she deserved it. Not that she’d open the door even if he did grovel. But it would be nice just the same to hear him whining for her affection through the locked bedroom door. Irritated that she couldn’t seem to concentrate on anything but Logan, she flipped another page.
    “You must read really fast. You turned the last page no more than ten seconds ago.”
    She jerked around toward the sound of Logan’s voice, stunned to see him standing in a doorway she hadn’t even noticed before, a doorway that apparently adjoined this bedroom with the one next to it.
    “Can you forgive me for being such an ass?” he said, even as he leaned down and scooped her into his arms.
    “Put me down,” she demanded, as her book tumbled to the floor.
    “If you insist.” He turned and plopped lengthwise onto the chaise with her still in his arms. She bounced against his chest and he pulled her even more tightly against him as he straightened his legs out and sat back.
    “I didn’t give you permission to come in here,” she said as she struggled against his hold and tried to slide off his lap.
    “I didn’t ask.” He gently but forcefully tilted her chin up until she had to look at him. “If you’ll stop squirming I’d like to try to explain why I acted the way I did today.”
    The longing in his eyes was so intense she felt an answering longing deep within her. Then she caught sight of the stitches running down the left side of his face near his hairline. Her hand flew up—as if of its own accord—and her fingers shook as she lightly feathered them down the cut that ran from his temple to just past his eye.
    He reached out his hand and lightly ran a fingertip down the scar on the side of her face and smiled. “It’s just a scar. It doesn’t matter.”
    She knew he was referring to her scar instead of his, and it was difficult not to let him turn her attention when she was so touched by the way he used every opportunity to remind her he thought she was beautiful.
    “It does matter,” she insisted. “You could have been blinded if the cut was a little more to the left, not to mention maimed or killed.”
    “But I wasn’t.”
    She shook her head in exasperation and pushed back to put more distance between them. She would have jumped up but his arm around her shoulder held her firmly in place on his lap.
    “Logan, what would you have done if I wasn’t with you when that man started shooting at you today?”
    His jaw tightened and a look of unease flashed in his eyes. “It’s a moot question. If you weren’t with me, I wouldn’t have been in the woods.”
    “You would have taken out your gun and gone after him. But you didn’t because you were afraid you would leave me exposed if you stopped to do that. Isn’t that right?”
    “I didn’t come in here to argue with you.”
    “Oh? Then why did you come in here?”
    “To apologize. And to explain why I ignored you all day.”
    “You didn’t just ignore me, Logan. You glared daggers at me the few times you actually looked my way.”
    His hand curled into a fist where it rested on top of her thigh. “I was angry. No, I was furious. I still am.”
    “Why?”
    “Why?” His eyes blazed out at her and he looked incredulous. “Someone was shooting at us and you threw yourself in the line of fire.”
    She waited for him to continue, but he just glared at her like he’d been doing most of the day. She sighed and tried again. “I understand you being