Her Cruise Ship Surprise | ✔

Chapter Thirteen

No.

He wasn't supposed to say that. They were just supposed to be keeping it simple. Have fun. That's all Tamara wanted. After the trip was over, he'd go to his house on the East Coast and she to hers on the West. There was no future. She'd made the mistake once before thinking that there would be, and she wasn't about to assume that a second time. She squeezed her eyes closed; trying to pretend that he didn't speak.

He pulled out of her and then flopped down on the bed beside her. An awkward silence passed between them before he finally said, "You don't have to worry about saying it back."

Tamara's heart ached as his deep gravelly voiced filled her. If she said what he wanted to hear, there would be no going back. She did love him, but she couldn't ignore the last 11 years either. She couldn't ignore her past, especially her inability to judge a person's character.

Those words were to be safely guarded because they led to her heart and that was off-limits, hidden behind a safe and only she had the key. "What happened to our no-strings attached agreement?" she asked, her voice wobbly.

"I'm sorry if it made you feel uncomfortable, but it's the truth."

She sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed, keeping her back to him. Everything inside her was screaming at her to say the damn words, and she had to fight to hold them back. Tears pricked her eyes. "Tell me something," she started to say, gripping the sheets with her fingers, "In the time you were gone, were you ever with someone else?"

"Yes."

"So you were fine enough to be with another woman, but not fine enough to come see me?" He remained silent. "Maybe now you'll understand my reluctance to accept your undying love."

"It's not like you were celibate in my absence." He retorted

"After you got out, you had a choice to come back to me. But me, what choice did I have? I didn't even know where the hell you went." Tamara took a deep breath and moved to grab her clothes off the chair. If he never would have left, she would never have gotten into the situations that she did. She never would have gotten together with Harley. "You're the reason my life is a mess!"

"That's not fair."

"Really? Do you know what's not fair? Planning for a life that I never got."

He walked over to her and took her shirt from her hand before she had a chance to put it on. "We can have that life now."

She yanked her shirt back, and in the process, she stumbled. He caught her in his arms. "What if I don't want it," Tamara snapped.

"You do," he responded arrogantly, tightening his grip on her so she couldn't escape.

"And how do you know that?"

"Because you haven't knocked me on my ass yet."

She glanced up at him, her lips curling. "Maybe that's because I'm trying to be on my best behavior."

"Best behavior are two words that should never go together in the bedroom."

"So you want me to knock you on your ass?" she asked.

"It's not my ass I'm interested in," he said, quirking an eyebrow as he squeezed her butt.

Her knees went weak and she was unable to come up with a sweet rebuttal, not when his eyes were feasting on her so intently. All she could think about was jumping back into bed with him, but she needed her space.

"Please let me go, Logan."

Tamara breathed a sigh of relief when he reluctantly let her go. Quickly getting into her clothes, including her bathing suit, she dashed for the door. "Don't wait up."