The Summer Cottage Read Online Free PDF Page B

divorce. It was all a lie—and a clichéd, predictable lie, at
     that.”
    Logan made a rough noise behind her, but she couldn’t bring herself to turn and face
     the pity or condemnation on his handsome, familiar features.
    “I should have known better,” she said painfully. “Deep down, I did know better. I think that’s what hurts most of all. I compromised myself and my ethics.
     I bought into an elaborate but ultimately formulaic and obvious fiction, because I
     wanted to believe. I wanted to believe that this smart, charismatic, wealthy man could
     fall in love with a nobody from Normal, Illinois. I thought I could have it all.”
    Forcing herself to meet Logan’s gaze was one of the hardest things she’d ever done,
     but this was important. He needed to understand.
    Storm clouds scudded over the blue of his eyes, darkening them with something that
     looked more like understanding than pity. Jessica swallowed.
    “When it was all over, I had nothing. No friends, no job, no place to live. My parents—they’re
     very decent people, very religious. They certainly didn’t raise me to have a tawdry
     affair with a married man. In fact, they were so disappointed in me, they sent enough
     money for another apartment instead of letting me come back home to live with them.
     We don’t talk much, other than holidays and birthdays.”
    “That’s … horribly sad,” Logan said, his voice oddly ragged. Or maybe it wasn’t so
     odd. He’d lost his parents when he was very young, Jessica remembered, and his relationships
     with his brothers weren’t exactly close. So maybe he did get it. But she hadn’t completely
     finished answering his question.
    “I will never be that girl again,” Jessica told him, as starkly and strongly as she
     could. “I never want to be that naïve, that silly or easy to take advantage of. I
     never want to wake up in the morning aching with regrets. So that’s why I hold you
     at arm’s length, Logan. Because I am tempted … but if I were to give in to the fantasy
     of being with you, I’m smart enough now to know that I’d be giving something up in
     return. And I’m not willing to sacrifice my self-respect and my career for a moment’s
     passion.”
    No matter how much the sight of his lean strength silhouetted against the ocean view
     made the blood throb in her veins.

Chapter 5
    “Satisfied?” Jessica asked, her voice seductively hoarse from having talked for so
     long.
    Not even close, beautiful.
    Logan held himself still as he studied her, scrutinizing her tale from every angle
     like a multifaceted 3-D puzzle. “You’ve made your position very clear, and I accept
     it.”
    The slim line of her shoulders relaxed infinitesimally, as if she’d been unsure he’d
     get the message. He almost hated to make her tense up again, but a deep, primal part
     of him couldn’t let this go without at least trying to address her concerns.
    “But I feel I have to point out,” he continued gently, “that your position rests on
     faulty logic.”
    Surprise widened her pretty green eyes. Pushing a strand of strawberry-blond hair
     out of her face, Jessica put her hands on her hips the way he loved, and stared him
     down. “Oh?”
    Deliberately relaxing his posture to seem as unthreatening as possible, Logan assumed
     his driest, most professorial tone. “Yes. In fact, I spotted numerous irrationalities
     in the conclusions you drew from your past experiences. And while I don’t doubt that
     those experiences were traumatic…” He paused to breathe through the resurgence of
     his intense desire to track down one Russell Owens and take him apart, systematically,
     until there was nothing left.
    “I’m not traumatized,” Jessica protested with a scathing curl of her lip. Good, he
     liked it when she got fiery. Anything was better than the resigned slump of her shoulders,
     the deadened tone of her voice, as she recited her litany of regrets. “I learned from
     my past