Auctioned By The Ceo novel Chapter 37

“I missed you.” He kissed her again, firmer this time, his tongue demanding entry. The minute she opened for him he swooped in, kissing her with so much heated passion she started to cry again. Logan broke the kiss, swore under his breath, and kissed the tears off her face. That just made her cry harder, and Logan pulled away and scrubbed his hand over his face in a move so achingly familiar, it hurt to see. As per usual he was utterly baffled by her display of emotion, or so she thought, until he swiped moisture off his own face.

“Fuck it, I’m messing this all up. I didn’t mean to make you cry. For the love of God, will you stop doing that, woman. I don’t like it, especially if you’re crying over me. Believe me, I’m not worth it.”

When she didn’t stop, he climbed on the bed, pulled her unto his lap, and held her. It felt so good to be back in his arms that for a few precious moments Hannah allowed herself to think that everything would be all right after all. That they could be a proper little family. Eventually, she managed to pull herself together and pushed away from him. He let her, brows drawn together in a frown, those dark eyes of his assessing her. His jaw clenched, and his hands pulled into fists at whatever he read in her expression.

“You shouldn’t be on here.” She whispered the words, utterly incapable of projecting her voice with any conviction. “It’s against hospital rules, I’m sure.”

“Fuck the rules. I never much cared for them, and I sure as fuck am not going to start now. Jesus, woman, do you have any idea how worried I’ve been over you? Well, do you?” He glared some more, and before she could do as much as shake her head, he continued. “Of course, you don’t, why would you, but for the love of God, don’t you ever, ever, do that to me again, do you hear?”

Hannah found her voice at that incongruous statement.

“Sorry, if my being ill inconvenienced you in any way. Maybe you should have put that into the contract I signed. Wife is not allowed to be ill under any circumstances.” She managed to get off his lap, as she spat those words out.

“What the fuck are you on about?” Logan looked so perplexed, hurt almost at her words, but she refused to take them back, even though she knew she was being unfair.

“You insisted on that damn thing, not me, and it’s irrelevant now anyway. This whole adoption thing could go on for years, with Claudia remaining in a coma, and that’s after we’re granted permanent custody.”

There it was, the real reason why he was here. Even though she knew that, hearing him say it out loud broke her heart into a gazillion pieces. Hannah had never really understood that, had always thought it a cliché, but it sure felt like that right now.

“Of course,” she murmured. “Rhia. It’s always been about her, hasn’t it? I can’t do it anymore. I can’t live a lie, Logan.” There, she said it.

“What on earth are you talking about? Of course, it’s been about Rhia, but you love her, so how is that a lie?”

Again, with that utterly baffled look that made him look a lost little boy rather than a grown man in his late thirties, who’d build up a successful enterprise from scratch.

“You don’t get it, do you?” Hannah swallowed past the lump of unshed tears in her throat. “Just go. Go home, have a shower, live your life. You really don’t need to be here pretending anymore.”

She shut her eyes to block him out, and turned to her side, anything to not see him leave. Sure enough, the bed dipped as he got off it. There was movement and then nothing. She counted to twenty in her head just to make sure he was really gone and gasped when she opened them again.

Logan hadn’t left. He stood in the doorway to her room like some sort of avenging angel, all dark and silently furious. He’d never looked sexier, and she’d never loved him more, as he pinned her in place with the burning intensity in his gaze.