She shook her finger at him. “I won’t believe it. You’ve spent three months convincing me that was my hang up, not yours. You haven’t suddenly had a change of heart.”
“It’s just not working for me. I’m used to dating a certain kind of girl.” Vapid, sleazy, and utterly dull. God, he’d miss Cherry.
Tears filled her big brown eyes. “You’re going to fail the Romeo and Juliet test without me.”
Yeah, he was, but he’d scrape by for the semester. His grade was now the least of his worries.
The fourth-period bell rang. Tara looked up, realized the halls were empty. “I’m late to class. Can we talk about this after school?”
He forced himself to spear her with a cold glare. “Why bother?”
She trembled as she tried to draw in a breath. “But after yesterday . . .”
Yesterday. When he’d shoved their books to the floor, laid her across his bed, and kissed Cherry out of her sweater and T-shirt, her shoes and pants, then finally her bra and panties. He’d touched her all over. When he’d finished, other than her red hair, he had no reason to call her Cherry anymore.
“Hi, Logan.” Brittany Fuller, his ex-girlfriend, sauntered by with a wink.
“Brit.” He nodded, hoping like hell that she’d keep walking.
She was pretty, had big tits, and loved every variety of sex, the wilder the better. But Tara had taught Logan that he required a brain and a heart in a woman. Brittany lacked both.
Thankfully, she kept walking to her next class.
Cherry’s face screwed up with jealousy. She couldn’t stand the cheerleader on principle. Brit was lazy and slid by on her looks. Tara was a hard worker, blisteringly smart. She’d made her contempt for Brittany’s type well known. Once he’d thought about it, Logan had realized that Tara was right. Which made what he was about to do all the more heinous.
He clenched his fists. “It’s over. The tutoring, the sex. Don’t call me anymore.”
She sucked in a breath, her creamy pale skin going ghostly white. Tears gathered in her pained dark eyes. “You—you’re upset. Your mom just died. Last night, you needed me a-and I didn’t show up.”
“You’ve said for weeks that we had nothing in common.” He shrugged. “I’m just admitting now that you’re right. I’m getting back together with Brittany.”
She was the last girl Logan wanted, but a couple of weeks with her would surely convince Tara to keep her distance.
“B-But yesterday. We . . .”
“Fucked. Yeah?”
She gaped, shock blanching her face. “You said that you loved me.”
He had, and he’d meant it. But Logan loved her enough to cut his own heart out to keep her alive. “Let that be a lesson not to believe everything you hear.”
Tara lurched back as if he’d stabbed her. “You bastard! My stepdad swore you’d only hurt me. He gave me this necklace last night and told me to guard my heart. Too bad he was a few hours too late!” She bit her lip, furiously fighting more tears. “I hope someone breaks your heart someday, you son of a bitch.”
Gripping her books in one hand, Tara turned away, then ran down the hall before she shoved into the girls’ bathroom.
Logan watched, breaking apart into a million pieces inside. “Someone just did. I’m so damn sorry, Cherry.”
Dominion—Present day
Pressing her lips together, Tara grabbed her purse and clothes from the armoire, shoving the latter into a ball. It was either that or stare at Logan Edgington. If she did, she’d have to acknowledge that he was more gorgeous than ever and still made her weak-kneed—and that would only piss her off more. No way would she give the prick that satisfaction.
Twelve years ago, he’d been a pretty, if somewhat gawky boy. Tall and thin with a hint of the broad chest to come and a mischievous smile. Today, he’d grown into that body. Wide, bronzed shoulders bulged out beneath a white tank. Muscled pectorals that no T-shirt could conceal. The angles of his face, stark cheekbones, razor-sharp jaw, and dimpled chin, had once made him interesting. Now, they gave him the look of a predator, topped off by that dangerous blue stare.
God, why was he here? Didn’t matter. She was leaving, right this minute.
Tara tucked the clothes under her arm. She would have loved to don them. Wearing little more than a bra and panties around the jerk who’d conned her out of her virginity wasn’t exactly comfortable, but no way would she give him the slightest hint that burning stare of his unnerved her. And no way in hell was she staying in this BDSM palace with him for even two more seconds.
God, it figures he’d wind up spending “a lot of time” in a place where men played mind games and used women for pleasure. Logan had excelled at that, even in high school. And she refused to let him use her again.