oved since he stepped inside, his eyes locked on her with an intensity that both unsettled and intrigued her. It was as if every inch of her was be

felt like forever, she wa

per than she intended. She needed him to leave-needed to pus

In fact, he just smiled, a small, knowing curve of

ng until we talked," he sa

e closer. His presence in her space made her uncomfortable, yet she couldn'

lied, trying to keep the frustration out of her v

aving hers. "You keep saying that. But I don't bel

atever vulnerability he was trying to expose. She had spent so many years keeping

e was afraid. Terrified, in fact. Not of Logan-but of what he represented. He was everything sh

here, Ella?" he asked, his voic

rms. She was here, wasn't she? Letting him in, letting him occupy space in

ing," she said, trying

I think you might owe yourself the chance to stop running. You've been running your entir

d her independence, behind the walls she had so carefully built. She thought she had it all under control, thought she was

, Logan. You don't know what I've been through. You don't get to

to let yourself feel anything that isn't part of your carefully constructed plan. You've built up this life, this identity, and it's all j

She had built walls around herself because she didn't want to get hurt. She didn't want to face the pain of

s tasted hollow in her mouth. "I don'

them. "Ella, you don't need anyone to tell you how to live. You're the one in cont

sn't sure she knew anymore. She had spent so much time focusing on what she didn't want-stability, control, independence-that she hadn't stopped to con

king as she turned away. She needed space, needed to dista

ing her with an unreadable expression. "I'm not asking you to be re

hatever this was between them. But Logan wasn't giving her a choice. He was pulling her deeper into something she couldn't

ed, her voice barely above a whis

he couldn't pull away. "Because I believe in you, Ella," he said simply. "And I think, deep d

o. She wasn't supposed to be here, caught between two opposing forces: her n

words escaping before she coul

if he were giving her room to breathe. "You don't have to do anything,

ad spent so long pretending to be invincible, to be unaffected by anyone or anythi

e admitted, her voice breaking as the

softest touch, but it sent a jolt of electricity straight through her. He d

d lead her. But she couldn't help but wonder if maybe-just maybe-t