Page 82 of Bloom: Part 1

A lump formed in my throat as the old insecurities resurfaced. What was he doing with someone like me? He had his whole life together while I couldn’t find my marbles. Crowe had money. I was sure of it, and if I asked, he wouldn’t hesitate to buy me a new wardrobe, but Crowe’s money was his, not mine.

“Do you want me to change?”

Run away.

You’re not good enough.

This date will expose how wrong you are for him.

You? Date a doctor?

A hollow laugh echoed in my head. That voice. It sounded like hers…my mother’s when she taunted me. Somehow the bruises at my father’s hand had hurt less than her cruel jabs.

“Bloom?”

I blew out a deep breath and brought Logan’s face into focus. “Yeah?”

“I said you look beautiful. Why would you change?”

“You…like it?”

“I do.” He bridged the gap between us and touched the ruffles that made up the high turtle neck. His hand didn’t linger longer but fluttered over my torso as though in awe, touching my body wherever fabric met skin. “The truth is you’d look good in anything, but this suits you remarkably well. This top reminds me of you—delicate, feminine, and so goddamn pretty you take my breath away.”

A second passed, then another. I waited for the familiar anger to rise at the thought of someone calling me those words I never associated with myself. I was a tough, hardened criminal. The scars and calluses proved it. But an unexpected warmth spread through me and more so when I looked up in his eyes.

Logan meant it. He meant every word.

I laced my arms around his neck and pressed my body against his. “You’re the only one who uses those words to describe me, and I don’t think they make me sound weak or less than.”

Logan slipped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer, and rested his chin on top of my head. “You’ve got to be the strongest person I know for all you’ve been through.”

Dammit, I finally understood what that twin meant about seemingly offensive words having a different meaning when said by someone who genuinely cared about you. Had any of the bikers called me delicate, I would have punched them in the mouth. But Logan made me feel strong without losing my bite.

“Bloom.” Logan held me away from him. “I know you’re nervous about me taking you out on a fancy date, but look at you.” He tugged me over to a mirror in the hall. “Can you blame me for wanting to show off the most stunning guy I’ve ever been with? I’ll never want to keep you hidden away.”

Logan placed a gentle kiss on the back of my neck. He thought I looked good, but all I could stare at wasourreflection in the mirror and how amazing I looked againsthim.He stroked my stomach absentmindedly, and I blew out an aroused breath. I reached back and stroked his fly. “I don’t mind staying home.”

Chuckling, he removed my hand from his crotch. “Haven’t you had enough yet?”

I spun around. “Never.” How could I? This man was the fire burning inside me. He sustained the breaths coming out of my lungs. He was the reason for my living. Without him, how could I be?

He rubbed the back of my cheek with his hand. “Oh, I almost forgot.”

He opened his jacket and took out a rectangular velvet box, which he handed to me. “Don’t bother asking what’s in it when you can look.”

I grinned. He’d taken the words right out of my mouth. I opened the box. A bracelet? I took it out and held it closer for inspection. The green and pale yellow gems didn’t match my usual style, but the alternating leaves of gold and gemstones were interesting. “When did you buy this?”

“When I told you I had to run an errand and you were pouting because I wouldn’t let you come.”

“Well, you did make me come.”

He took the bracelet from me with a smile. I hadn’t understood why he wanted to go out so soon again after coming home from grocery shopping and had refused to let him go, so he’d done that thing with his tongue, working my body into a puddle, then left. My body had hummed for hours, and when he’d returned, I lay in the same spot on the couch with my pants still around my ankles.

“I know it’s not your style.” Logan slipped the bracelet on. “But I thought it was fitting for you when the jeweler explained the significance behind the design.”

“It’s just a bracelet.”

“True, yet it’s more than that. You see, the leaves symbolize the growth you’ve gone through. It’s to remind you that when it seems as if you still have a long way to go, to look back and see how far you’ve come. The prehnite has protective capabilities. I’ll always be here to protect you, and I hope you remember that, even when I’m not physically with you. You don’t have to be alone and take on the world on your own anymore. You’ve got me now.” He touched another stone lightly. “This one is a smoky topaz, which is to ground you and instill balance whenever you feel yourself losing control.”

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