A Tender Touch: A Donnelley Brother's Novel (Logan Point Book 4) by Alannah Carbonneau Page B

always been and the life I had always led. This moment was the moment that changed everything.
    “Whatever it is you’re trying to outrun, Ember, I want you to understand that I’ll outrun you. I won’t let you scare me away - because I know there’s something your afraid of. I don’t know what that something is, but I’ll be damned if I let you face it alone. So until you can stop running and let me catch you, I’ll be right here beside you, running with you, until you stop. And when you’re too tired to run another step, I’ll be there to hold you up. When you’re too exhausted to keep fighting, I’ll fight for you.” His voice shook and the emotion that pulsed from within the man I had come to care so deeply for surrounded me - intoxicated me. “You can keep running for as long as you feel like you need to run, but understand that I’m here. I might be running, but I’m only trying to keep pace with you. When you’re ready to slow down, I want to be the man you slow down with. Until then...” he took in a rattled breath. “Until then, I’d really like to try whatever it is that’s making my house smell so damn good.”
    ***
    The minutes that passed between Luke’s very heart-wooing words and the end of our dinner were fuzzy. Even now, as I stared at the man across the candlelit table, who’d somehow teased my heart into believing - or hoping - that I could be the kind of girl who had love - real love - I couldn’t actually allow myself to let down my guards. And I didn’t just have a guard. I had the Great Wall of China guarded by the ancient Samurai Warriors protected by the National Guard. My heart was practically untouchable - and yet...
    Again, I blinked. For the life of me, my mind could not process the events that had transpired from when Luke had vowed to catch me when I could no longer run and this moment. Glancing down into my plate, I saw that I’d eaten all my food. But I couldn’t remember tasting any of it. All I could remember were Luke’s words. They kept replaying time and time again, in my mind. It was like a really catchy radio commercial - one of those jingles you just can’t forget or ignore.
    “What’s on your mind, pretty girl?”
    His voice sounded in the deep recesses of my brain, and it took my over-stimulated mind a moment to play catch-up. When I processed his words, I replied with a simple, “Nothing.”
    Luke sat back in his chair. “The look on your face isn’t nothing.”
    “Oh.” I had no idea what look I was wearing - but I believed him when he said it wasn’t nothing.
    I knew it wasn’t nothing .
    I knew I was full of shit - but I also knew I couldn’t even begin to explain the thoughts that were running through my mind. I just couldn’t. I was confused - and I felt as though Luke had found a way to push past the National Guard I’d placed around my heart. Somehow, he’d weakened my first line of defense. If I didn’t find a way to strengthen my resolve against him - I’d be ruined.
    It didn’t take a genius to know that I would fall for Luke Donnelley beyond the realm of which I could heal myself if he decided to walk away. If he loved me now, only to decide that I was never worth it later, I would die. It was that knowledge that cemented my determination to keep my relationship with Luke platonic. Sometimes, the safer way was the better way.
    Right now, the safe way was to keep Luke at arms length. If he were always an arms length away, he would never swing hard enough to knock me down.
    When I looked back up at Luke, he was watching me with an intensity that made me feel, for a moment, naked. I wondered, when he looked at me like that, could he see everything I meant to keep secret?
    Standing from the table, I picked up my plate before scooping Luke’s from in front of him. I didn’t bother explaining what I was doing as I moved to the sink.
    At the feel of a large warm hand on the small of my back, with only the thin material of my maxi