VITTORIO'S RUNAWAY BRIDE (The Vittorio Series) by Kimberley Reeves Page B

the family together to welcome you back.”
    Shelby brushed aside what he’d said with a dismissive wave of her hand.   “I expected that she would.   Logan…I know you have reservations about us working together but it’s not because you think I can’t do the job, is it?”
    “No, cara mia ,” he answered softly.
    “Then what is it?”  
    “I just do not want anything to come between us and…”
    Logan shifted his gaze and stared out the windshield.   How could he look into those already troubled eyes and tell her what he was really thinking when he knew it would distress her even more?   He’d let Shelby’s enthusiasm about working for him and his own desire to be with her cloud his judgment, but if he told her that he’d changed his mind…
    “You don’t want me there,” Shelby said with a sinking heart.   “You’re perfectly happy to let things go back to the way they were, aren’t you?”
    “It is not like that, cara .”
    “Then you had better tell me what it is like,” Shelby shot back, “otherwise you can just turn this car around and take me back to the cottage!

Chapter 7
    “You cannot mean that,” Logan finally said once he’d managed to   drag enough air back into his lungs to speak.
    He still wouldn’t look at her, but Shelby didn’t need to see his eyes to know she’d hurt him.   “I don’t think this is going to work,” she said in a subdued tone, “not when we can’t even talk to one another openly…or look at each other.”
    Logan nodded slowly.   “You are right, this is not going to work.”
    Shelby drew in a stilted breath, desperately fighting back the panic that was welling up inside of her.  “I…I didn’t mean we wouldn’t work.   It was horrible of me to tell you to turn the car around and…oh, Logan, please forgive me!”  
    “We have lost something, carissima ,” he said woodenly.   “We are both afraid to say what we feel and there is so little trust between us.”
    “We can get it back,” she cried passionately, “I know we can.”
    “I want to believe that…” Logan started, but before he could say another word, Shelby unfastened her seatbelt and maneuvered herself onto his lap.
    “Don’t you dare start doubting us now,” she said fiercely, “not after you refused to sign the divorce papers and searched for me for months and convinced me that what we have together is strong enough to endure anything.”   Threading her fingers through his dark hair, Shelby drew Logan’s mouth down to hers.   “I love you,” she whispered, just before he crushed her lips with a savage kiss.  
    “Say it again,” Logan pleaded softly when he finally lifted his head.
    “I love you, Logan Vittorio, with all my heart.”
    “And I love you, cara mia , but I meant the part about being able to endure anything.”
    “What we have is strong enough,” she said vehemently, “but we have to be open with each other and right now I feel as if you’re holding something back.”   The tenderness in his eyes faded, but it didn’t deter Shelby from coaxing an explanation from him.   “Logan, if you really want this marriage to work, you have to trust me.”    
    “Just as you trusted me?”   he asked cruelly.
    Shelby ignored the stinging sensation that shot through her.   “I was wrong not to have faith in you and we’ve both paid the price for that mistake.   Please…tell me what’s bothering you.   Whatever it is, I promise we’ll work it out together.”
    “Very well,” he agreed reluctantly.   “I am not the same man at work that I am with you and the truth is, I do not think you would like what you see.   I have…doubts about your ability to keep our relationship at the office separate from our relationship as husband and wife.”
    “Oh, Logan, don’t you think I know your responsibilities at the office dictate that you be demanding?   I’ve heard you on the phone talking business and you don’t sugar coat anything.   I