She scratched my back and I felt her body shuddering underneath mine as she came.

“Logan!” she screamed over and over again, and I felt my body spark with electricity before I burst into her and then slowly withdrew myself, collapsing next to her. I lay flat on my back and she leaned over and rested her head on my chest, her fingers trailing along my chest. I saw her staring at my scar, and she ran her fingers down and touched it gingerly. I saw her glance up at me to make sure it was okay, and I nodded and played with her hair.

“That was wonderful,” she exclaimed breathlessly.

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.” I smiled at her, too satiated to say much else.

“We should do it again.”

“Not now.” I laughed. “Unfortunately, I’m not Superman.”

“Maybe tomorrow?” She looked up at me, and my breath caught. I looked away from her causally.

“I’m busy tomorrow.”

“All night?”

“You should stay at home and out of trouble, Maddie.”

“I don’t want to.”

“You shouldn’t be sleeping with random men the first night you meet them.” I turned to her, and caressed her breast as I told her off. “It’s not safe.”

“You’re safe.” She giggled. “That tickles.”

“Why did you steal that cop car, Maddie? And why did you get in my car?”

“I just wanted to see what it would be like …” Her voice trailed off. “I needed a break.”

“You could have gotten into serious trouble. You could have gotten arrested.”

“It would have been fine.” She shook her head.

“You don’t want a record,” I lectured her, but I realized the irony of my words. “You have your whole life ahead of you.”

“If you hate crime so much, why do you steal?” She spoke earnestly, and I looked at this girl I had only known for a few hours and laughed. No one had ever seen me for who I was in my whole life. Or asked me such a question.

“Who says I hate crime?”

“It’s obvious.” She looked at me with sad eyes. “So why do you do it?”

“Why does anyone become a criminal?”

“You’re not going to tell me?” She looked hurt.

“I don’t know you, Maddie.” I scowled. “We had sex, that’s it. We didn’t become best friends. I’m not going to divulge all my secrets in some post-coital bliss.”

“Why are you so mean to me?”

“I’m not mean. And why do you care? You’re a young, beautiful girl with the world at your feet. What does it matter to you what I do or say?”

“Logan Martelli, I wish you would get that chip off of your shoulder.”

“I wish you would be smarter about who you get into cars with and sleep with right away.”

“You weren’t complaining ten minutes ago.” She ran her finger down the side of my face. “And don’t you dare call me a slut or easy.”

“I would never say that.”

“Sure, I know most girls say this, but this is the first time that…”

“Oh my God, please do not tell me you’re a virgin,” I cut her off, aghast. “Shit.”

“No, Logan.” She laughed hard. “Though if I was, I would be devastated by your comments. I was about to say, this is my first one-night stand, or the first time I’ve had sex on the first night I met a guy.”

“Really?” I looked at her with a disbelieving gaze. “I’m not calling you a liar, but you were pretty forward for someone who’s never done this before.”

“What can I say?” She laughed. “I knew what I wanted.”

“You’re crazy.”

“You keep saying that.” She stared at me thoughtfully. “Though, I suppose others would agree. I can see the headlines now: ‘Mayor’s daughter has sex romp with town criminal.’”

“What did you say?” My face paled at her words.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.” She made a face. “I shouldn’t have called you the town criminal.”

“No, no, not that.” I took a deep breath. “Did you say ‘mayor’s daughter’?”

“Yeah.” She nodded and wrinkled her nose. “I know, I’m frightfully rich, and spoiled, and should know better, but…”

“No, that’s not it. You’re Mayor Wright’s daughter?” I sat up and pulled away from her.

“Yes, what’s wrong?” She looked worried. “Does it matter?”

“I need to take you home.” I jumped up. “You need to go home, now.” I picked up her clothes and threw them at her. “Get dressed.”

“But, I wanted to spend the night—”

“I don’t care what you want, Maddie, get dressed.”

“What’s wrong, Logan?” She jumped up and started pulling her clothes on and I turned away from her with my heart pounding.

“I have to take you home, now.” I felt a headache coming on, and I avoided Maddie’s gaze. I never should have pulled over. I knew it had been a mistake to bring her here. I just hoped it wasn’t going to bite me in the ass. I grabbed my stuff, and ignored the slight pang I felt as I realized the reality of the situation. I could never see Maddie again. I had only known her for one night, but I already knew she was going to be someone I’d have a hard time forgetting.

Chapter 3

Logan

Maddie didn’t say anything as I drove her back to her house. I was glad for the silence. I ignored her and the pounding in my head and concentrated on the street signs. My heart was also pounding, but I convinced myself that was due to my fear of the police catching up with me and not due to what had just happened in the field.

“You can just drop me off at the bus stop.” Maddie’s voice was low and pained and I kept driving without saying anything. “Are you going to tell me what I did wrong?” She paused and then continued after a minute. “Or was this just a bit of fun for you?”

“What do you think?” I kept my eyes straight ahead, wanting her to feel hurt.

“So this was just a roll in the hay? Or should I say, a roll in the grass?”

“You can call it whatever you want.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“Then don’t be so easy next time.” I regretted the words as soon as they slipped off of my tongue. I heard her gasp and I knew I had hurt her. But I didn’t want to let her know that I actually respected her for going after what she wanted. I liked that she wasn’t the type of girl to play games. Unfortunately, I knew I couldn’t tell her that.

“You were easy, too,” her voice was accusing. “But let me guess, because I’m a girl, it’s an issue. I’m a slut because I slept with you right away, but you’re a saint, right? The criminal saint.”

“I didn’t call you a slut and I never said I was a saint.” I shook my head and peeked at her. My heart trembled when I saw the confusion and hurt on her face. I felt horrible but a part of me was happy that she was hurt. She deserved it for what her father had done. I hated her because I hated her whole family. I just wished I hadn’t gotten involved with her in the first place.

“Well, in case you didn’t know, you’re not a saint. I should call the police and tell them you stole this car.”

“Yeah, you do that, wannabe cop car stealer.” I rolled my eyes, though my stomach was a bundle of nerves. What if she said that I tried to steal the cop car, then stole this car and kidnapped her or something? Girls were crazy, and I didn’t know her from Adam. I cursed under my breath as I felt my sweaty palms on the steering wheel. I had well and truly f**ked this up. And then Maddie started laughing, and I looked over at her in surprise.

She grinned at me as she wiped tears from her eyes. “I guess I’m the pot calling the kettle black, aren’t I?”

“Huh?” I frowned at her, confused at her sudden change.

“Me threatening to call the cops on you.” She shook her head. “I wonder if I should tell them about my own attempted theft before or after I rat you out?”

“I guess that’s the dilemma.” I smiled at her reluctantly. Maddie really was different from any girl I had ever met.

“Are you going to tell me why you’re taking me home?” she said softly.

I shook my head. “No.”

“I like you, Logan Martelli.” Her voice was sweet and she sighed before she continued. “You’re a sexy, wonderful mystery.”

“I’m not a mystery. You know who I am. Everyone in River Valley does.” I paused and looked at her quickly. “Though you didn’t go to school here, did you?”

“No, my parents sent me to boarding school in Boston.” She made a face. “They didn’t think that the schools in River Valley would prepare me to go to the best colleges.”

“Ironic that the mayor thinks that the schools here are crap.” I tried to hide the bitterness in my voice.

“Yeah,” Maddie’s voice was soft. “It says a lot.”

“So why did you steal a car, Miss Wright? You’ve got more than enough money to buy a ton of cop cars if you so desired.”

“I’m not going to say.” She shook her head, and I frowned at the sound of her voice. It was a mix between humor and sadness.

“Wait, so now you actually know why?” I slowed down and stopped at the red light and then looked over at her hard. “I thought you didn’t really know.”

“You’re going to think I’m crazy if I tell you.”

“Oh?” I closed my eyes briefly in worry. Had this been some sort of sting operation? Shit, my dad would go crazy if I got busted, and especially because of Maddie Wright. I could just imagine how angry he would be, and Vincent and Jared would be worried and scared.

“So I’m not going to tell you,” she continued childishly, and I squared my jaw and stared at her intently.

“What the f**k is going on, Maddie? I’m not one of your college beaus you can twirl around your little finger. You mess with me and I will make sure it’s repaid. Do you hear me? Your parents warned you about the Martelli brothers, I’m sure. And they did that for good reason. You do not know what I’m capable of.” My voice was low and harsh as I said the words I thought would scare her most. A part of me was sad that I had to play this role, especially with her. For some reason, I didn’t want Maddie to believe the rumors about my family. I didn’t want her to think I was capable of doing really bad things. But it was a bit late for that; she had met me on the night I had stolen a car. She would never believe I was a good guy inside; I didn’t even know if I was a good guy inside.

“What are you talking about, Logan?” Maddie’s eyes flashed with anger instead of the fright I had expected to see. “And the light just turned green, so you can go.”

“I’ll go when I goddamn please,” I hissed, slightly unsure of myself. She wasn’t reacting in the way I had expected.

“Logan, you’ve been watching too many John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies.” Maddie laughed and leaned back in her seat. “Or maybe The Godfather and Goodfellas? Did you watch a movie marathon recently?”

“What are you talking about?” I blinked at her in confusion, heart thudding again.

“That little talk just now, about me not messing with you.” She laughed. “I’ve only known you a few hours, but I know you wouldn’t hurt me.”

“Are you stupid, Maddie?” I sighed as I pressed my foot on the gas. How could she trust me so easily? Didn’t she know that there were real bad men around who could do her harm? “You do not know me, no matter what you think.”

“I trust my gut instincts.” She smiled at me sweetly. “You’re not a bad guy.”

“What sort of guy am I then?” I held my breath, waiting for her answer.

“You’re the guy I’m going to marry.”

I burst out laughing at her words and shook my head. She really was a Loony Tunes character.

“I think you’ve had too much time on your hands this summer.”

“Have you ever seen The Notebook or Love Actually?”

“Nope.”

“Well, have you ever seen any romance movies?”

“Nope.”

“Well, when people are meant to be together, they just know.”

“Maddie, I have no interest in getting married, and if I did, it would not be to you.” I let the words linger in the air and felt her flinch at my words.

“I hope you don’t think—”

“Look, Maddie,” I cut her off and pulled over at the end of her street. “This isn’t a romance movie or book or whatever. There is no happily ever after for us. I don’t know what game you’re playing. I’m sorry I slept with you. That wasn’t fair to you. But listen to me carefully: we are nothing. I don’t know you, and I don’t care about you.”

My eyes blazed into hers and I could see tears welling in them. I broke away from her gaze and looked at the tree-lined street of mansions. I stared at her house, with the colonial columns and the porch swing, and my blood boiled. There was no reason for me to feel sorry for Maddie; she had everything she could ever want. She was just some silly college girl, caught up in some fantasy of getting with a bad boy. I knew her type.

“That’s how you feel?” Her voice was strong, and I was surprised that she wasn’t crying already. I guess she inherited her backbone from her piece-of-scum father.