12. Logan
Chapter Twelve
LOGAN
I wake up to an empty bed. Late. I’m never late, and it’s past nine-thirty in the morning. I had assumed I’d wake up when Meredith did, but she’s gone, not even leaving a note.
I’m a little irritated about it but at the same time, maybe she just got up late, too, and had to rush. Maybe she didn’t have time to wake me.
I hurry to shower and get dressed, calling Dina to let her know I’ll be late.
“That’s okay, boss. See you soon.” Her voice sounds a little funny, but Dina’s always been a little strange, ever since I bought the business. She never quite took to me. Maybe it’s because she was close to Meredith before I took over.
Does she know about us? Our past?
I hurry to work, wanting to see Meredith even more than I want to get to work. I don’t know what to expect her to want after this weekend. I know that I should have a conversation with her about how this can’t happen again, but I’m not sure I can.
Can things ever go back to the way they were? Can we start over? I’m not sure, but I know I’m willing to try and I hope she is, too.
I’m actually whistling a tune as I walk into the office, and Bryce, my personal assistant who has been overseeing the construction to add to the building, raises his eyebrows.
“You’re in a good mood today.”
I don’t answer, not wanting to spill out everything that happened this weekend.
Usually, I’m pretty good at keeping my feelings in check, but today, I feel full to bursting.
I scan the building for Meredith, but I don’t find her, and I can’t keep the frown off my face.
I walk up to Dina, who’s doing some filing.
“Where’s your friend?”
She looks up. “What friend?”
I huff out a breath.
Dina really doesn’t like me.
“Meredith.”
“She’s in the back.”
That’s enough for me.
It still takes me a few minutes to find her, she’s way in the back, grabbing paperwork I’ve asked her to put in the computer.
“Meredith,” I breathe as I walk toward her, and she stiffens at the sound of my voice.
“Logan.” Her voice is tight, and it makes my throat feel like it’s reduced to a pinpoint.
“Listen.” I’m not even sure what I’m going to say.
“You don’t have to say it.”
I freeze. “What do you mean?”
“I already know.” She’s not even looking at me, just down at the boxes. “This weekend was a one-time thing. A mistake.”
“I wouldn’t say a mistake,” I drawl, trying to flirt with her, make things lighter, but her face doesn’t change, not even the hint of a smile.
“What else would you call it, Logan?”
“A good time.”
“It was closure.” She finally looks up at me, and there’s ice in her blue eyes.
“Oh.” My shoulders slump.
But then I set them again, anger working its way through me. I feel just as hotheaded around her now as I did when I was nineteen, and it drives me crazy.
I’ve worked so hard to not be that guy.
I take a hitched breath, running my hand through my hair, which is still damp from the shower, hanging down my shoulders.
I put it in a low ponytail, and Meredith just looks at me coolly.
“So, that’s it?”
Her eyes flash. “That’s it.”
It’s almost like losing her all over again.
My chest tightens, my eyes burn.
I walk away, but I can feel her eyes watching me leave.
When I finally get back into my office, a small one I’ve taken over temporarily, I close the door behind me, my eyes squeezed shut.
“Logan?”
Bryce. Of course, it’s Bryce. He stays in my office mainly so that he close by for when I need him.
My eyes pop open. “Yes, Bryce, what do you need?”
“Your signature on these contractor checks,” he says smoothly, as if I don’t look like shit.
I know I do, know I have bags under my eyes from barely sleeping when Meredith was in my bed.
“And maybe you should take the rest of the day off.”
I blink at his suggestion. “Why? What would I do?”
He shrugs. “Anything but moping around here, staring at Meredith.”
I frown. “What do you know about Meredith?”
He smiles slyly. “I listen to the gossip around here, sir. You know I do.”
I huff out a breath, irritated. “And what have you learned?”
“I learned that you and Meredith used to be a thing.”
“You can’t tell anyone that.” I take him by the shoulders.
He looks almost offended. “Of course not. I’m just telling you what I learned. It won’t leave this office.”
“You swear?”
He nods briskly, and I let out a relieved sigh, letting go of him.
I pace around, looking back at him. “We spent the weekend together.”
“Of course, you did.”
“You already knew?”
“Figured it out when you were both late and twitchy.”
“I’m not twitchy.”
“Your hands are shaking.”
I look down, surprised to see that he’s right.
“Maybe I should take the day off.”
Bryce nods, clapping his hand on my shoulder.
He leaves the office and does whatever it is he does when I’m not ordering him around.
I leave the office about two o’clock, and instead of heading right to Bennigan’s like I want to, I go back to my hotel.
And I come face-to-face with Grayson in the lobby.
He grins, and I groan inwardly.
The last thing I need right now is to be around Meredith’s older, protective brother, even if he is my best friend.
I’m still having flashbacks of her mouth around my…
I clear my throat. “Hi, Grayson!”
He walks toward me, still grinning. “You haven’t been answering my calls.”
He doesn’t sound angry, but I feel guilty anyway, looking down at my neglected phone.
“Sorry. Had an issue with the contractors this morning.” That’s not exactly true, but it could be. It’s truth adjacent.
He tilts his head. "Did you work it out?"
I think about telling him no, that I'm just grabbing lunch and heading right back to the office, but I don't.
I haven’t seen Grayson in years other than this past couple of weeks, and I don’t want him to disappear from my life again.
As complicated as this thing with Meredith is, it doesn’t mean I don’t want my best friend back in my life.
“I did. Why are you here?”
He lifts the briefcase he’s holding. “Wanted to discuss business, show you some of my advertising ideas.”
“Let’s get to my room and we’ll check it out.”
Grayson smiles and follows me up to my room, shaking his head.
“I can’t believe you wouldn’t spring for a nicer hotel. You could get the penthouse.”
I snort. “For what? I’m only here a few hours a week.”
Grayson chuckles. “You have so much money, but you still think like...”
“Like I’m poor?”
His eyes shoot to mine, and he frowns. “I didn’t mean?—”
I wave my hand to dismiss his worries. “I’m not offended, Grayson. I guess I do know how to stretch a dollar because of how I grew up. I can’t just throw around money like you do.”
He shrugs. “That’s fair enough. I’m a little more frugal with my own money than I was with my parents’.”
He barks out a laugh, and I laugh in return, even though I don’t feel very merry.
My mind is still on Meredith.
She was so ice-cold to me, barely looking at me, barely talking to me.
Our weekend is over now, and I have to accept it. No matter how much it hurts.
I sit on the edge of the bed and Grayson starts his presentation, showing me slides of billboard advertisements that look cutting edge and professional.
It takes about half an hour. “What do you think, Logan?”
I nod and smile. “I love it. It’ll help me bring customers to the city and maybe help me expand.”
“With our advertising team, we expect a growth of twenty-five percent in the first year.”
“I could open a second location in the city.” I rub the stubble on my chin. I haven’t shaved all weekend.
“Exactly. So, what do you say?”
“Let’s do it.”
An hour later, Grayson has the paperwork printed out and I sign, paying his team to do my advertising.
We’re in business together now, so that should sway me from flirting with his sister.
Back then, I was her dirty little secret, and I guess I still am.
When he eventually leaves, and the exhaustion takes me under, I dream of Meredith, how sweet and pretty she was in my arms all weekend, but then her eyes turn icy just before I wake up.
Fuck.
Everything’s gone sideways. I should’ve never touched her again. She was right about that.
Because now I want her every minute, just like I used to.
What am I going to do?