Chapter 22
LOGAN
When the door slammed shut, leaving only Elizabeth and me in the meeting room, I felt like I could finally exhale. But the breath didn’t come easily. It stuck somewhere in my chest, tangled up in everything I wanted to say but couldn’t.
I swallowed hard. “So, to recap: I’m now supposed to propose, possibly get married, and be expected to sing a love song to a woman I’m not in love with.”
Elizabeth didn’t say anything right away. She was still standing near the conference table, arms wrapped around herself, eyes fixed on the floor like she couldn’t bear to look at me.
Like this was just as unbearable for her.
My chest tightened. Does this ruin us?
The thought came fast and sharp, cutting through the chaos of my mind like a knife. All I could think about was how much I didn’t care about the headlines, the press, or the fake engagement.
I only cared about her.
And now, I had no idea where we stood. We weren’t precisely defined before, but at least there was something to work with. But a fake marriage? That felt like a door slamming shut between us.
I had everything I could ever want: the fame, the career, the world at my feet.
Everything except her.
I let out a breath and ran a hand through my hair. “Elizabeth, this is—”
“I know,” she cut in, voice tight. She finally looked up, eyes filled with too many emotions for me to name. “If this fake engagement doesn’t fool everybody. It’s bad. For my job. For yours. If anyone finds out—”
“If anyone finds out that I fell for you,” I interrupted, stepping closer, “then what?”
She swallowed hard but didn’t step back.
I kept going. “Because I don’t care about this engagement. I don’t want to be with Sophie. I want—”
You.
I almost said it. I nearly let the word slip.
Elizabeth’s breath hitched, and for a second, I swore she could hear it anyway. Everything I wasn’t saying. Everything I wanted to say.
She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Logan, if this gets out, it will ruin everything. Not just my career, not just yours. I have to do this for Jake. I built my whole career to make sure he got the best care, the best chance. I can’t let that fall apart now.”
Her voice wavered, and I hated that.
Because I understood. This wasn’t just about ambition or reputation for her.
It was about her brother. About making sure he had a future.
And even though family had never meant much to me, I felt something settle in my chest, knowing how much it meant to her.
She’d fight for it with everything she had.
And me? I was the guy threatening to undo it all.
I clenched my jaw. My pulse hammered against my ribs, frustration tightening in my chest. She had to give me something. Some answer, some kind of reassurance that I wasn’t the only one barely holding it together.
“So what, then?” My voice came out rough, edged with something I wasn’t sure I wanted her to hear. “Now I’m in a fake relationship with Sophie and a real one with you that I have to keep a secret?”
She inhaled sharply. “It won’t be easy.”
It wasn’t the answer I wanted. But it was the only one I needed. She wasn’t saying we had to end this. She wasn’t suggesting we put whatever this was on hold.
Relief loosened something in my chest, just enough for me to move. To step closer, closing the space between us, my voice dropping lower.
“Nothing about you has ever been easy.”
That made her smile. She reached for my hand, lacing her fingers through mine like she needed something to hold onto. “You’re worth it,” she whispered.
My heart stuttered. Three words. That was all it took.
Something in my chest cracked open, and the panic that had been clawing at me, the feeling that everything was spiraling beyond my control, eased.
I brushed my thumb over her knuckles, grounding myself in her. “You’re worth it too.”
Elizabeth let out a shaky breath, like my words had settled something inside her the way hers had settled me. She pulled back just enough to meet my eyes, and her look was tender. “We’ll figure this out,” she whispered.
I swallowed hard, my hands still resting on her waist. “Yeah. We will.”
I’d never been one for self-sacrifice. My entire life had been built on doing what I wanted, when I wanted, and making sure no one else dictated my path.
But now? Now I was standing in a hotel conference room, agreeing to a lie that would trap me for months, all because the woman in front of me had asked me to.
And the worst part? I wasn’t even mad about it. Not really.
Because Elizabeth was still holding onto my hand, still looking at me like I was something worth choosing, even in secret. And that meant more than I was willing to admit.
I still wasn’t happy. I didn’t like what I had to do, but I could handle it.
She had my heart in her hands, whether she knew it or not.