He supposed he couldn’t ask for more than that.
“Why do you want to call these boys?” she asked after taking another bite of her crab cake.
“In order for me to be able to give them the best advice, I need to know specific things. I appreciate that Piper wants to help, but it would be better for everyone if I talked to them myself.”
“What if she didn’t tell them she was talking to you and showing you their plan? What if she’s the one looking for reassurance?”
Damn. He hadn’t thought about that but…
“No, she told me she talked to them and Piper wouldn’t lie. You know that as well as I do.”
“If it were me, I would talk to Piper and tell her your concerns and why it would be beneficial if you spoke to her friends directly. Or do one of those video conference call things so she can sit in on it too.”
And…he hadn’t thought of that either and shook his head with disbelief.
Beside him, Nana laughed softly before rubbing his arm lovingly. “She’s got you all tangled up in knots, doesn’t she.”
It wasn’t a question.
“She really does.”
“Good. It’s about time someone did.”
Logan wished he felt as confident about that as his grandmother did.
Something was up.
Piper couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but Logan definitely had something on his mind. He seemed nervous and was keeping his distance and it was more than a little unnerving.
This is it, she thought. The beginning of the end.
Somehow, she thought she’d be a little more prepared for it–or at the very least, she thought they would have a little more time together before this happened.
She wasn’t stupid; Logan didn’t really need to be here in King Harbor. The staff at the Vault would get by just fine while Charles was on vacation. For whatever reason, Logan enjoyed being here. But if this…affair or fling was over, she had no doubt he’d end it and leave town just so things wouldn’t be awkward.
And dammit, she wanted to cry and demand that he change his mind.
It wasn’t late. Logan worked until eight and then called her to meet him at his place. She had baked some cookies and planned on enjoying them while watching a movie, but…it didn’t look like that was going to happen.
“Logan?” she finally said after staying in her head for a little too long. “Is everything okay? You seem…I don’t know…it seems like something’s bothering you.”
There. She said it.
He’d been flipping through the channels searching for something for them to watch, but now he turned the TV off and faced her, his expression grim.
She let out a long, steadying breath as she braced herself for what he was about to say.
“I want to talk to Eric and Michael,” he said firmly.
“Um…what?”
He nodded. “I want to speak to them and not have this all go through you.”
Seriously? This is what had him looking tense and acting weird?
“Uh…sure, I guess.” Taking a moment, she tried to collect her thoughts. “Is there a reason why you want to talk with them directly?”
His gaze narrowed. “Piper, if I’m going to give them advice, I’m going to need to talk to them.” Then he paused. “Is there a problem with that? Do you not trust me or something?”
“What? Why would you even ask such a thing?”
“Because you’re being weird about this,” he countered. “It’s standard practice if someone is giving you business advice that you talk to them directly and not through some sort of middleman. That’s just not how it’s done.”
The way he said it rubbed her the wrong way, but she held her tongue.
“If you had a degree in business, then you wouldn’t need me to be looking over this stuff, right? So I need you to trust me and let me be the one to talk to them.”
Okay, no more tongue holding.
“I don’t think there’s any reason to talk down to me, Logan,” she snipped. “The reason I didn’t want you talking directly to the guys was so they didn’t bother you or hound you to answer questions about this whole damn thing once you were done looking over the plan. I thought I was doing you a favor. Guess I was wrong.” And with that, she stood and walked over to the kitchen where she placed her purse earlier. She hadn’t gone more than a few steps when Logan moved in front of her.
“Hey, what’s going on? I don’t think I was talking down to you. I was simply stating some facts.”
“Yeah, in a tone that was full of condescension, and I’m really not in the mood to listen to it.” This time she got around him and got to her purse. Pulling out a scrap piece of paper and a pen, she quickly jotted down Michael’s phone number and left the paper on the counter. “There. Now you can call and talk all you want without me and my lack of business degree there to get in the way.”
Feeling pretty proud of herself, Piper was almost to the door when Logan placed a hand on her arm and turned her around.
She did not appreciate being manhandled.
Yanking her arm away, she glared at him. “What?” she demanded.
“Clearly we need to talk because I think we’re both a little out of sorts here,” he said carefully. “Please. Just…don’t go, okay?”
It was so tempting to say no and leave, but he was right. They did need to talk.
Placing her purse back on the counter, she walked back to the sofa and sat down and simply stared at him until he spoke.
“I’m sorry if you felt like I was putting you down,” he began. “That wasn’t my intention. If anything, I felt like…like you didn’t trust me and maybe I was being a little defensive.”
“Why wouldn’t I trust you, Logan? You offered to do this and–if you recall–I was really excited about it. I just didn’t want the guys taking advantage of you and bothering you. That’s all.”
“Well I know that now,” he said with a hint of frustration. Leaning back against the cushions, he let out a loud sigh. “For all the time we spend together, I feel like…like…” He stopped and shook his head. “Forget it. It’s not important.”
“I think it is,” she countered and figured she might as well beat him to the punch. Maybe it would help her in the long run. “Look, if this is your way of saying we’re done, then I would prefer you to just say it. You don’t need to pick a fight with me or anything. We’re both adults here and I would appreciate you respecting me enough to be honest.”
His eyes went wide. “Um…what are you talking about?”
The comment really didn’t register because Piper was on a roll. “I’m just saying we both knew this was temporary. Neither of us are staying here in King Harbor and…let’s be honest…you were never looking for anything long-term with me, so…”
“Were you?” he interrupted. “Were you looking for long-term?”
“Please, I knew that was never even an option, Logan. Everyone knows you enjoy being a serial dater. It was the reason I reacted the way I did the first night you kissed me. I knew you had a short attention span and I didn’t want to be just another one-nighter to you.”
“Are you serious right now?” he asked incredulously. “Is that really what you think of me?”
It wasn’t the first time he’d asked her that over the last couple of weeks.
Piper looked at him like he was crazy. “Are you going to sit there and deny that what I’m saying is the truth? I’ll admit I haven’t been keeping up with your social life for the last couple of years, but I can pretty much guarantee you haven’t been seriously involved with anyone. And if you were suddenly going to do that, I highly doubt you’d do it with me.”
Yup…totally on a roll.
Her heart was pounding and she felt herself starting to sweat and yet…she knew she had to do this if she was going to survive being dumped.
“What the hell’s wrong with you?”
“There isn’t a damn thing wrong with me,” she stated with som
e heat. “But I know the Blackthornes wouldn’t be too happy with you getting serious with the groundskeeper’s daughter. And you know what? That’s fine with me. I knew that going in. I guess I just wanted to have a little fun while I was here in town too.” She shrugged. “You were interested and I figured it would be the one and only time I’d get the opportunity, so…”
“So you used me?” he cried. “Are you kidding me?” Jumping to his feet, Logan began to pace in front of the couch. “Do you have any idea how insulting you’re being right now? What the hell’s gotten into you, Piper?”
Wait…why was he reacting like this? All she was doing was pointing out the facts and making things easier on him. What was he getting all in a snit about?
Standing, she stopped him mid-pace. “Logan, why are you getting all offended? Like I said, we both knew this was temporary.”
“It’s not the length of time that’s insulting,” he spat. “It’s the fact that you’re no better than anyone else, apparently. I’ve got everyone telling me what a disappointment I am, how I can’t commit to anything, and you know what, to a certain extent it’s true. Yeah, I can’t seem to decide on a damn position in the company, and I have played the field, but that was only because no one interested me. Until you.”
Uh-oh…
“Logan…”
“No, I’m glad we had this conversation. Glad you let me know how you feel.” He paused, raking a hand through his hair–something he did when he was frustrated. “Just today I was sitting around and wondering what we were doing. We’d never really talked about it and it bothered me. I wanted to know what you were thinking–where you saw us going. Well I guess the joke’s on me because the only one serious here, was me.”
She gasped softly and anything she wanted to say got stuck in her throat.
“Yeah, how’s that for irony? I finally meet someone I can see a future with, and she sees me as a way to pass the time.” He looked at her with a combination of disgust and sadness. “But I have to say, I appreciate your honesty.”
“Logan, that’s not…”
But he wasn’t listening. She knew that. He stepped around her and walked toward the door, grabbing his keys and phone on the way. “I’ll see you around, Piper. Lock up on your way out.”
“Just…wait!”
But he was gone.
She stood there in the middle of his apartment for…hell, she didn’t even know how long. Part of her wanted to run after him, but to what end? He might not want to admit it, but she was doing them both a favor. Right now, everything was good; everything was fine. But once his father placed him in some office somewhere, she was going to be a nuisance and an inconvenience. Eventually she was going to move away for a job and, from everything she knew about Blackthorne, there weren’t any offices in the places she would more than likely end up.
Slowly, Piper walked around and collected the things she had around the apartment–a game controller, a few games, and some clothes. She stuffed what she could into her purse and grabbed a grocery bag from his pantry for the rest.
With one last look over her shoulder, she sighed. They had a lot of good times here and for two weeks, things were as perfect as they could be. It was the ending she always knew was coming, but she hadn’t expected it to come with so much anger from Logan. She figured they’d just…stop being. He’d leave and they’d be done.
Tears stung her eyes and she quickly brushed them away as she opened the door. Piper took another look back as she whispered, “Goodbye, Logan.”
10
He drove around for hours. Hell, he should have just driven back to Boston and said to hell with his promise to Charles. It was only another week and the employees were more than capable of running the place without him.
“Just like everything else can run without me,” he murmured as he pulled back into the parking lot of his apartment complex.
He wasn’t necessary.
Not within Blackthorne, or at the Vault, or with Piper.
The last one stung the most.
Even if most of what she said was true, it still hurt that after all the time they’d spent together, that’s how she still saw him.
Climbing from the car, he went inside and up to his place and the whole time he wondered if Piper was going to be there waiting for him. His heart was racing as he stepped out of the elevator and walked to his door. “Why didn’t I look for her car?” he wondered out loud. At the door to his apartment, he paused and gave himself a moment to compose himself.
Please be in there…
Once he was through the door, however, he knew he was alone. It didn’t take long for him to realize that not only was she gone, but so was every sign of her–her clothes, her games, and…everything that brought life to this place.
With a curse, he walked around and had no idea what to do with himself. It was almost three in the morning and even though he was mentally and physically exhausted, Logan doubted he’d be able to sleep. All the driving around and all the thinking about his life and he still had no answers.
If he went back to Boston, he’d just end up caving in to his father. At this point, what did it matter what job he got? Chances were he wasn’t going to be happy doing anything because it wasn’t his choice.
Then choose…
If only it were that easy.
Staying here in King Harbor meant he was going to see Piper. Sure he could alter his schedule so he didn’t have to interact with her at the Vault, but was that what he really wanted?
Right, because the other option was to see her and talk to her and just torture himself.
“I’m totally screwed.” Walking around and shutting off the lights, he made his way back toward his bed where he pulled his shirt off as he kicked off his shoes. Pausing he stared at the bed. It wasn’t made and the last time he was in it, he was making love to Piper.
Do I change the sheets or do I torture myself a little more?
Stripping off his jeans, he opted for torturing himself a little more because yeah, as soon as he was between the sheets, he could smell the strawberry of her shampoo. Rolling toward her pillow, he held it to him as he inhaled deeply. He was a total glutton for punishment and it was exactly what he felt like he deserved.
How was it possible that he missed her already? And worse, that he missed her after he knew how little she thought of him.
She was just going by your reputation, dude…
Yeah, yeah, yeah…he knew that, but it didn’t make it any better.
His mind wandered back to their conversation and to what was basically the catalyst to the whole damn argument–the business plan for her friends. As crazy as it sounded, he still wanted to help. Why? Because their plan intrigued him and he saw so many possibilities that he knew he could help them with. It was the first time in a long time that he felt some excitement about a business opportunity.
Shifting, he released the pillow and rolled onto his back, his hands stacked behind his head as he examined that thought a little more closely. He knew he could help these guys–knew he could help them with their financing and perhaps even coach them a bit on how to present themselves to potential investors.
Was this really a thing? Was this something he could do? His heart began to race again as he considered how exciting it could be to work on something new, something fresh. Something that didn’t already have a hundred years of Blackthorne stamped all over it.
As he let that sink in, he remembered some words Piper had said to him not so long ago.
“Are you sure that’s what you want? What you really want is to run all of Blackthorne? Because it seems to me you’re saying you want it even as you’re saying why it’s never going to happen. Are you sure you’re not just telling yourself it’s what you want as a way of…I don’t know…maybe taking the attention away from the fact that you want something else? Something not Blackthorne-related? It seems to me it could be why you lack focus in figuring out what you want.”
Maybe she was on to
something.
“Can you honestly say that–deep down–this is what you want to do? Work for Blackthorne? Or is there something else you would prefer to do, but you’re just trying to prove yourself to your father?”
The more he thought about it–now that it wasn’t in the heat of the moment–he could honestly say she was on to something.
“Shit.”
It was never easy being the youngest in the family. As he was growing up, he had to deal with constantly being compared to his brothers–and then his cousins when they came to live with Logan and his family after their parents died. So he became an overachiever in as many aspects as he could. Back in high school, he was class president, prom king, captain of the baseball team, head of the debate team, and graduated with honors. He excelled in college, got a master’s degree in business, and after graduation, he made sure he learned as much as he could about all-things Blackthorne.
Groaning, he closed his eyes because he realized he was a damn cliché. All his hard work, all the studying, all the achievements, and for what? For the approval of a man who really didn’t care about the happiness of his family? All he cared about was how things looked to others and his precious business.
Logan felt like he had jumped through all the hoops and played all the games where his father was concerned, but he was done. No more. And as soon as he was done here in King Harbor, he was going to go straight to his father’s office and tell him so.
There was going to be fighting and angry words, that was a given. But if he held on to his resolve and didn’t back down, maybe, just maybe he’d walk away with a giant weight lifted off his shoulders.
And his father’s respect.
“No!” he yelled at himself. That wasn’t what this was about. If Graham Blackthorne didn’t respect him–hell, if the old man didn’t love him–then it was his loss. For the first time in his life, he was ready to do what made him happy and no one else.
He wanted to talk to his mother so badly right now, but he didn’t want to add to her stress. She was already pissed at his father for so many reasons; did he really want to give her more ammunition?
Logan (7 Brides for 7 Blackthornes Book 6) Page 13
