by Leila Lacey
CHAPTER 8
Shelby was sitting in her office at Beasley Holdings looking out the window thinking about all the changes that had happened over the last month. Everyone had followed Queenie’s wishes to the letter. While Jackson was still in a coma, he was now stable. Granny had agreed to pay for his care at a long-term facility, but that was it. She would do no more for such a treacherous man. Grace had confessed to the shooting and made a deal with the Prosecutor. She was given probation, mind you, it was ten years but Shelby knew her money and power had kept her out of jail. So in that instance, she knew that Logan was right, the rules were different for the rich but her confession and the whole sordid story of Savannah’s birth had been in the papers and all over town so it wasn’t like she could get away from facing the decisions she had made. Thinking of Logan almost brought Shelby to tears. She missed him and Gia so much. She had heard from Lance that his bike shops were doing so well that he bought a bike sales lot that sold new and used motorcycles and he had bought the local biker bar and was expanding it to serve food. Shelby was so proud of him and had told Lance to wish him lots of love for her. She was over her anger at Logan, although he had said some terrible things to her, she understood that what he thought she had done had made him act that way along with way too much alcohol. What she couldn’t forget was that he thought she had done it at all. Shelby had started back teaching to distract herself from the pain of missing him. She was working with Grey and teaching which kept her so busy at night when she went home she didn’t miss Logan, Gia or the house they had shared together.
KNOCK, KNOCK
“Finally!” Shelby thought her assistant had gotten the hang of not calling her on the intercom to ask her questions. Shelby did not like yelling through the speaker phone. It had taken Stacy a while to settle into how Shelby preferred things.
“Come in,” she said looking down at the report that Grey had said he needed her to review before the Board meeting tomorrow. Like Granny had requested, Shelby and Greyson shared the CEO position and one could not make a decision without the other.
“Hey, Doll!” Cassidy said walking into her office. Getting up and going on the other side of her desk, Shelby embraced her friend.
“Hi! Cass!” Shelby said hugging her friend. “What are you doing here? Did you come to have lunch with Grey?” she asked her.
“Actually, no, Grey told me he would be swamped all day today so we are having dinner tonight,” she said smiling like a school girl on the play ground. Greyson and Cassidy had been dating since the day at the house and like Granny had suggested, she had kept her legs closed and things were going well. “Actually I came to see you, well, to help someone get in to see you,” Cassidy finished.
“Cass, what are you talking about?” Shelby said confused. She leaned against her desk to get ready for the tall tale that Cassidy was about to weave.
“Oh I LOVE the shoes!” Cassidy said looking down at Shelby’s shoes. Shelby had finally let her mother take her shopping in the last couple of weeks which they did every Friday afternoon now, and had lunch at the club. She was enjoying getting closer to her mother. Sarah had encouraged her to spend some time with Ivy Meade. “I know what it’s like to be under your father’s spell,” was the argument she had used as to her giving Ivy a break for the decisions she had made. She also had suggested the shoes that she was wearing. They were a pair of red six and a half inch Chanel, lamb skin upper heels with a strappy design, high polish accents, T-strap center, and semi-pointed closed toe with a back zipper closure. Shelby never thought she would love wearing stilettos but she loved these shoes.
“Cass! You were telling me why you are…..” Shelby stopped mid-sentence when she looked up and saw Logan walking into her office.
“Oh yeah, I came to get Captain Cry Baby past security so that you could talk. Don’t be mad,” Cassidy said looking at her friend with the look of ‘forgive me I was only trying to help’ on her face. Nodding, Shelby released her from concern that she would be mad at her.
“Well, in that case I am going to take my horny ass to the gym and work off some of this energy,” Cassidy said. When she left the office, she winked at Shelby and closed the door behind her.
“What are you doing here, Logan?” Shelby asked. Shelby’s heart was in her throat. She missed him so much. Seeing him standing there in a Lavender button down shirt with a deep purple tie and black dress slacks was not helping her at all. He looked good enough to eat. ‘Get it together, Shelby’ she was thinking.
“I wanted to see you. It’s been over a month and you still won’t answer my calls or emails,” Logan said to her.
“I don’t have anything to say,” Shelby said calmly walking over to her credenza and placing some files there for her assistant to get.
“No, but I do,” Logan said from directly behind her. He was so close that she could almost smell his cologne on her skin.
Swallowing hard, Shelby walked around him trying not to get wrapped up in Logan’s sex appeal again. It was pissing her off that she was still so much in love with this man. ‘Really Shelby? Three strikes and you’re out, Jesus’ she was thinking.
Turning toward Logan trying to see as disinterested as she possible could she said, “What, Logan? What could you possibly have to say to me that will change anything?”
“I need you, Shel, I miss you, I love you, and I can’t breathe without you,” Logan whispered.
Shelby stumbled backward like she had been hit. “Logan, I can’t,” she whispered, her voice cracking with fear and pain.
“I can’t breathe, Shelby. I can’t think, baby I am so so sorry; please give me one more chance. I will never hurt you again. I promise I will make every day of your life overflow with happiness,” Logan said in a pleading tone. He walked up to Shelby and took her face between his hands and started to kiss her whispering, “forgive me baby, please forgive me, I love you.”
Wrapping her arms around him, Shelby started to match Logan’s deep sensual kiss. They both were laughing and crying at the same time. “Shelby, baby I am so sorry,” Logan started to say.
Shelby placed her finger on his mouth. “I missed you too, so much. If we are going to try again, the past needs to be the past and we only move forward, ok?” she said. Keeping Shelby wrapped in his arms, Logan pressed his forehead against hers and nodded in agreement. They were kissing and hugging each other like he had just come home from the war when they heard a knock at her office door. Breaking the kiss Shelby said, “Come in.”
As her assistant opened the door, Gia came bounding in screaming, “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy.” She ran and jumped into Shelby’s arms.
“Hey, baby, I have missed you!” Shelby said picking Gia up and swinging her around and kissing her all over her face, until Gia said, “Ok, ok! Momma, not more kisses!” Sitting her down on the floor, Shelby looked at Logan. “You brought Gia?” she said chuckling.
“Hey, I was not against using a child. That should tell you how much I want you back,” Logan said.
‘Believe it or not,’ Shelby thought, ‘it does.’
