Chapter 121

Logan shouldn’t have such a visceral reaction to seeing that divorce paperwork. After all, hadn’t he been working toward the same goal? They had both moved forward without realizing the people that they were married to were each other.

Yet it still sliced into him, seeing that paperwork in her hands, especially when she leaned it forward and it showed both of their names.

Dylan had done his homework then. When had he learned the truth? And why had he not chosen to share it with either Logan or Hazel?

“I’m sorry,” Hazel said. “I pushed for this before I knew it was you.”

“I did the same,” Logan told her. “You know that.”

Hazel looked down at the paperwork. It shook slightly in her trembling hands. “What should we do?” she asked me. “Should we… let it go forward?”

That question weighed a million pounds on Logan’s mind. What was the right answer? He didn’t know. They had done everything backwards, getting married first and now wanting to date.

Maybe they should get divorced, if only to do things in the correct order.

But when Logan looked at Hazel, he saw past her uncertainty to the fear underneath. Did she somehow think this would change something for him? He wasn’t about to push her away.

He just wanted to do things right.

“What do you want?” Logan asked.

“You should be the one to decide,” she said right away, a notion Logan disagreed with wholeheartedly.

“Why me? Doesn’t this concern both of us?”

She lowered her chin down, nearly to her chest. “You might not like my preference.”

The sight of Hazel looking so defeated did unpleasant things inside of Logan’s chest. First, he glanced out the door to make certain no one was nearby. Then he placed his first finger under Hazel’s chin and coaxed her to lift her face.

“Didn’t I tell you?” Logan asked. “You belong to me. Married or not, that will not change. Though I would prefer if you kept that ring right there on your finger.”

My heart soared at Logan’s words. Whatever worries that had been lingering within me instantly vanished. Logan still wanted me, whether or not we were married. All of my nerves settled. I tossed the divorce papers to the side and reached for him.

He held up a hand, stopping me.

I gasped, suddenly hurt at the rejection.

“Wait.” He left me standing where I was as he moved to his office door and closed it. Then he moved to his windows one by one, to bring down the blinds.

With the blinds lowered, he faced me again and held open his arms. Immediately, I surged toward him.

With his arms around me, he turned me toward the door. He pressed my back up against it, then lowered his face down, down, to kiss me fully on the mouth.

I clung to his shoulders, sighing as he deepened the kiss.

I’d remembered not to wear lipstick today, so there were no worries there. We’d have to be careful though. Kiss-swollen lips would still give us away.

That was a worry for a few minutes from now, however. Not right this second.

Right now, I just wanted to kiss my husband.

Later, after work, I went down to the lobby and sent Dylan a text.

I want to stop the divorce proceedings.

I nodded, satisfied with the shortness and directness of the message. Dylan had communicated to me that he’d wanted to space, so I didn’t want to push him more than was necessary.

This was a strictly professional text message. I’d let him decide when it would be okay to rekindle our friendship. If it would ever be okay.

I didn’t expect a message right away, so when my phone buzzed, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

Opening the text chain, I saw Dylan’s reply.

It’s too late.

I didn’t know enough about the law to know if that was true, but, even if Dylan was angry with me and hurt by me, I didn’t think he would lie about something like this. I trusted Dylan. He was a good person. If he said it was too late, then maybe it was.

There must be something we can do, I sent.

Dylan’s response was quicker than before, like he also had the text chain open and had been waiting for my reply.

There isn’t.

His short answers gave me the impression he was giving me the cold shoulder.

A second message came in right after the first, This is what you wanted.

Yes. That was true, but that had been before I knew the man I was married to was Logan.

Something that Dylan knew… as Logan’s name was also on the divorce papers.

“Shit,” I cursed. I hadn’t realized that before.

How long had he known?

I replied in text, Why didn’t you tell me it was Logan?

Three dots appeared, indicating that Dylan was replying. But then they went away. They did not appear again.

After waiting a few long minutes, I gave up and returned my phone to my pocket. I had a meeting today to close on an apartment for myself. I couldn’t be late.

With that in mind, I rushed out of the building.

Much, much later, my phone buzzed with a new text from Dylan. I’d signed a lease on my new apartment but I couldn’t move in until the first of the month so I was still couch hopping for now.

I was having trouble sleeping, thinking of all of the excitement of the day, when the message came in.

Unlocking my phone, I read the text.

Finalize the divorce. Please.

Was this actual legal advice or the words of a jealous man? I couldn’t be sure. I didn’t know how to reply.

I closed my phone and found no more sleep that night.

Logan sat in his office well into the night. He should have been home hours ago, but he felt restless. Work helped calm his mind.

The day had been filled with many surprises, twists and turns.

Hazel was his wife.

But they were getting divorced – with no way to stop it, per Dylan. Hazel had been texting Logan updates throughout the night.

Logan had tried to text Dylan himself, but all of his messages were left on read.

Well, they could figure it out. The law was filled with loopholes. If Logan had to hire a different lawyer to find them, then so be it. He wasn’t overly concerned.

What did worry him right now, was his next planned move.

His relationship with Hazel might be secret for now, but he was determined to see it through. And that meant all of his planned dates with other girls would need to be canceled. He wouldn’t make Hazel responsible for this. He would take care of this himself.

He wasn’t overly concerned with handling the dates themselves. After all, they’d never even gone out once, so the women wouldn’t be overtly disappointed.

What worried him was telling his grandfather he was no longer interested in these dates.

It was certain to end in a lecture. And, well, maybe Logan deserved it. Maybe he was a disappointment to the family.

But he was also determined to give him and Hazel the best shot at this new relationship. That would be difficult to do with the pretext of him seeing other people.

The clock read close to midnight, but Logan’s grandfather was a night owl. So Logan picked up the phone and dialed his grandfather.