Chapter 158

My stomach twisted up into tight, painful knots.

There was some woman kissing my husband. I turned, about to storm over there and rip her lips away from him.

Maria grabbed my arm, holding me back before I could take a step. “Wait!”

Just at that moment, Logan pulled back from the kiss. His hands on Tina’s shoulders, he pushed her away and held her at arm’s length. He seemed displeased. That calmed me somewhat.

I moved back in front of the window, closer to Maria.

“Do they know each other?” Maria asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. I imagined, since they both attended high society parties, that they had rubbed elbows a few times. At the very least, they knew each other’s reputation.

But did they know each other well enough to be trading spit on the first meeting?

“I wish we could hear what they are saying,” Maria said.

“We have to get closer,” I said.

Maria looked at me. “I thought we were just looking?”

“That was before this woman kissed my husband.”

“Fair enough.”

Logan had some suspicion going into this that Tina St. Louis might be a woman who knew what she wanted and took it without consideration of anyone else’s feelings.

He’d never met her before tonight, though he’d seen her a couple of times. Though they attended the same parties, they traveled in different circles. Logan mostly networked for work-reasons. Tina chased pleasure wherever it led her, with the people around her always pushing her forward.

This was only one of the reasons she’d turned out spoiled. When her sister married that prince, Tina was practically raised to royal level as well. This meant those around her weren’t just disinclined to disagree with her because of greed – they now did so out of fear as well.

Logan, however, wasn’t afraid of Tina or her powerful family. He had one of his own. His wasn’t royalty, but they had enough money and influence to be a free-nation equivalent.

“Miss St. Louis…” Logan began.

With his hands on her shoulders, he had to forcefully hold her back. Even now, she was pushing against his hands, trying to get closer. She smirked like she was enjoying this perceived game. To Logan, this was no game.

“I must insist that you not push so quickly,” Logan said, adding firmness to his voice. Even if he wasn’t secretly married, he would not appreciate her being so overt in her desires. Things like this were much more alluring when there was a slow buildup.

A kiss before a greeting on a first meeting wasn’t something Logan would have ever found attractive. No, that wasn’t true. Maybe he would have at one time, but not in a serious way. If he wanted Tina to be anything of substance in terms of a relationship, he’d need her to control herself.

Unless, of course, a one night stand was what she had in mind. In which case, she would be extremely disappointed.

“I think you’re hot,” Tina said, pouting out her bottom lip. “Don’t you think the same?”

“I think… I’d like to take you to dinner and get to know you better,” Logan said carefully.

Her smile spread wide, but Logan still caught the slight twitch in her eye. He’d irked her. She clearly wasn’t used to hearing the word ‘no.’

“If that’s what you want…” she said, finally easing back.

“It is.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. For you.” Turning from him, she started for the restaurant. A very patient, well-meaning staff member, held open the door for her. He waited for Logan too, but Logan had a sneaking suspicion…

He chanced a glance behind him, back across the street.

Just as he suspected, he spotted Maria and Hazel arguing with each other.

Shit. They’d seen that then. Logan wished he could go to Hazel and clear this misunderstanding. That kiss had been stolen, not given. He hadn’t enjoyed it. Even if he was single, he wouldn’t have. For one thing, Tina wore too much lip gloss.

“Sir?” the staff member asked.

Logan looked away from Hazel, inwardly promising that he would explain everything later, and followed Tina into the restaurant.

Inside, she was speaking with the hostess. “You better not think of putting us near that clear table by the kitchen. You do know who I am, right? Who we are? That table by the window, that’s the one for us. Those people look like they are finishing up.”

The hostess took a good look at Tina and then paled. “Of course, Miss St. Louis. We’ll have that table cleaned at once.”

As the hostess hurried to work on that, Tina looked back at me with a smile.

“Your assistant really needs to learn to be more forceful when they make the reservations,” Tina said. “I hate to think of all the terrible tables you’ve had up until now. You’re so lucky we’re dating now.”

The date hadn’t even started, and already she considered them dating?

Logan frowned a little. He also didn’t like the way she was treating the staff.

He tried to think back. Did he ever treat people this way? Maybe he had. Maybe it was Hazel who helped him see all employees as people and not just servants sent to wait on his every need.

Tina, it seemed, still hadn’t learned this.

“Your table is clear,” the hostess said when she returned. “The waiter will see you to your table.”

“If you will follow me,” the waiter said.

Tina immediately shadowed him toward the table in the window. I stayed behind a moment and handed the hostess a fifty dollar bill behind Tina’s back.

“I deeply apologize,” Logan said.

The hostess immediately exhaled with relief. “Thank you, sir.” She tucked the money into her pocket and Logan pressed forward to continue this disaster of a date.

“A table for two, please,” I said to the hostess.

The hostess seemed tired. She looked me and Maria over but didn’t have anything but a blank expression. “Do you have a reservation?”

“No, but…” I started.

“It’s fine,” the hostess said. She marked a table on her podium then called over a waiter.

The waiter led us to a table near the kitchen.

“I can’t believe they are actually letting us eat here,” Maria whispered after we sat down.

Why not? We were dressed nicely enough. Though, one thing did worry me.

I opened the menu. God, just as I thought. There were no prices anywhere. It was one of those situations: if you have to ask, you can’t afford it.

“How much do you think a salad is?” Maria asked.

Honestly, at that moment, I didn’t much care. “I’ll cover it.” I wasn’t made of money, but I’d pay any amount to keep a closer eye on that table by the window.

“Maybe we should just leave…” Maria suggested, closing her menu. “I was for looking, but this is a tremendously bad idea.”

“She kissed him, Maria,” I said. “Who knows what else is going to happen? I can’t just turn my head and pretend not to be upset.”

I was so tired of taking the high road, when this whole thing had done nothing but cut me deeply. If there was more to see, I would see it. I wouldn’t turn away.

When I confronted Logan later, I wanted to have all the facts. As long as we stayed relatively inconspicuous…

As soon as I thought it, I glanced over at Logan and saw him staring right back at me.

We had just sat down and we’d already been caught.