Chapter 160

Tina considered herself a magnanimous type, so she backed away without saying a word to interrupt them. She returned to her table and patiently waited. When Logan finally returned, she didn’t even point out the lipstick smeared on the corner of his mouth.

But she saw it. And she stewed.

Logan thanked her for a nice time. He promised to call her.

Tina nodded at the appropriate times and smiled in a kind, grateful, not-at-all annoyed way. It was fine. Tina was barely paying attention anymore.

Instead, her thoughts were centered fully on vengeance.

That night, Tina went home and immediately texted Natalie.

Hey, girl! Are you free tomorrow? Let’s go shopping.

Natalie, the bitch, replied at once.

Sounds great! Where should we meet?

Tina chose a location that felt like her home turf: a café where Tina had personally brought each employee into line. They knew how to properly treat her there.

If a scene broke out, they would know to look the other way.

And if Tina had her way, a scene would definitely break out.

Tina always got her way.

In the café at the assigned time the next morning, Tina walked up to table where Natalie was sitting. She grabbed her water glass off the table and splashed it all in Natalie’s face.

“What the hell?!” Natalie shouted.

Tina calmly sat down. “You have some nerve, you bitch.” She tried to keep her voice level as she spoke, but undoubtedly some venom broke through. “I saw you last night at the restaurant, kissing my man.”

Natalie wore cheap makeup, apparently. The water made it run.

Just one more reason she was a skank.

“I highly, highly doubt the man I was kissing last night belongs to you,” Natalie said.

Tina’s anger flared. “You think I don’t have dibs?”

Natalie gave Tina a flat look. She was ridiculous with her runny mascara, but somehow still managed to come across as condescending. “I hooked up with a mechanic last night.”

Tina turned her nose up. “A mechanic? Why in the world would you kiss a mechanic?”

“Sometimes I like to slum it,” Natalie said. “Mechanics are good with their hands.”

Tina tried to process this new information. “So you weren’t at the restaurant…?”

“We never left his place,” Natalie said. Grabbing one of the cloth napkins, she dabbed at her damp face.

“I know what I saw,” Tina pushed. “Logan was kissing you.”

Natalie stilled. “Did you say… Logan?”

Tina crossed her arms. “So it does ring a bell after all.”

“It does if you mean Logan Hatfield.”

“A-hah!” Tina said. Unwinding her arm, she pointed her finger instead, right in Natalie’s face.

Natalie looked unimpressed though. Reaching for her phone, she scrolled through some pictures. Then she turned the screen toward Tina.

On the screen was a picture of a blonde woman, similar in stature to Natalie, but with a softer expression. Looking closer, there were more differences too, differences Tina might not have noticed at first glance, if she caught her boyfriend kissing someone in a dark room.

“Who the hell is this bitch?” Tina asked. Realizing her mistake, she was ready to turn her ire on someone else. Natalie was just unfortunate collateral damage. She and Tina could still be friends. Tina would buy her a diamond tennis bracelet or something. Diamonds usually soothed ruffled feathers.

“Meet Hazel,” Natalie said. “Logan Hatfield’s assistant.”

Tina grabbed the phone from Natalie’s hands and more closely inspected it. The audacity of this Hazel person! She was a subordinate to Logan and still thought herself worthy of kissing him?

“You saw them kissing?” Natalie asked, frowning now.

“All over each other,” Tina replied. “What a whore.”

“I agree,” Natalie said. Suddenly, she leaned forward. “Let me help you take her down.”

Tina looked at Natalie and saw the fire of hate in her eye. There had to be more to the story here, between Natalie and Hazel and Logan, but Tina didn’t care about any of that.

The only thing she wanted – the only thing that mattered – was teaching this slut to stay away from Tina’s new man.

“Logan is mine,” Tina said. “Anyone who can’t see that is going to get burned.”

Natalie’s frown instantly lifted. “Oh, she’ll burn alright.”

Tina liked Natalie more and more.

I like the sight of Logan in my apartment. Compared to his usual luxury, this must have seemed like a closet to him, but he still relaxed comfortably here, his form stretched out on the couch, legs spread wide with his arm draped over the back.

I curled up comfortably, tucked against his side. He held one of my hands in his, our fingers curled together on top of his thigh.

It was a rare moment that we could have a time alone like this. But with the standards at work returning to as they were before, the need for so much overtime dwindled. Logan still planned on working at some point, I was sure, but for now, we could hold each other and enjoy the movie on television.

Though I doubted Logan watched much of the movie. More often than not, his gaze flickered over to me.

I wasn’t complaining.

Especially when he lifted a hand and traced his fingertips down the length of my jaw. I turned into him and looked into the depths of his eyes.

God, he was so stunningly handsome.

His gaze dropped to my mouth. On instinct, I licked my lips. He did too.

Then, leaning forward, he pressed his lips to mine.

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. His fell to my waist. Gently, he eased me back onto the couch so that I was lying on my back with him over top of me. Like this, he could more easily lead our kiss, and lead it, he did, probing his tongue into my mouth, licking alongside my own.

One of his legs slotted between my thighs. I broke the kiss to gasp. He smiled against my lips.

“When was the last time we were like this?” he asked.

I remembered the night he’d came over and fell asleep, but was loathe to bring that up. I really didn’t want a repeat.

“Our wedding night,” I said instead. We’d been close to having sex several times since then, but we’d never sealed the deal quite like that night. The worst part was, neither of us remembered it all that well.

That I had this man in my bed and promptly forgot was one of the biggest regrets of my life.

Maybe it was time to rectify that.

“Too long ago,” Logan said. He shifted and I felt the hard press of his growing desire against my hip.

He wanted this too. Wanted me.

We were married. We had the time now. Here, like this.

Why were we holding ourselves back? We’d agreed to stay married. Shouldn’t we share in all the benefits? Shouldn’t we explore our growing affection with our bodies as well as our hearts?

Logan lowered his mouth to my neck and gently sucked in a few marks.

I closed my eyes and happily sighed. This was what I wanted. No. I wanted more.

“Logan,” I said. I pushed on his shoulder slightly, so that he would lean up and I could see his face.

He looked at me curiously, with affection and lust darkening his eyes.

“Stay with me tonight,” I said.