Chapter 169

As other employees began to arrive to work, Hazel quietly walked out of Logan’s office without finishing her thought. On one hand, Logan was frustrated. He had wanted to know what Hazel had been about to say. On the other, he was relieved, because he suspected she had been about to end things between them.

Her eyes had been filled with a tired resignation. A look of defeat that unsettled Logan down to his soul.

He had nothing to do with this phony engagement announcement. That left two other possibilities: his grandfather, who had already been pushing him to buy a ring. Or Tina herself.

Between the two of them, a conversation with his grandfather was somehow easier, so Logan went to his desk, picked up his phone, and dialed.

“Logan,” his grandfather said upon picking up the phone. “I’m so pleased you came to your senses and made the correct choice.”

“I wouldn’t say that I came to my senses,” Logan said. “The entire thing took me by surprise.”

“Oh? Don’t tell me that St. Louis girl proposed to you?” Grandfather chuckled slightly, like he found the thought of that endearing and amusing.

“No one proposed,” Logan said. “Which is why I am so confused about the headline in today’s newspaper.”

“Ah. And you suspect me to be the culprit?”

“You had mentioned…”

“Sorry to disappoint you, grandson. But I was not the one to leak this story. “This does make me like your fiancé a bit more, however. She’s a woman who takes what she wants. It shows ambition.”

It showed lack of boundaries, Logan wanted to argue. As ever, he bit his tongue rather than talk back to his grandfather.

The purpose of this call had been fulfilled. Grandfather wasn’t the one responsible. That left only Tina.

“Thank you for your time,” Logan said, ready to end the call.

“Don’t botch this,” Grandfather snapped. “Maybe she’s pushy, but she is perfect for you.”

“Have a good day, Grandfather,” Logan said and hung up the phone.

Once he heard the dial tone, he began punching in another set of numbers. It was likely early for Tina, but Logan wasn’t feeling particularly courteous at the moment.

Even with the early hour, when Tina answered, she was bright as ever.

“Hello, my darling,” Tina said in greeting.

“Tina. What is the meaning of this?” Logan asked, voice firm. He was very near shouting, having seen the hurt in Hazel’s eyes. But he kept himself measured, knowing Tina would devolve to tears if pushed too hard.

“Oh? Did you see my little surprise? I thought of it all by myself. Isn’t it wonderful?”

“Wonderful is not the term I would use, Tina. You had no right.”

“But it’s so smart, darling, can’t you see? No one would possibly suspect a thing, with us being engaged. I’ve handed you the perfect cover for you and your little fling.”

“Hazel is not a –”

“The least you could do is thank me.”

Those words would never leave Logan’s mouth. “You made an action that deeply concerns me without consulting me.”

“Men are so touchy.”

“Tina, I’m serious,” Logan said. “I have half a mind to end things right this minute.”

Tina’s tone shifted suddenly, darkening. “Do you really think that’s a good idea, Logan? With all that I know, and with the press now knowing about our engagement…”

“There is no engagement.”

“My engagement cut short as I discover my fiancé has been keeping a mistress all this time. I’ll cry in the photos. It will be terribly tragic.”

A vile root dug through the pit of Logan’s stomach, vines coiling through him. Just like Cameron, and Dawn before her, Tina now had something to hang over Logan’s head.

“What do you want, Tina?” Logan asked.

“I want the perfect engagement. Photos. Dinners. I want to buy a dress and go to cake tastings. To keep up appearances, I want you to start coming over to my place and staying the night.”

“I will not,” Logan said quickly.

“It’s for your own good,” Tina said. “Don’t forget that I’m only doing all of this for your benefit, Logan. Only with these pretenses in place, shielding you from public scrutiny, will you be able to do what you want to do in the dark.”

Lifting a hand, Logan rubbed at his temples. The stress was starting to eat him alive. “Tina…”

“You’ll thank me,” Tina said. “When this is done.”

I sat at my desk, burying myself in work like I always did when I was upset. Through the windows, I could see Logan making calls but I couldn’t hear the words. Maybe he was getting to the bottom of who leaked that fake story.

I didn’t need to make phone calls to know it was Tina. This was just another ploy of hers to push me out of the picture so she could swoop in and steal my man.

My fingers slow on the keyboard as my invasive thoughts return once more.

What had I been about to say to Logan before the lights clicked on this morning? I was afraid to broach the subject, even in the safety of my own mind.

It had been a moment of weakness. I’d been so tired and so upset.

I think I had almost –

A message popped up on my screen through the work chat, from Logan.

Come into my office at once.

Great. Grabbing my notepad and my coffee, I headed into Logan’s office for what I thought might be either our typical morning meeting or a continuation of our previous discussion.

It was neither.

Instead, Logan was shuffling through his wallet and pull out a few ones. When he finished, there was about 8 dollars there. He held it out for me.

“Go down to the breakroom and get me as many potato chips as this will buy,” he said.

I accepted the money, but not without looking at it, and him, strangely. Logan usually ate so healthy. He didn’t count his calories or anything that extreme, but he liked his vegetables and always made sure to have a balanced meal three times a day.

For as long as I’d known him, he’d never indulged in snacks like potato chips.

Something had to be deeply, dearly wrong.

“What happened?” I asked.

“The chips,” he said, pointing at the money.

“Logan, please. Something is clearly going on.”

“The chips, Hazel. Please. I’d rather not the employees see me loitering at the vending machine.”

Fine. With a sigh, I went to the vending machine and bought him six bags of chips. When I returned, I dropped them all on his desk. Immediately, he scooped the lot into a desk drawer to hide them, though I still held the telltale noise of a bag being opened.

“Now will you tell me?” I asked. I wasn’t ready to let this go.

Logan shoves a few chips in his mouth, chews and swallows. “Tina is the one behind the newspaper article.”

“Okay,” I said. I’d already gathered that.

“She insists it was to help protect us,” he said.

I didn’t believe that for a second. Even so, neither of these revelations seemed like enough to push Logan to break his diet.

“What else?” I asked.

He looked up at me. His expression was stoic. As that usually only happened with bad news, I braced myself.

“She wants me to stay the night at her place,” Logan said. “And I’m thinking that I probably should.”