Chapter 178

I melted into Logan as he pressed me farther against the door. His lips on mine, his tongue swept into my mouth and tangled with my own.

Lifting my arms, I combed my fingers through his hair, urging him closer, never close enough.

He hummed against my lips, and I moaned in return.

This wasn’t the time or place for this, but I was desperate to have him as much as I could, for as long as I could.

Didn’t he understand we needed to separate? That it would be better for him in the long run? But from the way he was acting, and how tightly he was holding me, he clearly didn’t want to let me go.

I didn’t want to lose him either, but…

Even with him insisting that my presence made his problems more bearable, I couldn’t fully believe that. If it wasn’t for me, after all, there would be no need for Tina and his fake dating her.

Thoughts of Tina cooled me somewhat and I dropped my head back against the door, breaking our kiss.

“Hazel…” Logan whispered and dropped his mouth down onto my neck. He kissed along the column of my throat, and I very nearly lost myself again. But this was important. I had to hold onto my thoughts.

“We have to talk, Logan…” My fingers still in his hair, I clutched him as close as I could, in direct contradiction to my words. “We have to stop and talk…”

“Mmhmm…”

“I’m serious…”

Slowly, both Logan and I came to our senses and pulled away from each other. Logan stepped back while I stayed by the door. If I moved, I was worried I might fall over, or run right back into Logan’s arms.

“We are not breaking up,” Logan said, his face suddenly serious. “That is out of the question. And I refuse to accept your resignation as well.”

“You’re being difficult,” I said, a little frustrated, a little pleased.

“I know what I want,” Logan said. “Things aren’t perfect at the moment with most everything else, but you are my cornerstone. I can’t lose that.”

“Fine. We won’t break up,” I said, conceding that much. For now. “But I still have to quit. You can’t deny that my presence has made things increasingly difficult between you and your grandfather.”

Logan considered my words. With the way he frowned, he knew I was right. He didn’t want to let me go, I could understand that. I was good at my job and did well for the company. It was also nice to see each other so much throughout the day.

But the boons outweighed the negatives. Without me in the office, he wouldn’t have to fake date Tina and at least one of his worries could be resolved.

Looking at the healing bruises of his face helped resolve my will. I didn’t want to watch him get hurt anymore. I never again wanted to hear him say he didn’t care if he got hurt.

“You just signed the lease on that apartment,” Logan said.

“I can find another job,” I said. “Assuming you’ll give me a good reference?”

“Of course…” Logan frowned. “Wait if…” He paused, reconsidered, and started again. “Instead of firing you, we could have you transferred.”

That surprised me. I hadn’t thought of something like that.

“You could keep your high salary,” Logan said. “And you’d still be an asset within the company. You do such good work. I can say as a CEO that we’d hate to lose you.”

“But I’d need to move to a different town?”

Logan nodded. “I can check my contacts. We can try to find you something close.”

A slight hurt panged in my chest. “You are sure you don’t want to break up? This isn’t some subtle way of getting rid of me.”

“Absolutely not,” Logan said. He stepped closer to me again. Not close enough to touch, but close enough that when he looked at me, he was all that I could see. “I’m determined to keep our relationship. We’ll be long distance, but I think we can do it.”

Maybe this was better than breaking up. Whatever suspicions Logan’s grandfather had about me would likely disappear with my distance.

“My friends aren’t going to like it,” I said, giving my last attempt at argument. Though, truly, I’d already made up my mind.

“Your friends will always be your friends, regardless of distance,” Logan said.

I knew he was right.

Gathering my courage, I asked Logan, “Does this mean that you can break up with Tina now?”

Logan looked down and my heart ached. That sure seemed like a no.

“Tina is… volatile. I’m not sure she’s ever been dumped. Even with a fake relationship, I’m not sure how she’ll handle a break up.”

“So… what? She stays in our lives forever because we’re afraid what she’ll do if you dump her?”

“She could expose us,” Logan said.

“I’m already leaving…”

Logan inhaled a deep breath. “Give me time, Hazel. Let me find you a job, get you sorted. Then, we can decide what to do with Tina.”

I wasn’t a big fan of leaving this undecided but I agreed. There were a lot of emotions flying around in this office at that moment. A breather might do us both some good.

“I should get back to work,” I say, and motion toward the door.

With a nod, Logan reached down and picked up the crumpled up resume he had discarded. He tossed it to me. “Throw this out, won’t you?”

“I will,” I said and left the office.

Logan made a few calls to the managers of branch offices of Hatfield Supply. Eventually, he found an opening fitting Hazel in a small city three hours up the highway. Rossford was a town Logan knew well. He’d spend some time there growing up.

Offhandedly, he wondered if any of his old friends and contacts were still in the area. Maybe if Hazel needed something, they would…

No. He left that life behind him. He’d moved forward with his paternal grandfather. The past was the past. Logan had taken the time to bury it, so it should stay buried.

Rossford was a good little city though. Hazel would thrive there. He’d enjoyed it in his youth.

Perhaps a small part of him wanted her to see the place he once loved. He wanted her to love it too.

With that settled, Logan began the transfer paperwork. Once he had assurance from HR that it was started, he leaned back in his chair and sighed.

He was going to miss Hazel, but long distance was much better than breaking up. Why had she ever thought that was necessary?

No, he already knew why. The minute he climbed into that ring, he was showing Hazel how vulnerable he was. If he’d been stronger, if he’d fought his grandfather, and pushed back Tina…

He’d lose everything, but wasn’t that what Hazel deserved?

Yet even knowing that, he couldn’t give up the career he had fought so hard for.

Tina, though… There had to be something he could do about her.

With Hazel gone, she was right that he didn’t necessarily need Tina anymore. But that woman had never heard the word no in her life. A breakup might send her off the handle.

There had to be some kind of middle ground…

Maybe he could smooth things over with a nice dinner.

Logan picked up the phone and dialed Tina’s number.