Chapter 50

The day of the party had finally arrived.

Logan had released me from my normal duties that day so I could help set up and direct people. He let me pick someone from the office to help, and of course I picked Maria, who was more than happy to also ditch her normal work day things.

At the start of the day, we were alone in the conference room. We sat at one of the tables and started blowing up gold and black balloons for the balloon arch.

“So…” Maria tied off a balloon she had just filled. “Tell me. Is there any more drama between your two men?” She winked at me.

I laughed and shook my head. “They’ve both been kind of standoffish, actually.”

“Oh, no! But your rom com!” Maria frowned. “What happened?”

“Well, ever since Logan’s wife blew up his phone the morning he arrived late, he’s been actively avoiding me, unless it was absolutely necessary to talk to me for work things. And Dylan…he hasn’t really spoken to me since he saw that video.”

It was my turn to frown. I’d been busy with work, but in that moment I realized just how much I had missed Dylan’s texts and Logan’s interactions with me.

“How about your and your mans?” I asked her, eager to talk about anything else.

“Ugh. Off again,” Maria pouted. “But we are not changing the subject, ma’am.” She put down the balloon she was holding and turned to look me in the eye. “Talk to me. I know you have more on your mind, it’s written all over your face.”

I sighed. I tied the balloon I was holding and set it on the table. “Get out of my head woman,” I said.

“Sorry, can’t. You seem to really like Dylan. Why don’t you reach out? You can explain the video to him, I’m sure he’ll understand,” Maria said.

The truth was, I had almost reached out to him many times. I had typed text after text just to delete every single one right before I could bring myself to send it.

“I don’t know, there’s just something holding me back. I’m not sure what,” I shrugged and grabbed another balloon.

“Something or someone?” Maria asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

I threw a balloon at her. “You know the other one is married. That’s not even an option.”

“Yeah, okay,” Maria said, throwing the balloon back at me. “We’ll see how long that lasts, after those texts you were telling me about. And besides, there’s no denying how differently he treats you than the other women on the staff. I mean, he’s never asked me to rub ointment on him.” She gave me a sly grin.

My cheeks burned and I turned all my focus to the balloon I was blowing up. As much as I protested, I knew Maria was right. It was getting harder to ignore that thought that kept popping up in the back of my mind, the one that noticed how much worse things were getting between Logan and his wife. I was ashamed to admit how much that realization gave me some hope.

“Okay, real talk,” Maria said. “If there were no barriers between you and Dylan or you and Logan, which would you choose?”

“Um…”

Thankfully, just at that moment, there was a knock at the door. “Um, hi, I’m looking for Hazel?” the young, blonde woman that had knocked said.

“That’s me!” I jumped up a little too eagerly. I didn’t have to see her to know that Maria was rolling her eyes at me.

“Hi! I’m Lily, I’m from Steve’s Flowers,” she held out her hand to me to shake.

“Lily, huh? I guess you had no choice but to work in a flower shop with that name,” I said as I shook her hand. She just blinked at me. “Uh, right. Let me grab the diagram I drew up so you can see where we would like the flowers set up.”

I walked back to where Maria was sitting to grab the diagram.

“Don’t think we’re done with this conversation, young lady,” she said.

“Sorry, what? Can’t hear you…” I said as I walked away with the paper.

“Uh huh,” she replied.

I handed Lily the paper and went over it with her to make sure we were on the same page. Then she left the office to start bringing in the flowers.

Maria watched me expectantly as I walked back over to her. “Well?”

I sighed. The truth was, I didn’t know who I would choose in that bizarro-world scenario. Maybe those guys were flirty with me, but no way were they actually interested in me. Both of them had a reputation for being womanizers, maybe that’s just how they are with every woman they encounter.

As for me, I didn’t want to get my hopes up over something so impossible. I’d rather not even think about it.

“Is ‘I’m not playing this game’ an option?” I finally said.

This time I saw her roll her eyes. “Nope,” she said. “Don’t overthink it. Which one comes to mind first?”

One of the men popped in my head. “Okay, I would choose…”

There was another sharp knock at the door. We turned.

“Logan!” I said.

“Good morning ladies,” he said and walked over to us. I blushed. I was getting really tired of doing that as much as I had been lately.

He looked at the balloons and picked one up. “How’s it going? Do you need help with anything?”

“So far so good,” I said. “The florist is bringing flowers in now. Everything is on track,” I smiled.

He smiled in return. His eyes lingered on mine for a moment, until I started feeling self-conscious and shy and turned away.

“Well, uh…let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.” He gave a tiny wave and left the conference room.

“Good choice,” Maria winked at me. “And by that look he was giving you, I would say the feelings are mutual.”

“Oh my god, we’re setting up a party for his wife. I’m the last person on his mind,” I said, attaching one of our balloons the the empty arch.

“Maybe it’s a different head he’s thinking of you with,” Maria said, suppressing a smile.

“Oh my godddd,” I groaned and felt my face burn. “You are the worst.”

She started laughing and I couldn’t help but join in.

“You ladies are having way too much fun,” a male voice said from the doorway.

I turned. “Oh, Dylan!” I said, surprised to see him. “I swear you’re here more than you are your own office,” I teased.

“Well my office isn’t near as fun as this place,” he said with a smile. “Setting up for the party?”

He came over and stood very close to me, watching me attach balloons to the arch. Maria walked in front of me and raised an eyebrow at me while she smirked. “I can’t stand you,” I mouthed.

“We’re trying to,” Maria answered him. “But we keep getting interrupted by all these handsome men.”

She winked at him and my stomach lurched. I knew she wasn’t interested in him, but clearly I was feeling more than a little jealous of her being flirty with him. My reaction took me by surprise.

“Where are all these men?” He looked around. Maria and I laughed. “I’m sorry to interrupt, I swung by to talk to Logan before the party and just wanted to drop in and say hi. He said that last part directly to me and smiled. “I’ll see you tonight?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you then,” I couldn’t help but smile.

Maria and I watched him walk out of the conference room. She turned to me.

“You’re right, that’s a damn hard choice to make.”