Chapter 54

I stood frozen in place, champagne dripping down my head to my face, then down my neck, and into my dress.

Several people around me gasped and stood frozen themselves, staring at Natalie and me. Natalie was smirking at me.

“Natalie!” I heard Logan’s voice from across the room.

She and I both turned to face him. He had re-entered the party through the tunnel, and Dylan was coming through as I looked over. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Natalie’s face went from smirking to almost in tears. Logan started walking swiftly towards us.

“Logan!” Her eyes began to well up. “You won’t believe the horrible thing this woman just said to me!”

“What?” I said. “Logan, I swear, I didn’t say anything!”

Natalie turned to me and gasped, “You are such a liar!”

But Logan didn’t address either one of us. Instead, he turned to his party guests and announced, “I’m sorry, we have to end this party early. Thank you all for coming.”

The guests looked at each other awkwardly, then slowly started grabbing their things and making their way to the balloon tunnel to leave. Logan stood silently until the room cleared out. Once everyone but Dylan and the three of us had left, Logan turned back towards us.

I braced myself, ready for Logan to lay into me, but instead, he walked up to Natalie. “I saw the whole thing, Natalie. I tried to make this work. I tried to ignore all the red flags. But I can’t ignore this. This is the final straw. Please exit the property. My divorce lawyer will be in touch tomorrow.” His voice was eerily calm.

I looked at Nat. She looked stunned, then angry. She got right in Logan’s face. “How dare you. How dare you embarrass me like this. You’ve made a huge mistake.” She looked over at me, then back at him. “My lawyer will also be in touch, and we’re going to take you for everything you’ve got, you lying, cheating, son-of-a-bitch.”

She stormed off towards the balloon tunnel. Dylan came running over with a napkin in hand, but Logan reached into his jacket and pulled out a handkerchief for me before Dylan reached us. I grabbed the handkerchief and dabbed at my face.

“Such an old man, carrying a handkerchief,” I joked, but neither man cracked a smile.

“Are you okay?” Logan said, taking the handkerchief back from me to help wipe champagne from my face.

“I think I’ll live,” I said. My eyes met his and for a moment his hand paused, resting on my cheek. I don’t think I had ever realized how blue his eyes were before this moment. His eyes moved to my lips, and for a brief moment, I thought he might kiss me. My heart started pounding in my chest.

Dylan cleared his throat and Logan and I both jumped. I had forgotten he was here.

“Let me see if these caterers have a towel or something to dry you off better,” Logan said without looking at me or Dylan. He ducked his head and walked over to where the caterers were cleaning up.

Dylan shoved his hands into his pocket. “Oh,” he said, pulling the hand holding the napkin back out. “I uh, brought you this. But it doesn’t really seem sufficient.” He let his arm fall by his side.

I walked closer to him and reached out for the napkin. He handed it to me.

“Thank you,” I smiled at him and wiped my neck.

“Hazel, could we go somewhere and talk? I really think…” Dylan started, but before he could finish Logan returned with a towel.

“Here you go,” Logan handed it to me, cutting Dylan off.

Dylan glared at Logan, then spun around on his heel and stormed off towards the balloon tunnel.

“Dylan wait!” I started after him, but if he heard me he didn’t acknowledge me. He kept his head down and quickened his pace. I watched him until he was gone, then I turned back to Logan. I crossed my arms in front of me, suddenly realizing how cold I was from the champagne that drenched my dress.

“Oh, you must be freezing,” Logan said. He rushed over to me and rubbed my biceps. “Come on, I have an extra jacket in my office.”

He put an arm around me and started to lead me out of the room.

“But what about the caterers? And the decor, and…”

“I’ve already taken care of the caterers. The other stuff can wait,” he said. “You work too hard, your boss must be quite the hard-ass.”

I briefly thought about how good that hard-ass looked. I shook the image from my mind. I laughed. “Nah, he’s not so bad.”

He looked at me and smiled. He gave my arm a small rub, which sent chills throughout my body. I thought about how many women in this office would die for a moment like this with their smokin’ hot CEO. I had to remind myself that he was just being nice and nothing more.

When we reached his office, he walked around to his desk chair. A suit jacket hung from the back of it. He pulled it off and moved behind me, wrapping it around my shoulders. He leaned in close to my ear. “Better?” He whispered.

A jolt moved through me. God I wanted those lips on mine.

“Uh huh,” was all I could manage.

I turned to face him. To my surprise, he didn’t move away. Instead, he took the lapels of the jacket around my shoulders in his hands and pulled the jacket tighter around me. He looked directly into my eyes, first at the left, then the right.

“Do you want to…um…sit?” He gestured to the couch at the far end of his office.

I nodded and gave him a small smile. “Sure.”

He took one of my hands in his and led me to the couch. We sat facing each other, our knees slightly touching. The spot where he knee touched mine tingled.

He looked at my hair, which was now drenched and (I’m sure) stringy around my face. I self-consciously tucked a strand behind my ear.

“I’m so sorry she did this to you,” he said, tucking a strand on the other side behind my other ear. “I can’t believe I was going to try and make it work with her.”

“Oh, I’m used to it. I’ve been dealing with it for years,” I shrugged.

“People have bullied you like this for years?” Logan said, stunned.

“Not people,” I said. “Natalie.”

He narrowed his eyebrows at me, confused.

“She’s my sister. That’s what I was trying to tell you before.”

Logan’s mouth fell open and he covered it with one hand. “She…what? Your sister?” He leaned back onto the couch. “How did I not know?”

“Hey, don’t feel bad. She kept it from me too,” I said. “Classic Natalie. I don’t know what she had planned exactly but I’m sure she was scheming something nefarious by keeping it from us.”

“Oh my god,” he shook his head. “I’m so sorry. She must’ve been a nightmare to grow up with.”

“Oh, she still is,” I said. “I’m sorry for you, too.”

“She was…something alright,” he said. “She certainly showed her true colors tonight.”

He thought for a moment. “She really is a good actress.”

I nodded.

He sat up again and studied my face for a moment. Then he placed a hand on my cheek, gently rubbing it with his thumb. His touch was so gentle, and each movement sent shivers through me. He smiled at me, and I thought my heart was going to burst through my chest right then and there. I parted my lips slightly and tilted my head up as he slowly leaned his closer.

The office door slammed open, and we jumped apart.

“I fucking knew it!”