Chapter 68

“Wait a minute,” Logan said suddenly, remembering that morning. “Didn’t she just get married?”

“Oh, uh, yeah…she did,” Maria busied herself with drying off her dress.

“Then what did you mean by ‘you’ll have to get in line’?”

“I meant to uh…congratulate her. That’s what those guys are doing. Wishing her a happy marriage.”

Logan looked over at Hazel again. He’d never seen anyone congratulate someone quite the way they were. Hazel was giggling and flirtily touching their arms, and he could spot a guy flirting with a girl a mile away. Those guys definitely were not saying anything about her marriage.

“They seem to be flirting to me,” Logan said.

“Hazel? No, she would never…,” Maria looked over too and saw Hazel receiving kisses on the cheeks from both men. “Ah…hmm. I uhh…I’ve got to go.”

Logan watched as Maria scurried away. She ran over to a couple of girls he didn’t recognize. After she talked with them a moment, they turned and looked at him. He waved, and they quickly looked away, going immediately back to their talking.

He turned back to Hazel. The line dance had ended, and she kissed the two guys on the cheek. A slow dance had started, and one of the men held out his hand to her. She grabbed it and he led her out to the dance floor.

Logan had only met Chance the one time, but he knew without a doubt that man she was dancing with was not her new husband. He watched as she put her arms around the man’s neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in close to him. He felt more than a twinge of jealousy when the man whispered in her ear and she laughed.

He forced himself to look away and continue to the bar. He sat on a stool that faced away from Hazel and her dance partner.

“What can I get for you?” The bartender asked.

“Shot of whiskey, please,” he said.

He downed the shot as soon as she placed it in his hands. Then he turned to look at Hazel. She was smiling and laughing and it was driving Logan wild to see her like this. He turned back to the bartender. “Can I get another, please?”

She poured him another shot. As soon as he drank it, he slammed the shot glass on the bar top and marched over to where Hazel was dancing. He tapped the man she was dancing with on the shoulder.

“Mind if I cut in?” He asked.

Hazel turned to look at him. Her eyes grew wide. The man looked at Hazel.

“Do you mind giving us a minute?” she asked him.

The man let go of Hazel’s waist. He gestured for Logan to step in, the walked away. Logan started to put his arms around Hazel’s waist, but she pulled away and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“What are you doing here?” She asked. She left one arm covering her chest and used the other hand to pull down her dress as far as it would go.

His eyes followed her hand down. That dress was the tightest, skimpiest thing he’d ever seen her wear. It was so short. He had never seen so much of those gorgeous long legs of hers.

He watched her pull down the dress then his eyes followed the hand as it moved back up to cover her chest. She wasn’t able to cover it completely, however, and he suddenly became very aware that she was not wearing a bra. He snapped his eyes upward to meet hers. He couldn’t let himself think about what was underneath that dress.

“I just came out for a drink,” he said. “Are you…are you celebrating being married?”

She turned red. “Yeah…something like that.”

He looked at her left hand to check out the ring. But he noticed she wasn’t wearing one. “Where’s your ring?”

“Oh!” She looked down at her hand. “It’s uh…getting resized.”

The song ended and the crowd began to line up for the next line dance. Hazel hurried off the dance floor and Logan followed. He caught sight of Hazel’s ass in that skin tight dress and he froze momentarily. She’s not wearing underwear, either, he realized.

Stop it, he told himself. She’s a married woman now.

Once they had cleared the dance floor, she turned to fully face him. She brushed a strand of hair out of her face. Logan’s mouth dropped open. The light was a little brighter in this spot, and he was finally able to get a really good, close up look of her. He had seen her dressed up before for the corporate parties they’d held, but this was a whole other level.

“Hazel, you look…” Logan stopped himself before he went too far again. “Happy. Congrats on your marriage again, I hope you two will have many happy years together.”

Logan turned on his heels walked straight out of the bar. So much for drinking to forget tonight, he thought as he stepped out into the night spring air.

He pulled his phone from his back pocket and dialed Dylan’s number.

“Hey,” he said when Dylan answered. “I want to have one of our parties tomorrow, like we used to do in college to pick up girls. You in?”

---

I watched Logan leave the bar. I suddenly felt much more sober.

I located Maria, Megan, and Rachel and made my way through the crowd of people to them. What had Logan even been doing here, anyway? Couldn’t I go anywhere in this town without seeing the boss I was trying desperately to disconnect from?

“That was Logan?” Rachel said, raising her eyebrows at me.

“Yup,” I said, taking a drink of Megan’s mixed whatever it was.

“And you want to distance yourself because…?” Megan asked.

“Because she’s a goody-two shoes at work,” Maria said. “She is all business. She never lets herself have any fun there.”

“Girl, you need to relax. I bet if you need, that man would love to help you relax in whatever way is necessary,” Megan winked at me.

“No, there will definitely be none of that. It just felt weird, okay? Have you ever been with one of your bosses?” I asked the group.

“Yeah, it was incredibly hot, all that sneaking around we had to do. And he wasn’t nearly as delicious as that boss of yours,” Megan said dreamily.

“It doesn’t have to be anything crazy, just mess around with him for a little bit, have some fun then get out,” Rachel shrugged.

“You see who you’re talking to, right?” I asked. “That’s so not me. I’m a relationship person. I can’t do the whole ‘mess around and see’ thing.

“He’s not her only option,’ Maria jumped in for me. “There’s also the best friend.”

She winked at me. I just rolled my eyes.

“Ooh, that’s right! Where are things with him?” Megan said.

“I’m distancing myself from him, too,” I said. “The whole thing with both of them felt uncomfy, I’m just cutting my losses.”

“Man,” Megan shook her head. “Bitch is over here with two incredibly hot men swooning after her, and I can’t even get a text back. Look, if you don’t want them, send ‘em my way.”

I started to say ‘all yours’, but the thought of Megan with either of them made me feel extremely jealous. “You’ll have to arm wrestle Maria for them, she asked first.” I stood. "I’m going to get another drink,” I said, eager to leave this conversation ASAP. “Do you guys want anything?”

They looked at each other then shook their heads. I walked to the bar, and felt my phone buzz in my purse. I pulled it out. To my surprise, it was a text from Dylan:

“Hey! Party at Logan’s tomorrow, do you want to come?”