I laughed. “Oh, every night. In only our panties.”
“Perfect.” Logan gave a wolfish smile, and my throat thickened.
“You’re gross, Kemp.”
“I’m not the one who brought up panties.”
I cringed. Yeah, that was my bad. I glanced at the clock on the microwave. “Okay, we’ll resume negotiations later. We’re going to be late.”
We took turns in the bathroom to change, and I couldn’t help but notice there was a double shower head and a seat in the shower. I tried to keep my imagination at bay as I put ontight black slacks and a blouse I’d borrowed from Jenna. Logan changed into khakis and a Polo shirt, and I wondered if he’d made the same observations I had.
When we joined the others, Logan looked like he belonged there. I felt like I was playing dress up.
We made it through our lunch and the educational sessions that afternoon. Well, I did that portion. Logan took a nap in the hotel room.
The evening mixer was in one of the lower ballrooms. Strings of white lights draped from the beams, making the atmosphere dreamy. Just like the Palliser, servers flitted around with trays of wine and tiny appetizers.
Norman was already in full schmooze mode, flanked by board members, a couple of politicians, and a handful of people I recognized from earlier grant paperwork. I could pick out the MacIntyre Foundation guy by his eyebrows alone.
Logan and I were separated almost instantly. Norman wanted me to talk with one of the politicians, a woman from the province’s Arts Secretariat, and Logan was pulled away by his Blizzard administration team. Two other players were there, not Rourke or Haines, but I didn’t get a chance to meet them.
I tried to snag him when we moved toward dinner, but he was nowhere to be found. Thankfully, I ended up at a table with Alison Kerr.
We made small talk through the salad course, but when the main dishes were brought out, it finally got interesting. We dove into a philosophical discussion about experimental art, and though I didn’t have much to add, I had plenty of questions.
I absorbed every provocative opinion she dished out and scrambled to keep up, occasionally saying something that made her eyes light up.
I didn’t realize I’d downed two full glasses of red wine until Logan showed up, and I couldn’t remember why it’d been so awkward before.
“Hey!” I pushed my chair back and stood, wrapping my arms around his neck.
He chuckled. “Seems you’ve been having fun.”
“You have to meet Allison,” I said, motioning for him to join us. The man seated there earlier had left before dessert.
We both chatted for the last few minutes, said our goodbyes, and thanked Norman for the meal. Allison gave me her card, and I was on cloud nine by the time Logan and I made it back to the room. The buzz from the wine was dissipating, but I was still flying high on the conversation and connections.
How was this my life? How had I gone from anxious art student with zero prospects for the spring to rubbing shoulders with the most powerful decision makers in the province?
Logan Kemp was how.
I closed the door behind us with a soft click. “You’re incredible, you know that?”
Logan’s mouth quirked. “Tell me more.”
I laughed. “I’m serious. None of this would’ve happened if you hadn’t introduced me to Norman Marcus.”
There was a small flash of something in Logan’s face, and it sobered me.Right.He probably didn’t want to hear anything about Norman at the moment.
I pulled a glass from the cupboard in the galley kitchen and gulped down some water. “Do you mind if I shower first?”
Logan shook his head. “No problem.” He dropped onto the couch, picking up the TV remote. “The Oilers are playing tonight.”
My eyes lit up. I’d never watched a game with Logan. He’d always been on the ice. “Okay. I’ll hurry.”
Logan was right. I needed to stop stressing about this whole room situation. We’d make it work just like we made everything else work in this crazy relationship scenario.
Maybe I needed to stop stressing about everything. People needed time to process new information, and the story I’d told him was a straight up bomb to the life he knew. I should cut him some slack.
