He takes my chin between his thumb and index finger and tilts my face so we’re eye to eye. “I’m sorry.” He searches my expression, his lips twitching in a small smile. “I didn’t mean to upset you. My goal was the opposite, actually. I thought I’d come cheer you up. I won’t stay long, I promise. I thought I’d spend time with you today and leave tonight, or in the morning if you’d let me. I’m flying to DC on the twenty-fourth to spend Christmas with my folks, so I can’t stay long anyway. Please, Queen, don’t be mad.”
My knees wobble when that name, Queen, registers. With a sigh, I nod.
“You’re incredible.” He plants a kiss on my cheek, and as he steps back, he peers around. “Where’s your friend?”
My friend?
Chert?2.
During our text exchange, he assumed Chloe had come with me, and I never corrected him.
Hayes is watching me intently, wearing an unreadable expression.
Is that why he’s here? Because Logan thought there were two of us at the cabin?
“Actually…” I mutter. “I’m here by myself.”
1 Awesome (in meaning, but a curse word)
2 Dammit
FOUR
You Don’t Know Me
YANA
Logan’s smile drops.With his brows pulled together, he surveys Hayes.
The move alone is enough to confirm my suspicion. Logan invited his friend because he thought Chloe was here too. If I’d corrected him yesterday, we wouldn’t have ended up here. How was I to know he’d show up without even bothering to ask if it was okay?
But if I’m honest with myself, I would’ve eagerly agreed, so why be upset now? He took initiative and made a move. Isn’t that what I wanted? Actions, not words?
Regardless, what I didn’t want was to come face-to-face with Camden Hayes. He can go screw himself.
“So Chloe’s at the cabin, then?” Logan asks, rubbing the back of his neck.
I take a deep breath, and on the exhale, I say, “No. She’s back home, working and prepping for her annual Christmas party.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Hayes mutters.
He snags Logan’s elbow and drags him a few feet away. Heads close, they talk in hushed voices. With the Christmas music playing through the store’s speakers, I can’t make out aword they say, but their demeanors are easy to read. Logan is calm and collected, while Hayes’s expression is sharp, his tone clipped.
I can’t help but sympathize with the guy. I hate being blindsided, and he was just as caught off guard as I was. Obviously, Logan had good intentions, and considering our first and only interaction, I can imagine Hayes wouldn’t want to touch me with a ten-foot pole.
Though I could be wrong. I don’t really know him, except for what I read online.
Honestly, I don’t know much about Logan either.
Kakaya prekrasnaya situacija, s kakoy storony na nee ne posmotri. Pryamo predel mechtanii?1.
Bozhe?2, I loathe just standing here, waiting like this. I shift my weight from one foot to the other, and the move catches Hayes’s attention. The intense crystal blue of his irises pins me to the spot and makes my pulse flutter. I reach for the silver pendant on my necklace and fiddle with it, a nervous habit. A wave of heat crashes over me, settling in my lower abdomen and making me press my legs together.
This isn’t right.
I open my mouth, eager to break the tension and move this conversation along, but when I do, Camden’s gaze drops to my lips. It only remains there for a single inhale, then he’s back to looking at his friend.
My shoulders droop when his attention is no longer on me, as if it were the only thing keeping me afloat.
