Her answer angers me so much that there’s no holding back. I stand up and shove a thumb in my chest. “You work for me. Don’t let your night-time activities affect the job you’re doing here because I’ll fire you. I don’t care what the contract says.”
I blow past her to my office and slam the door shut behind me. My breaths are coming in rapid succession, and I lean my back against the door to try and pull myself together. I knew it would be hard seeing her again, but I wasn’t prepared for this. Especially when she mentioned not getting enough sleep. It made me think back to all of oursleepless nights together, and the thought of her with another man now makes me crazy.
When my pulse comes back to normal, I open my eyes and look around. This is not the same office I walked out of three months ago. The boxes are gone, the walls are no longer bare, and there are blinds over the window. Tense, I walk around the room. There’s a huge rug on the floor and a leather couch that I’ve never seen before along the far wall. I walk toward my desk, my eyes drawn to the framed images on the wall behind it. One is a family picture with my five brothers and sister and our mom and dad. Another is a photo of Zach and me on one of our many missions. There’s a framed newspaper article about the medal of freedom I won five years ago. I stare at picture after picture, each one just as important and meaningful as the last, and it softens me in a way that I don’t expect.
I walk over to my desk and sit down. There’s a computer, a cup of pens, a stapler. Hell, everything I could possibly need. I look down at the notepad, and written in big, curly writing is a username and password. Looking around the room, I don’t have to question who did all this. I know it was Bree, and that fact hits me right in the chest. I want to hate her. Hell, she cheated on me. I thought we were inlove, and while I was planning on asking her to marry me, she was seeing another man.
She can do all the nice things, but none of it is going to make up for what she did to me… to us. Nothing.
There’s no way I can forget or forgive her. That moment has replayed in my head for two years now. Her with another man, leaning in to kiss him right on the lips as if what we had meant nothing to her.
No, we’re over, and the sooner everybody realizes that, the sooner we can all get on with our lives.
CHAPTER 2
BREE
I saw the hurt on Logan’s face when I mentioned I was not getting sleep, and I knew exactly what he thought I meant. But he couldn’t have been more wrong. There’s no way I’d let another man touch me. No one but him.
I’ve made mistakes. Hell, I wish I’d done things differently, but I did what had to be done.
I look at the clock on the wall, knowing that Zach, the other owner, will be in soon. If Logan and I are going to have it out, this is the time to do it.
I stand up from my desk on shaky legs. Logan is not going to make this easy, but nothing worth having comes easy.
Slowly, I walk toward the door that Logan slammed moments ago.
I raise my hand and knock softly. When there’s no response, I knock again, a little harder.
“What?” Logan barks.
I tense at the briskness in his voice. I remember the days when he talked to me softly. I’d never have imagined him speaking to me this way. I open the door and walk into the room.
He pushes back from his desk as if I’m going to attack him or something. “What do you want?”
I fold my hands together in front of me. “I thought we should talk.”
His jaw tightens, and he just stares at me.
I lift my chin and stare at him, determined. “Logan, I just want to say?—”
He cuts me off and holds his hand up. “I don’t want to hear it. I don’t need your apologies. I don’t need your excuses. I don’t need anything from you.”
”If you would just listen and let me explain?—”
He laughs, but it’s not his normal laugh. It’s harsh and hollow. He throws a hand up in the air. “Youwant to explain why you were on a date with another man? Why your lips were touching someone else’s?”
I knew he was mad, and I can’t blame him, but I was not prepared for the hurt in his voice or the sadness in his eyes. I try again. “If you would just listen?—”
”Why are you here, Bree?”
I take a step toward him. “Because I thought we should talk.”
He shakes his head. “No, I mean here. In Whiskey Run, in my hometown, working for my company. Why. Are. You. Here?”
It’s as if I can feel the anger vibrating off him, and I can’t even be mad about it. I would be the same way if I found out he was with another woman. “Logan, I know you’re not going to believe this, but I’m going to say it anyway. I love?—”
He shoots to his feet before I can get the whole sentence out. “Don’t you dare say you love me. Love doesn’t cheat. Love doesn’t let you kiss another man. Love doesn’t destroy…”
