He caught her finger in a tight grip before she could land a second poke. “I have every right.”
“No. You don’t have any right.” She pulled her finger from his grasp with a forceful yank. “Especially not after treating me the way you did this morning.”
“For Christ’s sake. You’ve been lying to your parents for months just so they didn’t find out I’m the father of your baby instead of your perfect husband. What did you expect? Did you think I’d be happy about that? Don’t tell me you’re that deluded.”
“If you’d just give me a chance to explain,” she burst out, frustration getting the best of her. “I’ve been trying since yesterday, and you keep telling me you don’t want to hear it. It’s like you don’t want to give up a reason to be angry with me.” Sudden understanding dawned clear in her mind. “That’s it, isn’t it? You need a reason to be angry with me, don’t you?”
Logan turned away from her, pacing the length of the room. “You’re being ridiculous. Of course I don’t want a reason to be angry with you. You’re going to have my baby. We’ll need to get along outside the bedroom.”
She met his gaze. “I don’t even know if that’s possible anymore. Just when I feel like we’re getting closer, something happens and you shut me out again. Maybe we should just stop seeing each other for a while.”
“Stop seeing each other,” he repeated, giving her a dark look. “Claire, you’re carrying my child. I don’t think it’s feasible for us to just stop seeing each other. Besides, with you staying on at LM, it will be impossible.”
“I’ve been rethinking my decision to stay,” she blurted, eyeing him warily as he crossed the room back to her again.
“What?” His voice was soft, deceptively so.
It was a lie. She hadn’t been rethinking it, not until this very moment. But looking at him now, she could tell he believed her. And that he was infuriated at the thought.
“I think my staying at LM would complicate things even further. I don’t see how we could keep our relationship a secret. If we can’t get along on a personal basis, how will be able to manage professionally?”
Logan’s lips tightened into a forbidding line, his stare harsh. “We’ll manage because you promised me. You can’t back out now, damn it. There’s too much at stake.”
Claire felt a hollow sensation spreading through her chest at his words. He cared more that she stay on at LM than he did that they work out their relationship. In the end, that was what it all came down to with him. Business. God, it made her feel sick. Their week together suddenly seemed like a lie. All the ground they’d covered had been lost since their return and they stood toe to toe in square one again.
“There’s more at stake than you think,” she told him quietly. “You’re just too blind to see it.”
“What are you saying, Claire?”
“I don’t know.” She felt stricken. “I think you should go now.”
“Not until you tell me what you mean.” His voice was bitter. Determined.
“What I mean,” she said, “is that it’s over. I can’t be with you, not like this.”
His face froze into a mask. She couldn’t read any emotion in his eyes or expression. “If that’s how you feel.” He shrugged as though it was the most trivial matter, as though he didn’t give a damn one way or the other. Maybe he didn’t.
“It is.” Her voice was wooden, empty. “Naturally, you can still be a part of the baby’s life.”
A mocking smile curved his lips. “Naturally.”
Tears threatened her vision and she blinked, forcing them back. Her nails dug into her palms. “I’ll stay on at LM until I can find something else.” She took a breath. “I have a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday. If you’d like to come, I can give you directions.”
He nodded. “Fine.”
Just like that, they were strangers again.
Claire’s life was unraveling like a jumbo-sized ball of yarn. Last night, her sleep had been plagued by images of yarn balls unwinding and tangling, trapping her inside their cloying strands. At four a.m., she finally threw back the covers, showered and drove to work before the sun even capped the horizon. Thankfully, LM was a ghost town at six in the morning and she flew in under the radar, earning nothing more than a mildly surprised look from the night watch staff.
But now a quick glance at her watch confirmed the time. Eight o’clock on the button. Her admittedly depressing solitude was about to come to an abrupt halt. She didn’t know if she should feel upset or relieved.
As if on cue, Jamie swished into the office, closing the door at her back with a loud click. She wore a red plaid skirt that barely had a hemline and matching leather boots that went up to her knees. Her red hair had become blonde in Claire’s absence, and her fingernails had gone from fuchsia to pink.
“Claire. You’re back.” She clapped her hands together. “I’m so glad you decided not to leave.” She paused, approaching Claire’s desk. “How was your vacation, by the way? It was kind of sudden.”
“Yes.” Claire forced herself to smile. “I’m sorry about that, but I really needed to get away for a little while.”
Her assistant raised a dyed blonde brow. “So where did you go? How was it?”
