I stand there staring after him, wondering how I somehow became the bad guy.
Yeah, women hitting on him used to be something we joked about.
But that was before he flirted back.
Logan
Just when I think we’re past it.
I shake my head as I step out of my office.
Mackie stands the second I appear. “Sir, can I-”
“Can I have one fucking minute?” I snap, brushing her off and ducking into the conference room beside my office.
I drop into one of the chairs. Pulling out my phone, I stare at the list of missed calls waiting for me.
Then I put it facedown.
I know I messed up.
I let the line blur. I hurt Jess. She forgave me. We’ve been good. Really good, lately.
But moments like this make me wonder if she ever truly forgave me… or if she just learned how to live with it.
I stretch my neck, trying to work out the tension building there.
It’s not about me.
That’s what the therapist said. It’s going to take time for the trust to rebuild. And it is rebuilding.
What happened with Lenore was bad. The worst thing I’ve ever done. But I didn’t sleep with her. I stopped it. I stopped her.
I told Jess what happened. All of it. I begged for forgiveness. I went to therapy.
So why does it still feel like this?
Like there’s a thin sheet of glass between us that we both pretend isn’t there.
Jess used to joke about clients hitting on me. Even back when we first joined R&D and made the stupid decision to keep our relationship private. I still wore my ring, but that never stopped some women.
I always told her when it happened.
She thought I was bragging.
I wasn’t.
I was being honest. That’s how I was raised. Never lie. Not even if the truth makes you look bad.
And I didn’t. Not even with Lenore.
I told Jess every time I worked with her. Every trip. Every late night.
She thought it was strange when I went back into the field, but Lenore was our biggest client. More than that, she was the CEO of a company that regularly hired extra security. I wanted that contract. Needed it.
Jess understood. She really did.
Even when I skipped date nights to accompany Lenore to hers. Even when it became routine. Lenore would go out with some new guy, he’d turn out to be a disappointment, and we’d end up talking instead.
