“You found me,” I say with a cheery smile.
“I want you to meet Nancy.” He reaches out to grab my hand and I pull back. Not a few days ago, I would have latched on without a thought. Things have changed. “Right, she’s in the kitchen.” He motions for me to walk ahead of him.
In the kitchen, there is a woman in her late fifties with salt and pepper hair standing at the kitchen sink washing dishes. “Nancy, this is Logan, my new PA. Logan, this is Nancy. She cleans twice a week and keeps this place from showing the signs that four grown pigs live here.” He winks at her.
“Oh, you,” she shoos him away. “You boys don’t make that big of a mess. I just tidy up a little and do your laundry.”
“You spoil us, and we love you for it,” Kacen says as he pulls her into a one-armed hug. He seems very fond of her.
“Logan, it’s nice to meet you.” She extends her hand for me to shake.
“You as well. You have your hands full with this crew,” I joke.
“Oh, honey, you have no idea.” She grins, turning to Kacen. “I like this one.”
“Me too, Nance. Me too,” he whispers the words, but I hear them.
“Now, off you go so I can finish this up. Logan, I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.” With that, she turns back to the sink, continues to hum a tune I don’t recognize, and starts back in on the dishes.
“Kace! Get your ass in here.” I hear from the living room. I don’t know which one of them it was.
Kacen just shakes his head and holds his arm out for me to lead the way. Cole, Gavin, and Tristan are sprawled out over the huge sectional couch. Kacen sits on the love seat and pats the spot next to him for me to sit as well. As soon as I sit, my personal cell phone vibrates in my pocket. Pulling it out, I see Daniel’s name on the screen. Not wanting to deal with his drama, but needing a distraction from sitting next to my sexy new boss, I open his message.
Daniel: I’m sorry. I miss you. I love you. I don’t know what I was thinking.
Me: It’s over. Stop texting.
Daniel: It’s never going to be over with us. We have too much history.
Me: It’s over!
“Boyfriend?” Kacen asks, causing me to jump and throw my phone. He catches it with ease and looks down at the screen.
“Ex,” I say, reaching for the phone.
“Sounds like he wants to change that.”
“Well, what he wants and what he gets are two very different things. I don’t play games.”
My phone vibrates in my hand.
Daniel: NOT OVER!
I feel Kacen lean in close. Glancing up, I see his eyes are locked on the screen of my phone, reading Daniel’s last words. His jaw is tight. I start to wonder why he would be angry, and it’s then I remember I’m working, not just hanging out with a group of rockers. I lock the screen and slip the phone back in my pocket.
“Well, I’ll just be in my office if you need me,” I say as I go to stand.
Kacen grabs my arm and pulls me back into the sitting position. “Is he harassing you?” he asks. His voice is low, but I can hear the edge of anger trying to push through.
“Logan, breakfast was fantastic!” Tristan says. I hear Gavin voice his agreement.
“Come with me,” Kacen says. He grabs my hand and leads me out of the room. I don’t fight it as I let him lead me to my office. Once we’re inside, he shuts the door. “What’s going on, Logan? You had a boyfriend while we were together?” he seethes.
“What? No, of course not. I don’t do that. I don’t even have one-night stands. I can count on one hand the number of people I’ve slept with.”
I watch as he runs his fingers through his hair. “So if you weren’t with him, what’s with the messages?”
“Not that my personal messages are any of your business, but we broke up a few weeks before Hawaii, and he’s not impressed that I’m no longer playing his games.” My anger rises. It’s none of his damn business. We are not together. Our current relationship is strictly professional.
“Games? Did he hurt you? You’ve got to give me something, Logan. My mind is going crazy here.”
Sensing that he’s coming from a good place, I release a heavy sigh and plop down in my chair. “If you insist on hearing the story, you might as well sit,” I tell him. Surprisingly, he does as he’s told and takes the seat across from my desk. “Daniel and I dated for three years. We were constantly on again off again due to his need to ‘take a break.’ My friends tried to warn me about the stories they had heard, but I was naïve enough to believe his words over theirs. On graduation day, I overheard some girls in the restroom talking about how great he was, yada yada yada. The same girl was also telling her friend how he promised her that he would break things off with his girlfriend for her. That was the final straw for me. I was tired of feeding into his lies about our future, the dream of marriage and kids. I want that. He said he did too, but it turns out he was just telling me what I wanted to hear.”
I pause and take a sip of the bottle of water I brought with me today. “So you see, I don’t play games. He doesn’t want me. He’s just pissed off that he got caught and I called him out on his shit. Regardless of what he wants, it is most definitely over.”
Chapter 14
Kacen
As I sit here and listen to her story, the only thing running through my mind is that this guy is a fucking moron. He had her. He had Logan in the palm of his hands, and threw her away. She finishes and I’m floored as to what she put up with from this guy. Even more so that he wasn’t smart enough to cherish her.
“Wow, that’s . . . I’m sorry, but he’s a jackass.”
This has Logan throwing her head back in laughter. My eyes lock on her slender neck as I remember what it was like to trace the lines with my tongue.
“I agree, this is totally a laughing matter,” I say with a grin. “He let the best thing that ever happened to him slip away, for what, a new piece of ass? Not worth it.” My voice is clear and stern. Something inside of me needs her to understand that she’s worth it, that he’s, well . . . a jackass.
“I have to agree with your jackass assessment,” she says with grin. “It’s over. Any feelings I had, or thought I might have had for him, are gone. I left them in the bathroom stall that day. I’m sad for what I lost. Three years of my life I spent with him, dreaming of a future that he never wanted.”
“Now he sees the error in his ways and is harassing you.”
“Not harassing, just text messages and phone calls. He’s never been mean or threatening, just adamant that what we had is not over. He’s wrong.”
“Good. If he gets out of hand, or even if he doesn’t, and you want me to step in, you let me know. If I’m not around, talk to the guys.”
“Honestly, Kacen, it’s more of an annoyance than anything. He’ll eventually get the hint.”
I nod, letting her know I agree. “You mentioned something else, something that I have no right to ask of you, but you brought it up.” I wink at her. I’m hoping to keep this easy banter going between us so she will not balk at answering my next question.