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Marti moved into his line of vision. “There’s something you don’t know . . .”
“Great. Another bomb. Let’s hear it.” He waved his hand, and this time when their eyes met, tears coated her long, dark lashes.
“After I met you in the pub that first night, my boss told me that my rati
ngs had dropped, my readers were down, and things weren’t looking good. She had this idea that if I fell in love it might spark renewed interest and reinvest my readers in my column. At first, I wasn’t going to do it, but then I ran into you at your office with Mel, and you asked me to the gala. Then afterward, you proposed we fake a relationship to earn press needed for Hidden Heartbeat—”
“And you agreed because it was what you needed too.” Logan’s swallowed.
It all made sense now. How she’d agreed so quickly when he had expected a fight.
“It was almost too perfect,” she murmured. “It was like you fell right into my lap, the perfect solution.”
Logan pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to absorb what she was saying.
He was her solution all along. Her solution. “You never cared about having a date for your father’s wedding,” he said, more a statement than a question.
“No.”
“But you let me believe that’s all you wanted.” He laughed, remembering what she said to him at the gala about not everyone having an agenda. “Looks like you had an agenda, after all.”
“I never imagined this caliber of feelings would be involved. And, yes, I didn’t tell you the whole truth, but I would never spill your secrets to the world, and I would never lie about you for my own personal gain. I might have mentioned it to Caroline and Mel but—”
Logan’s eyes widened. “You told your friends?”
Marti flinched. She toyed with the bracelet around her wrist. “Not everything. I just mentioned you lost a baby during your residency, that was it. I didn’t tell them about Allison or that you thought it was yours. And they would never, never say anything.”
He pivoted on his feet, getting in her face. “Forgive me if I have a hard time believing that. Because the truth of the matter is you admitted the first day we met to lying for you column. And here we are, with a giant headline that has my name on it making the ostentatious claim I killed my own baby.” He jabbed a finger into his chest. “On one of the most popular digital magazines in the country.”
His body tensed. He strode back into the kitchen and picked up the bottle of whiskey, ready to take another drink before his stomach roiled and he set it back down again.
She followed him, reaching out to touch him, but he shrugged her off. “Logan. I’m—”
“What?” Anger darkened the green of his eyes to black. “Sorry? You’re sorry for what exactly? For making me fall in love with you? For breaking my heart? For not having the courage until now, once everything is ruined, to love me back?”
“Do you think I wanted this?” Her nostrils flared as she stepped forward poking a finger into his chest. “This is the last thing I wanted, but here I am.” She spread her arms wide. “Love never asked me what I wanted. But what good is love if you won’t even listen, if you won’t believe me?”
Logan stared at her, his breathing ragged. He couldn’t bear to hear anymore. So he said nothing, letting his silence speak for him.
She took a step back, retreating. It was exactly what he expected her to do.
Her words ran on a loop through his head. I think I might even love you.
I think . . .
I think . . .
I think . . .
All of this heartache over a woman who didn’t even know her own heart.
Her body shook as she moved toward the door. “You know, you accuse me of being the one who’s scared. But maybe it’s not me after all.”
It took everything in him to stand there and listen and not go to her and wrap her in his arms. But he wouldn’t play the fool twice.
She placed a hand on the door. “Maybe all along the one with walls was you. Because the second I lowered mine, it seems yours went up.”
Then, without a backward glance, she turned and left.
