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“What?” Marti blinked. Then it dawned on her. She was right. If Blue was gone, and someone else was managing PopNewz, there was no reason for her to leave.
Her eyes widened. “I can stay.”
“The witch is gone!” Caroline hooted as the three of them laughed.
But Marti’s excitement quickly fizzled as reality sank in. Her job was safe, but her relationship was still over.
Sensing her mood, Mel sobered. “What about Logan? With her gone, you’ll never find out who lied and sold him out.”
“Nope.” Marti shook her head and glanced down at her hands, not wanting to cry. “Job or not, I guess he and I are still over.”
LOGAN
LOGAN FELT THE SEEDS of regret growing inside him with every minute that passed. Ever since he left Allison’s apartment on Sunday, he’d tried desperately to get in touch with Marti. There was no answer at her apartment, and her phone went straight to voicemail every time he called. So, he was left with little choice but to show up at her workplace.
He’d be lying if he said he was thrilled with the notion of setting foot inside an institution that fed on other people’s tragedy and secrets to make a buck, and worse yet, twisted the truth for clickbait. But if facing Marti’s boss meant getting the chance to speak with her, then so be it. The fact that he had thought the worst of her and accused her of lying ate at him. He couldn’t imagine how she felt—angry, accused, and brokenhearted.
With nothing but a cup of coffee in his stomach, he took a cab to Rockefeller Center. Every punch of the gas and every traffic stop brought him closer to her. His anxiety increased with each passing minute. Hidden Heartbeat and his job were the least of his concerns. What if she couldn’t forgive him for not believing her? What if she decided she didn’t love him after all or, once again, put up walls?
The cab pulled up to the curb. Logan paid for the ride and stepped out into the cold December morning. The sky was clear in the waking light with the promise of sunshine, which he told himself was a good sign, even if his churning stomach said otherwise.
As he made his way past tourists and people on their way into work, he inhaled, focusing on the burst of cold air filling his lungs. He stepped into the building behind several women chatting animatedly about their weekend and made his way to the tenth floor. Outside the elevators, he paused. No matter what, he had to make her understand. She had to forgive him.
Sweat beaded his brow as he stepped up to the PopNewz studio. Tugging on the bottom of his shirt, he readied himself to go inside and plea for her forgiveness when the door burst open and there she was—Marti with Mel and another woman in tow.
Her auburn hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. She wore a dress that looked soft to the touch and boots. Fatigue painted shadows beneath her eyes, a sign of restless nights he hoped was on account of missing him because maybe that meant there was hope for him yet. Despite her obvious exhaustion, she was beautiful. Extraordinary. And his heart ached at the sight.
When she glanced up and saw him, she froze. Her blue eyes sparkled aquamarine under the light and her rosebud lips pinched into a tight line.
Her friends exchanged a look before the blond one stepped forward. “We’ll, uh, just let you two talk.” Then she yanked on Mel’s arm and they were gone, leaving Logan alone with the only woman he cared to see.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. Her gaze darted behind him to the elevator, a reminder that one wrong word, one misstep, and she might leave.
“I stopped at your apartment yesterday, but you weren’t there, and I tried to call,” he said, letting this piece of information hang in the air. He needed her to know he had come for her sooner.
“I was at a friend’s.”
Logan swallowed. “I love you,” he blurted, and watched as her eyes widened. “And I have something to say, so if you don’t mind, please, let me say it. All of it.”
He waited a beat, and when she made no move to leave, he took it as his green light. “I should have believed you. But I was . . . I don’t know . . . afraid.”
He moved toward her, erasing the gap until she was close enough to touch. “The night you told me you were choosing your column over me, it confirmed my worst fears. Then when I saw the article, I just thought it was another way of you pushing me away. And so I pushed back. I’ve been lied to before, betrayed . . . with Allison, and all my old fears came tumbling back. But I’m sorry I ever doubted you. I was stupid.”
His words settled in the silence between them. The air stretched thin with the truth. Then her lips quirked and the tension dissolved to dust. “Can I get that in writing? Like a signed admission.”
“Anything.” Logan huffed with relief and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Allison sold those lies to PopNewz.”
Marti’s eyes widened. “Why would she do that?”
“She’s been taking money from me for years.” Logan shrugged. “She’s been using her grief and my guilt against me, but I’m done with paying for past mistakes. From now on, I’m only looking to the future.”
“You deserve to be happy, Logan.”
Why does that sound like goodbye?
He smoothed a hand over her hair, brushing the loose wisps from her face, willing her to say more. “I’m happiest when I’m with you.”
“But what about Hidden Heartbeat, your reputation? I went to the Times. I told them the truth, that PopNewz lied, but what if they do nothing with it? What if this messes up years of your hard work? I don’t want what happened with us to be the reason your dreams don’t come true.”
