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Harry gave me a call after dropping me off for the night. It hadn’t taken him long to find out the information I needed to know about Ariane, and I couldn’t have been more pleased. In fact, I wired him an extra bonus for the month to show my gratitude. After that, I jumped on the phone with a woman I knew extremely well to chat about her new assistant.
“Logan Taylor. To what do I owe this call?”
I chuckled when I heard Darla’s voice. She always sounded so sweet and pleasant, even when she didn’t feel that way. I’d worked on a few homes for her during the course of my career and we had kept in contact ever since.
“Darla Smitt.” I grinned. “How long has it been since I've heard your voice?”
“It’s been a few months, hasn’t it? I started to wonder if you forgot about me.”
We made small talk for a few minutes before she asked me why I’d called. I was a little embarrassed to tell her the real reason, but I put my pride aside and spoke up for the sake of my sanity. And my family.
“Your new assistant. Ariane Pratts.”
“Yeah.” I could hear her sit back in her chair and make herself comfortable. “She’s a great girl. What about her?”
“Oh, nothing bad. She is a great girl. She used to work for me a few months ago.”
I tried dragging the conversation about Ariane out for as long as I could, but Darla had never been into too much small talk. She liked things to cut to the chase and get straight to the point.
“Get on with it, Logan. We're both adults. No sense in pussyfooting around.”
“I never could get anything over on you,” I laughed. “Alright, fine! She and I had a thing going on for a while and now she’s pregnant and I need to see her. She isn’t answering any of my calls, so I need you do me a solid and set up a place for me to come and have a conversation with her.”
Chapter Twenty-two
Ariane
Igotacallfrom Darla the next morning about a last-minute wardrobe run. She said she needed an important dress picked up from some secret boutique, and she didn’t trust anyone other than me to pick it up for her. Even though it was my job as her assistant, the further along I grew into my pregnancy, the more self-care time Darla gave me. Picking up the dress wasn’t an issue at all. In fact, I enjoyed being out and about, feeling the sun on my skin.
“Hello, I’m Ariane Pratts, Darla Smitt’s assistant. I’m here for the dress she needs picked up this morning.”
The woman behind the counter was a friendly middle-aged woman with a large and bright smile. Though she seemed a little confused as she checked her computer for any inquiries from Darla.
“Are you sure it’s here at this store?” she asked. “We have another store across town. Maybe she has it there instead?”
I frowned, a bit confused myself. However, when I double-checked my notepad for the address, sure enough—I was at the right boutique.
“Yeah, she said this store,” I chuckled. “Maybe she has her days mixed up. I’ll give her a call and double-check again. One moment.”
I stepped away from the counter to go for my phone. When I did, I saw Logan. He was standing in the doorway of the store holding a dozen roses, worry all over his face. If there was any chance of me running away from him again, I would have taken it in a heartbeat. But my belly was much too big for me to break out in stride. So, I stayed.
“Logan, what are you doing here? Did Darla put you up to this?”
“No.” He shook his head. “It was my idea. She just helped.”
We had an awkward stare-down for a moment. I watched as his eyes canvased my belly, my flesh, my curves. Even though I was big and pregnant, Logan still looked at me like I was the most beautiful woman on the planet. It made my heart flutter. He had not changed one little bit. Still the most handsome man I had ever laid eyes on.
“Can we talk?” he asked.
I knew I couldn’t hold out on him any longer. There needed to be some real settling and truth-bearing before my child was born. I couldn’t run away to protect my own needs and leave my daughter fatherless. Nor could I stand to break Logan’s heart any more than I already had.
“Sure.” I shrugged. “It’s long overdue.”
Logan took me to his yacht for brunch and a real conversation. Of course, Darla knew what my day would be like already, so she let me know to take however long I needed, and she would see me when she got back to New York.
“Thanks for not running away this time.” He poured himself a glass of champagne and poured me an orange juice. “I thought we’d never get the chance to actually discuss this.”
“What do you mean ‘this’?”
