Chapter 4

After sharing a few more much-needed laughs Bre and I decide we should take advantage of the beautiful place we’re in and go do a bit of exploring on our own. Collin apparently told Bre about the private art gallery at the end of one of the wings and we agree we should go on a search for it. We might only get as far as lost in the mansion but at least we’ll be having fun.

We’re not in any sort of hurry and it takes us the better part of an hour to find the gallery. Casually making our way through the mansion like that really lets us get a better understanding of just how beautiful it is. I can’t help but imagine that Mara is the one in charge of interior decorating and it makes me dislike her a little more. No one should be as beautiful and put together as she is while also being really talented. Maybe I’ll just lie to myself and say Logan hires one of the best interior designers money can buy to keep every corner of the place looking incredible.

The gallery is every bit as impressive as the rest of the mansion. I’ve never been an art aficionado but it’s pretty undeniable that Logan’s taste in paintings is impeccable. They’re all gorgeous on different levels. Some are simple, and some aren’t, but each seems to have its own… voice? They all speak to me.

Of course realizing this only upsets me even more. I finally find a guy that I deeply connect with on every level and he turns out to be a lying, cheating bastard. What did I ever do to deserve this?

Bre and I lose track of time walking around the gallery and eventually I start feeling better about everything. I don’t feel good about anything, but maybe I’ll actually be able to survive another night in the mansion with Logan and Mara. One thing is for certain, though… when we get back to the City Bre is going to owe me big time.

We’re finally making our way through the last room in the gallery when Collin comes sweeping in. He’s wearing navy blue swim trunks with a white line stitched down the thigh—they’re different than the ones he wore last night—and an unbuttoned white, linen shirt hangs around his shoulders, revealing the huge curves of his muscular chest. He grins at Bre when he spots us.

“There you are!”

Collin beelines straight for Bre. He wraps his arms around her and pulls her into a tight embrace before she can return the greeting. She seems to melt into his arms as though she belongs there. That’s very unlike her—Bre isn’t exactly into the whole P.D.A. thing.

“I’ve been looking all over for you,” he says when they finally break apart.

For a moment Bre looks a little lost in his arms, like she’s oblivious to everything around her. But it doesn’t take long for her to snap back to herself. Her face hardens into a scowl and she crosses her arms in front of her, breaking free of Collin’s embrace in the process.

“You have some nerve swooping in here like that, acting like everything is fine,” she says, her eyes sharpen. “You have some explaining to do.”

Collin looks like he’s about to let out a nervous laugh, as though she’s just made a joke that he doesn’t quite understand. Lucky for him, it doesn’t take long for him to realize that she’s being totally serious.

“Did I do something?” he asks. He sounds so concerned that, for a moment, I actually feel bad.

Bre lets the tense moment between them to draw out for a while longer before responding.

“Did it never occur to you to maybe—just possibly—mention that Logan has a fiancée?” Her indictment is so jarring that you’d think she had just accused Collin of having a secret fiancée of his own.

Collin’s brow furrows. He darts a nervous glance between the Bre and I.

“I’m surprised you found out already, Logan is the most private guy I know” he says, finally.

Bre’s eyes widen and her mouth gapes open.

“She’s here—did you think we weren’t going to notice?”

Now it’s Collin’s turn to look surprised.

“She’s here?” he stammers.

He looks to me and I confirm it with a quick nod—but I don’t dare steal his attention from Bre for anything more than that. The poor boy is having a hard enough time as it is.

“Of course she is,” Bre says. “Her fiancée is at his mansion in the Hamptons, where else in the world do you think she would be?

Collin shakes his head, he looks like he’s puzzled by something.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” he says, mostly to himself. He looks at me and asks, “Did Logan tell you about her?”

Bre jumps in before I can even shake my head.

“Of course he didn’t tell us about her. He’s been too focused on getting into Aimee’s pants to mention the unimportant, little details about himself—like the fact that there’s another woman who is probably planning her happy-ever-afters with him.”

Oh, God. The little numbed lump of emptiness is coming back.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Collin says.

Bre scoffs.

“What doesn’t make sense? The fact that Logan wants to sleep with her? Look at her. She’s hot. Way hotter than he deserves.”

“That’s not what I meant.” He gives me a pleading look. “Aimee, of course you’re beautiful. I just meant that Mara being here doesn’t make any sense.”

Bre gives him a hard stare and looks even more outraged with him than she had been before. If Bre is interested in you it’s probably not wise to compliment other women in front of her. I almost feel bad for him. He doesn’t realize that this is one of those times where everything he says can and will be used against him.

“We don’t care where she is,” Bre fumes. “The point is that Logan is engaged and you never even bothered to mention it!”

Collin doesn’t even try to fight back against this accusation.

“It’s not really any of my business,” he says, flatly. He turns to me and adds, “You should talk to him, Aimee—just the two of you.”

Bre steps between us, drawing his attention back to her.

“What makes you think she even wants to talk to him anymore?” she says, accusingly. “Aimee can do whatever she wants…”

“No, Bre, it’s fine,” I say, waving her off.

It’s sweet of her, but my emotions don’t need to be coddled quite that much. Her eyes are filled with concern as she studies me for a long moment. Finally she nods and backs off.

“I don’t have anything to say to him,” I say. “He’s showed me his true colors and I’m over it. I’m just happy I didn’t actually sleep with him…”

Collin shakes his head as though I’m not getting it.

“Look, I’m really not allowed to say anything else or I could get in serious trouble, but… you should talk to him.”

“Why?”

“I can’t tell you anything more than that. But trust me on this.”

Trust him? I’m not exactly in the mood to be trusting any guy, right now. Especially not one who gets paid to look out for that lying, cheating bastard, Logan Atwood. 

But, then, what do I really have to lose at this point?

The cat is already out of the bag and the initial shock and pain of finding out that someone I was starting to feel a serious connection with had been lying to me since the moment I met him has already happened. And it’s not like Collin has given me any reason to not trust what he’s telling me.

So maybe it would be a good idea to go talk it over with Logan. Besides, I already told Bre that we could stick around for one more night, so it’s not like I don’t have any extra time to kill. And if Logan doesn’t have a good explanation for what he did to me then I’ll at least have the chance to give him a very serious piece of my mind…

“OK,” I say, finally. “I’ll do it.”