Chapter 11

I wait in the pantry for what could be another ten minutes before I finally make my way to the banquet hall. I absolutely refuse to take the risk of running into Mara again on accident. I’ve had about all I can handle of her for one day.

The banquet hall is even larger than I had expected. Rows of round, oak tables sit throughout the hall. Each is full with members of the house staff. One table sits apart from all others at the head of the room with a single open seat available. I beeline for the it. Thankfully, everyone in the hall is too engaged in conversation to notice me showing up this late. But there’s no way to avoid the people waiting for me.

“Ah, you’ve made it!” Lucas says, rising out of his seat when he sees me. Logan stands as well, but I try my hardest to not be distracted by him.

Lucas scoots out the empty chair next to him as I approach. I’m relieved to see that Bre is on the other side of me with Collin next to her.

“Sorry, I lost track of time and then got turned around on my way here.”

“But you’re here now… I hope you don’t mind we started without you.”

“No, I’m glad you did.”

I take my seat and immediately feel a tightening in my stomach—of course Logan is seated directly across from me. For an instant our eyes connect and he flashes me an inquisitive look. It’s gone nearly as fast as it appeared. He’s probably wondering what took me so long to get here after him. At least no one can accuse us of walking in together. Mara is seated between him and Lucas, but doesn’t even bother to glance at me when I arrive.

She probably knows I’ve had about as much of her as I can take.

A few of the staff help facilitate the dinner by running food from the back kitchen. One of them presents me with a menu after I’m seated. I order the house salad while Lucas, Mara, Logan and Collin get involved in a heated discussion about local politics. Once everyone seems otherwise engaged, Bre turns to me and gives me a hard look.

“What took you so long to get here?” she asks, quietly.

She’s quiet enough that no one else notices, but that doesn’t stop me from risking a glance at Lucas.

“It’s like I said, I got lost on the way here.”

Bre’s eyes narrow and she studies me for a long, hard moment. Then, suddenly, she drops her napkin on the table as she rises out of her seat. Logan is quick to stand also as all eyes turn to her.

“If you’ll excuse me, I just need to freshen up…”

“Of course,” Logan says. He gestures to the nearest door. “The facilities are down the hall and to the left.”

Bre smiles at him and then looks at me expectantly.

“I’ll join you,” I say, as though it were my idea.

“If you ladies aren’t back in ten minutes we’ll send a rescue party to find you,” Lucas says.

A round of laughter follows it.

“I’m sure we can manage,” Bre says, curtly.

She doesn’t stick around for a response. I stay close on her heels as we make our way out into hallway. As soon as we’re out of the banquet hall and by ourselves she rounds on me.

“Now, tell me the real reason you took so long.”

I give a nervous look up and down the hallway. I don’t see anyone but after what Mara said I’m not about to take any chances.

“Not here.”

I nod toward the clearly-marked restrooms down the hall. Bre scowls at me, but she doesn’t protest.

The mansion must entertain quite a few people because there are both men’s and ladies’ facilities, and they’re just as lavish as everything else. The ladies’ facilities have three individual stalls—each able to serve as its own standalone restroom. But I doubt Bre notices any of this. She launches into me the moment the door shuts behind us.

“Why are you acting so paranoid?” she says, giving me one of her flat stares.

“This place is starting to weird me out. It’s beginning to feel like you never really know who’s paying attention to you.”

Her brow knits together.

“Why do you say that? Did something happen?”

“I’m not even sure if you will believe me when I tell you…”

“It can’t be that bad. Spill.”

I take a deep breath and then tell her about how I really did get lost on the way to the banquet hall only to bump into Logan. I tell her about having sex with him in the pantry, and then how he started acting weird when I mentioned spending more time at the mansion.

“He’s a guy. They get squirrelly when you start talking commitment.”

“Trust me, I don’t even care about that anymore. Because what happened afterward is way worse.”

Bre’s eyes nearly bulge out of her head when I tell her about Mara confronting me and then offering to pay me off to keep me out of Logan’s life. By the time I’m finished Bre looks like she will burst into laughter.

“Why are you smiling like that?” I ask. “What’s so funny?”

“You.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you.”

My brow knits together.

“What are you talking about?”

She rolls her eyes.

“Do you even know how ridiculous this weekend has been so far? And it keeps getting better and better… First a billionaire playboy flies us out to his mansion on a private helicopter, you hook up with him, find out he’s engaged, find out he’s only fake engaged, and now you have a jealous fake fiancée saying she’ll pay you millions of dollars to forget any of it ever happened. You can’t make this shit up, no one would believe it.”

I let out an unexpected laugh. 

“Well, when you put it that way it really does seem a little crazy.”

We both share a laugh. It feels incredible. Half an hour ago I was so unsure of myself that I didn’t think I’d ever want to laugh again.

“Thanks, I needed that.”

“You needed that? I needed that. You just found out you’re going to make two million dollars just for going back home—I’m surprised you’re not already packed and ready to go!”

“It’s not quite that simple.” 

“It sounds pretty straight forward to me,” she says. Then she tilts her head and gives me a sideways look. “Wait… you’re not actually considering turning it down, are you? Because that would be an even worse idea than us coming out here in the first place.”

I try to keep my fidgeting to a minimum.

“I just don’t want to rule anything out too quickly. It’s complicated.”

“Aimee, you’re the only one making it complicated. Sure, this weekend has been fun, but do you honestly see any kind of future with this guy?”

I nod.

“There’s something about him,” I say. “It’s a real connection. And, damn, the sex is hot…”

Heat rushes to my forehead just from thinking about the way Logan handled me in the pantry.

“Sane people would call that lust—not a real connection.”

I scoff.

“I’m not in high school anymore. I can tell the difference between lust and something legitimate.”

“You only think that because there’s a countdown to when it will end. Logan is basically just a camp crush.”

I give her a weird look and let out another laugh.

“What’s a camp crush?”

Bre’s eyes widen.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never been to summer camp…”

“I have.”

“What was your crush’s name?”

I hesitate for only a second before the boy’s name comes to me. And with it comes the vivid memories of that summer after my freshman year of high school, back when I thought I had everything figured out.

“Michael.”

Bre looks like she’s about to say something but gets surprised by the response.

“Like Stephanie’s husband?” she asks. I nod. “Ew… Anyway, I’m sure at the time you thought you and Michael were meant to be and that nothing could get any better.”

It doesn’t take long to realize where she’s going with this.

“Yeah, but this is different. I’m not a kid, anymore. I’m a grown woman and know what I want out of life.”

“Isn’t financial security and comfort something you want?”

I shake my head without hesitation.

“I don’t care about money. That’s not what’s really important.” 

“Then what is it you want?” she asks, sounding like it’s the most ridiculous question she’s ever asked.

“I want a connection. I want something real. And that’s what it feels like with Logan.” I shake my head, searching for a way to explain it that will make her understand. “When Logan and I are together it’s raw, and intense. It’s real.”

Bre isn’t convinced.

“It’s hormones.” She lets it sink in for a moment. “Trust me, take the money. In a month you’ll look back and wonder why you even thought it was a tough decision. And then you can thank me by buying me a car or two.”

Her last comment gets another laugh out of me, but it’s not as earnest as before. The rational part of me can’t deny that Bre has a good point about Logan being like a camp crush. But every other part of me is demanding to see where things with him might go. 

The problem is I don’t have long to figure out which part of me I will listen to. Being back in summer camp, for real, is sounding more appealing by the minute.