Chapter Eleven
Madison
Coming face to face with the man I’d come this close to marrying didn’t bother me as much as I’d thought. I hadn’t known what to expect when the moment arrived.
Hurt?
Yes.
Anger?
A little.
Heartache?
Not so much.
I tilted my head to consider my ex-fiancé across the desk. He looked good. But then, Logan always did. Today he wore the charcoal suit pants I’d picked out at HB’s, coupled with a snowy white shirt and silver bar cufflinks. With boyish blond hair falling over his eyes, Logan appeared as charming as ever.
Which is usually what got him into trouble. His father wanted Logan to grow up and take responsibility.
So did I.
I searched his face, looking for a sign—some small spark of recognition from my soul confirming Logan was the one.
Nothing.
No fluttering butterflies in my stomach. No blood racing like quicksilver through my veins. Logan had a certain charm.
But he was no Cole.
Okay, I was officially staring at Logan like he was a lump of meat. I cleared my throat and pulled back my focus. Logan shrugged, dishing up his patented man-boy grin. Except I saw past the playboy charm and recognized the tightness around his eyes, the worry pressing his lips together.
For one brief moment of insanity, I thought about asking if he was okay.
“So, what do you think?” I prompted, reminding him of the proposition I’d just laid at his feet.
“That you’re crazy,” Logan said bluntly. He leaned forward. “You want your allowance for the next few months, even though, according to you, we’re no longer engaged? And you haven’t told your mother.” He shook his head. “Why would I do that?”
“You mean, what’s in it for you?”
Logan stared back, not bothering to deny it.
I smothered a sigh, sinking in my chair. “You left me no choice, Logan. You cheated. Remember?” It’d been too much to hope he would do the right thing.
His patronizing grin disappeared. “Almost cheated,” he corrected.
“Semantics and you know it. You would’ve slept with her if I hadn’t caught you out.” Probably with his tongue down Chloe’s throat and his hands…
Well, never mind where his hands might have been.
Logan’s scowl deepened for a moment, then like clouds dispersing on a sunny day his face brightened and the charm emerged again. “It’s hard being me.” He fell back easily into playboy mode. “I’m a good looking guy. Rich. Influential.” He pointed across the desk. “You’re beautiful enough, but you’ll never know what it’s like to have charisma.”
I choked back a laugh. “I didn’t realize charisma came with a direct link to your penis,” I said, not the least bit offended by his opinion of me. I was well past that. “And I didn’t read that on your gift-tag when my mother bought you off the shelf.”
Logan’s mouth fell open, but he quickly regained his composure. “Touché, Madison. Touché.” He laughed, looking impressed.
And with it, I experienced a glimmer of hope that Logan might soften. The stiffness in my chest eased, allowing me to breathe properly for the first time since I’d left Baltimore.
“So, you’ll help me?” I pressed. “All you have to do is pay back my allowance for the next few months. Just until I can figure things out with my mother. Please, Logan. I really need this.” I wasn’t above begging.
“Don’t be stupid.” Logan’s charm disappeared in the blink of an eye. “Of course I can’t give you any money.” He drummed his fingers on the desk and my heart plummeted. “You said yourself, your mother bought me. I’m a done deal. Hence, the money is mine.” He smiled again, the full charm of his dimpled grin resurfacing. “But have you considered this might be our chance to start again? A fresh beginning and all that.” He moved to stand behind me, resting his hands on my shoulders. I tried not to shudder as the hair on the back of my neck prickled. “I take care of you, don’t I?” he murmured, drawing a shiver-inducing circle with his thumb. “We have good times. Don’t be so quick to throw that away.”
“Stop. Logan.” I shifted out of his hold, halting his impromptu caress. I couldn’t stand to hear his lies, not when a part of me still wanted Logan to mean it. It would be so much easier if he were capable of seeing past my wallet.
“Can you blame me?” Chuckling, Logan returned to his seat. “I mean, look at you.” He appraised me much the same way I would a new handbag—calculating how many other people would love to own it. “You’re gorgeous. And I fucked up.” He held up his hands. “Sorry to use that word, but I regret hurting you. I do.”
“And I need my money.”
“Don’t we all?” Logan pouted.
“Some more than others,” I retorted sourly. The conversation was going around in circles, and I doubted there would be any meaningful resolution. “Let me put this plainly, Logan. You have my money. I need it.”
Uncomfortable silence filled the room. Logan looked at his desk, his phone, his hands—anywhere but me.
“I think you’ll find I need it more,” he said quietly.
“What? Surely you’re not telling me you’ve hit the ceiling on my allowance too? Seriously, Logan? How much money can one man spend?”
His furtive glance toward the window gave him away. I stood, taking in the brand new Lexus SUV towering over the other vehicles in the parking lot. My mind had been on other things when I’d come in, but how could I have missed that?
“Oh my God. You have got to be kidding me?” I buried my head in my hands, too stunned to speak.
When I could bear to look up, Logan shrugged again. His trademark gesture. I swallowed back the string of curses threatening to erupt. Letting loose at Logan would achieve nothing. No matter how good it might feel.
“I bought it when we were still together. The day we…I…” His voice took on a whiny quality, but at least he managed to look contrite. I glared harder. “I thought we were a done deal,” he added.
Deal. That word again. “So, what am I supposed to do now? I’m going to be kicked out of my apartment. I have nowhere to go.”
Except back to my mother’s.
“And I’ve just told you. I can’t help. Sorry, Madison, I really am.” Logan stood and started herding me toward the door.
I admired the fact he could say that with a straight face. My nails dug into my palms and I could barely hold onto my calm demeanor.
“Unless you want to come and live with me…” He grinned slyly.
“Absolutely. Not.” Everything else in my future might be up in the air, but I was certain of one thing: Logan wouldn’t be a part of it.
Logan’s mouth twisted with regret. His fingers splayed against my back as he nudged me out the door.
“Shame. I don’t know how else I’m supposed to help you.”
Ripples of hot anger splashed up my spine, but I held it in. I still needed Logan to stay quiet about our break-up, at least until I found a way to convince my mother that not marrying him presented a better story to the outside world. So I swallowed back the bitter retort and counted down from ten as he urged me down the hallway.
“How about you sell that car?” I asked sweetly as he reached past me to push the call button on the elevator. “Or, move into a smaller apartment? If I did the same, it could work.”
Logan shook his head. “No it couldn’t.”
“I’ve got nothing left. You’ve taken it all.” I reminded him again as the elevator dinged. One last throw of the dice.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Madison. You made your choice.” Logan lifted his shoulders one last time and walked away.
Leaving me staring after him.
“Nice to see you get what you deserve.”
I knew that voice. Gorge rose in my throat and I whirled around, my gaze lighting on Cole in the elevator, arms crossed, a look of icy satisfaction on his face.
Seriously. Could my day get any worse?
Apparently so. “I think it’s called just desserts,” he added, scorn twisting his lips.
It was all too much. Blood roared in my ears. Spinning on my heel, I raced for the stairs as if the devil himself chased me.