Logan sat on the edge of the guest room’s bed, watching Stella as she tapped away at her computer, frantically trying to recreate the work she’d already done so that she could get back to where she was before they’d somehow managed to crash the whole system and lose any trace of her efforts.

The gist of it was—as Logan understood it through Stella’s increasingly panicked ramblings—that Stella had somehow managed to overwrite her backup with absolute gibberish, probably from when some part of her body had pressed against the keyboard repeatedly when Logan was trying to undress her.

He regretted the outcome of that fevered make out, but he didn’t regret actually doing it one bit. Maybe he should have, considering how much it was stressing Stella out.

She was wired, dark circles rimming her bloodshot eyes. She’d been up almost all night, apart from the 45 minutes Logan had finally convinced her to sleep around 5:30 in the morning.

They’d argued when she woke up, because she was insisting on postponing the vacation that she was supposed to leave for the day after next.

He refused to let her, and she dared him to try and stop her. He felt like he was going to rip his hair out dealing with this stubborn woman.

“You’re not going to be late for your vacation,” he insisted, again, for what had to have been the hundredth time.

Stella closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, the way she usually did whens she was tired of dealing with him. She wasn’t going to win this one no matter what she did.

“I can’t leave without this working.”

“Yes, you can. I asked you to do me a favor, and you did the best you could. Besides, it’s my fault—”

“If you say it’s your fault I lost the code again, I’m going to scream. It’s not. We both got wrapped up in what was going on, and technically my hand and…butt cheek were the ones that landed on the keyboard and completely borked the whole thing. So.”

Logan had to admit, he was a little surprised that she was handling this so well. Especially considering she was willingly offering to give up a day or two of her time with her sisters, a trip he knew she looked forward to every year even before he understood its sentimental value.

“How are you so calm about this?” he asked.

“Because I’ve already made up my mind.”

He ran his hands through his hair, completely frustrated. “You’re not doing it.”

“I am. Do you think I could go off on vacation knowing I hadn’t finished this, leaving you in the lurch, and postponing the launch? I couldn’t do it.”

Logan was at the end of his rope. “Then take it with you, at least. If you want to do it, work on it on the plane, or at your rental.”

Stella scoffed. “Do you honestly think that would make me feel less like I was missing out? I’d be able to focus more here and get it done quicker anyway.”

“It’s not your responsibility.”

“It is. It became my responsibility when I agreed to help you.”

“Stella,” he sighed. He knew her so well, he just didn’t know how to make her see reason.

She sighed. “Please, Logan. I’m telling you that this is what I’ve decided to do. Respect my decision, and if you’re really that worried about it, stop arguing with me and let me use this time to do something productive, okay? If you don’t want me to lose time with my sisters, stop wasting the time I have now.” She tilted her head back and rubbed her temples.

She was exhausted.

“You need to sleep,” he told her.

Irritated, she replied, “What I need is to finish this.”

He stood and walked up behind her, rubbing her shoulders. He instantly felt her tight muscles relax under his touch. “Your brain is fried because you’ve been up all night. You need to rest and get sharp again. Whatever this project is worth, it’s not worth your health.”

“Logan,” she said, but he could tell he had her.

“At least sleep while we’re in the car? If you want to go and get set up in the office I won’t argue with you or try to stop you, but please, please get some rest.”

She bit her lip. “Okay. I’ll sleep, and then I’m going into the office later,” she said, like she was daring him to go back on his word and argue with her about it. “And you won’t be there, because you’ve got that charity thing to go to tonight.”

Shit. He had totally forgotten. His mother and brother were going to be there, and it was the whole reason why they were leaving this morning instead of later tonight.

“Parties two nights in a row?” he complained.

Stella stuck out her bottom lip, fake pouting as she looked up at him. “What a difficult life you lead.”

“We should probably leave soon,” he told her, sliding his hand across the back of her neck as he stepped away.

She clasped his hand before he could get too far. “Logan?” she asked.

“Yeah.” He brushed his thumb along the back of her hand.

“I still don’t regret it.”

He smiled and leaned in, giving her a soft, tender kiss. “Neither do I.”

True to her word, Stella slept in the car on their way back to the city, and she woke up and went right to the office, just like Logan knew she would. He’d gone out and gotten her something to eat, then hung around the office for a while answering emails, just so she didn’t have to be there alone (not that she’d been paying much attention to his presence anyway).

She eventually shooed him away to get ready for the charity gala he was supposed to attend later in the evening, but he stopped by the office again on his way there to drop off some dinner.

When he arrived, she was hard at work at her desk, right where he’d left her. He placed the Chinese he’d picked up for her on the edge of her desk. She was so focused she didn’t immediately see him, but she must’ve smelled the food because a few seconds later she looked at it, then looked up at Logan.

Her eyes widened in surprise, probably because the last time she’d seen him he hadn’t been wearing a tux. “What time is it?”

Logan looked at his watch. “Almost seven-thirty.”

Stella took a deep breath, leaned back in her chair, and scrubbed her hands over her face. Once she’d fully caught up to the present, she gave him a once over.

“I feel like a broken record, considering I said this to you just last night, but…wow. You in a tux is a hell of a combination.”

If his chest puffed up a bit because of the compliment, could anyone blame him?

Stella let out a cute, quick laugh. “Don’t go getting a big head over it.”

He grinned at her as she looked at the bag on the edge of her desk. “You brought me dinner?”

“It’s the least I could do, considering—”

“Please don’t start again,” she begged.

Logan held his hands up in surrender. “I’m not, I promise. How’s it going?”

She let out a long, tired sigh. “It’s…going.” She reached over and grabbed the takeout container. “China Chalet?”

He nodded as she opened it.

“Beef with asparagus,” she breathed. “My favorite. And you got egg rolls!”

“I did,” he replied with a smile.

Stella gave him an appraising look. “Thank you. You know, I really enjoy doting you compared to pain-in-the-ass you.”

Logan couldn’t help but laugh. “I expect you’ll still be seeing both of us, although one much more than the other.”

With a happy sigh and a smile, she stood and straightened his tie, then ran her fingers along the edge of his lapel, just like she did the night before. He caught her fingers in his hands and gave them a squeeze, then leaned in and kissed her.

The past day had been such a frazzled mess that it was nice to take a breather and reestablish their connection.

“We’re going to have to talk about this,” she said, her lips brushing against his.

“I know.” They had some big decisions to make, made all the more complicated by the fact that he was, still, her boss. “We can deal with it later, okay?”

She nodded, her nose brushing against his and making him smile.

“I should probably get going.”

She gave him another soft, sweet kiss and sent him on his way.

Logan met up with his mother and brother on the red carpet outside the gala. Drake quietly took him aside while their mother was chatting with someone. “How’s everything going with the coding? Did Stella agree to help?”

Logan decided it was probably not a great idea to tell him about the fiasco with the lost data—for multiple reasons—and instead went with, “She’s working on it now. It’ll be done in time, don’t worry.”

Having his brother bring the whole thing up brought the guilt back, tugging on Logan’s stomach, making it lurch. Here he was at a party, while Stella was back in the office, dead tired trying to catch up on the work she’d already done so she could get to the work she hadn’t done yet. Not to mention the whole trip postponing thing that he was definitely going to bring up again.

“Good,” he said with a solemn nod as their mother walked over to them.

She brushed some non-existent lint off his shoulder. “You look incredibly handsome.”

“Thank you, Mother,” he replied, leaning in and giving her a kiss on her cheek. “You look lovely.”

She reached up and slid her fingers along the hollows under his eyes. “You’re tired.”

“Yes,” he sighed. “It’s been a long couple of days.”

His mother raised her brow, expecting an explanation. He wasn’t about to go into detail and give her a chance to scrutinize what he’d been up to. She had always done an exceptional job of reading him, and without meaning to he might accidentally give something away that he didn’t want her to know. It was best to keep it simple.

“Well,” she said, patting his arm, “you’ll have some time to relax over the holidays. In the meantime…” She looked down the press line with a mischievous glint in her eye. “Astrid is here.”

Logan had to keep himself from rolling his eyes. Great, just what he needed, his mother badgering him about his love life. That was bad enough as it was; it was doubly worse when it involved a woman he had absolutely no interest in whatsoever.

“You should go over and say hello.” His mother’s orders were always framed as incredibly polite suggestions.

The very last thing he wanted to do was go over and talk to Astrid, just to have their picture splashed all over Page Six in the morning. He just wanted to walk the press line, mingle for the requisite amount of time, then get back to Stella. She’d work through the night if he didn’t stop her, and he didn’t want her working herself to death for him, deadline or not.

But of course, Astrid honed in on Logan rather quickly, and being the spotlight hog that she was, came over and embraced him as hundreds of camera shutters clicked.

She clung to him too tightly, her smile fake and her laughter forced.

For the life of him—even taking into account her family’s considerable portfolio—Logan had no idea why his mother was so hell bent on setting him up with her of all people.

“It’s good to see you, Astrid,” he said, stepping away to keep a polite distance. “But I have some business inside that I should attend to.” He gently wrapped his fingers around her wrists to remove her hands from his body, then he walked inside, not waiting for her to answer him.

He heard his mother calling after him, but he ignored her, pushing his way through the crowd to get to the bar. He didn’t want to deal with her right now, to talk about Astrid, or listen to her expectations for his love life. Especially not when his heart was in his office 20 blocks away, poring over code on a computer.

He needed liquor to steel himself for the likely endless, annoying night.

At the bar, he ordered a scotch. Neat.

As the bartender handed him his drink, Drake came up beside him.

“What has gotten into you?” he asked. “I’ve never seen you blow Astrid off like that. Or Mom, for that matter.”

“I’m not interested in Astrid. I want—” Logan managed to cut himself off before he said something he would’ve regretted.

Drake raised a judgmental eyebrow at his brother. “Stella?”

Logan considered denying it, just to make his life a little easier, but it was no use. Drake knew anyway, and he was tired of pretending.

“Yeah. I’m in love with her.”

It wasn’t the first time he’d felt it, but it was the first time he’d let himself say it out loud. He would rather have said it directly to Stella, but despite the problems that came along with the confession, he felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

“Holy shit,” Drake said with a laugh. “That’s a minefield.”

Logan leaned back, looking at the ceiling. It was, that was true. New relationships were hard as it was. Adding his mother’s desire to dictate his choice in romantic partner as well as the fact that he was her boss, well…they had more to work through than some other couples their age.

But still, he wanted to try.

“I know,” Logan agreed. “I know I have to be careful, that I can’t…we can’t do this until she finds another position. I recommended her to Omar Ellickson last night.”

Drake’s eyes widened; Logan had never seen him so shocked. “You’re that desperate to get this thing going, huh?”

Logan shook his head. “She deserves more than what I can offer her in her job. She deserves to be challenged, to have a ladder to…something else. Something better. I should’ve made her head of our R&D for the app.”

Drake sucked in a long, sharp breath. “You know you can’t do that now; people will say—”

“I know what people will say.”

“And you don’t care?” Drake challenged.

“I care. That’s why I’m not going to do it, and why I know she wouldn’t take it even if I did offer. Besides, she admires him. She’d get a lot out of him taking her under his wing.”

Drake stood there, quietly appraising his brother. “Wow, you’re really serious about her.”

“I am.”

“What are you going to do about it?” he asked.

Logan shrugged. “Tell her?”

His brother laughed. “You’re in deep shit, Logan,” he said, clapping him on the shoulder.

Oh, Logan knew that. He smiled, then brought his scotch up to his lips, downing it in one long gulp.