by Krista Lakes
I sunk to the floor as I realized it was worse than that. Word was going to spread that Travel, Inc. thought I was a bad investment, that “the long-term market was no good and your plan is doomed to failure.” If the biggest and best travel company around didn't think I was a good investment, the smaller ones would have every reason to believe them. I was going to lose all my potential buyers because of this. Because I had trusted him.
A tear ran down my cheek and dropped onto the kitchen floor. Everything was ruined. Everything I had worked so hard to achieve, my dreams of running a travel agency, of being successful, were gone. Logan had crushed them all by leading me on and making me think that he wanted me. That he had been interested not only in my business, but in me as a person.
I dialed his personal line again, but it didn't even go to the secretary. This time, I got the operator with the annoying voice telling me that the line was no longer in service.
Coward, I thought. Doesn't even have the guts to tell me himself. I could barely believe it. He had been so wonderful last night. I had started to let myself imagine a future with him. I had liked him so much, but now, I realized it had just been a front. He only wanted in my pants, and pretending to believe in my company was the easiest way to get there. I couldn't believe I had let myself be so easily duped.
I pulled my hair up and out of my face and took a deep breath. I wasn't about to let some coward and his terrible father make a fool of me. I had worked too hard for this. If the Hayes family thought this was going to slow me down, they were wrong. This was just a bump in the road. My idea was a great one and it was going to work. They were going to be sorry they messed with Olivia Statler. I’d show them. I was still crying, but I’d show them all.
Chapter 16
Present Day
Bang, bang, BANG!
I brought my fist down hard on the wood of Logan's hotel door. I was so angry I could barely see straight. How dare he take my employees!
He opened the door, confusion shifting into a welcoming smile as soon as he saw me. His hair was wet, and he was obviously in the middle of attempting to smooth it. Little droplets of water darkened the pale blue shoulders of his dress shirt.
“I thought I was picking you up...” he greeted me, opening the door wider to allow me in.
“What the hell is this?” I thrust the printed resignation letters into his chest. I couldn't believe he was still planning on taking me out for dinner. He fumbled with them for a moment as I crossed my arms and waited angrily for a response.
“Um...” Logan turned the sheets in his hands and did a very good job at looking legitimately confused. “They look like resignation letters? I'm afraid I don't understand what's going on.”
“Like hell you don't,” I sneered. “Travel, Inc. just hired four of my best consultants out from under me. What kind of sick, twisted game are you playing?”
He looked down at the papers in his hands in shock. “What?”
“What was your plan? Invite me to dinner, and while I'm distracted by your charming smile, collapse my business so you can buy it on a discount?” I took a step back into the hallway. “That's low. Even for you.”
“I swear to you, I had nothing to do with this.” Logan's eyes were wide and his face had lost all semblance of his earlier smile. He had his innocent act down cold. I could have almost believed him.
“Right. Just like you had nothing to do with it the last time you screwed me over.” I took a step down the hallway, then turned as I thought of what I had always wanted to say to him. “How'd that work out for you last time?”
Logan cocked his head to the side, brows together as he stood in his doorway holding the letters. “What are you talking about?”
“The last time you did this to me.” I glared up at him, fury burning through my bones. “What was the plan that time? Get my hopes up, tell my other investors off, and then wait to buy me out when I was desperate? Didn't work out so well for you. You could have had me for almost nothing. I would have given you everything. Now, I'm worth millions and not selling. This latest attempt is going to fare just as well as the first one.”
“What? No, that was never...” Logan shook his head forcefully in denial. “Olivia, I had nothing to do with this! Any of it! This is all my father's doing. You have to believe me!”
“No, I don't.” I gave him a cold once-over and wasn't pleased with what I saw. “I never should have believed you in the first place.” I turned on my heel and marched down the hallway.
“Damn it, Olivia...” he cursed as he hurried out into the hall to follow me. “Wait, Olivia, I can explain!”
But by then, I was already to my door. I caught one last look of pleading as he ran toward me. I didn't want to hear his explanations. I had seen enough of him to last a lifetime. I didn't need to be tricked by his lying ways or my gullible heart.
It felt so good for me to slam my door in his face. I hadn't had the chance to do that the last time we had met. At least this time, Maddy wasn't here to screw things up. As I started to throw things in my suitcase, I thought about that wedding we went to a year ago.
Chapter 17
One year ago
Maddy and I sipped daintily on Cristal champagne as we wandered around the lush garden estates of our accounting firm's head partner. The soft music from a string quartet drifted among the roses as guests sipped champagne and nibbled on hors d'oeuvres while waiting for the reception to start.
The wedding of the mayor's daughter to the son of Chicago's most successful accountant was dubbed the biggest social event of the year. Everyone who was anyone was going. I hadn't known that Maddy and I were considered to be anyone until the day the invitation arrived. It felt good to be someone.
We had been invited because our accountant happened to be one of the rising stars at that particular accounting firm, as well as the fact that our little business was making waves in the travel industry. We were starting to receive recognition for our innovative approach to travel and there was no way Maddy and I were going to say no to a wedding predicted to cost well over a million dollars, even if we had no idea what to get them as a gift.
“Did you hear who is here?” Maddy whispered as we walked through an archway covered in roses.
“Who isn't here? I saw that actor you like,” I whispered back. I felt like we were sneaking around the property. Despite having rented two designer dresses and getting our hair and makeup done professionally, I still felt like we didn't belong. I had this horrible premonition that security was going to find out we were there at any moment and throw us out. I had the invitation with our names on it in my purse, ready to whip out and show anyone who asked.
“I saw him, but I'm talking about Logan Hayes,” Maddy said as we headed to the top of a grassy hill overlooking the main courtyard.
“I guess I'm not terribly surprised,” I replied, trying to sound nonchalant. Just his name made my heart start to pound. It had been a year since I had slept with him. Not even a phone call... the bastard. He was mysteriously “out on a business trip” every time I called his office. Luckily, with Maddy around, I had moved on to other, more important things. He wasn't worth my anxiety or heartache. I was completely over him. Totally.
“I thought you hated him and were going to punch his lights out the next time you saw him?” Maddy quipped.
“Oh come on, Maddy, that was months ago,” I said, waving a dismissive hand. “Eons, really.”
“It was last week.” She paused between two bushes covered with yellow flowers and gave me a very knowing look that I did not appreciate.
So maybe I wasn't completely over him.
“Okay, so maybe I still have some issues,” I conceded. “But, this is a wedding. I can behave. Besides, I've had a year to cool off. He's not worth the effort of being angry. Besides, what are the odds that we'll even run into him? There are hundreds of guests here!”
“Right.” Maddy gave me a skeptical look and downed the last of her champagne. “I'm going
to get some more of this liquid gold goodness. You want some more?”
I held up my still mostly full glass. I didn't see what she found so special about it. It just tasted like plain old champagne to me. Dom Perignon tasted better anyway. “I'm good, thanks. I'll just wait here for you.”
Maddy nodded and headed off toward the main house where the bar was set up. I sipped on my champagne again and looked out at the house and gardens. Below me in the main courtyard, the happy bride and groom were walking onto the stage. They looked so blissfully in love.
“Enjoying the champagne?” a deep voice from my dreams asked from behind me. I shivered with simultaneous want and anger. I knew that voice. I turned slowly, almost afraid that I was dreaming, but there stood Logan Hayes.
The first thing I noticed wasn't the dark blue designer suit that fit him like a glove, or the way all his hair but one stray curl was smoothed back, or even the scent of his cologne; no, it was that he looked tired. His eyes didn't have quite the luster I remembered and he looked thinner. For one whole second, I hoped he wasn't sick, but then I remembered that I'd sooner have wished him dead.
“Better than Dom,” I lied. My heart was pounding like that of a petrified rabbit. I had envisioned this moment constantly for the past year, but now that it was here, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I wanted to hit him for what he did and kiss him because I wanted more. “What are you doing here?”
“I know the bride. She and I went to high school together once upon a time, and we even tried our hand at dating one another,” he replied. “We decided we were much better off as friends.”
“Do you know the groom, then?” I asked courteously, sipping mechanically on my champagne and trying not to panic. Slowly, though not without a fight, my anger toward him was giving way to my desire to kiss him, to run my fingers through his hair, to trace the words in his tattoo. I wanted him to not look so damn tired.
“I introduced them. Poor guy never thought he would get a girl like her, but they're perfect for each another. I get to claim matchmaker. It took a little time, but they're very happy they worked it out. It's really a sweet love story,” he said with a genuinely happy smile. He stepped back and looked me up and down. “You look fantastic, by the way. Stunning, really.”
“Thank you.” I could be polite. I wasn't even thinking of punching him. Maddy would be shocked. “Is the rest of your family here too?”
“My brother is around here somewhere. He almost wasn't invited,” he replied, glancing over toward where the music was coming from. “But Aiden knows how to apologize when he screws up. My father doesn't and as such wasn't invited.”
“I'm sorry to hear that.” I was secretly glad. Logan's old man could stuff it where the sun don't shine.
“Don't be. He is prone to doing things that make him very unpopular.” Logan shrugged. There was a back story I knew I was missing, but I didn't want to ask. I hoped Maddy would hurry up and get back so I could leave. Being this close to him was hard. Especially when he smiled.
I sipped on my champagne and smiled politely. If this was how the rest of our interactions were going to go, I could live with that. I knew that we would be running into one another, given our similar businesses and social obligations. Maybe, if we kept having these nondescript encounters, I would forget the ache in my heart. Maybe I would stop searching for his picture in the paper every morning just to find out what he was doing. Maybe I would stop missing the something we almost had.
“I also hear that your business is taking off,” he continued, taking a step closer. “I knew it would. Congratulations.”
Now I wanted to punch him. He had to bring that up and rub it in. I found my anger again and hated that I had lost it for even a moment. Damn him and his stupid smile making me forget how he never called. Damn him and his father for making me scramble to save my livelihood.
“No thanks to you or Travel, Inc.,” I replied with just a touch more venom than necessary.
“It was just business,” he said with a frown, as if he didn't understand what my issue was with him.
“Travel, Inc.'s portion of it perhaps, but what about yours? Or did you just forget about our little car ride?” I was a little afraid I was going to crush the delicate stemware in my fist and spill champagne and glass all over the garden.
He had the good grace to blush slightly. “I wanted to apologize about that...”
“Then why didn't you?” I demanded, my temper starting to boil over. “Why did you never call me?”
“Olivia, I wanted to—I really did—but I couldn't,” he explained. He ran a hand through his hair and dislodged another curl from his slick hairstyle. A few more passes and he would look like himself again.
“Because it is so hard to pick up a phone.” I took a step toward him and glanced around to make sure no one was nearby. “I'm not usually that kind of girl, but I did think I at least merited a phone call. The business part I could probably have forgiven as 'just business', but the fact that you led me on is inexcusable. You let me think I was... You could have at least told me that I meant nothing to you.”
He paled as my accusation hit its mark. “Olivia, it's complicated.” He started to reach out as if he wanted to touch me but thought better of it and put his hands in his pockets. “I wanted to, but my father made it very clear that I wasn't to contact you. I'm sorry.”
“Unbelievable.” I shook my head in disgust. “I'm so glad you do everything your father says. Do you still get an allowance for doing your homework and feeding the dog?”
“You're right. I should have called,” he said softly, retreating further. “I should have done things differently.”
“You're damn right you should have.” I stepped back from him, wanting to put as much distance as possible between us. For all his good looks, swagger and charm, he was still a little boy under his father's influence. “You missed out on a good thing, both me and Dream Vacations.”
He held me in his eyes for a moment. His expression was bleak, as if he was calculating the extent of his mistake and finding it bigger than he had first imagined. “Believe me, I know.”
We stood there in silence for a moment, the two of us just staring at one another and trying to figure out how to get out of this very awkward conversation.
“Olivia, I'm back,” Maddy announced, strolling up beside me and breaking the strange silence. “Who is this handsome young man you've found?”
“Maddy, this is Logan Hayes,” I said flatly. “Logan, this is Maddy Sawyer, the co-owner of Dream Vacations.”
“Oh my,” Maddy replied with a blush. “You are even better looking in person. I can totally see why Olivia follows you in the paper, on myFace, and won't stop talking about you.”
I closed my eyes and counted to five. That was the last thing I wanted Logan to know. I wanted him to think I cared even less for him than he did for me. I didn't need him knowing he had broken my heart in just one night. “No more champagne for you, Maddy.”
“Why? I'm enjoying myself,” Maddy asked, puzzled. I took a big breath before I opened my eyes and glared at her. “Oh. You're that Logan Hayes. Travel-Inc-broke-your-heart-and-scared-off-all-your-investors Logan Hayes. Got it. Shutting up now.”
Logan frowned. “What do you mean, 'broke-your-heart-and-scared-off-your-investors?'”
I purposefully ignored the first part of the question. “When word got out that Travel, Inc.'s Logan Hayes had taken me out for drinks and then dumped my business to the curb the next day, everyone thought there had to be a reason. Most of them assumed it was because you learned some terrible secret about my business. I could barely get a small business loan from the bank thanks to you.” The last part was a bit of an exaggeration, but I didn't care. It got the point across.
Logan's face fell. “I had no idea. No one ever said anything to me. I'm sorry,” he stammered, losing his usual calm confidence.
“Apology not accepted,” I replied tartly. I was still pissed.
“Yeah,�
�� Maddy chimed in, her voice slurring. “She still cries about it sometimes.”
There was an awkward pause during which the three of us just stared at the ground for a moment. No one seemed to know what to say. The celebratory sounds of the wedding drifted up and provided a strange contrast to our uncomfortable lack of festivity. Logan was silent and then shook himself awake as if he came to some sort of conclusion in his head. Hopefully, it was to leave me alone.
“Well, it was delightful to meet you, Maddy.” Logan held out his hand to shake hers. She reciprocated firmly, and pulled him in close to her.
“If you could forget the fact that I mentioned you broke Liv's heart, that would be great,” she whispered, thinking I wouldn't hear. Except I could hear every cringe-inducing word. “She wouldn't want you to know that, especially because I don't think she's over you.”
I was never letting her drink again. She couldn't hold onto a secret with duct tape and super glue. I half-expected her to give him my Social Security number and bank PIN while she was at it.
“Consider it forgotten,” he assured her with an all-too-confident smile. I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to convince myself that killing them both would be too much work.
Logan cleared his throat, and I looked up and into his eyes. They were big pools of brown velvet that, despite my best efforts to resist them, sucked me in. My heart pounded in my chest as I struggled to look away. He smiled, and I realized he didn't look quite as tired as he had before. “It was wonderful to see you, Olivia. I hope to run into you again soon.”
“I wish I could say the same.” I plastered an obviously fake smile on my face and blinked demurely. He grinned and stepped forward, leaning in so he could whisper in my ear. Maddy's betrayal had given him back his usual cockiness in spades. He now knew he could drive me crazy, and that I wouldn't be able to stop him.