Logan revealed that last bit with shame. He’d never liked the classism he’d grown up with, always thought his parents were complete snobs.
“Poor baby Logan,” Stella said, teasing.
The exaggerated pout on her lips made him laugh. “Yeah, I had everything I could possibly want or need except for a ten-dollar board game. It was a very sad life.”
She shrugged, her mood suddenly lighter. “The heart wants what the heart wants. Maybe if you’re good, Santa will bring it for you.”
Logan winked at her. “Oh, I’m never good, but I hope he’ll be kind to me anyway.”
Chapter Five
The car pulled into the driveway of Logan’s country estate well after dark, but the property was lit well enough for Stella to be able to get a feel for just how impressive it was. Not that she’d expected the place to be small, but he’d often spoken of his grandmother’s cottage, and she’d worked for him long enough to know that her definition of a “cottage” and Logan’s were probably very different.
Indeed, it was.
There was a gravel drive, which she wasn’t expecting, even though it fit with the relatively modest front of the home. She suspected that the home’s bulk was hidden behind the trees surrounding the front entrance, which gave an inviting feel to the place. The thoughtful lighting in the front made the home seem welcoming, and the glow from the windows drew her in, giving off the impression of warmth even from the outside.
Stella had, of course, seen Logan’s impressive condo in the city, and she knew that he had some other real estate holdings in his name throughout the country. One in Chicago, one in LA. She’d never actually been to any of those, though.
Stella gathered up her laptop and slid it into her bag as two men pulled their luggage from the trunk and carried it inside.
“Wow,” she said, looking over the roof of the car at Logan.
“C’mon,” he replied with a boyish excitement she’d never seen from him. “Let me show you around inside.”
She followed him up the front stairs and into the bluestone foyer with french doors leading out onto a deck that had gorgeous views of the mountains even in the darkness. He took her through the living room, which had obviously been recently updated, but still managed to keep some rustic charm. A gorgeous river stone fireplace was highlighted by a mantel showcasing a collection of family portraits.
Stella walked over so she could get a closer look, curious about which people and which moments earned a spot like that in Logan’s home.
There were a couple of posed portraits with family that she would’ve expected to find there, given what she knew of the Armstrong family. But there were also quite a few intimate pictures, along with casual candids of Logan and Drake when they were still kids.
There was a snapshot of Drake playing t-ball, one of Logan with chocolate ice cream smeared all over his face. Without thinking, Stella reached out and took that one down, smiling at it as she completely forgot that the subject of the photo was standing right next to her.
Trying to play it off, she said, “I should photocopy this and keep it locked in my desk as blackmail material in case you really piss me off one day.”
Logan playfully snatched the frame from her, making her laugh. “I’m gonna keep this one hidden until you leave, just to be safe.”
Stella narrowed her eyes. “Or you could just stop being a pain in the ass.”
“Never.”
She felt his gaze on her as she looked at some of the other pictures of him and his brother, along with some others of Logan with his groups of friends in high school and college.
“You know, you got to see some of my embarrassing pictures,” he ventured. “I think it’s only fair that I get to see some of yours.”
Stella let out an indelicate snort. “Oh, I bet you’d love that.”
He moved closer, close enough that she could smell the clean scent of him, a smell that was uniquely Logan, one she wanted to bottle up and keep for herself. “I would,” he replied, sounding like he actually meant it.
She dared to look at him then, to take in the softness in his eyes, the way his lips curled up in a light happiness that he only seemed to show when he was around her. It was that kind of look that made her want to do reckless things, made her wonder what would happen if she took a step forward and cupped his face in her hands, let her fingertips glide along the stubble that peppered his jaw.
If she kissed him, would he kiss her back?
Moments like these made her believe that he would.
Moment like these were dangerous.
She leaned forward, her body no longer under her control, and she quickly snapped out of it. “Could you show me the rest of the house?” she asked, wanting to break this spell he had on her and needing to shift her focus before she wound up doing something she knew she would regret.
Stella watched him lick his lips as he stood there for a second longer, then he put the picture back on the mantel and replied with a rough, “Yeah…absolutely.”
Logan led her up a set of stairs and down a long hallway, toward the back of the house.
“My room is over here,” he said, motioning toward a door on the right that she was going to pretend didn’t exist.
A little further back, he opened the door to a room with a vaulted ceiling, decorated in light neutrals making the whole place look airy and bright. There was a large bed with a mound of fluffy pillows resting against the tufted headboard opposite a giant door that Logan told her led out to a balcony. He walked her over and opened it, letting in a frigid breeze as Stella poked out her head to get a peek at the glorious view the room offered.
There was a bathroom on the far side of the room, and a desk in the corner, which didn’t quite match the rest of the furnishings.
He’d had that desk brought in for her, along with an ergonomic chair that looked suspiciously like the one she had at the office.
Stella walked over and ran her finger along the armrest. Yep, same one.
“Did you have this brought over from the city?” she asked, confused.
“I ordered a new one and had it sent over this morning.”
Stella was momentarily stunned. Nevermind the fact that her chair was a special order and had taken weeks to get. Of course he was able to throw his name around and have one sent over at a moment’s notice. She didn’t even want to think about how much all that had cost.
As if he could sense her dilemma, Logan explained, “I wanted you to be comfortable while you were working, especially since you’re the one doing me the favor. I would’ve bought you ten chairs if you’d needed them.”
“It’s not strictly a favor,” Stella said lightly, teasing him. “This is totally going on my resume.”
His face fell for a fraction of a second, and Stella caught the pang of hurt there, recognizing it as the look of a man who desperately didn’t want to have to interview for a new assistant.
Logan cleared his throat. “The bathroom is in there, which should have anything you could possibly need in it, and if it doesn’t you can let me know and I’ll make sure we get it for you. Josephine is going to make sure that your dress is pressed, and I had the wifi network name and password put on a card on the desk for you.”
Stella didn’t miss the quick way he spoke, or the fact that he seemed anxious to exit the room.
“Are you trying to get rid of me?” she asked, unable to resist commenting on it.
Logan gave her a practiced, fake grin. After seeing his genuine ones, she could honestly say that she hated it. “If anything, it’s the opposite,” he told her. “But one of your conditions was that I give you a day and a half uninterrupted. Since we have to leave early in the evening for the party tomorrow, and we only have the morning on Sunday, I thought I would give you what you asked for.”
Uninterrupted work time was what she needed, but after spending a chunk of their ride up here talking about their families and getting to spend that personal time with him, what
she wanted was for him to stay.
But asking for that could only lead to embarrassment for her, so she pressed her lips together and kept her mouth shut.
He was doing what she wanted. She didn’t know why she felt so disappointed.
“I’ll leave you to it,” he told her, then smiled at her before he closed the door on his way out.
* * *
True to his word, Logan left Stella to her work for the bulk of the evening. He had a steady stream of drinks and snacks sent to her, helping her keep her energy up for the task at hand.
Right when she needed a break and was considering wandering out to find Logan and ask about dinner, he walked into the room carrying a tray. He set it on the edge of the desk, and Stella peered over her laptop to get a look at what he’d brought her: a bowl of tomato soup with artfully swirled cream and sprig of parsley on top, along with a crispy, crusty grilled cheese sandwich on the side.
Stella took a deep breath. It smelled heavenly. “Thank you.”
Logan smiled as he watched her taste the soup, waiting like he wanted to make sure everything was okay before he left.
She nearly groaned, it was so delicious, and in the end managed a simple, “Oh my god.”
“I guess you like it?” Logan asked with a laugh.
“I don’t know if a word exists that is strong enough to express my feelings for this soup.”
“Good,” he replied. “Let me know if I can get you anything else.” He turned to leave, tugging at something in Stella’s gut that desperately wanted him to stay.
“You’re not going to join me?” she asked. Logan looked like he wanted to, but needed to be convinced away from the whole day and a half uninterrupted thing she’d insisted on when she’d agreed to do this work.
“I’ve been looking at this code for hours, to the point where my eyes are getting ready to go crossed. I’m all alone and I’ve been listening to this podcast about serial killers while I’ve been working and to be honest all the windows in here are creeping me out right about now.”
Logan laughed, then walked over and flipped on the lights to the balcony. “Feel better?”
She nodded. An endless abyss of night right outside did ease her mind about potential murderers lurking outside the windows. “Much better.”
“You really want company?”
“I really want company.”
“Okay,” he replied with a soft smile, before he walked out of the room, returning a couple of minutes later with a tray of his own. He had the same tomato soup and grilled cheese as Stella did, with the addition of a HUGE piece of chocolate cake.
She pretended to be offended. “You were holding out on me with the cake? Really?”
He grinned as he pulled over a chair from the corner of the room, bringing it to rest across from her. “I was going to bring it in later.”
“A dessert course? Fancy.” Stella took a bite of her sandwich and let out an involuntary moan as she chewed. “This is so good. I live off of takeout and frozen dinners. It’s so nice to have a home-cooked meal.”
“I’m glad you like it.” Logan had the sleeves of his pullover pushed up, exposing his muscular, tanned forearms. It was like he knew that was Stella’s weakness and wanted to torture her, the gorgeous jerk.
“I like the house, too,” she said, looking around at the furnishings. “It’s cozy. It’s…not what I expected.”
Logan didn’t look the slightest bit surprised by that. “What were you expecting?”
She took a moment to think through her response, not wanting to offend him. “I was expecting modern. Did you change a lot from when your grandparents lived here?”
“I updated it.” Logan dipped the corner of his sandwich into the soup. “I left some things the same. There are parts of this house that have a lot of wonderful memories, and I didn’t want to destroy any of that. My grandfather loved to smoke cigars in the den, and when Drake and I were kids he had this red carpet in there. We used to pretend it was lava,” he said with a smile. Stella laughed. “Drake and I would jump from chair to chair, or run across Grandfather’s desk to avoid it. It really used to piss my grandfather off.” His face softened at the memory, kicking Stella’s heart rate up a notch or two. “We broke an antique lamp, and then we weren’t allowed in the den anymore.”
Stella grinned, enjoying hearing about this version of Logan, young and imaginative and playful.
“Did you come up here a lot?”
“When my parents were busy in the city,” he explained. “Which was often. We had room to play, and there’s a pool, which was always a big hit, so it wasn’t so bad. But…we missed out on a lot, too.”
Stella knew what he was saying, even though he wasn’t actually saying it. He and his brother were practically raised by their grandparents at times, and they missed out on having a traditional home life.
It was then that Stella realized that they both were orphans in a way. The only difference was that Logan’s parents had chosen to keep their distance, and hers were ripped from her life; they wouldn’t have ever gone willingly. Living with the expectations of a father who had never made much time for him, and constantly trying to prove himself must’ve been exhausting.
“You’ve always had a lot to live up to, haven’t you?”
“Yeah,” he sighed, dropping his sandwich onto its plate. “Dad’s never had a lot of faith in me, so I’ve always been trying to prove something to him. To make him happy, to see that I am capable, that I’m not going to shame the family name and leave us all destitute by running the company into the ground. It takes up a lot of my life and leads me to sometimes not make the best decisions. If he knew I had you up here reviewing code…” He trailed off, shaking his head.
“That you have a whole team of people for…” she said, aiming for teasing. She knew she fell short when Logan locked eyes with her, determination in them.
“I trust you more,” he said, honesty reverberating through the words. “This is a big deal, and I…I trust you more.”
Stella was left momentarily speechless, her stomach flipping at the way he was looking at her. “I think I’ve figured out why it’s not working, but I’m going to need some more time to get through all the code and make sure. Probably more time than I thought initially, but I’ll get it finished before I’m supposed to leave.”
“This means a lot to me. That you were willing to do it.”
Stella shrugged. “It’s my job.”
Logan let out a bitter laugh. “It’s really, really not.”
Okay, so that was true. Stella tried a different approach. “It’s my job to assist you. You need assisting, so I’m here assisting you.”
“I don’t know how I could ever repay you.”
“Well, my year-end bonus should be a good start, and if you’re feeling extra bad I suppose I could take that chocolate cake for myself.”
Logan gave her a sexy, mischievous smile, swiping a bit off frosting off the top of the cake before he pushed the plate toward her.
Stella wanted to lick the chocolate off his finger, but he beat her to it.
“Deal.”
Chapter Six
Logan stood in front of the mirror over his dresser adjusting his bow tie. His nerves were on edge; his entire body felt like a live wire. He was nervous about going to this party, about attending it for the first time as a representative of his family’s company. His father was so good in social situations…were these people going to compare them? His father always remembered a name and a face, along with some kind of anecdote about the person he was talking to that strengthened their connection. That wasn’t Logan, no matter how hard he tried. He was terrified that he was going to forget someone’s name, or say something stupid and lose an investor.
He really couldn’t envision many scenarios that ended the evening with a win.
He was so grateful that Stella was there with him. On top of always being a calming influence, he knew that she wouldn’t let him make a fool of him
self.
He trusted her implicitly, which was something that was generally hard to come by for a man in Logan’s position.
He smoothed an invisible wrinkle from his suit, brushed down a non-existent unruly hair on the top of his head, and took a deep breath before he walked out of his room and knocked on Stella’s door.
“Yeah?” she asked.
“You ready?”
“You said to be ready at seven, and I have three more minutes till seven. I plan on using every one of them.”
Logan let out a laugh that somehow settled his nerves. “I’ll meet you downstairs?”
“Yes, please!”
Logan made his way down to the foyer. On top of the nerves he was feeling about this evening, he was also a little nervous about seeing Stella. They’d been to formal events before, sure, but that was back when he was still in denial about his feelings for her. Back then he could appreciate her beauty but wasn’t absolutely bowled over by it.
His mouth watered just thinking of seeing her in her dress, even though he had no idea what it looked like. She had a habit of wearing sleeveless gowns with tastefully plunging necklines that left just enough to the imagination and left him wanting to taste every inch of her tanned, perfect skin.
He’d hired a makeup artist and a hair stylist for her tonight, telling himself it was so that she could focus on her work instead of worrying about getting ready for the party. That was partly true, but mostly he wanted to pamper her, and he knew that this was probably one of the only times she would actually let him, since she had so much on her plate.
Logan paced the floor, checking his watch approximately every 10 seconds.
He had to keep reminding himself that this wasn’t a date. It was a formal work function for the two of them, and he would just have to forget that Stella would probably look irresistible.
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