Chapter 0323
With five angry looking guys closing in around us, I start to nervously turn away from Tina.
“She’s lying,” I said, to anyone who would listen.
We’d captured the attention of most of the bar now, even more than the musician. In fact, people were so distracted from him that he slowly stopped strumming his guitar.
Logan took a step back from the bar. His hands curled into fists.
Oh, God. What had I done? Were we going to have to fight our way out of here?
How the hell did Tina already win over so many admirers? Though, on second thought, I supposed already knew the answer to that. She was beautiful, and had a way of making herself seem innocent and small. That likely triggered a protective instinct in men who were attracted to her.
Logan came to stand at my side.
One of the five men approached. Before he could reach us, Dylan and Maria both swooped in. Maria tugged at Logan’s arm and Dylan at my shoulders.
“Time to go!” Dylan said.
“We have to leave, darling,” Maria said, laying her lie on thick. “The babysitter called. We have to check on the twins.”
Logan’s rage shifted to confusion and he let himself be tugged away. I didn’t have as much choice. With Dylan so much larger than me, I was headed to that exit door whether I liked it or not. Fortunately, right now, that was exactly where I wanted to be.
The five men stopped in their tracks, though their eyes continued to follow us, all the way until we walked. out the front door.
“I hope we paid the tab,” I realized as an afterthought. The shock of what happened was still coursing through me.
“I took care of it,” Maria said.
“I take it that didn’t go well,” Dylan said.
“It didn’t,” Logan replied, unnecessarily.
Dylan continued ushering me forward, toward the parking lot, toward the car. Only when we were inside of it did he relax slight
Maria and I sat in the backseat of the sedan, while Logan sat in the passenger side with Dylan driving.
I
“Tina is keeping tabs on us,” Logan said.
“She’s likely not the only one,” Dylan added. “I’m going to drive around for a while to lose any tails before we head back to your apartments.”
“I’m sorry I dragged you into this,” I told Maria.
She shook her head. “This is more excitement than I’ve had in months. No regrets.”
Chapter 0323
+25 BONUS
The next morning, Logan and I sit in silence at the breakfast table, quietly eating cereal and toast.
We held each other through the night, but hadn’t really talked about what happened. Maybe there wasn’t anything to say.
Midway through our quiet eating, Logan’s phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and placed it flat on the table in the space between us. Close as I was, I could read the Caller ID. It said, Mabel Fritz.
Logan glanced at me. I nodded, and he answered it.
“Hello?”
“Dylan already called me and told me what happened last night,” Mabel said. “I initially thought we’d have more time, but I should have guess Tina St. Louis wouldn’t play nice. Someone who cheats in a charity marathon shouldn’t be given the benefit of any doubt. This one is on me.”
There was a story there, but before I could ask Mabel to elaborate, she was already ten paces ahead. How long had she been awake? She talked quickly, like she was on her fourth cup of coffee.
dn’t
“We’re going to release two items today. I want you to be prepared,” Mabel said. “First, your wedding certificate. It’s a miracle this hasn’t been dug out already, but I suppose Mr. Hatfield Senior likely want the world to know how deep the bond between you two really was.”