Fourteen
Logan pulled his corvette up to the entrance of the hotel. He was consistently amazed at how fast large sums of money could get things done. The engine purred like it had just rolled off the assembly line as he waited for Callie to make her way down from the room. The only instructions the mechanic had given him were not to turn the car off until he had reached his destination. With a full tank of gas and a strong desire to get home, Logan didn’t see that as being a problem. He had gotten a few stares when he left the car running outside a coffee shop on his way back to the hotel, but he figured Callie would appreciate the morning pick-me-up, especially after they kept each other up for half the night.
“I didn’t even hear you get out of bed this morning,” Callie said as she hopped into the car. A gentle breeze blew over them as they started on their way. In the warm morning sun, everything seemed perfect.
“I don’t think you would have heard an elephant get out of bed this morning,” Logan said. “You were out cold.”
“I attribute that to all the fried food,” she said.
“Do you really?” Logan asked.
“No, not in the least. I think you know why I’m so tired,” she said. She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“The mattress, right?” Logan joked.
“More like the man on top of it,” she said.
“We did have fun, didn’t we?” He said.
“I never would have thought to do that with a bucket of ice,” Callie said. She let out a wistful sigh.
“Live and learn,” Logan said as he pulled the car out onto the street. “I picked up some coffee for you.”
Callie took a sip. “You even remembered my order.”
“What can I say, I remembered the alliteration of caramel cappuccino. If the whole billionaire thing fails me, I’d make a hell of a secretary.”
Callie laughed. “I’d love to see that. I’m sorry. I’m just trying to imagine you actually answering to someone on a daily basis. Nope, can’t do it.”
The rest of the ride was uneventful, though as they drove south, the sunny summer morning began to give way to overcast skies and wind. Somewhere south of Boston, they had to pull the car over and put up the roof, and, for the rest of the ride, the squeaking old the old windshield wipers joined the hum of the engine as the only sounds. Callie had fallen asleep leaning against Logan, only to wake up as he pulled off of the highway and onto the backroads that led home. Maybe he’d make her a late breakfast, and they could catch up on sleep together on the couch. Callie would like that, he thought.
But as Logan rounded the last bend home, he realized he wasn’t going to get a chance to relax. News crews and paparazzi lined the street outside the gate to the mansion. “You think this has something to do with my father? Logan asked.
As Logan tried to figure out what was going on, Callie jolted back into professional mode. She sat up straight and scanned the logos on the vans. Most of them were rentals. There were no national news outlets, and too many telephoto lenses to be real reporters.“Gossip magazines and entertainment shows. Logan, they’re here for you. Look ahead and keep driving. Don’t speed up, just keep going as if everything’s fine.” So much for going back to normal.
***
“I need my phone,” Callie said, “and I need it now.” She shot off question after question at Logan as she assessed the situation. “Do you have any other way of getting to the house? Where’s your boat?” As she waited for his response, she started formulating a plan for minimizing damage with the press. If Hank or Amy caught wind of any of this, they’d either be very happy Callie was on hand to fix it, or very upset that she had allowed it to happen at all.
“The boat’s at the wharf behind the brewery. I’ll call ahead and make sure there’s no one waiting with cameras,” Logan said. “You ok? You almost seem excited about this.”
“No, I just want to make sure we take care of this, that’s all. Remember, this is what I do for a living. Just follow my advice and everything will turn out fine.”
“Callie, I’m more than capable of handling my own messes,” Logan said. “You’re on vacation. You’re allowed to take the day off.” Callie tried not to wince as she listened to Logan. This was the time to tell him, she thought. This was the time to come clean and admit that she had been sent to Newport to prevent him from causing exactly this kind of mess. Telling him was the right thing to do. It just wasn’t the smart thing to do. There was no telling how he’d react. It was better just to forget about their personal relationship for a moment. Callie needed to to her job. As they swung back around the point, taking care to avoid the press, Callie kept her attention focused entirely on her phone. “Supposedly Veronica broke up with her new boyfriend. TMZ has you as the reason. Supposedly you two spent last night together. Is there something I need to know?” she asked.
“No, unless there’s something you need to share with me about last night,” Logan joked.
“I’m not kidding. I don’t just mean last night. Tell me the history. Now. I need to know everything.”
“We had a thing together for a while,” Logan said. He trailed off like he didn’t want to admit the rest.
Callie scrolled down the page and kept reading the blog post. “You mean you slept with her, and broke up her engagement,” Callie said.
“Not exactly. I mean yes.” Logan waited until he reached a stop sign, and then he turned for a moment and looked deep into Callie’s eyes. “Her engagement was a sham, and, yes, we slept together, but I haven’t even spoken with her in months. It was a mistake. I knew as soon as it happened.”
“Are you telling me the truth? I’m not asking as your whatever-I-am-to-you, I’m asking as someone who can diffuse this situation.”
Logan held eye contact and placed his hand on Callie’s shoulder. “I’ve always told you the truth, and I’m not lying to you now. I have no idea why she’s here.”
Callie had a good idea why Veronica would make a scene out of being in town. “I guess we’re about to find out.”
No one was waiting at the brewery. The entire wharf was eerily quiet compared to the mob scene back outside the mansion. Callie felt a little shiver as she and Logan got out of the car and headed to the boat. Maybe it made sense for them to get caught together. It would mean some real explaining with Amy, but it just might solve Logan’s problem, at least the report about the night before, and if they got caught, she could at least tell Amy that she was doing her best to keep Logan away from the press. Callie didn’t see another person between the car and Logan’s speedboat, and soon they were speeding across the bay, heading to the mansion. So much for that idea.
As Logan steered the boat toward the dock. Callie slipped her hand over his forearm. Who knew what would happen after they confronted Veronica. Callie wondered if they should just turn around, head out to the yacht and wait everything out. It would give her an excuse to do nothing but spend time with Logan. It could be a win win, but she knew there was no hiding from the truth. She had to deal with Veronica Jones, and she had to do so quickly and quietly.
When they reached the dock in front of the guesthouse, Callie couldn’t see any hint of the throng of reporters camped outside the front entrance of the mansion. Instead the air around her was silent and dead, without even a hint of a breeze. A light rain fell, and everything seemed too quiet. Something bad was about to happen. She could feel it in her bones. Every bit of professional training she had ever received told her that she needed to change the situation as quickly as possible. She just needed a moment to think. As Logan tied the boat up to the dock, Callie planned out her course of action.
Once they were on the dock, Callie broke her silence. “I need to call back to DC. Go ahead without me. I’ll meet you in the guesthouse.”
Logan looked at her for a second and smiled. She hated the way he was looking at her with trust and confidence. She felt a gnawing dread in the pit of her stomach. He added, “You’re sexy when you’re in crisis mode. Has anyone ever told you that?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” she said. Why couldn’t things have stayed simple for just a little bit longer?
“I have half a mind to lean in and kiss you right now.”
“And I have a whole mind to push you off of this dock if you try. If you’re at the center of a sex scandal, do you really think photos of you kissing another woman would help things?” But you could try your luck and kiss me anyway, she thought.
“Yeah, I do. A few photos of me with you, and we could show that nothing happened with Veronica.”
“You realize that you have a reputation for and history of breaking up relationships, right? And more specifically, you have a history of doing so with the woman who is supposedly in your father’s mansion right now. You really had no idea that she was coming here?”
Logan wrapped his arms around her and pulled Callie tight against his chest. Callie couldn’t deny how reassuring it felt to be in his arms, even if she wondered what he was up to. Slowly, and softly, he said, “I know what it looks like, but you’ve been with me almost every day for the past two weeks. When the hell would I have done anything with her? If we just present a united front to the press, maybe they’ll realize this is all some kind of publicity stunt.”
“It won’t matter, and I can’t be seen kissing you. It would ruin me, Logan.” Maybe that was a bit harsh. It would seriously damage her credibility within her company getting caught up in the middle of a scandal instead of staying safely on the sidelines. Besides, it was hard enough being young and blonde and getting clients to respect her. If it ever got out that she had a fling with Logan, she might as well quit Haven Communications and go back to corporate law. It might not matter either way. Callie had a feeling that all hell was about to break loose.
***
Logan pulled back from the embrace and stared at Callie. There was no way she was being serious. His ex, well a woman he had been with so briefly that she barely qualified as a fling, had shown up out of the blue, and now Callie was pissed at him? What did she care about his personal life? It would have been one thing if Callie were going to be around for more than a few weeks, but she wasn’t. He didn’t think that was fair, but he understood that that’s just how things were. As much as Callie had said about their time together meaning something, the moment something went wrong, she totally shut down on him. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. “Ruin you? Are you serious? After everything you said last night about us and it meaning something?”
Callie held her arms up defensively. “I don’t mean it like that. I just, look, this could be a disaster for me professionally. It’s my job to prevent and resolve situations like this, and I can’t get caught in the middle of it.”
“You’re not in the middle of it, Callie. A grand total of three people in the world know you’re here. Even if there were some picture of me with you, no one would ever tie you to Nikki. What’s the problem here. What’s so bad about people knowing that we’re spending time together?”
“Nikki?”
“Veronica goes by Nikki with her friends. Can we please just go deal with this together?” Logan asked.
“Did you not hear anything I just said?” Callie asked.
Logan turned away in frustration. “Yeah, I heard it loud and clear. You want to manage the situation. So go ahead, manage it. That’s what you do, right?”
“Look, I just need to make a few phone calls.”
“I’ll be in the guesthouse. Join me when you have a plan that works for you.” He looked at Callie, hoping to see some glimmer of the affection she had shown over the past few weeks, but she just stared back at him. At best she looked indifferent. At worst she looked angry. Logan headed to the house, his head swirled. Only a few minutes earlier, life had been perfect, and then boom, Veronica Jones had swung back into his life like a wrecking ball. She was lucky that she wasn’t in his presence at the moment, because he was furious. After everything she had done, how could she ever think she could just show up unannounced at his family’s home? He could feel his blood throbbing in his temples. He would get to the guesthouse, stay out of sight and then figure out a way to solve this mess before it got any further out of hand. Then he’d be able to figure out where he stood with Callie.
When he reached the door, it was slightly open, but Logan didn’t think much of it. That was before he looked up to see Veronica standing in the middle of the room. She bit her lip and gave him a half grin. “Hey sexy, I’ve been waiting for you. Why don’t you come inside and close the door behind you?”