“This isn’t home to you, and I do blame myself. I wanted you to work here. I’ve always had a dream that you and I could work together some day and I wouldn’t take no for an answer.” He chuckled. “I even sicced Hiroshi on you in the hopes he could actually change your mind about working for me. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for pressuring you into something your heart isn’t in to.”
Logan stared at his father. Was it possible for a man to age in one sitting? The creases around his eyes seemed deeper, his hair a tad bit greyer. “I don’t know what to say, Dad.”
“You don’t have to say much. I know I’m right. That has been one thing I’m proud to say about you, that I can read you pretty well. It was my fault for pushing you into this. I just wanted to know there would be someone I could trust to work at the firm and you’re it.”
“Well, I don’t know about that, but thanks. Aren’t you going to retire soon?”
“Look at this old man. Hell no, I can’t retire. I’m a workaholic. Maybe some day in the near future. I met a woman and she likes to travel. I might try to take more time off and join her.” He shrugged. “Who knows?”
Logan contemplated their conversation. This was Logan’s chance if he wanted one. His father was giving him an out, a chance to go back home. But did he want to take it?
“Thank you so much.”
“Thank you, I absolutely love your store! And this new line, Possessive? My husband loves it too.”
Warmth spread across Gabriella’s chest as the woman’s face lit up in pure joy. This was one of the main reasons she owned a store like this: it made women happy. The no-strings-attached feel good feeling of pure joy. She loved it. She handed over the woman’s bags and thanked her again for shopping at Lolita’s.
It was almost closing time and she’d had a hell of an afternoon. She packed up her belongings to take home with her, tidied up the store, closed out her register system and headed home. Home alone. With the break-in and Logan moving, she’d been emotional more than what was acceptable for her.
She didn’t like feeling…mixed up, desperate, scared, unwanted—many different emotions coursed through her body at any given time and all she really felt like doing was hiding in her closet. Much like a temperamental child would. Ahh, but she knew that would get her nowhere.
After her bath, she put on her t-shirt and gym shorts—the same pajamas she’d worn with Logan when they went to Japan. The ones that he so effectively got her out of. She bent her head down, pushing her nose into the fabric of her shirt, unconsciously hoping that they would smell like him but all they smelled like was the fresh scent of clean laundry. Just as she considered changing, her phone rang. It was him.
“Hello?”
“Gabbie. Hey…where are you?” His voice was low, quiet, he didn’t sound quite right.
“I’m home, why?”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
Her heart dropped. “Where are you?”
“At Lolita’s.”
Without thinking she shoved her feet into her flip-flops she kept by her front door and grabbed her purse and keys. “I’m on my way.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Logan shut his truck off and stepped out into the cool night air. It smelled good to be home. New York did not smell like Colorado. There was a garden scent here, maybe it was from nearby cornfields, and you couldn’t smell humidity—nor could you smell sewer—like you sometimes could in New York. Logan stretched his arms above his head and marveled at all of the stars in the sky. Stars you could see because there wasn’t much light blocking them out. He tried telling Gabbie he would head to her condo, but she cut him off so fast, he had no choice but to wait here.
No way in hell was he going to risk missing her.
Not after the crappy flight he’d been on and the terrible drive from the airport home where he’d found himself stuck in traffic on one of those shuttle drop-off buses. It had been a nightmare.
Breathing in the fresh scent, he walked up to the back door of Lolita’s. Interesting. It stood open, slightly ajar, with the key still stuck in the lock. Had Gabriella gotten sidetracked and forgotten she was in the act of locking the door when she’d left? She couldn’t have been in that big of a hurry. Could she have been? She had probably been on the phone with Amber or Brandi when she left and had thought she shut it tight enough to catch. He found it strange that her key was still in the lock though. He once again wished she hadn’t hung up so quickly on him.
Pushing open the door, the hinges creaked announcing his arrival. In the dark, he could make out the shapes and features of her store—everything he knew by heart appeared to be where it should. As he fumbled along the side of the wall, trying to locate her light switch with his free hand, the sound of running water caught his attention and for a brief second he glanced over his shoulder only to be assaulted by a cloud of white smoke. Argh, his eyes were stinging. He became too disoriented to flip the light switch on. What the fuck was that? It wasn’t smoke, it was a cool substance although it continued to irritate his eyes, making them watery as hell.
Fire extinguisher. It had to be what it was. Where did Gabriella keep hers? His thoughts couldn’t be formulated enough to come up with an answer as he breathed in the cool powder and tried to blindly fight his way out of it. With his eyes closed, still stinging like hell, the powdery residue was attaching onto his skin. His heart
