Chapter 50

CHAPTER 50

MIRA

T he morning after my date with Logan, I was on an absolute high. I'd woken up with a smile on my face and I'd fallen asleep with it too. My heart was so full, it felt like it would pop if I got any happier.

In the best way possible.

Feeling dreamy as hell, I showered and got dressed, replaying our day yesterday and the events of last night over and over again in my head. I couldn't stop thinking about it all. About Logan and how far we'd come. About how he'd taken me completely by surprise when he'd asked me to be exclusive, but also about how I'd never been happier than I had been in that moment.

I felt like I could be all of me with him, and knowing that he wanted that, the good, the bad, and the ugly, was incredible. Knowing that he wanted it enough to break his no-dating rule was even better. Well, maybe it'd never been a rule, but still.

Logan Jones was hanging up his playboy boots and he was doing it for me. Something I never thought would happen, and yet, he'd proven to me last night that he was ready. Sure, time would tell if it would last, but the same could be said for all relationships.

We were just beginning our journey together, and already, it felt like more than I would ever have thought possible. All our other intimate moments had been about sex—which had been delightful—but last night had felt different.

The fancy restaurant part of our date had been great. I'd really enjoyed the way he'd made me feel and the food had been out of this world, but it was how the night had ended that stuck with me now. Standing on the sidewalk at nearly midnight, with no bells and whistles, just the two of us staring into each other's eyes and kissing? That had been the very best part.

That was the part that had convinced me that he was as ready for this as he'd seemed to be in the restaurant when he'd brought it up. The way he'd looked at me on that sidewalk like I was the only thing he could see and the way he'd held me like I was precious had felt like love.

We were a long way off from saying those words, but I couldn't deny that it had felt like that. So natural. So right. So real.

As I pulled my hair into a ponytail and grabbed my purse, I was still on cloud nine. Despite the recent disaster with my attempt to go out on my own, I felt like I was finally completely on the right track.

The backlash surrounding the article would eventually die down. It had to. These things always did, and sure, I'd have to work hard to claw back my reputation, but I'd do that the same way I'd earned it in the first place.

Hard work. Grit. Determination.

I would ignore the gossip and the rumors, keep my head down, and just do what I did. Nothing that had happened since the article had been published could take away the fact that Slate thought I was ready. When the time came to try to win my own projects again, I still would be. I just had to get through the period between now and then. Which was fine.

I hadn't been planning on going out on my own soon anyway. Slate had given me the gift of his blessing and his confidence, and I still had that—at least insofar as work was concerned. Thankfully, I was resilient.

Being knocked down once was never going to keep me on the ground, and that was all it had been. A knock. I would get back up and now that I had Logan in my corner, I felt like I already was doing just that.

If for no other reason than the fact that I'd now realized a setback wasn't the end. I wasn't done in the oil industry. I just had to keep my chin up and my eyes on the prize.

With the renewed energy and vigor from that realization, as well as the memories of my night with Logan swirling through my head, I couldn't stop smiling all morning. I smiled as I left my place and headed down to my car. I smiled as I grabbed my coffee and a bagel from a drive-thru. I smiled as I hit the gym and I smiled my way through the vigorous workout.

I even smiled as I left the gym and went to see my brother, intent on not letting him stomp all over how happy I was. Come hell or high water, I was going to make him see that he was overreacting. I knew that he'd known Logan for a lot longer than I had. I even accepted that he used to know him a lot better, but I refused to believe that he knew the person Logan was becoming better than I did.

I wasn't na?ve enough to think Logan was changing for me, but I'd seen with my own two eyes how much he'd grown these last few months. When he'd come to the rig that first time, the guy who'd arrived hadn't been the man who had left it with me after our last visit.

I knew it and it was time Slate realized it too. As I showed up at his front door, I just hoped he'd calmed down enough after his confrontation with Logan to be reasonable about it now.

After I knocked, I took a step back and waited for him to answer, wondering if I should've been nervous about how angry he was going to be with me because of that article. I found it strange that he'd lashed out at Logan so badly without even mentioning it to me at all, but ultimately, I was so happy that not even the nerves could affect my good mood.

Slate grinned when he saw me on his front steps. "Sis! This is a surprise. Come on in."

"Thanks." I gave him a quick hug, then handed over the coffee I'd stopped for on my way here. "How are you? I was starting to wonder if you were even still in town. Why have you been so quiet?"

He shrugged, accepting the coffee gratefully as he stepped out of my grasp and shut the door behind us. "I've just been busy, is all. How are you? I figured you might need some time to process after that article came out."

I walked further into his house, noticing that it was as clean as ever with no obvious signs of distress. Evidently, he'd gotten over his fit of anger at Logan enough not to smash stuff once he'd gotten home. He also must not have been holed up in here for the last couple days, miserable and moping because the entire industry thought his business partner and sister was a slut.

At least that's good news.

As I turned to face him again, I gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm okay. I'll admit that I did freak out a little bit at first. I, uh, I went through the motions, drank too much wine, and bitched about the unjustness of it all to Anya, but I'm okay now."

Slate's eyes searched my own before they swept across my face. Satisfied that I wasn't about to fall apart, the rigid set of his shoulders relaxed and he smiled. "I'm glad to hear it. I was worried about you."

I walked to his living room and sat down in my usual spot near the open sliding doors, taking a sip of my coffee as I waited for Slate to settle in too. Once he had, I looked him directly in the eyes. "So, should we address the elephant in the room?"

He cocked his head at me. "What elephant?"

"Well, it's shaped like Logan, looks like him, and has the same name, so I'll just call a spade a spade. We should talk about Logan."

"No." My brother's gaze shuttered immediately. His eyes narrowed and his spine straightened. "I don't want to talk about this with you."

I shook my head and stood my ground. "Sorry, bro, but you're going to have to. Getting prickly with me isn't going to solve anything, and I know that you know that it was true. He and I kissed on the rig that day."

Slate shut down. His expression hardened and those slitted eyes didn't ease up in the slightest. His teeth ground, but he didn't say a word. I sighed and leaned forward, taking a sip of my coffee as I reminded myself that I wasn't going to let him snuff out my happiness.

"We need to talk about it, Slate. It happened and we're both adults. If there's an issue, we discuss it. That's the way it's always been with us."

"Yeah, that is the way it used to be, but not anymore." He snorted. "Not since you decided to be ruled by hormones like you're still a fucking teenager. Besides, I spoke to Logan about it. Told him exactly what I thought about the two of you. If he came crying to you, then I'm sure he also told you how I feel. There's no need to hash it out again."

"He didn't come crying to me about it," I said calmly. "I realize that you don't necessarily see him that way now, but Logan has been there for me. If you must know, I went crying to him , and as he has been doing since I met him, he supported me. Took care of me. He?—"

"Fucking someone isn't taking care of them, Mira," Slate snapped. "I'd also rather not hear about what else he did to you."

I drew in a deep breath in an attempt not to get sucked into an argument. "It's not like that between Logan and me, big brother. I went crying to him, and when I said he took care of me, I didn't mean he did it by giving me orgasms."

Slate flinched when I said the word, and an exasperated huff of air came out of me. My eyes rolled and I really had to fight not to go off on him for that. "I'm a fully grown woman, Slate. I have sex. I even enjoy it. I'm not about to apologize for that, and I don't expect you to either. Don't pretend to be some innocent virgin who's scandalized by the very word."

"I'm not scandalized by the fucking word, Mira. I just don't want to talk about you having sex with a guy you can't trust." He leaped up from the sofa, shoving both hands into his hair as he started pacing. "There's a lot of things you don't know about him, and if you want to fuck him, then I can't stop you, obviously, but then leave me the hell out of it."

I followed his agitated movements with my eyes, staying put but wishing that we could just talk rationally about this. Speaking of which. "Okay, if that's what you think, then tell me what I don't know about him."

It had just occurred to me that I could still be rational, even if he couldn't. Perhaps if I let him get it all out without interrupting or arguing with what he thought he knew, things would start going a bit better. Slate glanced at me, breathing hard but nodding when he realized I was waiting and not bracing myself for a fight.

"I know you think you know him, Mira. He's great at letting women think that, but has he told you how he got so good at it? Do you know how many women he's led on? So many girls have been where I'm sure you are now, thinking that they're going to be the one he's going to settle down with."

My pulse spiked because he was right. I hadn't known that about Logan, but I doubted that was what was happening between the two of us. Since I'd resolved not to argue though, I didn't, nodding as if in agreement instead.

Relief flared to life in my brother's eyes and he kept going, speaking faster now. "Has he told you that he's never been in love? That he's not even sure he believes it exists and that, even if it does, he doesn't want it?"

"No," I replied softly when I realized that had been an honest question. "He hasn't told me that."

"Exactly." Slate finally stopped pacing, but his hands were still in his hair and he was holding it so tight that his skin had gone white. "I loved that guy for a long time as a friend, but he's got issues I'm sure you haven't even scratched the surface of."

"For example?"

Slate scoffed. "For example, he has an impulsive, obsessive personality that fixates on something until he's bored of it, and once he is, he moves on. He's incapable of sticking around any longer than that, Mira. I've seen it time and time again, and what I've seen before is exactly what I'm seeing with you now. That's all this is."

"What do you mean?" I asked carefully. "You think he's obsessed with me? "

Slate spun to look at me directly before he dropped his chin in a curt nod. "You're his current, shiny new toy. Everyone loves those, don't they? New toys are the best until they're not new anymore. When Logan does find a new one, he'll forget all about you. Guaranteed. And I'm the one who will be left to pick up the pieces."

My stomach churned and a spot at the very center of my chest ached. I'd suspected my brother was going to get nasty, but he'd really let it rip.

As much as I knew there were two sides to every story and as much as I didn't believe that was who Logan was anymore, I also knew now that there was no chance I was going to make my brother realize that. Logan had been right after all.

Slate might come around eventually, but it wouldn't be now.

As if he'd heard the thought, my brother blew out a heavy breath and shook his head at me. "If you came here for my blessing, you're not going to get it, so we can either change the fucking topic or you can leave now. It's up to you, Mira. Just choose carefully, okay? Remember how long I've known him and how much I've seen, and then decide whether you really want to risk it all over a guy who wouldn't risk a single fucking thing for you."