Ulterior Designs (House of Evans Book 1) (28 page)

Logan smiled. “I remember being his age and wanting to see and do everything.”

“And everyone?” Toni rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, that too,” he said with a laugh. “Sorry to be the one to tell you, but I don’t think he’ll grow out of it anytime soon.”

“Oh, I know. He has an older brother,” she sighed.

“What was Chloe like as a kid?” The words had slipped out of his mouth before he had even processed the question in his head.

“A lot like she is now. Head strong. Creative. Considerate.”

Logan nodded in agreement. Yes, Chloe was all those things, and so much more. And he’d only known her a short time. He could only imagine how many more qualities would be revealed over a span of years.

“Is it true she had a few extra pounds on her?”

Toni’s eyes darted toward him. It was then that he really saw the genetic similarities between the two women. Same mouth. Same nose. Chloe was taller than Toni by several inches, but they shared the same hair color. Hell, they even shared the same look of surprise.

“She told you about that?” Toni finally asked after her initial shock.

“Sure,” he nodded. “She told me she was a late bloomer.”

“I really wish she wouldn’t say things like that. She may not have been skinny, but she’s always been beautiful,” she said with an air of disapproval. “And I know she thinks I bought that elliptical for her, but it was for
me,
” she added. “Look,” she sighed as she began digging through her purse and wallet.

When she found what she was looking for, she thrust a photo toward him. Not sure what to expect, Logan took a deep breath and held the image up. Toni was right. Again. Chloe was beautiful, even then.

A smile had just begun to form on his lips when Chloe approached and snatched the photo out of his hand while glaring angrily at her mom.

“Really, Mom?”

“He asked,” Toni interjected.

“I didn’t ask to see a picture!” Logan defended himself.

“You asked about her weight!”

“Yeah, but, I didn’t …”

Chloe’s fisted hands fell to her sides. “Enough. I’m glad you’re both entertained by how awful I looked.”

“Ay, Mami, no. We weren’t laughing at you,” Toni whispered with a tone of regret before Chloe marched in the opposite direction.

The hurt in Chloe’s eyes and voice tore at Logan, and he was quick on her heels, spinning her around to face him.

“I don’t know what you see when you look in the mirror, but you’re just as beautiful now as you were then.”

*

Logan had said all the right things. Okay, not
all
the right things, but his statement about Chloe always being beautiful had put a spear right through her heart. He’d dropped her and her family back at apartment with only a few parting words:
I can’t wait to be alone with you.

She couldn’t wait either. She was itching to try out the chair that she had ‘surprised’ him with.

Dinner with her parents was spent in her apartment, eating a home-cooked meal that she helped her mom make. It really was like old times. Even Tyson seemed to be in a better mood. Of course, it probably had something to do with Logan pointing him in the right direction to find the
hotties,
and a promise from
Chloe to take him to a few of those places the following day.

With her dad putting the final touches on the first chandelier and getting everything laid out for the second one, Chloe sat with her mother making plans for their Sunday together. After Logan had left her, she had come up with a plan to take them by ferry to Napa to see the wine country. If things worked out, she might even take them to the House of Evans.

“You’ll love Napa, Ma. You won’t believe how beautiful it is there,” Chloe commented as she put the last of the clean dishes away. “Logan’s place is
gorgeous.
It’s on an acreage with a vineyard. It’s close enough to town to walk to and there are all these amazing little mom and pop stores downtown. There’s a bakery that has the most delicious bear claws. Dad will love them. Logan did. We had bear claws and wine, and …”

The sound of her excited voice in her ears was foreign to her. It must have been strange to her mother as well as she stared at her in what looked to be confusion.

“Sorry. I’m rambling. How’s work been? Is it busy at the hospital this time of year?”

“It’s slowing down. But, I’m up for a promotion—clinical coordinator. The hours would be great. The extra money would really help out, too.”

“You’ve been there forever. I’m sure it’s in the bag,” Chloe said as she refilled her mom’s mason jar filled with ice and lemonade. “Logan says I should start looking for my next project. I was still working at the coffee shop, but he set me straight. Now that I have a reference and some real-life experience, I need to apply at other places. He was right, though I’ll never tell
him
that.”

“Ay, mi hija. You really like him, don’t you?”

Chloe’s cheeks flushed. “I really
really
like him.”

Her mother’s brows pinched together and Chloe braced herself for a lecture and her rebuttal.

“Chloe, people with the kinds of issues you say he has are hard nuts to crack. Sometimes even the sweetest, kindest people can’t bring them around, but it’s not because it has anything to do with them. Sometimes it just takes time. Sometimes it takes something drastic to open their eyes,” she sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know Logan or how serious it’s gotten between the two of you, and I don’t need to know. I just hate to think of you getting hurt the way …” Her eyes drifted and her statement hung in the air.

“What, Ma?”

“Like your dad.”

Chloe seated herself at the table with her mother and stared at her with bewilderment before her mom finally continued.

“I was the one with the
issues,
not your dad. I made him work so hard to get me. I broke it off with him more than once. The thought of being with only one man for the rest of my life was so scary to me. The thought of being abandoned or cheated on … I think it came from seeing your grandfather be unfaithful. He was a man who liked women, and your grandmother and all of us kids were the ones who suffered for his numerous affairs.”

It took an act of sheer willpower to keep her jaw from dropping. “Why didn’t you or Grandma ever tell me this?”

“A child doesn’t understand about unfaithfulness. And you’d never really dated. Your father and I have had the talk with your brothers about being respectful and faithful; I don’t know why I didn’t tell you sooner. Your grandma stuck it out with your grandpa, God bless her. I’d have left him, but she was raised in a different time and with different values.” She scooted her chair closer to Chloe and reached for her hands. “You can’t make a person love you. You can’t make a person be faithful or want the same things as you, no matter how much of yourself you give to them. I dated men who thought they could fix my issues, and I broke their hearts. It’s not something I’m proud of.”

“What made Dad different?”

“I don’t even know, Chloe. I’ve tried to figure it out and all I can tell you is that he truly was
different
from the rest. If there was a magic formula to make someone want you, I would tell you.”

Chloe slumped in her chair. She wanted Logan and there was more no denying that she wanted more with him. She also wanted her mom to be wrong, but deep down, she knew she was right. Either Logan would come around, or he wouldn’t. She prayed for the latter.

L
ogan woke to the sound of his phone vibrating on the kitchen table. A glance at the screen flashed the image of Chloe that had been sent to him earlier. It was his favorite photo so far. Two glasses of wine had done him in and he’d accidentally fallen asleep while working on the School of Arts project.

In that short nap, he’d dreamt of Chloe. In his dream, she was floating above the Golden Gate Bridge in a cloud of fog. Weightless and nude, she hovered above him, her long hair framing her face and beautiful eyes. She was smiling, happy, but out of reach. She had stretched her hands out to him, begged him to latch on, promised that she wouldn’t let go of him, assured him that he wouldn’t fall. He tried. God, he’d tried, but she kept soaring higher and higher until she was just a dot in the sky turning into a ray of light.

He rubbed his eyes and tried to ignore the symbolism behind his dream. It was there if he looked deep enough, but he had too much to do.

Reaching for his phone, he read the text.

Chloe:
Chandelier #1 is complete. #2 is 42% done.

Logan belted out a laugh.

Logan:
You’re up late. And how exactly does one get something 42% done?

Chloe:
My methods are precise!

Logan:
I do appreciate precision. Perhaps you can practice those meticulous crafting skills on my cock.

Chloe:
I plan on it, SIR.

The throb of Logan’s heartbeat between his legs was felt almost immediately. Christ, that woman could really get him going. And she knew it. Not all of the time, but already she was getting better at figuring out how to push his buttons and please him. The memory of the look on her face when he’d left her on her stoop after telling her that he couldn’t wait to be alone with her flashed in his mind. He knew by the look on her face and the shift in her breathing that she couldn’t wait either.

Chloe:
Taking the fam to Napa by ferry tomorrow for more sightseeing. Would it be okay if we stop by for a little visit and a tour of the House of Evans?

This thing with Chloe Stephens was getting
out of hand
—he couldn’t even sleep without seeing her face. Out of control—he couldn’t resist the urge to drop by her place while her family was visiting regardless of the consequences and assumptions.
Out of sorts
—he couldn’t work without imagining all the ways she would submit to him.
Out of luck
—there seemed to be no trace of his willpower left when it came to her.

His logic was apparently
out to lunch
too, because it looked as if there was no hope for fighting this thing that was happening.

He grumbled under his breath at the turn of events and shook off his arousal. He was
out of time,
because Chloe was starting to push. It may have been just
a little visit
in her eyes, but what it ultimately meant and alluded to was much more than that.

Before he could change his mind, he sent his response.

Logan:
That’s not a good idea.

He stared at the phone for nearly a minute waiting for Chloe’s response, but got nothing. It was just as well because he had more important things to do than sit around and brood over twenty-two-year-old woman, no matter how damned fantastic she was.

*

Chloe had been shot down by Logan, yet again. She couldn’t figure him out. He had left her with the sweetest parting words only to freeze up hours later. Was the thought of spending time with her family that scary to him? Was the idea of being committed, even in a non-committal sort of way, that horrifying?

It made no difference, because she had already promised her family a trip to Napa, and she wasn’t about to disappoint them. There had been little sleep the night before as she lay in bed thinking about everything her mother had said, but there was no time for sulking.

Rising earlier than normal, she worked diligently on the second chandelier for hours using the first chandelier as a blueprint. By the time her family showed up in the early afternoon, it was sixty-five percent complete. With any luck, after their trip to Napa, she would finish it up under her father’s watchful eye.

“Logan is going to
love
these, Dad. I can’t thank you enough for helping me. There’s no way I could’ve done this without you,” she said as she pulled him into a tight hug while Tyson and her mom looked over her handiwork.

“Sweetheart,” he said with a light laugh, “You’re the one who designed these. You would’ve been just fine on your own.” She began to shake her head in protest but he silenced her by gripping her shoulders. “But I’m glad to be here, spending time with you like we used to. I really miss this. Getting Ty to help me with this sort of stuff is like trying to convert the damned,” he said as a he shot her brother a disgruntled look. “Ryan is a little better, but he has his own life now, too.”

Her dad wore his despair like any strong man did, hidden beneath a mask of indifference. But Chloe could hear the disappointment in his voice. It was upsetting. If only she lived closer, but that just wasn’t a reality that was going to happen. Perhaps, as they got older, she could convince them to move to a warmer locale, perhaps …

“When I retire, maybe your mom and I could come here. It seems nice. I love this weather.”

Chloe’s arms tightened around her dad. “You haven’t even seen the best part. You’re going to fall in love with Napa. I wish you could see Logan’s place; it’s so incredible. If I work hard enough,
maybe
I can afford a place like that someday. You and Mom can live on an acreage with me like Logan wants his mom to do.”

Her dad’s penetrative gaze bore into her as his brows slanted inward. “Sweetheart, be careful with him.”

Chloe backed out of his embrace to stare up at him. “Why would you say that?”

“Ty, let’s go back inside,” she heard her mother say from behind her.

Her dad sighed and gave a disapproving shake of his head as the room emptied. “I know men like that. I’ve worked around them my whole life. They have one thing on their minds, and they take what they want without thinking about how their actions will affect people. But you’re not just
people—
you’re my daughter.”

Chloe’s lips parted, but her father cut her off.

“I’m not here to argue with you. You’re a grown woman, you are your mother’s child and you’re going to do what you want. I hope I’m wrong about him. I mean, hell, it’s been known to happen on rare occasions,” he said with a wink.

Chloe wanted to defend her choice, but she couldn’t. There was no logic in what she was feeling, especially for a man who kept shutting her down at every turn.

****

The gods had smiled down on Chloe’s family that day. The clouds from the previous day were gone and the sun was shining brightly. The ferry ride to Napa was so spectacular, not even naysayer Ty could find anything to complain about. As they neared Napa, the scent of the vineyards hit them like wave crashing against a beautiful white sands shore.

Her mom and dad looked serene as they sat huddled on a bench overlooking the water, and Chloe’s heart ached for that kind of bond. The closest she had gotten to that sort of connection with any man was Logan. She recalled how he had taken her hand into his as they walked through his vineyard and how it had made her feel. And how she’d felt each time he had shared someplace special with her.

Damn that man.
Why couldn’t he just give into this thing? She knew he was feeling it, too, and that wasn’t just her being delusional.

Whatever.
Either he would come around, or he wouldn’t
, she thought, repeating her mother’s words to herself. She pushed her chin out, squared her shoulders and faced the wind until her eyes watered. She was going to have an amazing day with her family, and no amount of Logan’s indecision was going to ruin it for her.

****

An hour-and-a-half into their Napa excursion, Chloe led the way to the bakery where she’d bought the bear claws. Just as they seated themselves to feast on the pastries of legend, the door chime caught her attention. When she looked up, Logan’s solid body and blue eyes made her smile.

He had come for her.
But the smile quickly disappeared when she realized he was just as surprised to see her as she was to see him.
He hadn’t come for her.
Chloe quickly averted her eyes and drew her family’s attention to something in the opposite direction, giving Logan an out.

To her dismay, Tyson jumped up. “Logan, my man!”

Her mother and father immediately turned in their chairs to greet Logan as well. They were pleased to see him, but the look on Logan’s face made Chloe ill. He looked repulsed. Pissed, Chloe stood, grabbed the bag of baked goods and headed toward the door.

“Mr. Evans,” she brusquely addressed him before turning her attention back to her family. “Are you all ready to go? There’s a wine train that runs on Sundays. It only goes another few hours,” she said as she reached for the door.

“Chloe Trinity Stephens, don’t be rude. Logan just got here. Maybe he’d like to join us,” he mother scolded.

“If we want to catch that train, we need to go
now.
”

“Screw that train. I want see Logan’s place,” Tyson blared.

Chloe closed her eyes and shook her head. “That’s not a good idea,” she repeated Logan’s texted response as she shot him a look. “He’s busy,” she redirected her comment to her brother as she pulled the door open.

“It’s fine, Chloe. It’s not a big deal.”

Logan’s voice prickled at her nerves.
Like hell it wasn’t a big deal.

Facing him, she offered up her best fake smile. “Thanks, but I don’t want to impose.”

His eyes narrowed down to slits and darted from her eyes to her mouth and back. “It’s no imposition at all.”

“Awesome. Let’s do this,” Tyson stated.

“Ay, Ty, if Chloe said no, then it’s no. Thank you anyway, Logan,” her mother immediately backed her up.

“This is ridiculous,” her dad interrupted. “We’re here. Logan has said it’s fine. I want to see the work my daughter has done. We’re going to Logan’s. End of discussion.”

Chloe sat in the back seat of Logan’s cramped car in the middle of her mother and Tyson, seething. Logan seemed awfully chatty during the ten minute drive considering he clearly felt forced into this situation.

“
Mi hija
, be nice. He’s trying.”

Chloe glared at her mother and huffed under her breath.

“This is a sweet ride,” Tyson said as they parked in front of Logan’s house.

“Chloe!” Her mother suddenly squealed. “You didn’t tell me his house is a church!”

“It’s not a church anymore, Mom.”

Logan glanced in the rear-view mirror at Chloe. When he smiled, she quickly looked away.

Once inside, Logan began his
in-depth
tour, to include taking them out back to the vineyard, the way he had shown her. He even mentioned moving his mother into the bungalow, like he had done with her. Even the speech about his home’s history was the same. Nothing about what he’d told her was special at all. It was simply practiced.

When her parents were done ooh’ing and aah’ing about her work in the kitchen, Logan allowed them to roam about the lower level and yard freely. Standing near the French doors and looking out at her parents chatting about the vineyard, she felt Logan’s presence behind her.

She turned to face him. “Look, I get it, Logan.”

“What do you
get
?” The flat lack of emotion in his voice was in stark contrast to the flickering desire in his eyes.

“You don’t want me or my family here. I tried to give you an out. I’m sorry we intruded.”

“I only said it was a bad idea because …” he paused and pressed his lips together before continuing, “because of the furniture. I didn’t want to have to explain it to your brother.”

Chloe narrowed her eyes at him. “That’s not why you said that and you know it.”

Their tense silence was interrupted by Tyson’s voice in the living area.

“What is this chair with the horns? Is it a Southwestern thing?”

Logan’s eyes widened and Chloe bolted to the room to find Tyson straddling the chair. With one hand on a horn, the other thrown up in the air and his feet resting on the stirrups, he rocked the chair back and forth as if he was trying to break a wild bull, while whooping and hollering.

Horrified, Chloe began yelling obscenities at her brother. Her attempts to pull him off the chair only lead to him tumbling onto the floor, and her on top of him with the chair toppled over next to them.