Unsettled (27 page)

“S
omeone looks happy this morning—that’s a first. Should we thank your gentleman friend for the smile on your face?” Trisha grinned as she leaned against my cubicle wall.

I smiled shyly. “It’s a nice morning outside,” I answered. The sun was out, shining brightly, with the cherry blossoms in full bloom. Although my weekend had been filled with a fight between Damon and me and a spat with Logan, it was still a nice break from my drab work routine.

“If the beauty of D.C. overtook the depravity of this place,” she said, “then I think it’s time we do lunch, so you can fill me in on your weekend. How about Arriba! at noon? You in?”

“If I must,” I joked.

“All right, see you then. Meet me on the first floor at noon” she said, as if she and I were conspiring with one another.

As I was scrolling through e-mail, I received a meeting request from the human resources department.

That’s weird
. Being invited to a meeting with HR was a first. Although Trent loathed my existence, he’d never taken the steps to report me to management. On some level, Trent needed someone who could tolerate his stupidity. I wasn’t the best at it but I’d managed. I accepted the meeting invitation for the following Monday and moved on with my day.

Trisha called just as I was about to walk away from my desk.

“Where are you?’ she said impatiently into the phone. “Are you flaking?”

I didn’t typically accept lunch date invitations that usually turned into me spending fifteen dollars on a soup and sandwich combo that I could have purchased at Arty’s Deli for seven, but tortilla chips and salsa were a major downfall of mine.

“No,” I said sarcastically. “Hold your horses, I’m coming.”

“SO MISSY…HOW WAS
your weekend? Did you buy your tickets to the concert yet?” Trisha asked as we settled into our seats at Aribba! Too bad we couldn’t order any margaritas.

“It was good,” I said, dipping a chip into the blended veggies and taking a bite. “No, I didn’t get the tickets yet. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Alex about going.”

“Oh, okay. Yeah I haven’t asked Kevin either,” she said, breaking a chip in her hands. “So… any new developments with Colton?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, trying to play naïve.

“You know what I mean. I’m not an idiot. The chemistry between you guys the other week was hot. Are you guys claiming each other or what?” she asked. She was eager for me to spill the beans.

I smiled slightly and shook my head silently to affirm that Logan and I were in fact dating.

“Please don’t tell anyone,” I pleaded. “Nobody at work knows, and I seriously want to keep it that way.” Immediately Anna crossed my mind. I wanted to keep her away from Logan at all costs.

“I’m a vault—unless I get offered millions to divulge where you live, that is!” she joked.

“Not funny in the slightest. I don’t want or need my private life becoming an open book for everyone to comb through on the Internet.”

“I was kidding, Brooklyn. I wouldn’t do that. You can trust me.” I hoped Trisha was telling the truth.

“One other thing: I got an e-mail from HR this morning. Any ideas?” I asked.

Our waitress dropped off our entrees. My enchilada plate smelled amazing.

“HR, huh? I have no idea why they’d be hitting you up. I’ll let you know if I hear anything,” she said, cutting into her chile relleno.

“All right, cool. Anyway, what did you get into this weekend? Did you and Kevin go see
Majestic
?”

“Yeah, and it was a complete waste of time. I’d expected more from Drew Lexington,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, Rotten Tomatoes didn’t give it the greatest reviews.”

Trisha and I talked about other movies that had come out recently while we finished our lunch. All too quickly, I was back at my desk and dealing with Trent’s stupidity.

My phone chimed and I checked my e-mail. There was a message from Logan:

From: Logan Colton 

To: Brooklyn Caldwell

Subject: No Subject

Monday, May 15, 2012 at 1:41 PM

Hi,

Hate to tell you, but I’m actually leaving for Seattle in the morning. I’ll be back on Friday. I know it’s short notice. I don’t know if I’ll be able to see you before I leave. I told the doorman that you’ll be staying at my place, so you can just show up when you’re ready.

Logan

I didn’t bother to respond to Logan’s e-mail. I was instantly annoyed by the fact that he assumed I would stay at his place while he was gone, even though I’d told him I would only consider it. Nothing was a done deal yet. I didn’t know what Logan’s angle was, but I didn’t like that he thought he could order me around like a child.

WHEN I GOT HOME,
I dropped my purse by the door and made a mad dash for the kitchen. I pulled my pint of ice cream from the freezer.
Ah, sweet surrender.

“Rough day, huh?” Alex said as I approached her in the hallway with a spoon clenched in my mouth.

“Sort of,” I said, my words being garbled by the metal in my mouth.

“What did you say, Miss Mumbles?”

Rolling my eyes, I took the spoon out of my mouth.

“I said, sort of,” I repeated in an exasperated tone.

“Easy killer, what’s got you so riled up?” Alex asked.

“Sorry,” I sighed, pouting. “Let me get out of these clothes. I’ll be out in a sec. Here, keep this cold for me while I change,” I said, handing off my tub of sanity.

I yanked out a pair of sweat shorts and a tee from the bottom of my armoire. I pulled on my outfit and lazily rejoined Alex in the living room on the couch.

“So what’s got you plowing through Ben and Jerry’s tonight?” she asked, folding her legs onto her cushion and handing me back my ice cream.

“Who do you think?” I said flatly, digging my spoon down into the chocolate goo to retrieve a large chunk of white chocolate.

“Okay…I gotcha,” she replied, knowing I was referring to Logan.

I chewed my chocolate before proceeding into the reason I was irritated.

“Logan wants me to stay at his place while he is out of town. He even asked me to see if you want to stay there with me so I won’t be alone. He doesn’t want me staying here after what happened with Damon on Friday.”

“Oh,” she said, leaning into the corner of the couch. “Why is this a problem again?”

“I enjoy spending time with Logan, when we are two normal people playing cards or eating French toast; but then there are times like Saturday, where he flies us to another state to go to an aquarium for the day. I mean honestly, who does that? Certainly not people from middle-class suburbia.”

“Wait, what?” she asked. I quickly remembered that I hadn’t even had a chance to tell Alex about Saturday. I briefly filled her in on the highlights of my day trip to Atlanta.

“He did not do that, did he?”

“Did,” I replied, sinking my spoon into my ice cream again.

“Wow—must be nice!” Alex sang.

“It was,” I sighed. “Don’t get me wrong Alex, I really enjoyed myself this past weekend, but he has to know that I’m already out of my element, or at least he should. I can appreciate the fact that he wants to protect me and that’s why he wants me to stay at his place, but I don’t like being smothered.” I sighed loudly before shoveling another spoon of chocolate chunk into my mouth.

“When he dropped me off Sunday, I told him I would let him know if I was going to stay there. Today he e-mailed me saying he’s leaving tomorrow and he already told the doorman I was staying at his place. It’s like I’m a foregone conclusion.”

“Well, talk to him about how you feel,” Alex said, combing her hair back behind her ear.

“Well isn’t that a novel idea,” I commented sarcastically. I knew Alex was just trying to be helpful, but stating the obvious wasn’t the advice I needed.

“I’m serious, B. Does he even know you’re upset? I know how passive-aggressive you can be.”

“Doubtful,” I responded. “I didn’t e-mail him back.”

“Well, maybe if you lay out the reason this bothers you, both of you can come to a compromise. You know men are territorial. Honestly, I can’t blame Logan for not wanting you to stay while Damon’s still in town. Shoot, had I known what I know now, I would’ve never let you agree to him staying here in the beginning…asshole.” she mumbled under her breath.

“I think his heart is in the right place. It’s a good sign that he won’t stand for someone disrespecting you or hurting you. As for me, I’m down to stay at his pad some nights if you want me to. I could use a testosterone-free environment for a couple days. Plus, I wouldn’t mind playing rich for a couple days,” she said, smiling.

I laughed at her comment. “Uh yeah, because you live in squalor, right?” I chided.

“Oh be quiet! You know what I meant,” she said, swatting at me.

“All right, I’ll let you know what’s up when I figure it out. Enough about me; how was your weekend?”

“Hmm, let me think,” she said, cocking her head. “Damon ended up spending the night on the couch on Saturday after he and Jay came home slightly drunk. Jay said they just got out of hand one-upping each another on Patrón shots. I was stuck nursing them back to sanity. I let their stupidity slide though, since they were kind of having bon voyage drinks.”

“Huh?” I asked. My ears sparked at the words
bon voyage
.

“Damon leaves at the end of this week—at least that’s what Jay said.” I wanted to cartwheel through the living room at that news.

“Good riddance,” I mumbled, putting the lid back onto my ice cream. I was so glad I’d missed that fiasco.

“Well, I’m going to have dinner and then figure out what to tell Logan,” I said. I stood up from the couch, ice cream in hand.

“Got it backward there, don’t you think B? Dessert before dinner? Tisk tisk,” Alex joked.

“What are you going to do, tell my mom?” I called from the kitchen.

“Don’t tempt me,” she shouted back.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I replied. “I’m going to have a salad for dinner, do you want some?” I called back to her.

“No, I’m good. Thanks though. I got some work to do, so I’ll see you later.”

“All right,” I said, pulling the ingredients I needed out of the fridge.

I chopped up a quick Cobb salad and retreated back to my room. I turned on the TV and melted back into my pillows. I tuned into
CSI: Miami
as I chomped on my leaves like a rabbit. My salad was more palatable as I watched Delko on screen—he was freaking hot.

I finished off my salad right before the show was over. My temporary distraction had come to an end. I needed to talk to Logan and tell him how I felt.

I dialed Logan’s number and waited for him to pick up, but my call went to voicemail. Must be busy, I thought. Me spilling my guts would have to wait. I took my dish to the kitchen and washed it before hopping into the shower.

As the steam billowed through my confined bathroom, I wondered about Logan. It had been an hour since I’d left him that voicemail, and I hadn’t heard a peep from him. As much as I wanted to talk to him, clear the air, and let him know that I would take him up on his offer, I wasn’t about to blow up his phone, as if I had nothing better to do. Although being in the same shower where Logan made my heart quicken, muscles contract, and mind drift didn’t help one bit. It would be hard to substitute Logan with my bullet while he was gone, but I was a survivor.

After I got dressed, I pulled a few items that I would take to Logan’s place. It would be weird staying at his place without him, but at least the sheets would smell like him. That thought warmed my spirits.

By the time I realized I had severely overpacked, my desire to talk to Logan was stronger than my stubbornness. I grabbed my phone and shot Logan a quick message. It wasn’t the same as hearing his voice, but it would do the job.

From: Brooklyn Caldwell 

To: Logan Colton

Subject: So you’re leaving…

Monday, May 15, 2012 at 8:45 PM

Got your e-mail. Tried to call you but you didn’t pick up. Going to bed. Have a safe trip. Don’t bring the rain back this way when you return. BTW, I’ll be staying at your place. I was a little mad at you earlier since you seemed to want to just flex your muscle, but I’m over it.

I inserted a smiley face for good measure, before telling him I’d miss him and signing my name.

I was in a comma when my phone began to vibrate.

“Hello?” I grumbled. My voice was raspy.

“Hey babe, sorry I’m calling so late,” Logan whispered into the phone. “It’s been a rough one.”

I turned over in bed. It was nearly eleven forty-five. I closed my eyes again and cleared my throat slightly.

“Everything okay?” I breathed as I rolled onto my back.

“It’s better now that I get to hear your voice. I didn’t want to leave tomorrow without saying bye. Oh, and I got your e-mail,” he said.

“Oh, yeah. Is that still okay with you?”

“Of course. I’m just jealous that my sheets will get to feel you when I won’t,” he said. Even in my rested state, my body tuned into the air of sexiness in his voice.

“Hmm…that is unfortunate, for both of us, really,” I replied. “Guess I just have to get reacquainted with Jack Hammer.” I had inadvertently blurted out the nickname of my bullet. Crap. I wasn’t as awake as I thought. Ugh.

“Reacquainted with who?” Logan asked.

“Don’t make me say,” I moaned.

“Tell me,” he probed.

“My vibrator,” I groaned lowly. I blushed as the words floated in the air. I was sure most women owned one, but talking about your nicknamed vibrator with your boyfriend wasn’t exactly coffee talk.

“Jack Hammer, huh? Well, is Jacky there with you now?” he asked mischievously.

“No, he’s sleeping.”

“Good, I don’t want him to get jealous,” he said.

“Why would he get jealous?” I questioned.

“Because we’re going to play a little game—”

“Mmm, sounds interesting,” I murmured into the phone. “And what’s the name of this game, anyway?

“I believe it’s called Logan Says.”

“Hmm…well I don’t think I’ve heard of that game before…”