His hand tightened at his nape as a jolt of pain shot through him. He dropped his arm, feeling himself stiffen. “Things change. Evolve. I thought we were moving forward in this relationship. Apparently I was wrong.”
She threw up her hands, her face flushed, her eyes stormy behind her glasses. “We haven’t had a relationship! We’ve had sex. An affair. That was what you said you wanted, and now out of the blue, you’re saying something different. And you just expect me to go along with it?”
He didn’t like hearing her describe it—their relationship—that way. “Look, I didn’t mean— It’s obvious I haven’t handled this very well. If you don’t want to go to the party, fine. We can talk.”
“I think we’ve talked enough,” she whispered, avoiding his eyes as she wrapped her arms around herself in a protective stance. “I think it’s time to let it go.”
“It?” he repeated coolly.
“Us.”
She was ending it. Right here in her living room, without any warning, and all because he’d invited her to a party. He could hardly believe it was happening, but he’d be damned if he would beg. “If that’s what you want.”
She nodded, still speaking so quietly he could hardly hear her. “I think it’s for the best. I hope you’ll stand by your promise that this won’t affect our working together. After all, of the two of us, I’m the one with the most to lose.”
In one breath, he went from hurt to furious. “Is that right?”
She nodded again.
“Fine. You needn’t worry that I’ll say anything to affect your business reputation. I’ll trust you not to take your clients away from the inn just because you’re done with me. Kinley and Bonnie don’t deserve that.”
“I wouldn’t—”
He was already moving toward the door. “You needn’t worry that it will be awkward between us at the inn. Kinley would just as soon I st
ay out of client meetings, anyway. Tell her what you need, and I’ll do my best to fill any reasonable requests to your clients’ satisfaction.”
“Logan—”
He didn’t wait to hear more. He let himself out, closing the door sharply behind him, and stalked toward his truck. He should have known better, he thought savagely. Apparently, he hadn’t learned the lessons his life had tried to teach him as well as he’d thought. He’d let himself care. Let himself hope. Let himself...
Love.
Damn it.
He really should have known better.
Chapter Eleven
For more than a week, Alexis vacillated between missing Logan so badly she ached with it and being utterly furious with him for ruining everything. Even after mentally replaying the scene a hundred times during the days since he’d stalked out of her house, she couldn’t remember all the details of their conversation, how it had so quickly spiraled out of control. She did, however, remember that he’d started to imply that he was beginning to consider marriage as a potential future for them.
She freely admitted to herself now that she had panicked. To the point that she’d barely been articulate when she’d told him it was over. She knew she’d angered him with her rejection. Maybe she’d even hurt him, though probably it was more his pride than his heart that had taken the blow. He would get over it.
She wasn’t entirely sure she would.
Had she really let herself go and fall in love with the man? Was she really that foolish, even though she’d spent most of her life believing that romantic lives didn’t—couldn’t—last?
Groaning, she planted her elbows on her desk and buried her face in her hands, unable to concentrate on the work surrounding her. Which was also his fault.
As she had many times before, she assured herself she’d done the right thing in ending it all before it got entirely out of hand. She’d hoped the end would be more amicable, less abrupt, but she’d always known it would come. Obviously, it had been time. If she hadn’t taken that step, she and Logan could have gotten carried away with it all. She could have gone to his party with him. They could have had a great time. He’d have introduced her as his date, eventually as his girlfriend. They could have continued having great sex, having fun doing other things together, and their marriage-inclined friends and family would have started seeing them as a couple. Logan and Alexis. Alexis and Logan. Maybe they’d have even convinced themselves that they could make it work, despite the odds they knew so well.
That was exactly the way it had all taken place with Harry. Until it had crashed and burned.
If it hurt this badly breaking up with Logan now, how much more devastating would it have been if they’d ended up like her parents and their other spouses, like her brother and his two wives? When dissatisfaction set in, when novelty became habit, when bliss turned to bitterness? She’d seen it happen over and over. She’d lived it herself with her ex, though they’d never actually taken vows, thank goodness.
Of course, what she’d felt for Harry didn’t come even close to the intensity of her feelings for Logan—and wasn’t that even more reason to end it? For a time, she’d thought herself in love with Harry—but now she knew it had been mere infatuation compared to her feelings for Logan. In her observation, the hotter the passion, the faster it burned out. She just really didn’t want to take the risk of having her heart in ashes around her feet.
“Hey, Alexis? You okay?”