Home > Her Filthy Rich Boss(5)

Her Filthy Rich Boss(5)
Author: Summer Brooks

“Really?” He replied with a hint of smugness in his voice. “Because from those pictures, it looked like you were having a damn good time.”

“Posing for them,” I shrugged. “I have to make it look real, you know? It’s great for business.”

“Uh-huh,” he replied. “Sure.”

Despite the fact that I could hear the disbelief in his voice, I decided to barrel forward with my request.

“So, listen, I called you because I’ve got a bit of a favor to ask,” I started, attempting to be delicate.

“If you want Bella to redecorate your house, I guarantee you she’s going to say no,” Logan chuckled.

“Uh, no, nothing like that,” I reassured him. “I told you, man, she did everything perfectly. I don’t want to change a thing.”

“Good. So, what’s up?”

“I ran into your friend Sarah this morning, down at the bagel shop near the park,” I told him. “And, you know, she looked pretty. So, I was wondering if you might be able to give me her phone number or introduce us somehow?”

I was met with dead silence.

“Look, dude, I’m not trying to say that you have, you know, bad intentions, or anything,” Logan started awkwardly.

I could hear the hesitation in his voice and knew what he was thinking.

“But you think I’m a player, huh?” I offered, attempting to both make the conversation less awkward and show him I already knew what he was thinking.

“Yeah,” Logan sighed.

“That’s not me anymore, though,” I told him earnestly. “I haven’t been that guy in a long time.”

Logan let out a sudden, abrupt laugh, which quickly devolved into a full bout of belly laughter.

“Okay,” he gasped out in between hollers.

“No, I’m serious,” I said quickly. “I’m not. I haven’t been that guy in a really long time.”

“Dude, no offense, but I just saw you on T.V. this morning,” Logan said kindly. “I saw what Nicki was saying, about how you got her pregnant and just up and left. You know I’m never going to judge you in the slightest, but I got to admit that that’s not the kind of guy that I think should be around Sarah. She doesn’t need that sort of drama in her life. She’s got way too much going on for that.”

I hardly heard anything he said past “Nicki.”

“Shit,” I gasped, settling back in my chair and rubbing a hand down my face, trying to wipe away all of the memories of that woman.

Nicki, my stupid ex-girlfriend who I hadn’t even slept with in about two years. It was awfully convenient for her to suddenly claim she was pregnant in front of all of the press, making it seem like I was the bad guy, the one who had a problem.

When, in reality, it was her all along.

“I know it sucks to have your business out there like that, but it was pretty bad,” Logan sighed. “I know there are two sides to every story and all, but I just think even that is a lot to try and put on Sarah. And honestly, she might not follow the news, but I know she wouldn’t want that in her life if she knew about it.”

“It’s not true,” I sighed, trying to come off as casually defensive as possible.

The entire situation was a mess. The truth was that Nicki had loved using our relationship to constantly catapult herself into the spotlight. The moment it had stopped working- when I’d finally admitted I was done pretending and that I deserved something more than a facade- she’d spun it around for the press in order to make me seem like a monster and pressure me into making child support payments to her.

I knew how she expected it all to play out. She’d fake a pregnancy for nine months and secure a baby somehow. Then the three of us would be some sort of happy trio as she and I co-parented, and I paid her all sorts of impossibly large sums.

And then the American public would never get enough of her.

“You’re saying she’s lying?” Logan asked in shock. “What kind of a woman would lie about something like that?”

“A truly awful one,” I replied. “I’ve been talking to my publicist, trying to figure out how to handle this in a way that doesn’t make me come off as a big asshole. You know, I can’t exactly call a press conference and accuse her of lying. Especially if she did manage to somehow get herself pregnant. The public’s opinion of me would tumble, and with it, my entire career.”

“That’s a damn rock and a hard place,” Logan sighed. “Well, I’m glad to know it’s not true, at least.”

“It’s not,” I insisted, perking up a little bit at what I hoped was a change of opinion on the whole Sarah situation. “So, now that you know that, what do you think about my earlier request?”

Logan paused for a moment, thinking about it. Normally, I’d want to jump in, to keep talking and explaining why it was a brilliant idea, but today, I held my tongue. Logan was already hesitant, and I didn’t want to do anything that might drive him away completely.

I had no idea why, but I wanted to do things differently with Sarah. I wanted to take this seriously from the very start, to really get to know her in a way I had never known any woman before.

I wasn’t sure if it was my rather newly changed personality or something about Sarah and her essence that made me feel that way. Whatever it was, I liked it.

“Alright, I’ll ask her,” Logan finally said, after a pause so long and pregnant that I was almost certain I was going to burst apart with anticipation.

“Seriously?” I gasped. “Thanks, dude. This is great. Really great.”

“You owe me,” Logan chuckled. “Just remember that when I get ready to cash in.”

“Absolutely,” I replied, too excited to even bother coming up with one of my usual, far more snarky replies.

“Hey, man, before we hang up, there’s something you should know,” Logan said. The heaviness in his tone made my stomach turn over, and for a moment, I imagined the worst things possible. Maybe Sarah was secretly a serial killer or a jewel thief.

Or a con artist, just like my faux ex.

“Yeah?” I asked hesitantly.

“She’s going to Thailand in a week.”

“Oh. Geeez. Okay. I mean, everyone deserves a vacation,” I replied, completely unsure what this had to do with the conversation. I’d never been to Thailand myself, being more of a Monte Carlo type of guy, but I wouldn’t judge her.

“No, Rhett, you don’t understand,” Logan pressed. “She’s leaving for good. Or, I should say, for an ‘undetermined amount of time.’ I think she feels like she needs to find herself out there, or something.”

I really wished he’d said she was a serial killer. At least then I could decide whether or not I wanted to take a chance on dying with that one.

“Oh.” It was all I could say. I couldn’t even figure out why I was so upset at this over a woman I didn’t even know.

I guess the problem was that I didn’t know her yet. And I desperately wanted to.

“I just thought I should tell you before you went any further, you know?” Logan replied. I could practically hear him grimacing into the phone. “Do you still want me to talk to her?”

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