“Tess!” a male voice rang out. “Tess Harrison, I’ll be damned.”
Logan saw how when she looked up, her features froze in shock for a few seconds. Total deer in the headlights, before she covered with cool disdain. Tess was friendly, always open and sociable; for her to react like that had Logan’s intuition blaring. Immediately on alert, he didn’t let go of her hand as a tall, dark-haired man in neon-green and black ski gear approached them, a curvy, Botoxed blonde woman in hot pink at his side.
Tess mumbled, “Great.”
“Right here if you need me,” Logan quickly murmured, squeezing her fingers between his as the couple stopped before them.
“I can’t believe this,” the man said jovially, not bothering to hide the way he looked Tess up and down. “I mean, it’s not every day you run into your ex-fiancée. You look great, Tess.”
Ex-fiancée? Logan didn’t know anything about the guy, but the look on Tess’s face before she’d shuttered it was all he needed to know.
“Hello, Brady,” she said coolly. “You look . . . older.”
His grin hinted at a sneer. “Well, it’s been a few years, hasn’t it. Six or seven, right? Who keeps count.” He smiled down at the blonde, then back up to Tess as he said proudly, “This is my wife, Chynna.”
“Hello,” Chynna said, looking both bored and haughty.
“We have twin boys,” Brady went on. “Precious little things, but real handfuls, two years old. They’re upstairs with the nanny. We wanted some time to ourselves today, since we head back home tomorrow.”
“We’ve been here since the twenty-third,” Chynna said. “I’m so over all of this now. So ready to go home.”
Tess merely inclined her head, a hint of a nod.
Logan wanted to grind both of their faces into the carpet. The arrogant vibe off these people made him want to vomit.
“Brady Hillman,” he said, holding a hand out to Logan. “And you are . . . ?”
“Logan Carter.” He glanced at the man’s hand but didn’t shake it, leaving him hanging there awkwardly. Instead, he slid an arm around Tess’s waist to pull her close. “That’s funny, sweetheart,” he said as he looked down at her. “All this time together, and you never mentioned you were engaged before.”
Tess didn’t miss a beat. “Not worth mentioning, honey,” she said sweetly as she smiled back at him. “Besides, like he said, it was a long time ago.”
Chynna huffed, offended for her husband.
“How’s New York these days?” Brady asked as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Glad I left. So dirty, crowded, and noisy. Philadelphia’s a much more civilized city.”
“Huh, that’s why you left?” Tess’s voice was placid as could be. “I thought it was because the firm you worked for forced you out and turned your name to mud amongst all the top firms in Manhattan. At least, that’s what I heard through the grapevine.”
Brady’s eyes turned cold and hard. The malice there made Logan unconsciously pull Tess closer. “And you’re going to look me in the eye and tell me you had nothing to do with that?” Brady challenged, his voice dropping low.
Tess didn’t even flinch. “Nothing at all. I had better things to do with my time and energy after I dumped you.”
“How about your father, then?” Brady growled. His refined mask had fallen off, hinting at the rabid animal he truly was. “Maybe he had something to do with it. That was always my bet; if it wasn’t you, it was him.”
The corners of Tess’s mouth turned up a bit. “That’s . . . fascinating to contemplate.” Her smile was sharp, and Logan admired the hell of out of it as she added, “My father is definitely not someone you want as an enemy. Anything’s possible, I suppose. But if you’re still harboring a grudge after all this time, my only suggestion for you would be therapy.”
“Oh my God, you’re rude,” Chynna snapped.
Tess’s perfect brows arched as she lifted her chin just enough to look at the other woman from down her nose. Drawn to her full height, she was easily six or seven inches taller than the blonde. Her bearing was powerful, regal, reminding Logan yet again of royalty. Tess didn’t say a word; her withering stare was a challenge in itself. Chynna opened her mouth to say something, then shifted uncomfortably and looked away.