“If you ask me, it’s about damn time.”
Xavier Thomas was as straight forward as they came. Logan respected the older man for that. Having worked for Xavier for the last decade, Logan had gotten to know Xavier, as did most of his employees. The man treated his staff like family, and Logan and Alex had both been invited to more than one family dinner.
Sitting before him now, Logan realized that no matter how much he didn’t want to share the details of the situation with Xavier, he didn’t have the heart to lie to the man.
“We’ve been on a couple of dates.” Logan confirmed. “I don’t know that it’s serious yet or not, but I assure you it doesn’t affect either of our jobs.”
“No?” Xavier questioned. “Then why is it that my vice president of project operations ran out of the building today? Crying?”
Shit.
Logan wasn’t sure if Xavier had actually seen the incident or if he’d gotten wind of it from someone else. Either way, he needed to smooth the waters. Sam didn’t need this type of exposure within the company. Especially being so new to the Dallas office.
“It was a small misunderstanding, and I plan to resolve the situation as soon as I can.”
“Boy, why are you still here? If you want to rectify the situation, you wouldn’t be sitting in here with me.”
Logan knew the comment was rhetorical. This conversation had ventured into the personal side of things. When it came to business, Xavier wouldn’t tolerate something as trivial as this to interrupt his daily operations. But, the man also had a heart bigger than the state of Texas and he didn’t think business all the time. Still, Logan wasn’t comfortable responding.
“Logan,” Xavier started, turning back to his desk, “son, I’m not going to interfere in your life. I expect you’ll come to me if it gets to the point that you need help in making a decision.”
Logan heard the concern. He waited for the other man to continue, watching as he once again resumed his seat behind the desk. When he didn’t, Logan responded.
“Yes, sir. I wouldn’t let that happen.” Logan assured him.
“I know you wouldn’t. This needs to stay as quiet as possible. I happened to get word of it from Angelica. Apparently she and Heather got together and managed to squeeze some information out of some of the project managers. I’m disappointed in the way Heather handled this, but she must still have feelings for you. I just don’t want this to become a big deal. We have things to do and the less hiccups in the process, the better.”
“I completely agree.” Logan leaned forward, resting his head in his hands, applying pressure as though trying to force himself to think. “I need to go talk to Sam. I don’t want this misunderstanding to come between her and her job. She’s the best damn project manager this company has ever seen, and I need to make sure that, on a professional level, she’s secure.”
“Damn boy. You sure do like to lie to yourself. You need to go after her because of yourself.” Xavier retorted, catching Logan’s attention again. “Sam doesn’t have anything to worry about regarding her job. We’ll address that when the situation arises. For now, you need to get your ass up and go talk to her. I expect tomorrow won’t have any disruptions, and we’ll be back to business as usual.”
“Yes, sir.” Logan stood from his seat and stared back at Xavier. He knew that if he had been at any other company, with any other boss, this would be an entirely different conversation. “Thank you.”
“Go on. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Xavier commanded, waving him off with a hand.
Logan turned and headed out. It was clear that Xavier could see right through him, and Logan knew it was ultimately time he admit his feelings for Sam before he lost her.
The thought of that had his heart plummeting to his stomach.
Chapter Twenty Two
Sam awoke feeling groggy and disoriented. Her eyes were gritty, like she’d poured sand in them before she’d drifted off into a restless sleep. Wondering how puffy and swollen they were, she managed to crawl out of bed and into the bathroom. Definitely not good. She looked terrible, and she felt just as bad. The image reflecting back at her reminded her of the events from that morning.
Glancing at the clock, she realized she’d been asleep for the better part of the day. It was already six and she’d accomplished nothing. Splashing cold water on her face, hoping to reduce some of the swelling, Sam inhaled deeply, telling herself it was time to move on. She needed to make a sandwich, maybe take a long bath before she tumbled back into bed. Unsure how she would face the next day, the only solution was to sleep until Logan McCoy didn’t matter anymore.