Page 35 of Single Mom's Guide to Love

This makes Kat pop out of her seat as she starts pacing around the room. “What does that mean? Why the fuck didn’t you hire her, if she was perfect? Were you being cheap again? I swear to fucking God, you’re the worst billionaire in the world.”

“I wasn’t cheap. In fact, I told her a budget didn’t exist. She turned me down.”

This stops Kat in her tracks. She turns narrowed eyes on me. “Logan Matthews…what did you do?”

“Why do you assume I did something?” My tone is pitched so high I sound guilty even to myself. And I mean, I did do something, but she doesn’t have to assume that…

“Because I know you. Spill.”

I take a deep breath, ready for whatever response is going to come when I tell Kat the whole story. “I slept with her.”

“What!” she screams. “What do you mean you fucking slept with her? When? Where? Was there an NDA? Do I need to be on alert?”

I shake my head and bring her slowly down to a seat. “Let me explain.”

And that’s what I do for the next twenty minutes, and even after that, Kat is only partially calmed. Probably because she also thinks I’m an idiot for not telling Maeve on the plane.

“Logan James Matthews, I swear to Lady Gaga that I’m going to beat you with your Thor hammer.”

Oh shit…she’s bringing Gaga into this…she really is mad.

“I’m sorry, Kat! I promise, I didn’t know who she was prior to the plane. And if she wouldn’t have reacted in that way I probably still wouldn’t have known. But please know, you don’t need to worry about her going to the press. She didn’t even know who I was until I told her. She’s not looking for a quick payday, obviously. And I’m beating myself up how I acted, so you don’t need to keep doing it for me.”

Kat sighs and throws her head back. “I doubt it matters. Either she turns you down, or you would’ve kept canceling. Either way, this place was still going to be without furniture.”

I don’t say anything, because she’s right.

“Logan, as your friend, I say this with love, but this monstrosity of a house needs decorated,” she says, focusing her eyes back to me. “You’re twenty-nine years old. Whether you realize it or not, you’re kind of a big deal. You need a space that reflects you and the life you’ve built. You aren’t the broke boywho had to pinch pennies for a new video game. You earned this money. Show it off. Decorate a home. Be the man you’ve become inallavenues of your life.”

That was the nicest scolding I’ve ever received.

“Now, the lecture from your publicist,” Kat says. “We’re throwing a huge Christmas benefit gala in a month. I just finalized everything. If that goes well, stock shares will shoot up before the end of the year. I’ll sell pictures to every magazine in America showing that the SpaceCraft creator loves the holidays and is giving back to his new community at Christmas. Buzz will spread and this will give you a break of fake relationships. But I can’t throw a fucking party with rented folding chairs and plastic cups. You need this space to look good or it’s back to the models who want to know if you can get them an original Sims game.”

That was a good joke, but I can’t laugh.

Cause I fucked up. Royally.

“I’m sorry, Kat. I really am.”

She lets out a heavy breath as she falls back into her seat. “I know you are. We’ll figure it out.”

I grab her hand and give it a squeeze. “We always do.”

guide to love rule #10

You do what you need to do to survive. Sometimes that’s selling feet pics. Sometimes that’s working for a one-night stand.

11

maeve

Fuck Logan Matthewsand the orgasms he rode in on.

My life was so much easier prior to meeting him. Before then, I was a content single mom. I had a tight group of friends, sisters who were my rocks, a family I adored, and a career that kept me more than fulfilled. So on Sunday nights like this, when Jayce spends the night with his dad, I never feel lonely. I usually get some takeout, catch up on work, or watch television that isn’t in the form of cartoons or YouTube videos.

But what I’d never do, and I mean never, is think about a man. I wouldn’t replay conversations and interactions. I wouldn’t go back and forth about whether or not I should swallow my pride and work for him. And I for sure wouldn’t pull out my vibrator and take care of myself with him in mind.

Yet, that’s what’s happening now.

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