Page 14 of Fire Dragon Lover

Logan was only using Charlaine for cover. He had to divert attention away from Gretchen. At least Charlaine had her own security, and he'd be more than able to make it look casual. Though, she'd have to stop being so clingy. She was on him like white on rice.

He knew this wasn't anything like legitimate affection. Logan was rich. Being with him would mean access to money and to other influential people. But if it was what it took to keep Gretchen safe, he would have to endure the advances of this vapid woman.

Logan did his best to avoid Gretchen's eyes, but he could see that he'd hurt her. It twisted him up inside, but it did exactly what he'd intended. He was slamming the door on any possible hope for her. There were a thousand what-if’s he could contemplate if he wanted to avoid causing her any future pain, but that was the whole point of this.

Hurting her for her own good, but that was little comfort when he saw her leave. Once the door was shut, he wanted to peel this leech off his skin. Turning to her, he said, "Charlaine, darling, I have some work I have to get done. I'm very sorry, but I got you a gift. Follow me."

He walked to his desk and sat down in the chair. He didn't give her a chance to try to sit in his lap or something. He pulled open a desk drawer and took out a jewelry box. He handed it to her, and she practically snatched it out of his hand and snapped the box open.

When she saw the diamond necklace inside, her eyes brightened.

"Why, Logan, you shouldn't have," she said as she put the expensive stones around her neck. "It's beautiful. I guess it's an acceptable trade to let you get back to work. But we will have to plan something elseverysoon."

The necklace had been enough to get her to leave without even thinking of the coffee she'd sent Gretchen to retrieve. She blew him a kiss as she left.

Logan fell forward, his head hit the desk slightly harder than he'd intended. He could feel the dragon within him stir as he yearned to be free, to do all the things he wasn't. He wanted to find Gretchen, tell her why he was doing this to her, and beg for her forgiveness, but he couldn't give her that hope. Hope would get her killed in this situation.

The dagger of grief twisted in his heart when he remembered the way she looked when she left. He didn't know if he could do this—be intentionally cruel to the woman he loved. Even if it was for her protection. But fate had been far crueler by putting her in his path when his life was in constant danger.

He wanted to fight for metahuman rights. Ever since the Veil fell, it was all he ever wanted to do. But then he met Gretchen, and he began to wonder if all he'd done over the last decade was worth it. Were the meager gains he'd made worth stabbing his mate in the heart?

Twenty-Two

Gretchen

Gretchen walked back into the office with coffee that cost more than a full-grown adult's daily food budget. While she was glad to see that Charlaine had disappeared, she fumed that Logan had left as well. Gretchen had already been having one of the worst days in her life. But to stand in line for fifteen minutes to get overpriced coffee for nothing was pushing her over the edge.

It was something so silly compared to everything else that had happened, but all of it had worn down her resolve. She threw the coffee in the trash, fell to her knees, and started crying. It was the straw that broke the camel's back.

She thought that maybe Logan and she could be together. But then he smashed her heart to pieces. And followed it up by rubbing it in her face by having another woman all over him less than twenty-four hours later. She cried until she felt cleansed of it all. There was a clarity that struck her.

She got up, wiped her face, and decided that she would resign the next day. With Logan gone and a good cry done, she was able to concentrate. While she wasn't sure if she wanted to leave Logan in a lurch, Gretchen knew she didn't want to make it harder for whoever followed her.

She had begun by writing down notes. How Logan liked his coffee, where he always left his keys when he couldn't find them, what his electronic filing system looked like. All the little things that could make a new assistant's job easier. She tidied up her desk, saved all her files, and drafted her resignation letter.

When she returned to work tomorrow, she would print it, sign it, and be done with Logan Slade forever. But by the time she got home, the resolve had drained from her. Resigning would mean leaving him. An obvious consequence, but it had seemed like a distant thing.

She knew as painful as it was to see him with other women, she'd endure it to be near him. She'd take the shirts with their lipstick on the collar to the dry cleaners. She'd make reservations at restaurants for dates. It would hurt, but it would hurt more to never see him again. She stared in the bathroom mirror and could feel the tears as they formed again.

Why was she doing this to herself? When she explained it to Jessica, her roommate said, "You're being a masochist, but it's your life."

Gretchen kept working, kept seeing him, kept hurting. Though she started to see less and less of him as she worked from home more and he was so busy. At least that horrible Charlaine woman never came back. But it still felt like a stab in the gut every day, though it started to turn into actual stomach problems. She hurt all the time and couldn't eat.

She started to wonder if she'd caught something or had somehow managed to stress herself right into having an ulcer. She went in for some tests. They collected a little bit of everything from her and told her they'd be back with the test results.

When the doctor returned, he told her, "You don't have an ulcer, nor are you sick. What you are, Ms. Jennings, is pregnant."

Twenty-Three

Gretchen

Gretchen never thought that one word would have the ability to turn her life entirely upside down. Still, pregnant was very effective at doing just that. She sat on the couch, barely remembering her trip back from the doctor's office. They'd given her a thin manilla folder with the results and information about prenatal vitamins and how to schedule a visit with an OBGYN.

She set it on the coffee table, opened it, and stared numbly at the results. There were numbers and explanations of the hormone levels, but all that mattered was the one word. She wasn't sure if feeling like everything had started to spin was a result of the pregnancy or the shock of finding out that she was pregnant.

She didn't even notice it when Jessica came into the room. Her roommate's voice was a distant buzz. Only when Jessica reached down to pick up the test results did Gretchen's world snap back into focus.

"Wait, does that say—"

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