Page 64 of Sapphire Sunset

“How would I know? I don’t know you, remember? I didn’t getthe chance. It was too dangerous.”

“And there it is!” Logan threw his arms out and let themslap to his sides.

“No, I’ll tell you where it is. It’s in Rodney’s office, thenight of our five-year-old kiss when you told him I’d made you uncomfortable.That I’d subjected you to unwanted attention. That I’d acted like I had a rightto you because you were the new gay employee. I brought you a gift bag and madeconversation. You’re the one who flirted me down to the sea caves then offeredme a slow dance with your tongue.”

Logan was so visibly stunned, Connor’s words left him, thenhis breath.

“I never said those things to Rodney. Never.” His voice waslow, like thunder. And when he pressed one hand into the table next to him, itwas balled into a fist. A fist, Connor realized, that would have landed squareon Rodney’s face if he’d been in the room at that moment. “Not one goddamnword.”

For a while, neither one of them spoke, just listened to thesounds of their breaths growing heavy as realization washed over them both. Therewas no arguing with Logan’s conviction, with the way he held Connor’s stare andthe way his anger caused his massive chest to rise and fall.

“When did he tell you this?” Logan finally asked.

Connor was too startled by the sincerity of Logan’s refusal torespond. But after a breath or two, he found his words. “He told my family yousaid it. He didn’t use your name, but I knew it was you. He said there was anew handsome gay employee I’d done all those things to.”

“Did you ask him who it was?”

“I couldn’t.”

Logan raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”

“Because I was eavesdropping.”

“I see. So you never asked him about it and he never said myname?”

Connor’s self-righteousness had turned to a flush ofembarrassment that swept him head to toe, making his clothes feel sticky.

“Well, it wasn’t me because I never said those things.”Logan clearly wanted to gloat. Instead, he clasped his hands behind his backand gave Connor a vaguely satisfied stare.

“Well, then who was it?”

“It wasno one, Connor, because Rodney was lying.”

“Did you say anything to him about me at all?” Connor’svoice was shaky, shaky from the fact that a foundation of anger he’d rested onfor years had been pulled out from under him and now he felt like he wasfloating in space.

Logan took a deep breath, stretched his neck out, thenstared at some spot above Connor’s head that was helping him access the memory.“He called me into his office that night because he wanted dirt on you. He’sthe one who used the wordsunwanted attention. Not me. It was like hewas implying he wanted me to set you up, entrap you, so he could accuse you ofbeing inappropriate. And I was scared shitless, to be frank. Because I neededthis job. Bad. We didn’t know if my dad was ever going to walk again withoutcrutches. His career in construction was over. He didn’t have any skills orsavings. He’d sold his house. I’d ditched my apartment. We’d moved into a trailerand still we couldn’t afford everything. Without the benefits I got from thisplace, we would have been screwed.”

“So what did you say, Logan?”

Logan nodded, cleared his throat, as if he thought Connormight not be prepared to hear it. “I said, ‘I think your nephew is amazing. Theparty he organized was off the charts, like something you’d see in a magazine.And he made everyone there feel like they were the guest of honor. I saw himtreat the staff with respect I didn’t expect out of him. And he was ready tohandle the security incident himself before I intervened. I’ve never metsomeone as impressive as him.’ That’s what I said.”

Connor struggled to stay standing, struggled not to clearhis throat because he was afraid to do so would unleash a series of exhaustedand miserable sighs. Struggled not to imagine what every inch of Logan lookedlike under his blazer and dress pants. “Are you sure? I mean, it’s like youmemorized it.”

Say it again,Connor thought,naked.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Logan answered. “I ran it back and forth inmy head a thousand times after that night because I was sure I’d lose my jobover it. And if you still don’t believe me, I’ll say this. After everythingyou’ve learned about your uncle today, how could you still take his version ofthat night over mine?”

It was like the wind had been knocked out of him and replacedwith sand.

Finally, Connor said, “I won’t. I won’t take his version ofthat night over yours. I just…”

But Connor couldn’t finish the sentence because all possibleconclusions threatened to drag him even further from the realm of theprofessional and into the complicated, the haunted, the lustful. If anything,Logan was being too easy on him. He’d known more than enough about Rodney beforetoday to render him skeptical of any words out of the man’s mouth. And yet, onthe night when his uncle had spouted all manner of lies about his graduation party,for some reason, Connor, eavesdropping from the other room, had decided to takehis lies about Logan at face value.

Because for some reason it had been easier to hate Logan forall these years than to admit to all the other feelings that surged inside ofhim whenever he thought of the man’s name, remembered the firm grip of hishands, the woodsy, musky scent of him. The way he looked into your eyes when hesmiled like he wanted you to know you were the reason he was smiling.

And now they were staring at each other like idiots.

And neither one of them was smiling.

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