Page 68 of Puck Love

“Good evening sir, madam.” The bellman looks a little shocked when Logan breezes past, practically dragging me behind him. I try to yank free, but Logan has me in a visegrip.

“You’re the one making a scene by manhandling me in public,” Ishout.

“Well, if you’d been the good girl we all believed you to be and hadn’t run off with some hockey player, I wouldn’t need to manhandle you, now, would I?” he hisses as we walk through the lobby. I glance at the concierge standing behind the counter. She’s currently busy with other guests, but I’m not worried because we’ll have to check in anyway, though all of the check-in staff are nowhere to be seen. “We’re gonna go up to the room, just you and me, and talk about yourbehavior.”

Logan doesn’t head for the reception at all, but straight for the bank of elevators. Panic seizes my heart, and I struggle. “No. I’m not going anywhere withyou.”

The guests have moved away from the front desk, toward the doors, and the concierge picks up the phone. The lobby is completely free of people. Logan pulls me toward the elevators, but I finally wrench free of his grasp and run toward the hotel employee. She looks a little alarmed as I get closer, but I don’t care. “Help me. Please,” I shout, and she quickly sets the phone down. Call me dramatic, and this all may be a gross overreaction, but the truth is, I don’t know this man at all. I don’t know what Logan is capable of. I certainly never thought he’d hit me, but my face is still stinging like abitch.

“Can I help you,ma’am?”

“Call nine-one-one. Logan Bryant just hit me in the back of his SUV, and he’s trying to take me up to his room against mywill.”

“Okay, ma’am. I need you to calmdown.”

“Just call,please?”

Logan swears under his breath as he sidles up to me. Jonathon shadows him, and looks as if he’s waging some internal battle between right and wrong. “Stella, sweetheart,” Logan says in the mild-mannered voice he so often uses to get people to do exactly what he wants. “You’re being irrational.” He steps forward and reaches for my hand, but I take several steps toward the hoteldoors.

“Don’t touchme.”

“Mr. Bryant. Is there a problemhere?”

“No problem,” he assures the concierge with a counterfeit smile. “Just my stubborn future fiancée making a scene. I don’t know about you, sweet pea, but I’m ready for bed. Jonathan, grab her, willyou?”

Jonathan stares between the two of us. He looks uncomfortable as hell. “I’m sorry, sir. It appears she doesn’t want to go withus.”

Logan’s temper flares. “I don’t give a shit what shewants.”

The hotel security muscles in on Logan, squeezing himself between us. “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you toleave.”

“What? This is bullshit. Stella, tell them they’re making a mistake,” Logan shouts as the security guard edges him toward the door. My whole body trembles, and my head throbs from where he hit me. Even if I wanted to tell them Logan wasn’t a problem—which I don’t—I’m pretty sure they’d never believe me, what with the way I’m shaking. Johnathan follows behind the securityguard.

“Miss Hart, are you alright?” The concierge smilessweetly.

I shake my head. “Just Stella. I’mfine.”

She nods. “My name’s Penny. The police are on their way. They’ll likely need a statement from you. Mr. Bryant’s belongings will be brought down from the room, and he’ll be removed from the premisesimmediately.”

I nod, because I don’t know what else to say. My mind is on a constant loop of Logan raising his hand to me and practically dragging me toward his room. I shudder when I realize this could have been so much worse. I don’t dare think of Van, or his hurt expression, because if I do, I’ll likely fall apart right here in the hotel lobby. Penny offers me a Kleenex, and I stare blankly at thebox.

“You’re likely in shock, Miss Hart,” she says softly. I take a tissue and pat my face. I wasn’t even aware I was crying. “Let’s get you situated somewhere more comfortable, shallwe?”

“Thankyou.”

Her fingers fly over the keyboard of her computer, and she grabs two keycards and places them in the encoding machine before popping them in a tiny cardboard envelope with the hotel logo on it. “If you’re ready, I’ll show you to yourroom.”

“I don’t have any money,” I blurt out. “Or any credit cards orID.”

“That’s okay; your stay here is on us. We can at least get you situated in a nice room until the police come to take your statement. If you decide you want to stay longer, then we’d be delighted to haveyou.”

I frown and follow her across the lobby. “Why are you being sonice?”

“My ex may not have been as high-profile as Logan Bryant, but let’s just say I’ve walked a mile in yourshoes.”

I shake my head. “He’s not normally likethis.”

She smiles tightly, as if she doesn’t believe me. I’m not trying to make excuses for him, but I feel guilty all the same. I don’t know what else to say, so I keep quiet as the elevator doors ding closed, and my stomach dips as the lift begins its ascent. I swallow hard; I’m shaking like a leaf. Not because he hit me, though that did hurt like a bitch, but because I realize I have no idea who Logan Bryant is, and if I wasn’t aware of what he was capable of before, I certainly amnow.

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