Page 17 of Coff

He points to the large pile. “All these receipts need to be inputted.”

“Tonight?”

“Yes.”

I stare at him, but he doesn’t meet my gaze. “Seriously, this can’t wait until tomorrow?”

He stops and glances up at me. “No, this cannot wait. You can use this computer.” He gets out of his desk chair and walks out of the room.

That’s it. No discussion.

For two hours, I input all the receipts, all the while asking myself why I do this. I love my family, really I do. But asking me to do work after hours when Logan is here… The more I think about it, the angrier I get.

“Delaney, that’s enough for tonight,” my dad says from the doorway.

I stand up. “I won’t do this again. Logan is only here for a week, and I’m going to spend time with him.”

My dad leans on the doorway. “I know. I’m sorry. This was wrong of me. I just want so much to protect you. But your brother came to talk to me, and he made some valid points.”

Duke? “What did he say?”

He steps into the room. “He says if I keep trying to control you, I’m going to lose you.”

Wow, Duke went to bat for me? I’ll have to thank him later. Although I still don’t understand why he lied to me earlier.

“It’s just that I want to protect you. But sometimes, I go too far. I know this. I’m worried about this boy. Between his debt and…” He sighs. “Tomorrow night, bring your boyfriend to dinner. I’ll give him a chance, I promise.”

Well, this is unexpected. I run to him and hug him. “Thank you. He really is a great guy. You’ll see.”

He squeezes me back. “Well, Duke seems to like him, and he’s convinced I’ve judged him unfairly.”

I step back. “I know you don’t like it, but I’m a woman now, and if I want to spend the night with my boyfriend, you need to let me do that.”

He blows out a breath. “That’s hard for me, but you’re right. I haven’t put those sorts of limitations on your brother. Now go before I change my mind.”

“Thank you!” I kiss his cheek, then run out of the room and out the back door.

The pool house is dark, and when I get to the bedroom, Logan is asleep. I remove all my clothes and climb in beside him. It might not be the passionate night I had in mind, but simply being close to him like this feels so good. Besides, we can make up for it in the morning.

CHAPTER5

Logan

I wake to find Delaney curled up next to me for the second morning in a row. It feels right when I’m with her, and I’m happy her dad has essentially given us his blessing. I was nervous as hell about dinner last night after Rocky’s interrogation the night before. But Delaney was right; something changed, and her dad is actually being nice.

At dinner, he mentioned he’s throwing a New Year’s Eve party. Well, not just a regular party; he used the word lavish.

I didn’t pack any dress clothes, but Delaney assures me I will be fine. But I have already looked up a place in town. Hopefully, I can buy something dressier than a T-shirt and jeans. I want to look good for her because that’s the night I plan to take her aside and propose. If anything, this trip has solidified my decision. She’s my future. It was a rocky start, pun intended. But now we’re back to how we have been—perfect.

Carefully, I extract myself from the bed. I’ve already gone a couple of days without a run and can’t put it off anymore. Well, not unless I want to feel it when I return to Virginia next week. Last night, Delaney drew a rough map of the property and suggested I run the perimeter.

The air is crisp, and my breath comes out in puffs of white. I jog around the house and up next to the front gate. Then I turn right and follow the fence. The rolling hills are a relaxing sight. There is enough land here that I have to wonder if they own horses or cattle. I don’t see any evidence of either.

On my second lap, I jog up to a building I passed once already. I’m curious if it’s a barn. The door is latched but not locked. I step inside and quickly realize it’s not a barn. There are not any animals. No hay. Only boxes. A lot of boxes. I wander toward the back and spot an open box.

Part of me thinks I should leave, but another part pushes me toward the open box. When I peer into the box, I wish I hadn’t. I close my eyes, then open them. The contents haven’t changed. Inside are baggies filled with white pills. I don’t need to know what kind of pills they are. There’s no legitimate reason a man in the construction business would have that many.

Even though I shouldn’t, I go to another box that’s closed. There are no labels on the outside. I rip it open, and inside, I find the same thing.

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