Page 55 of One More Chance
It hadn’t even crossed his mind to just explain the details of the contract to Charlotte. “You’re proposing that I go to Josh’s wedding, where the woman I’m falling in love with, has to see me with some model on my arm all night?”
“It’s all you’ve got, Logan.” Freddie shrugged. “Man, I wish I had your problems.” He reached for the remote and started flicking through the channels.
Logan hauled himself out of the chair contemplating the two unpleasant things he had to do. The first was to explain to Charlotte that he already had a date to Josh’s wedding; and two, he had to nip the hot spring rumors in the bud before they got any more out of control.
“Where does Stacy live?”
“How should I know?”
“You mean to tell me that you’ve never been there?” Logan laughed.
“No. I haven’t. Why do you have to be such a dick? Just because she’s the town bicycle doesn’t mean that I’ve had a ride.”
“Sorry, dude.” Logan looked at his younger brother. Growing up, Logan had been the good son, the hard worker, but Freddie had always been the cute one. If he hadn’t blown out his knees ski racing, they would’ve both been sports stars. Freddie had been in one relationship and that bitch had broken his heart. The dating pool in Chance Rapids was slim and for the first time, he looked at Freddie with pity and he hated himself for it.
Freddie’s phone chimed and he picked it up to read the incoming message. He bolted upright and shuffled the papers on the coffee table frantically. He found the remote and clicked on the entertainment channel.
“Josh just told me to turn this on. Right now.”
Logan didn’t care, he was lost in thought when someone familiar caught his eye.
“Holy shit. Is that Charlotte?” Freddie said.
Logan sat down on the edge of the sofa and stared at the giant sixty-inch screen. The show kept pausing the shot at the very moment Serena Cruise realizes that there’s a bottle of Dom being poured over her head, her eyes wide, her mouth frozen in a silent open scream. There was no doubt in Logan’s mind that the raven-haired woman in the background, the one wielding the champagne bottle, was Charlotte O’Hare.
“Oh, nooo.” Freddie turned to Logan. “Let me guess, that blonde is your wedding date.”
Logan sank onto the couch, his heart racing. Just when he thought his day couldn’t get any worse, now this. His stomach churned as he watched the hosts’ smiling faces as they backed up the video and drew a circle around Charlotte’s face, calling her the unidentified jealous woman.
Logan realized that he was holding his breath and exhaled heavily, “That’s her.”
“Looks like the cat’s out of the bag, bud,” Freddie said and clicked back to the hockey game.
Minutes earlier, Logan had been fairly confident he could make everything right with Charlotte. Yes, there were fires burning but he could put them out. However, now that gasoline had been thrown on them, he was one hundred percent sure that he was a dead man.
Chapter 21
