“I wouldn’t have let him adopt you, anyway.” Nancy’s fingers nervously worked the snap on her handbag. “After we married, he was different…controlling. He got his hands on my trust fund, but I refused to let him have you.”
Logan’s brow furrowed at Nancy’s statement, and Ellery wondered if it was the first time he’d heard it.
“And when I changed my name back to West, that was the final blow to his ego. Even though he’d divorced me and married the woman he’d had an affair with. He couldn’t handle the idea that I preferred Logan’s father’s name to his. That’s when he got really ugly.”
Nancy shivered, and Ellery felt a bit nauseated. How horrible that Nancy and Logan had had so many years living in a dysfunctional family and that Logan’s stepfather continued to haunt them.
God, I’m sorry. I was so angry for what I lost that I forgot to be grateful for what I had.
A twenty-minute drive took them to the exclusive country club. Logan handed off his key to the concierge parking attendant and opened Ellery’s door.
“Thank you,” she whispered as she tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow and squeezed. “For driving slow and also for bringing the SUV. I notice all the other cars are fancy.”
“That’s okay. It takes more than an expensive car to impress these people.” Logan nodded at the tuxedoed doorman.
Entering the foyer behind Logan’s mother, a multitude of gapes and whispers hidden behind hands accosted them, and Ellery felt Logan stiffen.
“You shouldn’t have brought me,” Ellery mumbled from the corner of her mouth. “People are already staring.”
“They’re staring at Mom and me, not you,” Logan muttered. “No doubt they’re shocked we were even invited.”
A scan of the room revealed a single welcoming expression among the throng. The lone smile came from an attractive woman across the lobby who waved at Nancy and called her over.
“That’s Carlotta Edwards, mother of the bride,” Logan explained. “She refused to turn her back on Mom when all this happened. I imagine she and her husband exchanged a few angry words over it.”
“I see why you didn’t want your mom to come alone.”
“It’s like a sea of sharks.” The corner of his mouth curled up. “They’re circling, waiting for blood to be drawn. Probably anticipating a showdown with dear old Dad.”
“The men may be waiting for the kill, but the women are drooling.” She hoped her words would distract him from thinking about his stepfather. “They’ve never seen you look so hot.”
Color rose in his face, but he dismissed her comment with a shake of his head. “I shouldn’t have come. I don’t know why I thought it would feel any different once I’d made my own money. I still don’t belong here.”
From somewhere came a voice announcing that everyone should move toward the outer doors where the seating would begin. As they followed the crowd toward the opposite doorway, Logan plastered a casual smile on his face, exuding an air of confidence. But his arm shook beneath her hand as if every muscle in his body was coiled to fight.
His mother rejoined them, head held high, defiantly ignoring the ogles aimed her direction. From the entrance area, one man’s voice rose above the crowd, and a current of tight emotion rippled through the foyer.
“Don’t look now,” Logan murmured, “but that’s my stepdad.”
Ellery waited until they were next in line to be ushered out before glancing over her shoulder to the voice’s owner. She supposed he could’ve been considered handsome, with thick salt and pepper hair, a trim form, and a strong jaw.
Logan turned to glare at his stepfather, whose answering smile resembled a hungry crocodile. The other wedding guests seemed to emulate his hostility. Logan’s arm wrapped around her back as if he were shielding her from it. It was too sweet for words.
I’m not the one who needs protection…Logan is!
She had to focus on the job at hand. To support Logan in every way possible. And right now, that meant being a convincing girlfriend.
She could do it! She could forget her own insecurities and concentrate on Logan. She could pretend this thing between Logan and her was a real relationship.
And she could ignore the pain of wishing it was.
CHAPTER 10
This was the moment Logan had been waiting for. With the grace of a ballet dancer, Allegra Edwards floated down the aisle, iridescent silken fabric accenting her lithe form. Five years hadn’t lessened her beauty one iota. As always, her features, her complexion, her hair…everything was absolute perfection. Logan waited for the pangs of yearning to hit him. But they never came.
Even when her blue eyes made a jolting contact with his, widening in surprise, he didn’t feel a drop of desire. Perhaps his anxiety was blocking his other emotions. He was certainly aware of his stepdad’s glare on the back of his head from two rows behind.
“Is that her?” Ellery whispered.
Logan answered with a nod.
As Allegra took her place at the front and turned to face the audience, she refused to look at Logan. From her quivering chin to the blanching of her face, it was obvious she wished he hadn’t come. And in return, the sensation that flooded Logan’s senses wasn’t the longing he’d expected. It was anger.
Suddenly he questioned every minute of their time together. From the moment they’d passed beyond the friendship stage, Allegra had been nervous, begging him to keep their relationship under wraps. “Temporarily,” she’d said. To give her time to get her father used to the idea. Yet the passion in her kisses had convinced him of her devotion.
Why didn’t I see it before?
Allegra simply hadn’t loved Logan enough. Not enough to stand up to whatever pressure had been applied, whether from his father or hers. Not enough to take a risk. Not enough to find a way to be with him. Had she loved him at all?
As Allegra stood with her gaze downcast, he couldn’t help comparing her to Ellery. Brave, defiant Ellery. Every fiber of his being told him Ellery would never let anyone dictate her future. Ellery had grit. She would fight for whatever she believed in. She would certainly fight for a man she loved.
Not that it mattered. That man would never be Logan. Ellery had made it clear she wasn’t interested in continuing their relationship beyond the weekend. Not even as friends.
But for tonight, she was pretending she liked him. He slid his hand to Ellery’s lap and entwined their fingers. He shouldn’t have brought her. He’d put her in the line of fire for no good reason. His stepfather wouldn’t hesitate to cut her down if he thought it would humiliate Logan. And her sacrifice would be for nothing. Ellery had come to help him win back a woman he no longer wanted.
