Conviction (Club Destiny #1)(75)
Author: Nicole Edwards

She made her way into her apartment, tossed her purse and her phone on the bar and went into her room. It was at that moment that the black veil of depression hit her like a brick wall. She barely managed to crawl into her bed and curl up with her pillow before the dam broke, and the tears began to fall. It felt as though her heart was literally breaking in her chest. As she continued to sob uncontrollably, she forced all thoughts from her mind.

A good cry never hurt anyone, and Sam knew better than to try and fight it. Pain pierced her so fiercely that she was forced to close her eyes. Maybe she could go to sleep, and when she woke, this would all be a bad dream. Only in her dream, perhaps she wouldn’t be the biggest fool on earth.

She had made the biggest mistake of all. She had let Logan McCoy ease his way into her heart and shatter it.

~*~*~

A few hours later, hoping he’d given her enough space as Alex had suggested, Logan attempted to call Sam. Putting it off had been one of the hardest things he had ever done.

He didn’t want to let the situation get out of control. His natural desire to fix things was strong, and this was one of those things he felt he needed to fix. Right now.

His expectations weren’t high, so he hoped that once the chance to explain presented itself, Sam would understand.

Misunderstandings were common, especially when only part of the conversation was overheard, and ultimately, Sam had been the reason he had wanted to get back home so quickly. Had he known, or even had the slightest hint, that he was being set up to see Heather again, he would have never agreed to go out there.

If nothing else, he needed to make sure Sam didn’t consider leaving XTX. The company couldn’t afford to lose her now.

“Sonuvabitch.” He almost screamed the curse, as Sam’s voicemail picked up. No reason to leave a message. What could he say? I’m sorry I had dinner with my ex-girlfriend and that you overheard a conversation where I was admitting to it.

That sounded stupid even to his own ears.

No, he needed to see Sam in person, reassure her that seeing Heather meant nothing to him. That Heather meant nothing to him. How had this situation gotten so out of control?

Stumbling upon Samantha Kielty was the last thing he had expected, or so he thought. Falling in love with her had been even farther down the list, yet here he was –trying to figure out what he could do to fix something that he wasn’t sure how to fix. Wasn’t even sure why it was broken.

The logical part of his brain told him Sam’s reaction to what she heard was overdramatic. Though fiercely guarded, Sam was both strong and independent, not taking shit from anyone. She was supposed to call him on it. Have it out with him. Hell, hold him accountable.

Instead, she’d run from him, her feelings on display for the world to see. She never would have wanted Alex or Deanna to figure out what was going on, but her feelings had been too easily seen.

To think he’d been trying to come up with a way to pierce her heart, to get her to feel some of what he was feeling. Penetrating those well-built walls she’d erected over the years wasn’t supposed to result in this.

While he wasn’t looking, or maybe while he was, something serious had developed between them. Something on a much deeper level than he ever dreamed and that scared him. Or maybe the very real possibility of losing Sam was what really scared him.

After his attempt to chase Sam from the office, Logan had returned to his desk to find Deanna staring at him like he was a complete stranger. His calendar had been cleared like he’d instructed, leaving him free to try and catch up on a few things that he had been putting off.

Little good the extra time did, because he didn’t want to focus on anything but consoling Sam and getting her to understand he didn’t care about Heather any longer. He did care about Sam.

The problem was that he didn’t know how to express that to her without sounding as though he were trying to save face. At this point, that is what it would sound like regardless.

Leaving the office at this point to go after her wouldn’t work. Glancing at the clock, he noted it was only two. His phone rang, almost jolting Logan from his chair. Seeing that the caller was none other than his boss, Xavier Thomas, Logan knew his afternoon plans had just been thwarted. Other than to get details on the California trip, what could Xavier be calling him for?

“Good afternoon, Xavier. How’s it going?” Logan said, trying his best to sound professional.

“It’s going well. And you?”

“Not too bad. Just got back into Dallas this morning. I managed to get things straightened out with At Last.”

“I heard. Why don’t you stop by my office for a few minutes?”