Because now she had her answer.
Chapter 20
The billionaire watched Tilly carefully apply her makeup before changing into a dress he had never seen her wear before. White silk and sleeveless, with a swirly skirt that was sure to draw any man’s attention to her shapely legs, especially when paired with the nude pumps she was now sliding her feet into.
The last touch was her perfume, delicate and floral, the kind that gradually beguiled the senses, and by the time a man realized what was happening, it was too fucking late, and he was already under her spell.
Just like how he had been, from the first moment he saw her.
“Well?” Tilly made a little twirl in front of him. “What do you think?” Her smile was expectant, her tone bright and hopeful.
“Beautiful,” he said flatly. Too goddamn beautiful, considering that she was about to have dinner with another man.
“Thank you.” Tilly picked her purse. “I guess I better go then. I’ve made him wait long enough.”
Him, which was the prince formerly known as his fucking colleague, and now the man that Logan was severely tempted to kill.
Working hard to keep her voice from wobbling, Tilly mustered a smile for Logan, saying, “I know how important his cooperation is. I promise I won’t…disappoint you.”
Because I love you.
And loving him meant never standing in the way of his dreams.
The two of them descended the steps in silence, but when it was time for her to walk past the front doors and join the other man, Logan inexplicably found himself reaching for her, fingers cupping her elbow to turn her around.
She smiled up at him, and something about it didn’t feel right.
“What is it?” Tilly prompted.
“It’s just dinner,” Logan heard himself say.
“I know.”
“Raj is a gentleman,” he felt the need to point out, but for whose benefit, he could no longer fucking tell. “He won’t…disrespect you.”
“I know.” She was smiling even more brightly now. “Stop worrying about me, okay? It’s going to be fine.”
And then she was gone.
Time moved ever so slowly, minutes turning into hours, and Logan just couldn’t get her fucking smile out of his mind. He tried to distract himself by spending more time than usual playing with Liam, but eventually even the toddler gave up on him. When the little boy fell asleep while watching some show on Nickelodeon, Logan had no choice but to turn him over to the night nurse.
On his way down to the study, a small voice hesitantly called out to the billionaire, and Logan turned to see Billie standing by her bedroom door. Walking back to her, he asked, “You know it’s way past your bedtime, don’t you?”
This would normally have the girl dish out some smart comeback, but instead her eyes, which were so damn like Tilly’s, only looked up at him. “Logan?” Her voice was troubled.
“What is it?”
“Why did you let Tilly date another guy?”
“It was her choice,” Logan heard himself say even as he could feel an invisible noose slowly tightening around his neck.
Something was wrong.
Something was goddamn wrong.
“But it doesn’t make sense,” Billie whispered. “She loves you.”
Logan nearly flinched but managed to keep his tone level as he tried to ease the girl’s fears. “It’s just a date, Billie.”
She loves you.
“Nothing’s going to change. You’ll see.” And before Logan knew what he was doing, he was bending down to press a kiss on the top of Billie’s head.
Something was wrong.
Just as he straightened up, Tilly’s younger sister suddenly threw her arms around his waist, whispering, “I’m scared.”
She loves you.
“But I don’t know why I’m scared.”
Something was wrong.
He tried to push the thought away as he kept Billie company in her room and read the first few pages of Farmers Weekly in a deliberately slow monotone. In ten minutes flat, the latest livestock report had knocked Billie out for the night, and Logan carefully tucked her in before switching the lights off.
She loves you.
And that was when it finally hit him.
Just when it might be too late, he realized what felt so fucking wrong.
Her smile, her too-bright smile, that goddamn smile…
She had been smiling at him…like she had been afraid to lose it, afraid that if she had stopped smiling for even a single second, she would have shattered completely.
Fuck.
How could he have been so fucking blind? She had been expecting him to stop her from leaving, and instead he had practically shoved her out of the door, and for what? A fucking business deal?
I can’t lose her.
Just the mere idea of losing Tilly had him going berserk, and as soon as he was out of Billie’s room, Logan dug his phone out of his pocket in clumsy haste and made a call to his pilot. “I need the chopper at my rooftop. Now.”
Fifteen fucking minutes passed, with each one feeling longer than the last, when the billionaire heard the loud, jarring noise of the chopper landing at his private helipad. After leaving precise instructions on what the staff was to do if Tilly were to come back before him, he started for the stairs, intending to head straight to the rooftop, when he heard the doors open behind him, and Logan swung back.