The Billionaire's Kiss(77)

“I need help with something," Logan said, "and you're the only one who can help me."

Jack furrowed his brow and quickly looked him over. "What'd you do this time?"

"Nothing," Logan said. "This one isn't for me." Logan wondered how much he should tell Jack about Callie and the bill and Veronica Jones. He wondered if he should mention his father or any of what had happened, but instead he just waited for some kind of response from Jack.

"Logan Harris asking for a favor for someone else? I never thought I'd see the day."

"It's the environmental bill you co-sponsored, the one my father's been pushing for since he left the oil business, I need you to bring it up for a vote. I don't know much about it, but I know you've been holding it up, and if I have anything do to with that, I apologize."

Jack laughed. "You're here to lobby me?"

"Is that a problem?"

Jack shook his head. He was grinning like Logan had just told him the funniest joke in the world. "No, I just never thought I'd see the day."

"Well, I'm here, and I'm serious. Bring it to a vote. It's a good bill, and it will be good politics for you."

"Logan, I don't want to sound crass, but what the hell do you know about good politics? We go way back, and you're like a brother to me, but you've never cared about anyone's public perception."

"Just put it through," Logan said. He didn't know why he had thought this whole thing would be easy. This had been a dumb idea from the start.

"Logan, I wish I could help with this one, but I'm fighting my own battle. You of all people should know what I have to deal with." Jack sighed and let out a half-hearted laugh.

Logan raked through his mind to think of what Jack could have meant. You of all people. What the hell did Jack mean by that? There was no way that Logan had anything to do with this. For once, he was trying to solve a problem that wasn't his own doing, and now Jack was laying the blame at his feet? No, there must be something more to it than that. "I know I haven't exactly been a model citizen, but you have to believe me when I say this is your best interest too.”

Jack stood up and walked over to the window. “For years, I envied you, your freedom. While I was in law school, you were off partying, or finding yourself or whatever you want to call it. When I had to wake up early and shake hands and stick to the playbook my handlers laid out for me, you just got to do whatever you wished." Jack started to pace back and forth, his voice rising as he continued like he was venting years of built up frustration. "I'm not mad about it. It was a brilliant move on your part. You never gave a damn what anyone else wanted. And now, your father calls on you to bring me on board, and you just jump to? Did he find a way to cut you off?"

Logan jumped out of his seat. His head and his fists throbbed. He glared at Jack. He wanted to leap across the room and knock him to the ground. "You have no right to judge me or to tell me why I'm here. My father doesn't even know, and he's not going to."

Jack took a step back. He held his hands up and softened his tone. "I didn't mean it like that. You know I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Logan said. “At least tell me why you shelved the bill.”

“Let’s just say that a few items on the list hit close to home, and some of my constituents have voiced concerns.” Jack spoke slowly and chose his words carefully.

What isn’t he saying? Logan wondered. Constituents. You of all people. Then it clicked. “Christ, this is about the windmills, isn’t it? Do you have wealthy donors who don’t want a couple of windmills ruining their water views?”

“I wouldn’t reduce them to simply ‘donors,’ but yeah, I’m getting some blowback about trying to push through something that would have an impact on the Cape. And it’s not a few, it’s over a hundred of them.”

“It’s your family, isn’t it?” Logan asked. He could picture Jack’s mother shaking her fist, threatening violence upon anyone who spoiled her pristine ocean view.

Jack shook his head. “You know I couldn’t admit it if it were.”

It was his family, his mother and his uncles who didn’t want their view spoiled.

“What if I could get concessions on that?”

“What are you proposing?” Jack asked.

“What if I could reduce the number and the size of the windmills?” Logan said.

“Logan, you can’t do that. You’re not involved in the process in any way. This is congress, not summer camp. I can’t take the windmills out. It would reek of self-interest.”