“I thought you were trying to convince me that you came for business and stayed for pleasure,” he said.
“Either way, I’m not a tourist even if I like to do touristy things every now and then.” She placed her hand between herself and Logan, anticipating his next move.
“I should probably confess that I used to like these houses,” Logan said. “When I was little, I tried to convince my dad to buy Rosecliff. I don’t think I really understood why he couldn’t, but he wouldn’t have even if he could. This kind of place is too ostentatious for him. He much preferred his cottage.”
“Oh yeah, his humble, enormous vacation home.” Callie looked up at the cavernous room around her. She was convinced that some guide would come by and whisk them off the premises before they could finish the tour. Despite her fear of getting yelled at, she wanted to linger in the house and just enjoy the sheer magnificence of its carved stone rooms. In some ways, she felt the same way about her time with Logan. She knew it was too good to be true, but she wanted to hang onto it as long as possible. “It would have been nice to have a place like this though. Imagine the parties they must have had here.”
“I’ve been to a few of them,” Logan said with a shrug.
“I meant a hundred years ago, sprawling, over-the-top masquerade balls and lavish celebrations. It must have felt like its own world. I think that’s what I meant when I said I wanted the authentic Newport. I wanted to get away from everything for a while.”
“We’re about as far away from the real world as you can get, but we can go farther away if you’d like.” Logan said. “Pick a place, anywhere in the world, and we’ll go there, just you and me. We could start over and build a life together.” Logan got quiet and looked out over the water. “Then again, if you can’t relax in a place like this, I don’t know where you could ever relax.”
Callie looked up at the double height ceiling above her. “Before I came here, I asked for a vacation, a chance to escape all the responsibility I’ve had to take on over the past few months. Instead of a retreat, this trip has been the complete opposite, I’m confused about everything, I have to juggle my obligations to you and to your father and my company, and I don’t know what to do. I know I said I’d do my best to win you over, but the Veronica thing is really wearing on me.”
“Don’t let it. I’ll find a way to make sure she doesn’t mess things up for you. I wish you had told me about this sooner. I could have done more to prevent her from coming here. I could have done more to help you,” Logan said. He paused for a moment and looked around the room. He placed his hands on Callie’s shoulders and smiled. “I have an idea. Why don’t you let me plan out the next date? I actually had been hoping to do this last weekend, but now it seems too perfect to pass up.”
“What do you have in mind?” Callie asked. “I don’t know if our definitions of perfect have much of an overlap.”
“Oh come on,” Logan said. “Do you really think I’d tell you? You’ve been holding your plans over my head ever since I told you to win me over. Callie, you’ve won. I’m in. Now it’s my turn to plan a few things for you. What do you say?”
Callie sighed. “Can I at least have a clue what you’re thinking?”
Logan flashed that wicked smile again and let his eyes linger over her. He shook his head no. She felt a little rush every time he looked at her like that. He was up to something. “Come on. At least give me a hint,” she said.
“It’s surprise,” he replied.
“You have to give me something to work off of.”
“That would ruin the surprise, wouldn’t it?” Logan said. “It’s funny to see what it’s like with the shoe on the other foot, isn’t it?”
“Well, speaking of shoes, I need to at least know what to wear,” Callie said. The tour had started moving again, but she stood her ground. She needed at least some idea of what Logan wanted. Attire would be a good start toward figuring it out.#p#分页标题#e#
“Something classic,” Logan said. “You can do that right?”
“It’s an odd choice of words, but sure.”
“Oh, you’ll need something to keep your hair from blowing around.”
“If you think you’re going to bring me skydiving forget about it,” Callie said.
“I promise it will be something much more grounded than that.”
“You have to tell me more than that,” she said.