The Billionaire's Kiss(87)
“Like last summer, when you ran off with that pop singer? Or this year, when a sex tape popped up? All while you were too busy partying to pay attention to anything else. Last time I checked, you were living on my boat and using my mansion as your personal function hall.”
“I spent the past year trying to forget what happened with Nikki, and trying to make something of myself, trying to make you proud, but it’s never enough,” Logan shouted. His voice echoed through the room. It was never enough. Nothing was ever good enough for his father. Not the first business, not the second, not the repeated attempts to become something more than a party boy.
Hank’s voice softened. “Logan, you know I’m proud of what you’ve done, but at some point, you have to acknowledge reality. Think of the man she thinks you are, and think of the man you know yourself to be. Are they the same?”
“I love her, dad.” Logan swallowed hard and waited for the barrage to come, a lecture about true love, a speech about Hank’s decades and decades of marriage and dependability.
“True love requires sacrifice, son. Ask yourself what you’d give up to make her happy.”
“Everything, the house, the boat, the money, I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“Hopefully it will never come to that,” Hank said.
Logan snorted. “You just can’t believe that I’m capable of being happy, can you?”
“That’s not it at all, son,” Hank said.
“Dad, I have to go. Hopefully I won’t screw everything up for you.” Logan ended the call and stared out the window. Callie was down in the guesthouse, getting ready for their big date. The sun beat on the windows, and everything, from the lush, green lawn, to the perfectly manicured trees and gardens to the gently rolling bay, everything looked picture perfect. Callie had quit her job. He had won. She was his, and he felt sick to his stomach about it. He was leading her down a bad He should have been able to forget the phone call and go on with his day, but he was so worked up that his blood practically boiled in his veins. True love requires sacrifice. Logan knew what his father had meant: you’re not good enough for her. You’ll never be good enough for her. What was worse was that he knew that his father was right. True love requires sacrifice.
You have no idea, dad.
***
Callie looked across the sea of pastel dresses and seersucker suits as Logan led her to their seats. The dead heat of August had lifted for the afternoon, and she was glad to feel the cooler air for a change. She had told Logan that she wanted to see some traditional Newport before she left, and he hadn’t disappointed. Everywhere she looked, everyone was impeccably made up. Most of the men wore suits, and the women wore sundresses and party dresses. Here and there, there were even entire bachelorette parties decked out in matching attire, but the real draw was the wide field before them. As Callie followed Logan to their seats, she watched the field stretch off into the distance, a yawning expanse of grass larger than any sporting field she had ever seen.
Logan stopped just short of the sideline and pointed to two cloth lounge chairs set up on the grass. Between them sat a picnic basket and a bottle of champagne on ice.
“I was inspired by your picnic at the vineyard, but I figured I’d add a little bit of my personal touch to it.”
“Is that where the five hundred dollar bottle of champagne comes into play?” Callie asked.
“I know they say horse racing is the sport of kings,” Logan said, “but polo and day drinking has been the sport of the Newport elite since long before I was born.”
“This sounds like a sport I could enjoy,” Callie said as Logan popped the cork. After the plume of fizz settled down, he poured her a glass.
Logan raised his glass in a toast. “To us,” he said.
“To us,” Callie replied, clinking her glass against his before taking a long, slow sip. As the bubbles tickled her tongue and rolled down the back of her throat, she thought back to Logan’s speech about feeling like the only two people in a crowded room. Sure they were outside instead of inside, but that was exactly how she felt with him, like everything else was just background noise, like he was the only other person in the world, like there was no place she’d rather be than right there with him.
She stared into his eyes and felt an urge to kiss him, but he leaned in and kissed her instead, sending a rush of warmth and excitement through her body as he slid his tongue against hers. She closed her eyes as their lips parted. The sun warmed her face and the breeze gently flowed over her, but she felt nothing but Logan’s soft kiss as it lingered on her lips. Damn, she wanted to lean in and kiss him again. Maybe she could sneak another kiss in when everyone was looking in the other direction.