Reckless Secrets (17 page)

He walked to the coffee machine and made a cup for himself before plopping down at the table next to me with his black coffee. "Hey, you were very funny last night at the hypnotist, Ellie. The best act there!" His gaze turned to Logan. "When Bob was making you cry, my roomie here looked like he wanted to jump out of the audience and take a swing at him." Zave laughed.

I froze and looked at Logan.

"I didn't. I wouldn't have," Logan said. "But he was pushing you too far."

"You cried very prettily," Zave said. "That's a compliment. Not many women do. Most get all red and puffy-eyed. Asking for Logan first when you were put in jail was very touching, too." He made a sappy gesture, clasping his hands in front of his heart. "Maybe not quite as much as when you wanted your daddy and then asked for Jason. You had a little boss-daddy confusion going on there."

I paled. "I don't remember."

Zave took a sip of his coffee. "What's the saying—girls want a guy like dear old dad? Logan will have to watch you around Jason."

Logan tensed and set his jaw. Zave had hit a nerve. "Shut up, Zave. Ignore him, El. He's still drunk." He turned to Zave. "Drink your coffee and go back to bed and sleep it off."

"Sorry, Ellie. Sorry, Walker. You're right—I'm a douchebag when I'm hung over."

"You're forgiven, Zave." I grabbed Logan's hand. "And for the record—you have absolutely nothing to worry about with me and Jason." I tried to sound teasing and make light. "He is absolutely the last person I'd
ever
go for. He's old enough to be my dad." See? I was telling at least a partial truth.

Logan squeezed my hand back and laughed. "I don't think he's
that
old, El. But good to know you don't think he's hot."

I couldn't figure Logan out, and it made me insecure—a wonderful, romantic date on Saturday, and then he's too busy for me on Sunday. I knew engineering majors had a ton of homework, but I couldn't help feeling like he was blowing me off. Since Austin's betrayal, I had real trust issues. So maybe this was all in my head. When I looked at my brand new peridot bellybutton jewel, I couldn't keep the smile off my face. I was a flip-flopper—ecstatic one minute and doubting the next. And I couldn't stop the pattern. Was Logan up to something else? Would I see another girl mooning over him in missed connections while he was having coffee with someone like Amber?
 

And then there was that near miss at Up All Night where I almost betrayed my dad and gave away our secret. I debated messaging him all day. But what would that accomplish? He was at home with his wife and kid. Why upset him? So I decided to keep it to myself and bring it up on Tuesday at our coffee date. To keep my mind off my insecurities, I dove into my studies. The only problem was chemistry—it was easy now and made sense. But it reminded me of Byron.

On Sunday night as I was getting ready for bed, I got a text from Dex:
Wear your black university sweatshirt to class tomorrow and put your hair in a ponytail.

I texted him back.
Why are you suddenly so interested in my fashion choices?

Humor me,
he replied.

Fine.

What was Dex up to now?

I hadn't heard from Logan all day. Why wasn't he texting me? I broke down and texted him.
Get your studying done?

And then I waited, totally insecure, seeing how eager he was to text me back.
 

He texted right back:
Still working on the report. Going to be a late night. There aren't enough hours in the day. My homework problem set for EE421 took me five hours. See you at work tomorrow.

On Monday, I was my usual nearly-late-to-class self. I was hardly paying attention to anyone around me as I texted Dex to ask him where he was sitting. He immediately texted back his location. I looked up and around the auditorium, into a sea of black university sweatshirts. Over half the class was dressed like I was, and almost all the girls had their hair in ponytails.

I couldn't help myself. I broke out laughing. I found Dex and slid in next to him. "Black sweatshirts, really?"

"And ponytails. If you'll notice, I even got a few guys to put their hair up." He grinned. "Let's see Byron find you
now
."

"I said no pranks." But I was laughing.

"This isn't a prank. This is a show of school spirit. Nothing wrong with that."

"It's not even game day."

He grinned. "Sure it is—Where's Ellie game day."

Just then Byron came out of the instructor's door and walked to the podium.
 

"This should be fun," Dex whispered to me.

Byron looked into the auditorium and actually jumped, like he was startled to see that sea of school spirit. He looked almost scared, like he should be worried that something was up.
 

"This is more fun than I expected," Dex said.

When Byron spoke, his voice cracked and his gaze went directly to where I usually sat. He looked puzzled at first, and then obviously, like really obviously, disappointed.

Dex shook his head. "I should get an A just for running this successful experiment. You were definitely right—he's looking for you. We're going to have to mix it up next time."

I pursed my lips and made thin eyes at him. "You mean like wear our red university gear?"

"That's exactly it." He grinned. "And baseball caps."

"Dex, that's too mean."

"Come on, Ellie—where's the harm? It's not like we're doing anything destructive. Can I help it if Byron is pathologically nervous?"

"How did you even do this?" I said.

"I have my ways."

Then it dawned on me. Earlier in the semester he'd organized an email campaign to try to get rid of Dr. Rogers.
 

"You're using the list," I said.

He put a finger to his lips. "I'm trying to listen to your boyfriend's lecture, Ellie. Pay attention."

"Shut up!" I punched him playfully in the arm.

I showed up for work that afternoon with a six-pack of Red Bull for Logan. I'd used my dining hall account dollars to buy it in the market. It was sitting on my desk with a ribbon on it when he arrived.

He pointed to it. "Going to do some heavy drinking? Anticipating an all-nighter?"

"Not mine, yours. That's for you, late-night-study guy. Did you get any sleep last night?"

He grinned. "About two hours."

I handed the six-pack to him. "Then you really need this."

As he took it, he leaned across my desk like he wanted to kiss me. I shook my head almost imperceptibly and mouthed,
Not in the office.
 

He frowned. "No one's looking."

But this was the office, and now that my boss was also my dad and knew it, I didn't want him seeing how into Logan I really was. Though in retrospect, the Red Bull might have given that away. According to our agreement, I was supposed to be seriously thinking about my relationship with Logan. And I was—I had decided I was hanging on to it for all I was worth.

Just then, Jason, who'd been out when I arrived, stepped into the office. I gave Logan a look that said,
See?

He made a growling sound deep in his throat.

I laughed.

"Logan, there you are. I need to talk to you about some technical problems we're having in the family science building." His gaze landed on me like he wasn't happy to see Logan being so familiar with me.

Logan straightened up and smiled at Jason. "Hey, boss. Have a good weekend?"

Jason glanced at me with a concerned, fatherly look. "It was all right. I heard Ellie was a hit at the hypnosis show."
 

Uh-oh.
Great, my dad had spies everywhere. Exactly what had he heard?

Jason's tone was teasing, but there was a new familiarity in it. It may have been my imagination, but I think Logan caught it.

 
"Yeah, she was a star," Logan said, with just a trace of a frown as his gaze bounced between Jason and me. "Who squealed?"

Jason smiled. "I never reveal my sources." His tone was light, but he flashed me a look that said we had things to discuss at our coffee date.

Chapter Eleven

On Tuesday I arrived first for my standing meeting at The College Grind with Jason. I ordered my coffee, grabbed a table in the corner, and watched for him like a spy waiting for her informant. He arrived right on time, waved to me, ordered, and took the chair across from me.

This time we dispensed with the fake greetings. No
Hey, what are you doing here
s for us.

"It's dangerous meeting here," I whispered to him. "My friend Kirk saw us last week and got the wrong impression."

"You set him straight?" Jason said.

I nodded.

"We should be fine, then. This is the most innocuous public place I can think of. I'm a regular. I always come here Tuesday mornings. Lyssa will think nothing of it if she hears."

"But always running into me? Isn't that a little too much coincidence?"

Jason seemed to consider the point. "Not now that it's your usual habit, too. You're a typical college kid—you drink a lot of coffee, right? And this is the most popular place on campus."

I smiled at him and nodded.

"I have a reputation for mentoring students. Let's just make you my latest victim." He grinned evilly.

I laughed. "So that's what I am?"

The barista called out his drink order. He popped up to get it. When he returned to his seat, he jumped right into conversation. "You nearly gave us away at the hypnosis show." He sounded sympathetic.

I was stunned. I thought he'd be mad. Jason really was a different kind of guy than I was used to. I nodded. "Yeah. Fortunately no one even thinks you're old enough to be my dad."

He looked stressed, but he smiled. "I get that a lot. People think I'm younger than I am. It's been hell on my career. No one thinks I'm old enough to be in charge."

I shook my head. "You know many women would kill for a problem like that?" I thought of my mom and her constant quest for youth. "So maybe I've inherited some good genes?"

He grinned as he took a sip of coffee. "Maybe. I hope so."

"That's not the whole problem. Even when they know how old you are, they think you're too young," I said. "You were a young dad."

"Yeah. And here I thought I was an old dad." He made a funny face.

We both laughed.

I turned serious. "I'm sorry I almost gave us away. No more hypnosis for me. I promise." I paused. "Lying to Logan is killing me. I keep feeling like I'm digging myself in deeper, that when he finds out, it's really going to hurt him. I know all the reasons, and they're good ones, but…"

"But we need an exit strategy," Jason finished for me. "I know. I feel crappy for keeping this from Lyssa, too. And I've been working on it, at least on the job front. I've been contacting other departments. I have a few leads on a position for you for next semester."

"That's good news. I guess." I loved where I worked. I loved the work and being near Logan and Jason.

"I know. I wish you could keep working for me, too." He set his coffee cup down. "What are you doing for Thanksgiving?"

I bit my lip. "Going home with Logan."

Jason frowned. "Walking into the lion's den?"

"Is his family that bad?" I asked.

"Worse, from what I've heard."

"I thought you're supposed to be my support system. Stop trying to scare me."

Jason smiled, but it was sad. "I wish I could have you over for Thanksgiving. I'd like to be able to acknowledge you. It's killing me not to." He paused, looking like he had something to say, but was hesitant and uncertain what my response would be. "I've thought about this constantly this past week—with your blessing, I'd like to tell Lyssa over Thanksgiving break."

My pulse leaped at the thought—my father wanted to acknowledge me.
Now.
I fought to keep my cool. "Yeah? Lyssa will miraculously be okay with me now? What's changed?"