Page 278 of Sin Bin

Jess didn’t take the hint. “If you do watch it, don’t read the comments. I mean, most of the women are swooning over Logan and saying how lucky you are. But you’ve got some judgmental people questioning what you were doing at the club in the first place. And of course there’s a bunch of butthurt black dudes calling you a bed wench for dating a white guy.” She snorted in disgust. “They’re so pathetic.”

Meadow decided to change the subject. “Any word from Dubs?”

“Not yet,” Jess said gloomily. “He’s not returning my calls or texts.”

“Give him time. He’ll come around.”

“I hope you’re right.” Jess heaved a wistful sigh. “Well, I’ll let you get back to work. I need to do the same. By the way, what was the family stuff you were dealing with?”

Meadow’s throat tightened. “It’s a long story. I don’t feel like getting into it right now.”

“I understand,” Jess commiserated. “Believe me, I know a thing or two about family drama.”

Not like this, Meadow thought grimly. Definitely not like this.

She threw herself into work for the rest of the day, taking refuge in a kind of mindless oblivion that dulled the pain of her grief.

She was working on her laptop in Logan’s luxurious library. He’d been out most of the day. She hadn’t seen him since he’d brought her lunch and made her stop to eat with him. He’d been mostly quiet during the meal, watching her with concern in his eyes. She was just as concerned about him.

Though he’d never admit it to her, she knew he was upset about missing tomorrow night’s playoff game. He was a fierce competitor. He wanted to help his team close out the series and advance to the Western Conference Final. Being sidelined for the game would be absolute torture to him. He was paying a steep price for protecting her, and it made her feel even guiltier.

She spent most of the day drafting a proposal for a new partnership with a local women’s shelter. She worked on that between answering emails and finalizing vendor contracts for the upcoming community fair.

Around five-thirty she decided to call it quits for the day. As she powered off her laptop, Logan announced from the doorway, “Hey, baby. Look who’s here.”

She swiveled her chair around. When she saw her father standing next to Logan, her eyes widened in shock. “Dad?”

He gave her a warm smile. “Hey, sweetheart.”

She got up slowly, staring at him as if her eyes were deceiving her.

When he opened his arms, she ran into them. He kissed her temple and hugged her tight, pressing her face into his shoulder. She was so happy to see him that tears flooded her eyes and leaked into his shirt.

He held her for a long time, patting her back comfortingly before she pulled away and stared up at him.

“What’re you doing here?”

“I came to see you.” His brows knitted as he thumbed tears off her cheeks. “I’ve been worried sick about you ever since we talked on the phone yesterday. I know you told me everything’s fine, but you’re my daughter and I can always tell when you’re lying.”

She choked out a watery laugh. “So you just hopped on a plane and flew out here?”

“Damn right.” His eyes twinkled. “Logan was kind enough to pick me up from the airport. No, he didn’t know I was coming,” he added when she opened her mouth. “I wanted to surprise you. Your aunt would have picked me up, but she had a parent-teacher conference at Cam’s school. Logan and I had exchanged numbers during your last visit. So I called him up and told him what time I was landing, and he came to get me—no questions asked.”

“It was no problem,” Logan said, adorably embarrassed as Harris clapped him gratefully on the shoulder and Meadow gave him a hero-worshipping smile.

Harris turned back to her and tweaked her nose. “Your aunt’s worried about you, too. She dropped Cam off at his best friend’s house and is on her way.”

Meadow didn’t know whether to sigh or smile. “How long are you staying, Dad?”

“Just a couple days. Longer if I need to. Now could one of you kindly point me in the direction of the bathroom?”

“Of course,” Logan said. “Right this way.”

Harris followed him out of the room, looking around appreciatively. “Quite a nice place you have here, Logan. What’s the square footage?”

“Just under five thousand.”

Harris whistled in amazement before disappearing into the powder room.

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