Page 24 of Logan

“And you could have done it without me,” she shouted.

“I wanted to! I tried. It was too late since we had met. They couldn’t take me off the case and send another man in because it would have looked suspicious to you. I lied to you about a lot of things, Dixie. Things I’m not proud of, but I never,never, lied to you when I told you I loved you. I fell for you the minute I met you and I requested to be removed from the case because I didn’t want to hurt you.” He shook his head. “I had no choice. I couldn’t let your father go just because I fell in love with you, or I would have. You just don’t get it. I had a job to do and although I lied to you, I did the right thing by arresting him.” Logan stared at her and saw tears rolling down her face, but she wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“Go. Just go.” He took a deep breath, walked back to his vehicle, climbed in, and after checking for traffic, he made a U-turn, and drove back to town.

****

Dixie watched as his vehicle disappeared down the road. She wiped the tears from her face, got back into her car, but didn’t move.How in the world would she survive living in the same town as him?

Logan was the love of her life, but there could never be anything between them again. She could never trust him. He not only broke her heart, but he had also shattered it with all his lies.

Taking a deep shuddering breath, she checked for traffic, then pulled onto the road and drove home. She had to work tonight, so she wanted to get home and relax a little bit. Maybe the bar would be so busy that Logan Townson wouldn’t cross her mind.

Dixie narrowed her eyes at the drunk man seated at the table, his hand boldly placed on her rear. The stench of alcohol radiated from him and his three equally inebriated companions, who snickered and jeered as they watched the confrontation unfold.

Her voice cold and steady, Dixie warned the man to remove his hand or face the consequences. In response, he slurred out excuses, insisting that they were just having some harmless fun. But Dixie was in no mood for games.

Without hesitation, she turned to leave, but not before another hand smacked against her ass. Fueled by anger and adrenaline, she spun around and delivered a swift blow to the man’s head with her tray. The sudden and unexpected violence caused the entire bar to fall silent, including the band.

The man stumbled backwards, ready to retaliate until Noah intervened, grabbing hold of him while his friends attempted to pull Noahaway.

Amidst the chaos, Dixie reached out to grab one of the men’s arms, only to freeze when sirens wailed outside. As if on cue, Logan appeared through the crowd, with Mark close behind him. She saw him hesitate and roll his eyes upon spotting her before pushing through the crowd and approaching her.

“What’s going on?” he demanded.

“I want to press charges! That bitch—” the man began before being cut off by Logan’s sharp tone.

“Try again,”Logan snapped.

The man cleared his throat nervously. “That... woman hit me with her tray.”

Logan turned his attention toward Dixie, raising an eyebrow expectantly. Despite everything, she couldn’t help but remember how much she used to love to see him do that.

“Is that true?”

“Yes, but—” she started before he interrupted her with a shake of his head.

“There is always a ‘but’ with you, Dixie. So, why did you hit him?”

“Because he couldn’t seem to keep his hands off my ass,” she retorted, glaring at the drunk man.

“Noah, you can let him go, but make sure he sits in that chair over there,” Logan instructed before turning back to face Dixie. “The rest of you, sit down.” He directed a stern look at the drunk man’s friends before focusing back on him. “What’s your name?”

“Dennis Stagger,” the man slurred, “and she’s lying. I never laid a hand on her.”

“So, she hit you for no reason?” Logan asked as Mark quickly ran the name through dispatch.

“I... I don’t know why she hit me,” Dennis stammered.

“You didn’t touch her or say anything inappropriate?”

“No, I swear. Ask them.” He pointed to his friends.

Dixie watched as Logan turned to face the three men, confirmation dawning on his features as they all denied any wrongdoing. Deflated and frustrated, she braced herself for the inevitable consequences.

“Do not move,” Logan warned them before walking over to her with a sigh. “Dixie, why do you always manage to find trouble?”

“He touched my ass, Logan,” she growled in response. “I warned him multiple times and said if he did it again, I would hit him with my tray. And when he did it again, I followed through with that threat.” She shrugged nonchalantly as Logan ran his hand over his mouth, likely trying to hide a smirk, then he sighed as he looked at the man again.

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