Page 10 of Because You're Mine
“Get out!” Logan snapped, a scowl pulling his face into harsh lines. “Before I throttle you.”
“Yes, sir,” she said in a subdued tone.
Any other girl in her position would probably have burst into tears. Grudgingly he gave her credit for keeping her composure. Everyone else at the Capital was terrified of his temper. Even Julia took care to give him a wide berth when he was in a foul mood.
Madeline glanced apologetically at Robbie. “I’m sorry, Mr. Cleary. I’ll come back later to sweep the floor.”
“That’s all right, lass.” The head carpenter waited until Madeline had left before turning to Logan. “Mr. Scott,” he said chidingly, “surely there was no need for ye to speak to the lass that way. She was trying to help.”
“She’s a walking disaster.”
“But Mr. Scott,” Jeff, the shopboy, said, “Maddy only seems to have accidents when you’re around. The rest of the time, she’s just fine.”
“I don’t care.” Logan held a hand to his shoulder, which burned like fire. His head throbbed and ached. “I want her out of here,” he muttered, and left the shop with determined strides.
He went to Julia’s office, intending to vent his annoyance. It was her fault for insisting on hiring the girl—therefore it would be her responsibility to dismiss her. He found Julia at her desk, her face wreathed in a frown of concentration as she revised the weekly schedule. She glanced up at him, and her face turned blank with surprise.
“Logan, what happened? You look as though you’d just been trampled beneath a team of six.”
“Worse. I just had another encounter with your little protégée.”
“Madeline?” Julia frowned in concern. “What happened?”
Grimly he told her about the scene in the carpentry shop. Instead of reacting with the concern and dismay he expected, Julia seemed to find the story vastly entertaining.
“Poor Logan,” she said, laughing. “No wonder you’re in an ill temper. Well, you can’t blame Maddy.”
“Can’t I?” he asked sourly.
“It’s only her first day. It will take some time for her to find her footing around here.”
“Her first day,” Logan said, “and her last. I want her gone, Julia. I mean it.”
“I simply don’t understand why you find Madeline Ridley so objectionable.” Julia settled back in her chair with a speculative expression that infuriated Logan.
“She’s a green girl who knows nothing about the theater.”
“We were all green at one time,” Julia replied, and gave him a glance of gentle mockery. “Everyone except you, of course. You must have sprung from the womb knowing everything about the stage—”
“She doesn’t belong here,” Logan interrupted. “Even you can’t argue that point.”
“Perhaps not,” she conceded. “But Madeline is a sweet, intelligent young woman who has obviously landed in some sort of trouble. I want to help her.”
“The only way to help her is to send her back where she came from.”
“What if she’s run away from a dangerous situation? Aren’t you the least bit concerned? Even curious?”
“No.”
Julia sighed in exasperation. “If Madeline doesn’t work here, who knows what circumstances she’ll find herself in? I’ll pay her salary out of my own pocket, if you prefer.”
“We’re not running a charity, damn you!”
“I need an assistant,” Julia said. “I have needed one for quite some time. Madeline is exactly what I require. Why does that pose such a problem for you?”
“Because she…” Logan closed his mouth abruptly. The problem was, the girl bothered him for reasons he didn’t understand. Perhaps it was because she was so ridiculously open and unguarded…the antithesis of his own nature. She made him damned uncomfortable, reminding him of everything he didn’t want to be, of all the things he had struggled to change in himself. However, he wasn’t about to provide such information for Julia’s entertainment. It had always irked her that he managed his life and his emotions with apparent ease.
“Logan,” Julia said impatiently, failing to read his thoughts in the silence, “you must be able to offersomeexplanation.”
