Page 12 of Break the Barrier

Even if I lie a little to give her a little room to breathe, I won’t be the parent who needs his daughter to stay home and miss out on her life because he doesn’t have one.

5

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The blizzardthat was here over the weekend had basically put the town of Acton out of commission, which meant that I had way too much downtime to overthink every aspect of my life.

Was having Logan help me wrong? Would Eric go after him too? I didn’t know, and frankly, I was starting to have second thoughts on the entirety of the situation.

But I was here, standing outside the lawyer’s office, waiting for Logan to arrive.

When he pulls up in his truck and steps out, I have to stop myself from drooling. He’s got on clean boots, Wranglers, and a heavy jacket with the logo from the ranch the Trevors owned on it. He reaches back into his truck after he steps out and grabs his hat, completing the look.

“You must be freezing,” he says in greeting, his brows furrowed into his normal scowl.

I’ve learned this scowl is not an angry one, but his concerned face.

“Oh, I’m okay.” I am wearing snow boots, jeans, and a heavy down jacket that kept me toasty.

“I like your hat.” He smirks and flicks the pom-pom on top of the winter beanie I am wearing.

I feel my cheeks grow warm and pretend they aren’t. “Thanks, shall we?”

“After you.” He holds his hand out to the side, gesturing for me to go ahead of him, and I feel his hand settle on my lower back.

I swear, even through the down coat, I can feel the heat radiating off him.

We step into the warm office, and that’s when everything becomes too real.

“Well, how do you feel about that?” Logan’s calm and cool voice somehow settles my nerves, and I give him a once-over.

We ended up walking down the street after our meeting and grabbing some lunch at the local Mexican restaurant that everyone in town loved.

It felt like a date.

But I knew it wasn’t.

“I feel…anxious.”

His usual scowl reappears. “Why?”

I take a sip of my water and wish it was coffee. Even our short walk, with the lingering cold air moving through our town, froze my hands. “Because I feel like I’m giving in to something.”

“What do you mean?”

I shrug, unable to think of all the right things to say. “This is hard for me. I built that business with my sisters, and now I feel like I have to give it away in order to save it.”

“You’re not giving it to me,” he replies, keeping his eyes locked on mine. “I’m holding it for you until we’re sure this asshole isn’t going to come sniffing around.”

I feel his booted foot hit mine and take a deep breath. “I know. I know that’s true. But I can’t help but feel like I’m giving into something I shouldn’t.”

“I get it.” He takes his napkin and places it in his lap. His hat was the first thing he took off and laid upside down on the bench beside him. I found his manners to be endearing and knew that it was all because of his mom that he had them at all. “But just think of it this way, a temporary change in ownership to protect your assets. That’s not a bad move.”

I knew he was right. I knew that everything I was doing was a good idea, just in case.

Eric was unhinged right now. He was as bad as when he first realized he was going to be going away for what he did.

He’d been livid with me, blaming me for what I did by ratting him out.