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company.”
    “ Dammit! ” He thumped the wall by her head with both hands, then sagged toward her, shoulders slumped. His posture telegraphed his disappointment.
    “And I’m really, really sorry I wasn’t honest from the start,” she added. She was sorry about a lot of things. Miserable, in fact.
    “So am I.”
    “I had no right to come here and turn this week into one long hard sell. I was an idiot and a creep.”
    “Yes, you were.”
    Oh no. She was starting to cry. Big, fat tears, rolling down her face. She managed to wipe one eye then the other against her shoulders, then straightened to see Logan glaring at her with renewed fury.
    “Cut that out.”
    Her mouth curled into a rueful twist, and her forehead started to ache. “I’m not doing it on purpose.” It was something she’d had to train herself out of at work, something she usually only gave free rein to in the safety of a club or play party. And even then, only occasionally. The freedom to weep when challenged by authority figures. It was the impromptu bondage, she thought—crossing her signals, opening the floodgates during what should have been a purely businesslike conversation.
    “Jesus. You’re manipulative to the bone, aren’t you?”
    “No,” she insisted. “No! I’m not manipulative at all—that’s the problem .” The truth of this stunned her into a momentary silence. She mulled over the words as she snuffled back more tears. “I’m sorry, sir—um. Sorry, Logan.”
    “What was that?”
    “Nothing. God .”
    Her wires were hopelessly crossed. She knew she ought to ask him to untie her—hell, or work her hands free on her own, she was pretty sure she could do that—and just go . But she couldn’t make herself do it.
    Logan folded his arms and scowled for a few seconds, then cursed and reached for the roll of rough brown paper towels on the supply shelf. He ripped a length off with unnecessary force and dabbed at Mindy’s face, then held a dry portion to her nose.
    “Blow,” he ordered. After a moment, she complied. It didn’t matter what Logan thought of her anymore anyway. Her humiliation was complete.
    “Explain how you’re not being manipulative.” He tossed the wadded paper towel into the trash can in the corner, then refolded his arms and stared her down, his legs braced wide like he was ready for a fight. “You come here under false pretenses, planning to sucker me into some deal for your own benefit. You sweet-talk me, let me think you like me, for God’s sake. Then when I call you out for lying to me, you start weeping like a hurt baby. How is any of that not an attempt to manipulate me?”
    “I didn’t mean any of it like that. It sounds awful when you say it, but it wasn’t like that, Logan. I really do like it here. I—” The truth struck her the second before she said it. “I had pretty much given up on the deal. I was never gonna make it work anyway. And I do like you. I thought you liked me, and that was so great, and I hadn’t expected any of that. I knew if I tried to bring the lease up, all that would go away, and the week would be a total loss. The flirting part just made it worse.”
    His scowl deepened. “I don’t flirt. Wait, so you’re saying my flirting was bad ?”
    “It was wonderful. But I hadn’t planned on doing that. Or on ... meaning it.”
    “Then why ... what did you come here expecting, Mindy? If not this, then what did you think you were going to find?”
    She shrugged, as best she could within the limitations of the restraints, and felt embarrassed all over again. But she wouldn’t compound her problems by adding more deceit to the mix. He deserved the truth. “Some pathetic, balding drugstore cowboy who’d spent his whole life in his hometown because he had to, not because he wanted to. Someone who never got out, and might be impressed by me pretending like I was something. And yes, I thought I might flirt a little if I needed to. But I would never have gone any