Free Chance by Christina Palmer Page B

she hated the thought of deceiving him. However, when she'd weighed her
options, she knew she didn’t have much of a choice. If she’d told him they were
going to a club, he’d most likely be on the phone shouting, ranting or making
her feel guilty. He might just show up immediately and pick her up, telling her
she wasn’t safe and he was worried about her.
    Either way, if she'd told
him the truth, she knew the atmosphere between them would be tense and he’d be
in a bad mood until she apologized and promised not to do it again. On top of
that, if she told him, she'd risk being subjected to an embarrassing scene
and/or possibly being bullied into going home.
    Charlotte wasn’t ready to
go home yet. It had been too long since she’d seen her friends and she was
having such a great time. She hadn't socialized with anybody other than Logan
in what felt like forever. She needed tonight to unwind. The thought of going out
to a club with her friends, having a few more drinks and dancing, was
incredibly appealing. She really wanted to go.
    Therefore, that was what
she chose to do. She continued to text Logan regularly throughout the night, to
let him know that she was okay. She didn't want him to worry about her. When
asked where she was, she continued to lie to him for the remainder of her
girls' night out. Despite the short leash she was on, as well as her deception,
she had a great time with her friends.
    Much to her friends'
annoyance, she left the party early, heading off for home by eleven thirty.
That was the time she and Logan had agreed to. Besides, she knew if she stayed
out later than that, he'd know she’d been lying to him about where she was,
since the Blue Moon closed at eleven.
    Logan was awake and
waiting for her on the sofa, just watching television. He turned it off when
she came through the door and invited her to sit down next to him.
    “How was your evening?”
he asked, kissing her on the cheek. “You stink of alcohol.”
    “Yeah, well, I’ve had some
drinks,” she gave him a tipsy smile and cozied up to him, actually feeling in
the mood, for once.
    Much to her surprise, he
pushed her away and stood up, obviously uninterested in cuddling with her.
    “I'm going to bed,” he
muttered, heading off upstairs.
    Hurt and confused by his
rejection, she followed him up to the bedroom. Once there, she got undressed
and slipped into the four-poster beside him. He was unresponsive when she tried
to cuddle. He said nothing more to her that nigh,t and nothing more about her
girls' night out the next morning.
    That night was never
spoken of again.
    Charlotte assumed the
smell of alcohol on her breath had turned him off, since that's what he'd
spoken of so harshly, just before rejecting her and going to bed. She knew the
scent could be overpowering on someone when you hadn’t been drinking yourself,
like garlic. She'd tried not to take it to heart.
    It was ironic for the
first time in so long, she was really looking forward to having sex. Of course,
it just so happened to be the only night Logan hadn't wanted to make
love, since she'd moved in with him. It was seriously unfortunate, especially
since he would've reaped the benefits of her amorous mood as much as she
would've.
    However, despite the
unpleasant end to Friday night, they wound up spending a pleasant weekend
together. It was as if the entire girls' night out had never happened.
    On Monday, she returned
to work, looking forward to her friend's wedding the following weekend.

Chapter 8
    Charlotte was quite happy
she'd managed to have a quiet word with Bethany over the course of their Friday
evening out. She was able to secure an invitation for Logan to the wedding. Her
friends were all very excited to meet him. Although, as far as Charlotte was
concerned, they'd already been overly critical of his behavior, as well as some
aspects of their relationship.
    Charlotte had stood up
for Logan when the girls had been judgmental or negative about him. She