Chapter 14
ETA?????
“Shit. We are so late,” I say, standing up so fast that the blood rushes to my head. I stumble-walk quickly to my car. As I open the car door and climb in, I call back to him, “I’ll go up now. You wait and come up in five minutes.”
“Paige. Are you going to help me?” Shayne asks again.
“Let’s get this dinner over with, and then we’ll talk after.” I slam the car door closed and hit the gas too hard. Gravel pings loudly against my fenders as I reverse back towards the road.
What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to help Shayne look into Andy when it could very well mean destroying Jo’s life? But also how can I just sit back and let her stay married to a man who could be responsible for what happened to Lila?
When I pull up, Jo is waiting for me on the porch, arms crossed, toe tapping.
“You are such a butthole. I thought we agreed on 6pm!” She calls from the porch steps.
“We did. I’m so sorry. I got held up at the store.
Late shoppers,” I say, jogging up the stairs.
I hand her the bottle of wine and fancy cheese.
The expression on my face hopefully says ‘I’m sorry I’m late’ rather than ‘I just spent thirty minutes talking about how your husband might be a very bad man.’
“Luckily, Shayne hasn’t shown up either. You two could be a match made in tardy-to-the-party heaven. You look gorgeous, by the way.” She turns and walks into the house, heading towards the kitchen.
“Thanks, you too.” It’s true. Jo’s curled her long red hair into wavy tendrils that flow down her back.
She’s wearing a dark blue jumpsuit with short white-heeled leather boots that point at the toe.
The moment I step over the threshold into the house, I’m nearly knocked off my feet and have to grip the door jamb to stay upright.
“Auntie Paige! I missed you.” Kody says, her face muffled by the folds of my skirt.
“I missed you more!” I say, laughing and ruffling her hair. “You almost tackled me to the ground.”
“I’m a ninja!” She bellows.
“Go be a good ninja and finish your movie in the den,” Jo calls from the kitchen.
Kody gives me another tight squeeze before darting back to the den, a lightning flash of red hair and plaid pajamas.
“Put me to work,” I tell Jo, joining her in the kitchen.
“There’s nothing to do. Just sit back and have some of this,” she says, offering me a glass of white wine.
She’s already started slicing the cheese, so I grab a cube before sitting down at the kitchen table.
She’s set the table for three, using the fancy bone china plates I know are inherited from her grandparents that are usually stacked away in cupboards.
She’s put out linen napkins, pretty woven placemats, and polished silverware.
There’s even a small glass bowl of lemons and an earthenware vase full of eucalyptus branches in the middle of the table.
Thin, white tapers in simple black holders complete the set up.
It’s understated and beautiful, and my heart swells at the effort she went to make tonight special.
“Wow, Jo. I would have been fine with toddler plates. Chez Rock Salt doesn’t mess around. Where do you even find the time?”
“I told you I needed a distraction. Think it’s too fancy? Shayne might take one look at this set up and think I’m propositioning him for a threesome. Maybe I should eat with Kody in the den.” Jo winks at me, and I nearly do a spit take, my mouth full of white wine.
“I don’t think the fancy table screams threesome. Any updates on Andy?” I ask, dabbing my mouth with a napkin.
“He’s doing well. Getting stir crazy. His parents flew in from Florida, and they’ll be driving him home from the hospital Sunday.”
“That’s good news, right?
The doorbell rings, and Jo waves at me to answer it.
“Go on! Don’t leave your soon-to-be-lover waiting!” she says.
I skip over to the front door as a wave of guilt rushes over me.
Soon to be lover? That ship has sailed. One-time-lover-soon-to-be-partner in mystery-solving is more like it.
Remind me why I thought this dinner was a good idea?
Too much is at stake, and I’m attempting to hide things from my best friend—who I never hide anything from—while eating food that she cooked off her best plates.
I throw open the door, and my jaw drops. This is why you agreed to dinner. So you can stare at this while your insides twist in knots over everything else. Shayne is simply the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. He’s wearing black boots, black jeans, and a red buffalo-plaid shirt.
His freshly showered hair is combed back, begging my fingers to get lost in its wavy depths.
A few locks have already sprung free, falling across his eyes.
And I don’t even have words to describe those eyes.
Navy blue and hungry, although there’s no telling if that look is for me or because he’s actually hungry—it is dinner time.
My eyes travel over him, drinking him in like I’ve been lost in a desert and he’s the oasis I’ve been waiting for.
Wavy depths? Oasis? I’m all riled up like a horny pirate.
“Can I come in?” he asks, holding up a bouquet. I didn’t even notice the flowers, too lost taking in all of him.
“Of course, obviously. Come in,” I say, stepping aside and taking the flowers.
It’s a beautiful bouquet of peonies and calla lilies.
We stand awkwardly in the foyer for a second.
Shayne dips his head towards me, and I freeze.
Is he going to kiss me? I thought we were beyond all this.
But even as I think that, my lips part expectantly.
But he doesn’t kiss me. He brings his mouth next to my ear instead.
“So we’re acting like we haven’t seen each other naked, right?” Shayne asks, his voice a low whisper. The heat of his breath on my skin sends tingles down my spine.
“Yes. I guess so. I mean, I think that’s the safest bet.
Well, she does know you saw me naked that first night.
But other than that…” I can’t think straight when he’s so close to me.
He smells like soap and pine needles. We pull apart slowly, and I can’t help but notice how his eyes are lingering on my mouth.
It would be so easy to tip my head up and kiss him.
“Thanks for the flowers,” I say, just so I have something to do with my mouth besides kissing him.
“Ahem.” I hear Jo’s voice sound behind me. I turn quickly and see that she’s standing in the wide entryway that leads into the kitchen, holding a whisk and a bowl of nearly whipped cream. Her eyebrows are raised, and her lips are pursed.
“So—you two have obviously boned. Well, I guess I don’t need to play matchmaker then!”
“Ha! What? No we haven’t.” My face flames, and I know it’s a pathetic attempt at denial. She knows my blush tell. I glance up at Shayne, but he just shrugs.
“Thanks for the dinner invite, Jo,” he says, giving Jo a smile that nearly brings me to my knees.
“My pleasure. Dinner’s ready, kids! Let’s eat.” She heads back into the kitchen, and I know she’ll be giving me the third degree the moment Shayne leaves. I knew trying to hide what happened between Shayne and I was pointless.
I busy myself putting the flowers in water.
By the time I join the two of them at the table, there’s a full plate of lasagna, salad, and garlic bread waiting for me.
I slide into my seat, and we all dig in.
Jo and Shayne trade updates about such-and-such happening on the ranch today while I sit back and observe their easy banter.
Seeing them so comfortable together should be giving me warm fuzzy feelings as I imagine couples vacations and game nights, but it’s having the opposite effect on me because all I can think about is that she has no idea that he might be the one stirring up trouble in her marriage.
I feel my anxiety levels start to climb.
I’m falling for this man. Hard. And he’s going to leave when he finds the answers he’s looking for—possibly blowing up my best friend’s marriage on his way out. And my life is going to crumble. Again.
“Paige, care to join us, or do you want to stay locked up in that head of yours all evening?” Jo says, nudging me with her foot under the table.
“It’s your fault. The food is so good, it’s robbed me of my ability to speak.” I offer meekly before taking another bite of lasagna to prove my point.
“Shayne, did you know that in high school Paige was voted Most Likely to Get Arrested?” Jo punctuates her statement with a loud, crunchy bite of garlic bread.
“Hey, that’s not fair!” I protest. “I only got that because I had been arrested already, which is one-hundred percent your fault.”
“It’s true. Our Paige might look like a cupcake, but underneath all that frosting, she’s a hardened criminal.”
“Let me guess,” Shayne says, looking at me over his steepled fingers. “You were arrested for public indecency. I had a suspicion the night we met that you might be a serial nudist.”
“It’s not a crime to be in a state of undress on your own property. I should have called the cops on you for trespassing,” I say, somewhat indignantly. I’ll never live down that failed cold plunge for as long as I’m alive.
“I was fulfilling my civic duty by responding to sounds of extreme distress. I think the cops would have sided with me, especially if they knew I was on the property of a known criminal,” Shayne taunts. “So, why were you arrested?”
“I got caught trying to rescue the mascot of our rival high school. It was a stupid dare—from Jo no less.” I reach over and push Jo lightly. She bats her eyes coquettishly, drawing a laugh from Shayne.
“Jo dared me to break into the school grounds at night and rescue it. We always thought it looked so sad being paraded around at football games. But I’m not a smooth criminal so I was caught, fully clothed I might add, obviously.”
“Don’t leave out the best part!” Jo chortles.