Chapter 8
8
PAIGE
I knocked and looked for what felt like the hundredth time toward the parking lot, making sure I didn’t see Cole’s truck. When the door was pulled open, I smiled at Bree but quickly looked past her. After what we said to each other earlier today in Chase’s office, I didn’t want to run into him here.
“Hey.” Bree gestured inside. “Coming to check on Bailey?”
I chuckled. “I’m assuming everyone is, considering you knew that.”
Bree shut the door behind me. “Yeah. She doesn’t like the attention, but she understands why it’s happening.”
“Hey, Paige,” Harper called out when she cleared the hallway and walked into the kitchen. She turned to look over her shoulder and called out, “Bay, Paige is here.”
“Have a seat.” Bree gestured toward the counter while pulling some wineglasses from the cabinet.
I just slid into the chair when Bailey walked into the kitchen. “Hi, Paige.”
“Hi.” My eyes scanned over her, but she looked good. “How are you doing?”
“Good.” She smiled. “Only some bruises. Chase interrupted in time.”
“I stopped at your office today, but Ben said you were on a jobsite.” I smiled. “Not even taking a day off, huh?”
She laughed and accepted the glass Bree handed her filled with white wine. “Nah. I’m better off keeping busy.” When Bree put a glass in front of me, I lifted it and took a sip just as Bailey continued. “I heard about your office visit. Or more specifically, my brothers.”
I swallowed hard, then lifted my eyes to meet hers when I heard Harper’s voice. “Cole was there?”
I took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. “Yep.”
“What happened?” Bree asked.
“Nothing.” I flicked my wrist. “He was already there to see you when I got there. I found out you weren’t there and left.”
“Hmm...” Bailey smirked. “That’s not the story I heard.”
Harper leaned her elbows on the counter. “Ooh, what did you hear?”
Bree sighed. “Harper, can’t you at least try to hide your excitement about gossip?”
She snorted. “Why would I do that? The gossip’s the shit I want to know.”
Bree closed her eyes briefly and shook her head before facing Bailey. “What did you hear?”
I put my palms on the counter and pushed to standing. “I think I’m just gonna go. I’m glad you’re okay, Bay.”
“Nuh-uh.” Harper gestured to my chair. “Sit down. We’re not letting you off the hook that easily.”
I plopped back down and sighed. I was sure Chase was the person who told Bailey, and I didn’t want to hear his version of what happened.
Harper faced Bailey. “Go ahead.”
Bailey laughed, and when I saw the grins on Bree’s and Harper’s faces, I couldn’t help but grin as well.
Bailey slid onto a stool two down from mine and faced me. “Chase said you came in after Cole was already there. He said Cole questioned why you were there and didn’t come by the apartment. You said you were trying to avoid him, and then you left.”
“That’s pretty much what happened,” I agreed.
“Chase said he thought it was weird that Cole asked you how you even knew us.”
“That is weird.” Harper spoke, and I looked at her. “He knows you and I hang out.”
“I think he was confused why I’d show up at Bailey’s work. Like maybe we weren’t close enough for me to do that.” I tried to explain what was logical to me.
“That makes sense.” Bree nodded. “I mean, it’s not like we talk to Cole about our friends.”
Harper lifted her glass to her lips. “That’s true.”
“Honestly, I think he’d rather we weren’t friends,” I admitted. “At least that’s how it seemed to me.”
Bailey chuckled. “He knows what you being friends with us means.”
“What does it mean?”
“It means we’ll be in his business, and he doesn’t like that. He’s a pretty private person,” Bree explained.
Harper took a drink of her wine. “So that’s all that happened? That wasn’t a big deal.”
“Well...” Bailey started.
Harper once again leaned her elbows on the counter. “Well, what?”
They all glanced at me, but I shrugged. “That’s all that happened.”
Bree shifted her attention back to Bailey. “Bay?”
“I guess after you left, Ben asked Cole what was going on between you two, and Cole said nothing. Ben said he didn’t believe him, and Cole told him to believe whatever he wanted and left, but Chase said it was obvious Cole was pissed off.”
“Oh,” Bree and Harper said at the same time.
“Oh what?” I glanced between them, noticing Bree’s eyes had widened. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Cole is really laid back,” Bree explained. “And he usually doesn’t take the stuff Ben and Jake say too seriously when it’s obvious they’re teasing him. So the fact that he got pissed at Ben means something more is going on.”
“He was probably just mad that he saw me there,” I replied. “It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Sure.” Bailey nodded. “That sounds right.”
I glanced between all of them, but it was only when I noticed they all wore the same expression that I spoke. “You don’t believe that, do you?”
“Not for a second.” Harper laughed and glanced over her shoulder when the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it.”
Thankful for whoever was ringing the doorbell and giving me a reprieve, I took a drink, but my mood immediately changed when Cole and his dad walked through the door.
“Paige.” His dad smiled when he saw me.
“Hi, Mr. Dimarco.”
He waved his hand in the air. “You're family. You’ll call me Joe.”
I wasn't family, but it always seemed the Dimarcos overlooked that, so I smiled. “Okay, Joe.” Deciding to be the bigger person, I looked over his shoulder and smiled at Cole. “Hi, Cole.”
“Paige.” He jammed his hands into his pockets but shifted his attention to Bailey. “You good?”
“I’m good. How many times do you two plan on checking on me?” She smirked. “You know, just so I can figure out how to avoid you?”
Cole laughed, and the sound washed over me. I didn’t hear it often, but the few times I had, it always felt like something I'd love to hear every day.
“Yeah, you’re fine," he answered.
“What are you girls up to?” Joe asked.
Harper smiled at me, and my back straightened when she started talking. “Paige stopped by to bitch about Cole, so we got out some wine and joined in.”
Joe laughed. “Sounds about right.”
I didn’t dare look at Cole when I answered. As a matter of fact, my eyes stayed locked on Harper. “That’s not true. I stopped to check on Bailey.”
Harper leaned her hip against the island. “You can do both.”
I narrowed my eyes and said the first thing that came to mind. “I’m not calling a ride for you the next time we’re out.”
Harper threw her head back and laughed, but her attention shifted to Cole. “Did you come to bitch about Paige?”
I heard Bree clear her throat, but otherwise, the room was silent. With a confidence I didn’t really feel, I took a chance and glanced at Cole. His eyes were on Harper, but as soon as he felt my stare, he shifted his attention to me. Not for the first time, I wondered how I could be so attracted to someone I wasn’t sure I liked. But I loved his eyes on me. I couldn’t imagine having all that focus, all that intensity directed at me every day, although somehow I knew I’d love it. It was odd. He wasn’t a man I ever thought I’d be attracted to, but I guess the body wants what the body wants.
“Nothin’ to bitch about,” he answered easily, but it sounded dismissive. Almost as if he couldn’t even muster up any interest in talking about me. I hated that his disinterest bothered me as much as it did.
“We’re also talking about Jake and Lanie’s party.”
I shifted my attention to Bree when she spoke, and she smiled softly at me. She knew Harper wasn’t going to stop poking the bear, and she was finding a way to change the subject.
“When is that?” Joe asked.
Letting out a long breath, I took another sip of wine while Bree answered, “New Year’s Eve.”
“I thought it was Christmas Eve,” Cole said.
“It was, but we all talked about it and realized that’s a busy night for everyone with kids, so we nixed it.”
“Good thinking,” Joe agreed.
“We actually need to get to work on the invites.”
Cole grinned, and my belly flopped. Why the hell did he have to be so sexy? “You kicking us out?”
Bree raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you have to get back to work anyway?”
“Actually, I do.” He ran his hand through his hair and shifted his attention to Bailey. “Call if you need me.”
She smiled, and it was obvious from her expression how close they were. “I will.”
Joe walked around the island and hugged Bailey. “I'm only ten minutes away.”
“I know, Dad. I promise I’m fine.”
“Chase coming?”
“Yeah, he should be here soon.”
“Good.”
I smiled, and when I looked up, I saw Cole’s eyes on me, but he was also smiling. His eyes slid down to my lips before he once again met my stare. I heard Bree talking to Joe and Bailey, but I couldn’t look away from Cole. And it seemed like he couldn't look away either. His eyes on me felt like a touch. I could feel him all around me, and it took everything in me not to stand and walk toward him.
Shaking my head, I dropped my eyes and stared at my wineglass. I heard everyone say goodbye, and I might have said it as well, but I didn’t look up from my glass.
When I heard the door close, I sensed Harper once again lean down and stare at me across the island. When I finally lifted my eyes to meet hers, she smirked. “I saw that.”
I heard Bree and Bailey laughing and couldn’t stop the smile that tugged at my lips.