Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
P aige felt like a queen. Not a queen bee, but an actual queen. And not just because her date had a British accent. Graham treated her like royalty. Opening doors, helping her with her chair, offering his arm, giving her his full attention.
As though she was the most important person in the world. It was heady stuff and not something she’d ever had from a man before.
When she’d arrived at the restaurant, he’d taken one look at her, lifted her hand to his mouth, kissed her knuckles, and declared, “You’ve quite taken the wind out of me, I’m afraid.”
With a smile and a little heat in her cheeks, she’d thanked him.
He’d blinked and stared a bit longer, then shaken his head. “If I’d known you’d look like that, I’d have worn a better tie.”
Laughing and utterly charmed, she’d taken his arm and they’d gone inside Salt & Cedar.
Now they sat at the best table in the house, overlooking the Gulf and part of the nearby marina.
The last rays of the setting sun streamed through the tall, arched windows, warming the interior of the restaurant to a golden glow.
Outside, the marina lights were just coming on, adding to the romance of the setting.
Inside, gentle acoustic guitar music kept the spot from being too quiet.
The warmly polished cedar tables were draped with white linens.
In the center of each table, a frosted blush-pink glass candle holder modeled in the shape of a sea urchin added to the gracious lighting.
Larger, hanging lamps that mimicked that same shape hung throughout the space.
It was dreamy and perfect. Paige wished she could have filmed a little footage but there was no way she was ruining this night with something so pedestrian. She’d find some images from the restaurant’s website and use those.
They’d finished their salads, and their main courses were on the way. She’d chosen the pan-seared red snapper with citrus beurre blanc and crispy leeks over risotto. He’d gone for the cedar-planked twin Florida lobster tails in brown butter with herbed couscous and roasted asparagus.
Graham straightened his knife on the tablecloth. “Seems all right so far, don’t you think?”
“It’s more than all right. It’s probably the nicest place I’ve been to in years.”
He seemed obviously pleased. “Fitting, then, because this is the nicest evening I’ve had in years.”
“Haven’t you eaten here before?”
“No, but I’ve wanted to.” He smiled. “Thank you for agreeing to come with me, but as you can see, this was all arranged for purely selfish reasons.”
She laughed. “You’re a lot of fun.”
“Oh, don’t say that. I’ll lose my English citizenship. We aren’t allowed to be fun, you know.”
She was still chuckling as their server arrived with two gorgeous plates. They tucked in. She loved the way he held his fork.
He caught her watching. “I can’t help myself. I know I live here now but old habits die hard.”
“Don’t change a thing,” she said. “Not for anyone.”
“This is going to be awfully forward of me, but I cannot imagine any sane man making the decision to divorce you. Was your ex-husband in his right mind? Had he suffered a head injury? Was he immediately removed to an asylum? Again, it’s not my business, but I cannot make it make sense.”
She wanted to tell him the truth, but she’d made that mistake before. People—men, especially—looked at her differently when she explained that her husband had left her for another man. She hated that look. Like they were trying to figure out what was wrong with her.
Or how awful she must be to make a man change teams , as she’d heard it said. So she relied on her usual explanation. “He fell in love with someone else.”
Graham’s brows lifted. “I’m not naive, I know it happens. But it still seems unfathomable to me.”
“Thank you. That’s kind of you.”
“Kind has nothing to do with it. I am merely being honest. Big proponent of truth, myself.”
“So am I. Even more so after what I went through with…all of that.”
Graham lifted his water glass. “To honesty, then.”
“To honesty.” She clinked her glass against his. She was falling hard and fast and she was powerless to stop it. The realization frightened her. Graham seemed wonderful, but she knew so little about him. Time to fix that. “Tell me more about yourself.”
“What would you like to know? I am an open book. As much as the Official Secrets Act allows me to be.”
“You were really and truly MI6?” Paige leaned on her elbow, studying him. “And if so, what exactly did you do in D.C.?”
“I was really and truly MI6.” Graham’s mouth curved faintly. “And mostly I attended meetings that never made it onto anyone’s calendar.”
“That sounds suspiciously vague.”
“Good. It means I haven’t forgotten the rules.”
She smiled. “You were well-trained at keeping secrets, then.”
“Only the boring ones,” he said. “The interesting ones are classified.” He put his hand to his heart. “I swear it on king and country, although if we’re sticking with that honesty thing, I much prefer the late queen to her son.”
“She was truly a remarkable woman. And now, a legend.”
“Well said.” He ate a bite of lobster. “What else would you like to know?”
“How did you get into MI6?”
“I read politics at Oxford. I apparently impressed a lecturer who turned out to be a clandestine SIS talent scout. He invited me for a chat over tea. A few more informal interviews and I was invited to apply for a ‘position with the Foreign Office’.” He leaned closer.
“That’s what MI6 likes to call themselves, as if we don’t know what it means. ”
She laughed. “Sounds very James Bond.”
“It wasn’t like the films,” Graham told her. “I promise you that. No martinis or passwords. Just a very polite man who asked if I could keep a secret—and if I might be interested in doing something useful with it.” He shrugged. “And I was.”
He told her a few stories, names redacted, over dessert of crème brulee. She wasn’t ready for the evening to end, but as he paid the bill, she knew she needed to go home and have a long think about what she wanted for herself.
She’d thought she’d known. Until Graham.
The evening air was soft, tinged with the briny scent of the Gulf as Paige and Graham left the restaurant side by side, her arm through his. Their footsteps echoed against the sidewalk as the restaurant’s golden light faded behind them.
Her car was parked a block away beneath a streetlamp, the kind of spot that had seemed perfectly safe in daylight. Graham had insisted on walking her there, his Old World courtesy something she was happily adjusting to.
They were halfway down the block when a man stepped out from the shadows between two parked cars. His T-shirt and jeans were stained, his voice slurred.
“Hey—hey, beautiful, got a dollar? Or something better?” He grinned, showing a missing tooth, his leering glare implying all sorts of things.
Paige’s pulse kicked up. “Sorry, I don’t?—”
“Come on, now.” The man took another step closer, too close.
Before she could say another word, Graham shifted. It wasn’t dramatic, just a quiet, fluid movement. He stepped between Paige and the man, shoulders squared, his stance widening just enough to block her completely. His tone, when he spoke, had lost every trace of charm.
“That’s far enough.”
The words weren’t loud, but they carried. Adamant and laced with authority. The kind of tone that made you stop without knowing why.
The man hesitated, sneering. “I just want?—”
“I heard you.” Graham didn’t waver. “Now move on.”
For a heartbeat, no one moved. Then something in Graham’s posture changed—not anything angry, exactly, but commanding . The kind of move that came from someone who’d seen and dealt with worse than this.
The man’s bravado vanished. Muttering under his breath, he backed away and slouched off into the night.
Silence lingered in his wake, broken only by the whisper of wind through the palms.
Paige released the breath she’d been holding. “You didn’t even raise your voice.”
Graham turned to her, and the change was startling—the tension disappeared as his familiar warmth slid back into his features. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “Old habits. I didn’t mean to?—”
“To what?” she asked, her voice softer than she intended.
“Frighten you.”
She blinked at him, startled. “Frighten me? Graham, you just sent that man running without raising a hand. I’m fine. ”
He gave a rueful half-smile, as if not quite unconvinced. “You look a bit pale.”
“That’s adrenaline,” she said. “Not fear.” She hesitated, then added, “You were… incredible, actually.”
That drew his gaze. The steel lingering in his eyes softened, replaced by something gentler, warmer.
For a heartbeat, they simply looked at each other.
The night wrapped around them and she felt like they were the only two people on the Earth.
Then, before she could overthink it, she reached up, put her hand against his cheek, and kissed him.
It wasn’t a dramatic kiss, just quiet and steady and a little bit testing. When she drew back, his expression was equal parts surprise and wonder.
“Well, now,” he murmured, “that’s a brilliant way to say thank you.”