Chapter 14
Nick
I push the card into the door and there she is. What the fuck is she doing in here, lying on the couch, sipping wine in trashy lingerie. I drop my bags and close the door.
“Nick. I see you’ve finally arrived.” She tips her glass toward me, her feet propped up on the couch, looking every bit the poisonous temptress she is.
“What the hell are you doing in here? Get your damn feet off my couch.” I pick her legs up and swing them off the cream couch.
She makes an indignant face, champagne spilling down her chest; she squeals and jumps to her feet, her bountiful assets bouncing up and down like they’re on springs.
If I didn’t know her ways—and I wasn’t completely in love and committed to Cat—she would be hard to resist.
“What the hell, Nick!” She snaps, grabbing the napkin off the champagne bottle to dry herself.
“You need to get out.” I grab her arm and start hauling her to the door
“Nick, what are you doing? I’m not dressed, you can’t put me out!”
“Why not? This is my room.”
She grabs my other hand to stop me from opening the door, looking distressed.
“This is our room. There are no more rooms available. Your assistant made a mistake; he booked us into the same room. He must have thought we had the same arrangements we used to have when we went away on business together.”
“Fuck! Fucking Steve!” My assistant would set it up so we were placed in the same room. I didn’t tell him the arrangement was over. No one knew about Paige and me, so he wouldn’t know we were over unless I told him directly.
“It’s the middle of the night, and I have nowhere else to go. All my things are already in the room. I asked if there was another room available, but there’s none, they’re all booked. Please, Nick,” she pleads.
Dammit. I’m a fucking idiot for forgetting to tell Steve. “Dine. Tonight only. Tomorrow I want you out.”
“Thank you.”
“Put some goddamn clothes on. You can keep the room; I’ll sleep out here on the couch.”
“All right. Goodnight.” She walks past me to the room, fixing the little she’s wearing.
I watch her close the door and I slump down on the couch, running my hand over my face and through my hair.
If Cat finds out I spent the night with her in a hotel room, she’s going to freak the fuck out.
And I’m backed into a corner of my own making.
I can’t tell her. If I do, she’s going to say, “Why didn’t you tell me she was going on this business trip with you?
Hell, why didn’t you tell me she works with you?
” All good questions. I just wanted to keep her from working overtime in her head about something happening with me and Paige.
I reach in my pocket and pull my phone out, staring at Cat’s picture on the lock screen. She’s so pretty, her almond-shaped deep brown eyes smiling at me. I’m fucked if she finds out. I can’t tell her now. I’m going to look fucking guilty for something I didn’t do.
I fall asleep looking at Cat’s picture on my phone; in the morning, I make sure I get up before Paige and head out to the L.A.
offices of Alexander and Alexander. This way, I stick to the plan of only seeing her during business hours.
The first thing I did was ask the front desk in the hotel if they had another room available.
They don’t. How the hell can they not have another room available in a five-star hotel for at least another three days?
By then I’ll be flying back home. I’m sitting in my office when there’s a knock at the door.
“Come in.”
“Nick, I have some papers I need you to look over and sign.”
Paige steps in, closing the door behind her. I take the papers and give them a onceover while she stands and waits for me to finish. “Doesn’t my father have to sign these too?”
“Since it was a joint venture and you both have an equal share, on this particular document I only need one of your signatures. You’re here, he’s not.”
I look up at her with the papers in my hand.
She knows my father. He wants to see everything, no matter how insignificant one might think it is, and I’m the same way.
I’m not signing anything until he has a chance to look it over.
When you’re investing millions in a company, you have to make sure every T is crossed and every I is dotted.
I raise an eyebrow at her, and she smiles at me, lips pressed together like she’s amused.
“I already sent a copy to your father; he looked it over. You can call him if you want. I’m sure he’ll be in touch with you soon. I know your father’s policy and yours. Nothing is too insignificant—t’s and i’s.”
I crack a smile before I sign the papers and hand them back to her, as if she’s reading my mind. She was good at that, knowing what I was thinking and wanted…for a time, then things changed.
“Nick?” she says with the papers in her hand.
“Yes?”
“We don’t have to be like this.”
“Like what, Paige?”
“You acting hostile toward me, as if I’m going to attack you. It’s not my fault we ended up sharing a suite. The least you can do is be civil to me. You’re treating me like I intentionally set this up. You’re acting like you hate me. Did I do something wrong?”
I sit back in my chair, rolling my pen between my fingers.
If I didn’t know better, I would say she was about to shed a tear from the look on her face.
She’s in four-inch heels that match her fitted-to-every-curve skirt suit.
Her long blond hair is pulled back at the side, showing her high cheekbones and peaches-and-cream skin.
The first time I saw her, I thought she was too beautiful for words to describe.
Like my father said, she reminded me of a sweet Georgia peach I wanted to sink my teeth into, and I did—many times.
The peach was great, then it turned sour, leaving a bad taste in my mouth when she fucked one of my business partners.
“No, Paige, you did nothing wrong. I’m in a relationship. You staying in my room is not something she would appreciate.”
“Oh…I understand. We’re mature adults, Nick, I think we can stay in the same room without having sex.”
“I know we’re not going to have sex. I’m not worried about that. I have no interest in having any kind of sex with you.”
She runs a manicured finger over her eyebrow. “Always so honest, aren’t you?”
“I try to be, so there is no misunderstanding. You can stay in the room because there’s not another one available. I checked.”
“This girl, is she the same girl you were with before?”
“Yes, the same woman I was with before. She gave me a second chance.”
“She must be some girl, to tame you.”
I smile and nod my head. “She’s someone special.”
She pulls her lips together and lets out a breath, putting a smile on her face. “Okay, I have what I came for.” She holds up the papers for me to see. “I’ll see you back at the hotel later.”
She reaches the door and I call her name. “Paige.”
“Yes.” She turns her head with her hand on the knob.
“You need to keep your clothes on. You’re going to find another hotel if I see you walking around in another piece of whatever you had on last night.”
“Got it. You have to keep it clean for your new girl. I will put my goodies away, but it’s not like you haven’t seen them before. They’re still as good as you remember.”
“See, talk like that will get you kicked out.”
“I’ll behave myself. I promise.” She winks at me over her shoulder before closing the door, and I slump back into my chair.
“I hope I don’t end up regretting this decision.” But truthfully, I’m regretting it already.
It’s late when I get back to the hotel. I take a quick shower and lie down on the couch.
Before I came back to the hotel I spoke to Cat; I didn’t want to call her with Paige in the hotel room.
She’d probably say something out loud so Cat could hear her.
I don’t need that shit. And the less time spent with Paige the better.
I’m watching the news channel when Paige comes out of her room.
She sits right next to me, like I invited her to.
I keep my eyes focused on the news with a bored expression on my face.
I do notice she is fully dressed in silk pajama pants and the matching long-sleeved shirt.
“You like? I’m fully dressed, like you requested.”
“I didn’t know you owned sleep attire that provided you with this much coverage.”
“I don’t. I had to buy this before I came back to the hotel. Do you approve?”
“Yes.” I flip through the channels, not really interested in anything besides going to bed. I’m wondering if I have to tell her to get the hell up. I’m ready to sleep and I can’t speak to the one person whose voice I want to hear. I’m getting irritated.
“Nick.”
“What?” I growl, not interested in conversation.
“Can’t we talk without you snapping at me?”
“What do you want, Paige?”
“I just want to talk. You’re hurting my feelings. You’re treating me like I’m a parasite. We used to be able to talk before—”
“Before you screwed my business partner.”
“You’re still angry with me.”
“I’ve moved on past that.”
“Have you?”
“I’m with someone I love, who loves me. I don’t spend time thinking about you and what we used to have. I’m in a good place, and I want to keep it that way.”
“Love? I don’t think you ever said those words unless prompted by me first, when we were together and lived together. Are you living with her?”
“Look, Paige, I’m not going to talk about my relationship. You know I like to keep my personal life separate from business. You of all people should know what happens when I don’t.”
“Nick, I said I was sorry for that. You hurt me when you said you weren’t sure you ever wanted to marry me.
When you told me you thought we needed some time apart, I was angry.
I did something stupid that I wish I could take back.
We were good together. We could still be good together.
We’re a match in the boardroom, courtroom, and in the bedroom. ”