Forbidden Words and Deep Secrets
CASH
“Where are we going?” Paige giggled as I dragged her behind me. We cut through the field behind the stables and down past Walker’s house.
“You’ll see,” I said over my shoulder as we rounded the path. Paige stopped in her tracks as we came into view of my surprise.
“Did you do this?” she asked, bringing her hand to her mouth.
“Why don’t you go and find out?” I pulled her forward onto the sandy shore of the lake at the back of the property.
Paige stopped at the edge of the blanket that rested on the beach and sucked in a breath. “I can’t believe you did this.”
I took in my setup as my chest puffed with pride. I could totally do this romance shit. On top of the blanket sat a basket filled with various meats and cheeses, as well as strawberries and chocolate—two of Paige’s favorite snacks.
She sank down onto her knees as I started setting everything up in front of us.
“This is all great, but I thought we shouldn’t stray from our roots,” I said with a smirk as I pulled the bottle of tequila out from the bottom of the basket.
Paige burst into laughter before she grabbed the bottle, pulled the cork out, and took a sip.
“I could never forget our start,” she cooed before handing the bottle back to me.
“That was the sexiest thing you could have done,” I said, staring at her before taking a sip from the bottle.
“Are you sure? I could probably think of something sexier.” She bit her bottom lip between her teeth, and my dick immediately came to life.
My eyes tracked to her mouth. “If you don’t stop looking at me like that then we’re not going to end up enjoying this lunch that I spent time planning and I’m going to drag you home to eat you.”
“Is that supposed to be a threat?” She arched her brow.
“You’re going to be the death of me,” I groaned as I tipped my head to the clear sky.
“Planning on it,” she said as she fucking winked at me.
“How was breakfast with your mom?”
Paige’s smile fell as she looked down and picked up a strawberry. “It was fine.”
I tracked her movements as she brought the strawberry to her lips and took a bite. Red juice from the strawberry dripped down her lip and she stuck her tongue out to lick it.
I cleared my throat and flicked my eyes up to meet hers. The look on her face told me she knew exactly how to distract me.
“Why was it just fine?” I said, attempting to stay focused on the conversation and ignore her blatant effort to try and change it.
Paige rolled her eyes and dropped the strawberry. “I mean, it was good. I love time with just my mom, but her advice was unhelpful.”
“I see, and why was it unhelpful?”
“Because she said Lottie and I have had massive fights before and this isn’t any different.”
“I think you’ll work it out.”
“Maybe,” she mumbled under her breath. She picked up the tequila and took another sip before placing it back down.
“How are you feeling about the wedding?” I asked, a little nervous for her answer.
Paige had been pretty tight-lipped when it came to her true feelings about the event next weekend, and I knew she was holding it all in.
Ever since Paige and I arrived back at the ranch a week ago, we had been in this twilight zone where we were actually a couple getting married. It was starting to scare me that none of this was real, yet it was all completely real at the same time.
“I feel fine about it.” Paige shrugged. “We’ll get through the week and then when we get back out on the road, we can discuss the next steps.”
I knew what the next steps meant and that made my heart sink. One week in, and I had somehow forgotten that Paige and I were only together so her family didn’t find out that our entire marriage was a lie.
“Yeah, it’ll be a fun party at least.” I shrugged, pushing my real feelings down and showing a mask of indifference. I couldn’t show how truly excited I was to see her walking toward me in a white dress—how happy I was to express my love in front of the entire town.
“It’ll be a great party.” She smiled at me brightly, echoing my words. “Okay, enough serious shit. Let’s play a game.”
“A game?”
“Yep.” Her smile was full of mischief. “Tell a truth, take a shot.”
I laughed as I remembered the night that started all of this. “You first, Pip.”
She didn’t hesitate. “Why haven’t you had a girlfriend since you moved to Ashton Creek?”
“Glad we’re starting with a light topic.” I chuckled before taking a swig of the tequila. “I guess because my heart wasn’t in it.”
“Why not?”
What was I supposed to say? I was hung up on the one woman I could never have? No other woman had compared to Paige, and I’d never even had her until now.
“I was hung up on someone.”
Satisfied with my answer, Paige took the bottle from me and gestured for me to ask my question.
“Did you date anyone in college?”
It was something I always wanted to know. As far as I knew, she’d never had a boyfriend in Ashton Creek. She went on a few dates in high school, but nothing that ever stuck. After college, I made sure to keep an eye on the men she was hanging around. Those four years though, they were a mystery.
Paige took her sip and shook her head. “No.”
Relief coursed through me. “Why not?”
“I was hung up on someone else,” she said without breaking eye contact. “Was there ever a moment where you almost made a move on me?” she asked quickly.
I froze. “Yes.”
“When?”
“The day you moved home from college.”
“Why?”
I leaned back on my palms. “Because it was the first time you didn’t look like yourself. You had this sexy confidence that made me want to grab you and claim you, even though I wasn’t allowed to.”
“Maybe you should have.”
“There was another time,” I admitted, questioning if I should let out this truth.
Paige furrowed her brow with a confused look.
“Your senior year of college, you called me after a party in tears.”
“I remember that,” she whispered. “I drank too much and got rejected by a guy. I wanted you to pick me up.”
I nodded. “I got in the car and drove to you.”
She gasped. “You did what?”
“I drove all night and parked outside your dorm at six in the morning. I was going to call you around nine and surprise you with roses, but about an hour later, you walked up to your building holding hands with another guy…wearing his shirt.”
“Oh my god.” She brought her hand to her mouth. “You drove all night to come to my rescue?”
I nodded again. “It was stupid. I turned around and drove home. You had a whole life and we were barely talking. You called me when you were drunk and I was stupid to think you needed saving.”
Paige crawled into my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck.
“It wasn’t stupid. Thank you for always coming to my rescue,” she whispered before kissing me. Her tongue delved into my mouth immediately as my palms slid up her back.
As I sat there with the girl of my dreams in my arms, I had to hold back from saying the three words I almost said to her in front of her dorm building five years ago.
I love you.