“So...I can’t help but notice you’ve avoided telling us anything about the other night…” she said slowly.
“Yeah. So? There’s nothing to tell. That’s why.” I fought off the vivid memories of his tongue in my mouth or his face between my legs as I said it, but despite myself I could feel my cheeks turn bright red.
Angel and Lizzy exchanged a knowing look. We had grown up together. It was nearly impossible to keep anything from them, and they weren’t buying it.
“Uh-huh,” Angel monotoned, sounding unconvinced. “You just showed him around town...and then what?”
“There was no then what,” I huffed, turning away to start sorting another rack, ignoring their prying eyes. “I went home. I went to sleep.”
It was true...even if there was a lot that happened between going home and going to sleep. They were completely unmoved and kept glaring at me, just waiting for me to crack and spill everything. I wasn’t going to give in. If I started rambling off about it all, I was worried I’d sound desperate. I’d give away to them, and to myself, that maybe I was a little disappointed with what happened...not the sex, but everything after that.
Instead, I took to reminding us all about the truth of the matter. “Look, is Nick a good-looking guy? Of course. We even had a little...fun the other night...Walking around town together, I mean. He’s charming. He has to be for his business! But let’s face it. He’s here to buy up as much of Cherry Falls as he can and turn a profit. He doesn’t care about what he destroys in the process. I had to humor him the other night so he’d agree to this whole ninety-days thing.”
They were quiet for a moment before Lizzy decided to take a stab at unraveling me. “Okay, so maybe nothing magical happened the other night, but...what if you could use this to your advantage? You could charm him and maybe even save the town in the process.”
I considered it. It wasn’t such a bad idea to use Nick’s attraction to me against him to bend him to my will. Angel and Lizzy didn’t know how certain I was of his attraction...but then again, they also didn’t know how coldly he walked away from our moment of weakness. My head was starting to spin and hurt when suddenly the bell on the front door rang out.
“We’re closed!” I called out, barely looking up.
“Delilah Meadows?” a woman’s voice questioned.
We all turned to see what I could only describe as the female equivalent of Nick and his entourage. She wore a pencil skirt suit and thin, strappy, six-inch stilettos that probably cost more than my monthly rent. It all reeked of money right up to her French-tipped nails and diamond-studded watch, which were on full display as she removed her designer sunglasses with a graceful flick of her wrist. She was obviously not from around here.
“Can I help you?” I asked, slightly stunned by her presence.
“I’m Paige Burke,” she smiled tightly. “I was sent by Nick Ransom.”
I went into mental panic mode. Who was this woman? A lawyer? She had to be a lawyer. Nick had changed his mind about our arrangement. He slept with me and then decided to go back on everything and had sent this woman to enforce his legal right to do so. Why oh why for the love of everything had I not made him put everything into writing!?
There was an awkward silence which I was vaguely aware of muttering my way through, until finally Paige explained herself.
“He hired me as an advisor. He tells me you’re revamping the store and sent me to help.”
Angel and Lizzy’s eyes grew wide and they nervously excused themselves. They knew I would not take well to this kind of thing. I didn’t like anyone telling me what to do with my store – especially someone who was so...so...not from around here.
“What...why...why would he…” I stammered with my mouth gaping, not having the slightest clue what to think about all of this...or what to do next.
But Paige seemed to think she knew what she was doing. She immediately began gliding through the store, giving everything a scrutinizing look, as she began rattling off her hasty conclusions about what needed to change...which was everything.
“There must be some kind of mistake,” I interjected finally. “I don’t know why Nick sent you here, but...I don’t need an advisor. I have a plan for the shop renovations already. So...we really don’t need you – no offense.”
“None taken,” she said in a breezy, elegant sort of way. “But he’s paying me. So you might as well put me to work. Ninety days isn’t much time to redo everything. Surely I can be of some assistance?”
The smile that flashed across her face was arrogant and manipulative, or at least that was how I saw it. Angel and Lizzy kept cringing and pretending not to watch from the far corner of the store. Meanwhile, I was on the spot. I wanted to give this woman a piece of my mind, but then she’d report back to Nick and he’d suspect that I was sour over how we left things. Out of everything that could happen from here, I could not under any circumstances let Nick know that I felt anything for him at all. Now, even my disdain for him had to be masked thanks to what happened the other night. I couldn’t let him mistake the origins of such hatred and think it had something to do with us.
“I guess a few tips or suggestions would be helpful,” I forced myself to say. “And having an extra pair of hands on deck is always good. At least for a little while.”
“Great,” she chirped, flinging her bag onto the counter.
“How is it that you know Nick anyway?” I asked against my better judgment.
This woman was flawless and composed...impossibly gorgeous. I felt like a toad standing next to her, and I hated knowing that this was the kind of woman Nick was around when he wasn’t slumming it with the likes of me.
I saw a familiar grin curl on the edge of her lips. It was the look of a woman keeping a secret. “I interviewed for a secretary position,” she explained. “He went for a different candidate but decided I’d be a better fit for this. I’ll be advising a few of the developing businesses around town. But of course...I’m all yours for the next ninety days.”
“Great,” I answered dryly while my heart shriveled up in my chest.
I was not an idiot. There was no way a woman like that and a guy like Nick hadn’t ended up in bed together. Or if they hadn’t yet, they soon would. Maybe that was why she was here. He had to find her some kind of work to keep her around town until he had a chance to make his move.
The worst thing about it was...Paige was the kind of woman Nick would actually have a relationship with. I could see it so clearly. She was the kind of woman that he would stay and have breakfast with the next morning.
12
Nick
I was feeling great about everything. I had gifted the services of Paige Burke over to Del, and now I didn’t have to feel an ounce of guilt about whatever happened between us the other night or what she was going through with her store. At least, I was feeling great until I heard the sounds of my secretary shouting in the lobby.
“You can’t go in there! Ma’am! Please!”
Another woman yelled back at her over the sounds of her feet pounding right toward my door, despite my secretary’s pleas. Somehow I knew it would be Del waiting on the other side of that door, and I was right. It flung open with my secretary still desperately trying to control a fuming, disheveled Del.