Maybe he’d just have to haul them all along next year to Iowa…
He quickly shut that down and turned his attention back to Linda’s furnace. Paige hadn’t even wanted to hear how he hadn’t been with another woman in six months. She definitely wouldn’t want to hear about him planning to come back next winter. And bringing a bunch of his relatives with him. She clearly was up to her neck in relatives as it was.
“I’m so glad you were able to stop by and help Paige,” Linda commented after he’d worked for a few minutes.
He didn’t miss how his heart gave an extra thunk when Linda said Paige’s name. Damn, that wasn’t good. “Happy to,” he said, trying to sound casual about the first woman he’d felt very un-casual about in a very long time. “She’s a friend of Tori’s. That makes her a friend of mine.”
That was true enough. He was very fond of his cousin’s fiancée. Everyone who knew Tori was fond of her. She was sweet and funny and had a huge heart and the way she loved Josh made her automatically a Landry family favorite. She’d made Josh happier than Mitch had ever seen him. And Josh was generally a pretty happy guy, actually, so that was saying something.
“Well, Paige is… a little difficult but she’s wonderful,” Linda said.
Mitch glanced at her before he could stop himself. “Difficult?”
Linda nodded. “I teach with her sister, Amanda, and Paige worries her.”
“Her sister?”
“She has two older sisters. Amanda is the oldest.”
The one with the kids, likely. So Linda was on Paige’s family’s side. Wanting Paige to settle down and have a family and be happy. “Paige seems to be doing okay.”
She was young. He was aware they were five years apart in age and that at her age the idea of settling down and getting married had been completely laughable to him. It still was, really. His life was good. He had everything he needed. He was happy. Was he a little addicted to a woman who lived too far away to scratch his itch as often as he’d like? Well, yeah, apparently. But if that was the worst thing that ever happened to him, he’d be just fine.
“Oh yes, of course, she’s doing okay. Her sister just worries about Paige’s decisions.”
“What decisions?” he asked. Was it okay to be talking about his fiancée’s friend? Well, Linda had brought it up.
“She runs a yoga studio. It’s not really an… essential business, you know? And she has cats. Lots of cats. Especially for such a young woman… that’s different. Every time someone asks her when she’s going to settle down or if she wants to have kids, she gets another one,” Linda said. “And she’s a vegetarian.”
Mitch hid his smile but ducking his head to study the furnace. She got another cat anytime someone asked her about settling down. That was funny.
“I thought the cat thing was an adoption center,” he commented, his face in the furnace. Tori had actually filled him in on that when she’d explained how she knew Paige. Tori had been the vet to all of Paige’s foster cats.
“It’s that,” Linda said. “Kind of.”
“Kind of?”
“Well, she calls it that, but the process to adopt a cat is crazy,” Linda said. “There’s a ton of paperwork and she does a home visit and then does follow-up visits after the cat’s been adopted for the first six months. Very few people make it past her process.”
“Has she ever taken a cat back after letting someone adopt one?”
“She has, actually. Twice.”
He couldn’t fight his grin this time. That was awesome. “So she’s protective of the cats.”
“Oh, I think she always intends to keep most of them. That’s just her way of pretending to her family that she’s not a crazy cat lady.”
Linda seemed like a nice enough lady. She really did. And he liked her decorating. But he was liking her attitude about Paige less and less all the time.
“Is it a bad thing that she likes cats?” he asked, turning the screw he was tightening a little harder than necessary.
“I suppose not. Her family just worries about some of the things she likes.”
“Why?”
“They just worry,” Linda said again. “Her business isn’t very stable, and she clearly wants to nurture something, but she’s choosing cats instead of having a family and she’s a vegetarian.”
Yeah, she’d mentioned that before too. “So her family worries because they think she’s financially vulnerable and that she actually wants children but is filling that need with cats and they’re worried she’ll…” He shook his head. “I’m not sure why they’re worried about the vegetarian thing.”
He wasn’t sure why they were worried about any of it, frankly.
“Nutrition, of course,” Linda said. “They worry about her health.”
Right. Well, he knew people who wouldn’t understand someone choosing not to eat meat too, but Paige was twenty-two. And clearly in good health. Smart, sassy, confident. She didn’t really need people telling her what to do and questioning her decisions.
And suddenly it made sense why she’d gotten annoyed when he’d pointed out that she might have needed to learn a lesson about interacting with her family.
She clearly had a lot of people questioning how she lived her life. She didn’t need a guy—especially one she barely knew—telling her that he thought she needed to give her family a break.
He pushed back from the furnace. “All done.”
Linda gave a little gasp. “Really? That’s it?”
“Yep. Good to go.” Mitch stretched to his feet.
“Oh my goodness!” Linda threw her arms around him, nearly knocking him back into the furnace. “Mitch! Thank you so much!”
He patted her back. “Happy to do it.”
She pulled back and smiled up at him. “You’re a great guy. Tori’s really lucky to have you.”
For a second he really regretted the lie. It didn’t matter in the overall scheme of things, of course. None of these people needed to know what his relationship was to Paige. Or to Tori, for that matter. But he kind of wanted them to.
Except that he and Paige didn’t really have a relationship.
But he kind of wanted them to.
At least enough that it would make sense for him to tell all of Appleby to mind their own damned business and let Paige do what she wanted however she wanted to do it.
Of course, one of those things she wanted to do was to let everyone think he was Tori’s fiancé so that they didn’t hound her about what was going on between them. So he would keep playing along.
He smiled at Linda. “Thanks.’”
Linda led him out, chatting more about the festival and how he should invite Tori and how he should be sure to stop by the booth where she and her best friends would be selling caramel apples. He, apparently, gave the correct responses because she smiled and kept talking. But the whole time he was wondering what the chances were of him talking Paige into going to the festival with him and if he’d be able to keep from holding her hand or hugging her or stealing a kiss if they did go together. That would be inappropriate for a guy engaged to her friend.
The alternative was, of course, to just stay at her apartment. In bed.
But for some reason, as amazing as that would be, he suddenly wanted to go to the festival with her. Too. He definitely wanted the bed time. But he was going to be here for a couple of days. And yeah, he wanted to make her pancakes. And he wanted to walk through a winter wonderland festival and drink hot cider with her too.
Maybe showing up early had been a bad idea.
Or maybe it had been the best idea he’d had in a long time.
He drove Paige’s car back to her studio and apartment. The streets were clear and dry, but he wondered what it would be like to drive on ice and snow. Might be kind of fun. Could be like driving through a downpour or thick mud, both of which he’d done plenty of.
He had thought about dropping by the houses where Mike and Larry were working and then swinging by the town s
quare to see if he could figure out what was going on with the electrical wiring down there, but he had to see Paige first.
He’d do all of that. He was used to pulling long days. He simply put together a to-do list at the start of the day and then worked until it was done. He’d do the same here.
But first he needed to see Paige.
He let himself in the side door of the building with the key she’d given him and took the steps up to the second floor two at a time.
He knocked.
It only took a couple of minutes for her to open the door.
She was still wearing the sweatshirt that drove him crazy and those silky pants. She gave him a smile that hit him right in the gut.
He stepped in, nearly on her toes, backing her up, and swinging the door shut behind him.
“How did it—”
He cupped her face and kissed her.
She was clearly startled but only for about two seconds. Then she was gripping his biceps and going on tiptoe and arching close.
This at least made sense.
She was a gorgeous blond with delicious curves who smelled heavenly. Of course he wanted her. That was absolutely rational. As were her responses to him. He wasn’t too full of himself, not like his cousin Owen, but he knew women found him attractive. He hadn’t slept alone for the past six months because there weren’t any women interested.
Their attraction was completely reasonable. The rest of it… the wanting to defend her and know her better and date her was all completely… unreasonable.
So they’d just focus on the part that he could explain.
He swept his tongue into her mouth as he backed her up against the nearest wall. He slid his hands down to her ass and dipped his knees to fit his cock against her softness.
She gave a quiet moan, and Mitch felt the resultant lick of fire in his belly. He pressed into her, suddenly hungry and completely focused on eliciting that same moan from her again and again.
“Mitch,” she whispered raggedly against his mouth as he curled his fingers into her ass.
“Need you, Paige.”
“Yes.”
That’s all he needed to hear. He slid his hand up under the sweatshirt that teased him with glimpses of her skin whenever she moved. He drew it up, making sure his big palm met as much of her silky skin along the way as possible. The soft cotton bunched as he dragged his hand up her rib cage, causing her to suck in a breath, and then around to her back and up to her shoulder blades.
He lifted his head, needing to see everything now. “Arms up,” he commanded softly.
She met his eyes as she followed his direction. Her arms stretched up so he could whisk the sweatshirt over her head. He tossed it to the side, his gaze on the gorgeous breasts behind the pale blue sports bra.
He cupped her breasts firmly, the wide band circling her ribs, and crisscrossed over her upper back, and, honestly, he had no idea how to get it off. There were no hooks or snaps or zippers. It occurred to him that he’d never removed a woman’s sports bra. He’d seen them, but now that he thought about it, those must have been in photos or something. Most of the bras he’d been up close and personal with were of the tiny, silky, lacy type. That was interesting. Kind of.
Paige must have read that he was stumped in his expression because she laughed lightly and then gripped the bottom of the spandex piece and pulled it up and over her head.
Just pull it off. Noted.
Then he was all about the naked breasts. Because he was really, like most guys, always all about the naked breasts. But Paige happened to have a pair of the best he’d ever seen.
“God, you’re gorgeous,” he told her gruffly as he studied her.
“Thank you.” She reached for one of his hands and brought it to her breast. “Touch me, Mitch.”
“Fucking gladly.” He cupped her, running his thumb over her hard nipple and relishing her moan.
She leaned into him, kissing him as he played with her nipple, rolling it and plucking and squeezing just hard enough to get a quick gasp and then a louder moan.
He’d just bent his knees and taken a taste when there was a knock at her door.
5
They both froze.
Then Paige’s head fell back against the wall.
“I told you,” she said.
Her family. Stopping by as predicted.
He pulled in a breath. Well, fuck.
He straightened. “Okay.”
She stepped around him and bent to grab her sweatshirt, pulling it on sans bra. He quickly grabbed that up too. Then she was pushing him toward the bathroom. “Hide in the shower.”
“What if they come look in there?”
“Josie was here while you were gone. She brought some leftovers from their dinner last night.” Paige rolled her eyes. “She checked out the kitchen. You know, to see if there were two wineglasses or signs that another person was here eating with me. So this is Amanda and she’ll fake that she needs to borrow clothes so she can check out my bedroom and see if the bed is unmade or if there are men’s socks on the floor or something.”
He grinned as he stepped into her tiny bathroom. “They’re predictable.”
“Painfully so,” she said with a nod. Then shut the door on him.
He looked around, then down at the bra in his hand, then sighed. And took a seat on the edge of the tub.
“Hi, Amanda.” He heard Paige greet her sister.
The apartment was tiny, and he appreciated how well that allowed eavesdropping.
“Hi! I can’t stay long but wondering if I could borrow your pink sweater?”
“Oh, a sweater? Sure,” Paige said.
Mitch smirked. A sister here to borrow clothes. She’d nailed it.
“Let me go grab it,” Paige said.
“I can get it. No problem.”
Mitch heard her move past the bathroom door on the way to Paige’s bedroom.
“Sure, help yourself to anything,” Paige said.
Mitch could almost picture the eye roll.
“What do you need the sweater for?” Paige asked, her voice a bit louder as if she was standing outside the bathroom and calling down the hall.
“I was going to wear it to help at Emily’s Girl Scout booth at the festival.”
“Oh, okay. So, like under your coat where no one would see it anyway.”
Mitch didn’t think Paige was buying it. He grinned.
“Well, it will be nice and warm,” Amanda answered, her voice louder. Clearly she’d moved closer to the bathroom door again.
“Sure. That makes total sense,” Paige said.
Mitch guessed her older sister noted the touch of sarcasm in her voice.
“So… things seem nice and warm up here,” Amanda said.
“Yep.”
It now sounded like they were standing right outside of the bathroom.
“I mean, you’re hardly wearing any clothes.”
“I’m wearing what I wear to teach yoga. Which I was just doing.”
“So no problem with the heat?”
“Nope, toasty warm, thanks.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want you to be cold up here. All by yourself.”
“I appreciate that. But I’ve got ways to stay warm.”
“Right.”
There was a pause. “Okay, so, you have the sweater.”
“Yep.”
No one was moving. They were definitely still standing outside the bathroom door.
“So I’ll see you at the festival maybe.”
“And you can’t stop over tonight and help the kids?”
“Sorry. I’ve got stuff to do.”
“You don’t look like you’re getting ready to go out.”
“I didn’t say I was going out.”
Finally, Amanda sighed. “Okay. Thanks for the sweater.”
“No problem.”
Wow. Mitch had to admit, Paige was good at holding her ground.
He listened to them move to the apartment doo
r and say goodbye. He heard the door shut but waited for Paige to come give him the all clear.
“You can come out,” she finally called.
He pulled the door open. She was leaning against the back of the sofa facing him.
“When I came back over here, I meant to tell you that I’m sorry I tried to tell you how to handle your family earlier,” he said from the doorway. He needed to tell her this before he got closer to her. Because then he’d touch her. And once he touched her, he’d kiss her. And once he kissed her, he’d be done talking except for telling her to take her clothes off and bend over.
And he really did want to tell her this.
He also really wanted to ask her on a date to the festival, but he was going to resist that urge, dammit. Neither of them wanted to date. Even if there wasn’t a thousand miles between them making dating pretty much impossible.
They wanted to have a hot I’m-only-in-town-for-a-couple-of-days hookup. Maybe they would call it friends with benefits, if he could come up with other reasons to come to Iowa from time to time. But other than accompanying Tori on her trips home to see her family, he couldn’t really think of anything. And he wasn’t sure that tagging along with Josh and Tori for the next twenty years or so made a lot of sense.
Paige crossed her arms and watched him. “What do you mean?”
“Earlier I told you that you needed to maybe give your family a break because they care about you. That was not my place. I don’t know your family. I don’t know how things work with your family. I don’t get to tell you how to act or react with them. I’m sorry about that.”
Her eyebrows were up by the time he finished.
She dropped her arms. “Wow.”
He stepped out of the bathroom. “I was going to go over and check in at the town square but I had to come over and tell you that first. And then…”
“You kissed me.” She gave him a little smile.
He nodded. “Well, that was your fault.”
“My fault? You started it.”
“No. You opened the door.”
“I let you in.”
He took a step closer. “Yeah, but that meant you were within reach. And whenever you’re within reach, I kind of forget about everything else but touching you.”
Oh, Fudge: Hot Cakes Book Five Page 6