by Ellen Devlin
He just looked at her.
“Yeah, okay, never mind. It was always pretty bad.” Sitting back on the bench, she said, “Some of the best people in my life were my teachers. Ones that cared about their students. That noticed really low self-esteem, for instance, and subtly went about trying to help. That kind of thing.”
Chris pulled her in and kissed her forehead. “And so you became a teacher. God, Paige, I don’t deserve you.”
She laughed out loud and said, “Are you kidding me, Chris? You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me.” Her eyes welled up. “And you just stood up for me to my mother, in a completely calm and rational way, without causing a scene, but without letting her get away with trying to tear me down.” She shook her head. “I don’t even know how you did that. I have never been able to respond without ending up in hysterics of some form or another.”
“Baby, I don’t even know how that happened, because I saw red the minute she started insulting you. Us. What we have.” He sat up and took a deep breath. “Part of me was ready to tear the entire house apart.”
“I’ve realized that I go into ‘fight or flight’ mode when I’m there.” Paige leaned into his shoulder, and he put his arm around her. “My brain actually treats visits with my mother as literal life-or-death situations.” Looking up into his eyes, she said, “And you, Chris, just swooped in with your shining armor and your white horse and saved me. Pretty impressive.”
“I don’t want you to ever see her again, Paige. I know that’s not completely reasonable to ask of you, but my God, I am still so angry.”
“I get it. But you know what?” She started smiling. “For the first time, ever, I do not feel guilty about leaving. This is the first time that I have left like this where I don’t feel a kind of pull, some form of obligation, to turn around and try to apologize or smooth things over. This feels like a new start, Chris, and I am so grateful.”
***
They met up with Becca, Margot, and Jose for breakfast the next morning. Chris had offered to drive them straight home the night before, but Paige had decided she wanted to show him some of the area where she grew up, to share some of the happier memories.
To leave the area on her terms, in her time, and not because she needed to escape.
To spend happy quality time with her sister and her niece, so they could get to know Chris better without interference.
As they were leaving the diner, Becca pulled Paige a little to the side, gesturing for Jose and Margot to head to the car, but motioning for Chris to stay.
“It’s over, Paige. I’m done. After you left last night, I told her I wouldn’t see her again until she got help. That I wouldn’t accept any phone calls unless they were coming from an in-patient rehab facility. I can’t tell you what to do,” she continued with a small smile, “but I would strongly suggest that you do the same.”
Paige looked stunned, and Chris took her hand as Becca turned to address him.
“Thank you, Chris.” She smiled warmly, but her eyes were bright. “Thank you for taking care of my little sister. I should have been doing that all this time.”
Paige started to protest, but Becca stopped her.
“Don’t, Paige. Don’t make excuses for me. I had my own reasons, and my own damage, but that doesn’t mean what I said isn’t true. I know you don’t need anyone to help you, but I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see you two together.”
Paige asked, “How does Margot feel about this?”
Becca gave a wry laugh. “She’s so much smarter than we ever were, Paige. She said, and I quote, ‘Grammy has been making you unhappy for a long time, Mom. Don’t worry about me. She’s sick and needs help.’”
“Wow.” The one word was inadequate to convey how impressed she was by this, but her face and tone showed it.
“Right?” Becca said. “Seriously, I should have done this a long time ago. I apologized to Jose last night, because I have let Mom say the most horrible things about him, and to him, without taking this stand. Like I said,” she hugged Paige and then Chris, “this was long overdue.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Liz was waiting on the sidewalk outside of her office building; Paige was supposed to be meeting her to go to lunch to celebrate the end of the school year. She wasn’t even looking at the car that pulled up in front of the building until Paige rolled the passenger window down and called her.
“Liz! Come on, get in!”
“What’s this?” Liz asked as she got into the car. “I thought we were just meeting for lunch. I figured we were going to walk down the street or grab something from a food truck, and I expected you to show up by Metro. Where are we going? And why?” She laughed for a moment and then added, “Not that I’m complaining. I haven’t gone away from the office for lunch in a hundred forevers.”
“I got a wild hair and wanted to do something fun and different. I called your boss to make sure it would be all right for you to take a really long lunch.”
“Really? You called Jason?” Liz turned in her seat to look at Paige. “What did he say?” She started to look suspicious and said, “What’s really going on?”
“We’re going to Old Town for lunch!” Paige chirped. “Chris is going to join us, and we have a reservation at DiNatali Brothers.”
“Ooh, really? I’m suddenly very hungry.”
Paige laughed, and they spent some time discussing the menu and then moved on to other topics, chatting until they pulled up in the middle of Old Town Alexandria, on King Street, where Paige maneuvered the car into a parking garage.
“I thought the restaurant was further down toward the waterfront,” Liz commented as they reached street level.
“It is,” said Paige, “But parking is easier here, and I’ve got a quick errand to run after lunch. We have a little bit of time until the reservation, and it’s not a long walk.”
Chris was waiting for them outside of the garage, looking as handsome as ever in suit pants and a crisp white shirt, sleeves rolled to the elbows and top buttons undone.
“Damn, Paige, the guy could be a model if he wanted to,” Liz whispered to Paige, nudging her with her elbow.
“I know, right?” Paige whispered back, surprising Liz, who had expected some type of half-hearted admonishment.
“Hey, two beautiful women! Must be my lucky day.”
Chris greeted Liz with a hug and Paige with a sweet lingering kiss, and Liz paused a moment to take in the happiness that practically glowed between them.
“You two are so damn cute together,” she said with a grin. “But let’s get this lunch show on the road, because now I’m dying for pasta!”
The three of them strolled the few blocks to the restaurant, chatting about nothing in particular and enjoying the lovely weather. There was uncharacteristically low humidity, and the light breeze kept the sun from feeling uncomfortably hot. Once they arrived, they enjoyed a leisurely lunch that fulfilled all of Liz’s expectations.
The three of them took their time afterward as well, walking slowly back toward the parking garage, chatting and window-shopping. They stopped when Paige said, “We still have an errand to run, so come on, Liz, while we duck in here. Shouldn’t take too long, and don’t worry, Jason was very nice when I asked him to borrow you for such a long time today.”
“What’s the errand?” Liz asked. She looked up at the building as they were walking toward it, stopped suddenly, and her eyes got wide. “No,” she whispered and looked over at Chris and Paige, who were grinning at her. “Really?”
“Really.”
“Oh my God oh my God oh my God, no way!” Liz was beside herself, practically dancing on the sidewalk, and Chris and Paige had started laughing. “What are you waiting for? Come on! You’re getting married!” She squeezed between them, grabbing them both and dragging them to the doorway of the courthouse.
***
Vows were said, the bride was kissed, paperwork was signed. Laughter, tears, and hugs.
Liz whispered, “I love you both so much,” as she squeezed them tightly. “Thank you for including me.”
“So you wanna house-sit for a few weeks?” Paige asked, dangling keys in front of her.
“What? Are you kidding?” Liz snatched the keys from her, making Chris laugh. “Damn right! A pool…mmm…and a full liquor cabinet…”
“Hey, hang on there…” Chris teased.
“Ample space for a keg party…”
“Wait a minute.” Chris nudged her. “We want to get the house back in the same condition as when we left. Just to make that clear.”
“So where are you going?”
Paige raised her eyebrows and looked to Chris. “Well, that’s a good question, isn’t it? All I know is that there’s a beach involved, which he only grudgingly told me so that I could pack properly. Everything else has been a tightly kept secret.”
Chris was grinning. “Well, baby, how about if I tell you when we’re in the limo on the way to the airport?” He put his hand around Paige’s waist, leading her out the front doors where an enormous black stretch limo was waiting for them.
Liz gave a low whistle. “Holy crap, Chris! You went all out.”
Paige was staring and said, “But my car is here…”
Liz answered, “Just give me your car keys too. I’ll take care of it, Paige. No worries.” She gave Chris a kiss on the cheek and one more hug to Paige. “Text me when you get there. And have an amazing time.” She snapped a quick picture of them next to the limo and then went back to the garage for Paige’s car to head back to work.
“Do you like it, Mrs. Beckman?” Chris whispered in her ear.
Giving a start, Paige turned to him, wide-eyed. “I love it.” She giggled and added, “Mr. Beckman.”
The driver held the door open, and Paige, feeling like she was floating on air, stepped inside.
Chris followed, and when they were sitting together, Chris said, “How does Hawaii sound to you?”
Paige put her head back against the seat and sighed, smiling. “Like a dream come true.”
***
“Hey, Micky!”
“Becks! How’s life? How’s rehab going?”
Chris shifted the phone to his other ear and turned to look at Paige. He grinned and gave her a wink. “Well, for the next two weeks, rehab is going to consist of lying on a beach in Hawaii and banging my wife, so I’d say it’s going just fine.”
Micky started laughing but stopped short when his brain caught up to all of the words Chris had actually said.
“Ha! Wait, what? Your what? Your wife? Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Dead serious, my friend.”
Paige could clearly hear the shouts of laughter through the phone, loud enough that Chris held the phone away from his ear.
“Holy shit, Becks!” More laughter. “Oh my God, I can’t believe it. That is fantastic, my brother. Congratulations, Becks. My mom will be thrilled. She loves Paige already. Wait, when did this happen?”
“Like twenty minutes ago. We’re in the limo.”
Chris could not stop grinning. It was adorable.
They chatted for a few minutes, trying to figure out a time to get together…Chris and Paige had already decided to host a house warming/pool party at the end of July, but Micky would be in Rome with his parents and youngest sister to celebrate her graduation.
“I think we’re going to come to Minnesota for a while in August. You going to be around then?”
Micky thought for a minute and said, “Yeah, I think that will work out. Let’s touch base later and figure details. I’ve barely had a day to get to know your wife.” Chris heard him chuckle to himself. “Wife. Shit, Becks. That’s a helluva thing.”
“Do you want to talk to her?”
“Yes! Put her on the phone!” Chris passed the phone to Paige.
“Hi, Micky!”
“I have a new sister-in-law! Congrats, Paige. I’m really happy for you guys.” Micky’s voice was joyful.
“Thank you! I’m pretty damn happy, myself.”
“I am looking forward to getting to know you better. We’ll figure out times to get together. It’s a pain trying to work around schedules, but we will make it happen.”
“Absolutely. Looking forward to it.”
Micky got quiet for a moment and then said, “Paige?” in a voice that was far more serious.
“Yes, Micky?”
Micky paused again and then, quietly, with a bit of a rasp, said, “Be good to him, okay? Please. He deserves it.”
Paige blinked back a tear at the raw emotion she heard in his voice and replied, “I will, Micky. I promise.”
She handed the phone back to Chris, and the two men finished up their conversation. Chris hung up, tossed the phone on the seat next to him, and turned to Paige.
“That’s it, baby. Obligations fulfilled. Everyone knows that needs to know, and now it’s just you and me. For two weeks.”
He put his hand on her knee and dropped his gaze to watch as he drew his hand ever so slowly up the inside of her leg.
Her breath hitched slightly, and she said, “Chris!” in a voice that was a little surprised and a little turned on.
“Mmm?” Chris hummed his question back to her, still watching his hand slowly push up the skirt of her sundress.
She gasped a little as he reached mid-thigh and was unable to keep from relaxing her legs, allowing them to part slightly to afford him room.
“What about the driver?” The question sounded breathy, and Chris looked up in time to see her put her head back and close her eyes.
He smiled, shifted his hand higher still, and said, “There’s a privacy barrier. I asked him to keep it in place until we get to the airport.” Moving his lips to her throat, he dragged his mouth up to her ear and said, “And I told him to drive around wherever he needed to be sure we had at least two hours alone together in the back of this limo.”
Paige’s lips were parted, and her cheeks were flushed. Chris watched her eyelashes flutter against her cheeks as he moved his hand further up her thigh, coming closer to her panties, and felt her legs part further for him.
“I’ve been thinking about this. About you.” He had reached the edge of her satiny underwear and moved his finger to graze against it with the briefest of touches.
A quiet, breathy, “Oh,” escaped her lips, and she opened her legs to him completely. He smiled against her cheek and, with just barely more pressure, dragged three fingers along the soft fabric from her entrance to her clit, allowing his thumb and pinky to run along the edges of her panties, along the sensitive skin there.
The flush had spread down her neck, turning the skin of her upper chest a beautiful pink.
Chris dragged his fingers back and forth along her crotch, teasing through the silky fabric, and Paige squirmed. He felt her heat through her panties and whispered in her ear, “Baby, you’re getting wet. I can feel it.”
She whimpered.
“I’ve been thinking about what I would say to you, my beautiful word junkie.” He used his middle finger to apply more pressure, drawing it slowly up through the valley of her labia as he continued to whisper to her. “I thought that maybe you would like it if I talked dirty to you too.” He moved up over her clit with a little more pressure, hearing her gasp.
“But then I thought…” he said, reaching the top of her underwear and slowly sliding his fingers in reverse, down inside her panties. “I thought that maybe…” He had reached her clit again, and she moaned. “Maybe it would turn you on even more…” He reached her entrance and said, “…if I told you what it feels like when I slide inside you,” as he pushed his finger slowly into her depths.
“Oh God.” She was panting. “Chris…”
“It’s like heaven, Paige.” His voice was rough and soft at the same time, and he pressed into her and began moving slowly in and out. “It’s like sliding into a soft, hot, wet, velvet glove.”
Paige was breathing hard, moving agains
t his hand, eyes closed, drowning in his words.
“When I slide deep inside you, when I feel your slick heat holding me so tight…” He pressed a second finger into her, and she moaned again. “When I’m as deep in you as it’s possible to be…” He moved his thumb to her clit, and she cried out, shifting her hips against his hand. “Baby, it feels like I’m home.”
“Oh God, Chris!” She no longer cared if the driver could hear her.
“I don’t want to move, because it feels so good to have you pressed around me, and I don’t want it to end.” He brought her earlobe into his mouth and briefly sucked and nibbled on it before continuing.
“But it’s impossible not to move with you, to move in you, to feel that satin friction between us. To feel the tension building.” He increased the speed of his movements, rocking his fingers into her faster as she rocked her body against him.
“And, baby, watching you come is the most exquisitely beautiful sight I have ever seen.” Paige gripped his shirt, grinding against him as he sped up again.
He leaned into her ear and said, “Come for me, Paige. Come for me.”
Paige shuddered, and spasmed, and screamed, and Chris captured her scream with a hard kiss, holding her to him with one arm as she rode through her orgasm on his hand, then slowly sliding his fingers from her when the spasms were finally done.
“Oh God, Chris.” Paige looked over to see him smiling at her. She felt almost unhinged, disconnected. She chuckled for a moment and then said, “I didn’t know that you would say…stuff. And that I would like it.”
Chris brought his fingers up and put them in his mouth, tasting her. He closed his eyes and made a sound of desire.
“I was torn between doing that and going down on you,” he said, eyes dark with lust. “God, I love going down on you.” His voice was getting lower, and he started fondling her breast with one hand. “I just couldn’t figure out a way to talk to you at the same time.”
He was circling her nipple; Paige was beginning to pant again.
“I love teasing you with my tongue. I love having my head between your thighs. I love feeling you grind against my face.” His voice was rough, and he shifted to be able to use both hands on her breasts. “It makes me so hard. The smell of you; I came so fucking hard when you left your panties for me.”