by Tia Siren
“Thanks.”
Paige stood still while Shannon fretted around her, fluffing up the natural waves of her hair and adding bits of makeup. It felt as though she were Shannon’s life-sized Barbie doll that needed a makeover.
“This is perfect,” Shannon said. “Let me pay for our things, change into my own outfit, and let’s get out of here. We have to meet some people.”
“Meet wh—”
Shannon slipped out of the private changing room before Paige could finish her sentence. She turned to look back at the mirror in uncertainty. My mother would have a heart attack seeing me in this dress.
She grimaced while gathering her old clothes from the floor to shove them into a plastic bag Shannon had brought along. Opening the door, she stepped out of the changing room right as Shannon stepped out in a gold sequin dress that barely reached her upper thighs. She sparkled as she walked with a confidence that Paige inwardly wished she had.
“Are we ready to go?” Shannon asked.
“I guess,” Paige said. “Can you tell me where we are going, or who you say we are going to meet?”
They walked out into the store. Paige half expected a store employee to tell them off for wearing the dresses before they were paid for. None of them said a word. In fact, they smiled at them as they passed by.
“My brother,” Shannon replied, handing over a credit card from her small black purse. “He’s a publicist for celebrities all over the world, but he invited us out for a few drinks.”
“I’m not twenty-one though.”
Shannon leaned in to whisper into her ear. “It doesn’t matter where we are going; trust me. They don’t care as long as you flash your credit card.”
Her nerves didn’t settle as they climbed into a cab a few moments later. The sun had set behind the towering skyscrapers. Orange sunset light occasionally filtered through the alleyways and westbound streets. The entire cab ride over, Shannon talked amicably about her life in New York. Her parents were wealthy, but not like her half-brother, who had a knack for smooth talking. Shannon wanted to be a writer, but she had put that dream aside to help her brother manage his clients.
“We travel all over during the weekends,” she said. “You’d never believe how many miles you can cross in one day.”
“I imagine,” Paige replied, biting on her thumbnail nervously as the cab pulled up in front of a black building with security surrounding every corner of it. “Are we going in there?”
“We are,” Shannon said, flipping a few twenty-dollar bills to the cab driver. “This is where my brother meets with his clients. It’s a good watering hole because paparazzi can't get in, and neither can fans. There is a list too, so strangers can’t just get in.”
She didn’t doubt that. There were some beefy security guards strolling around the building with dark shades on.
“How are we going to get in then?” Paige asked.
Shannon opened the cab door. “They know my brother and me.” She slid out of the cab without waiting for Paige’s reply. “Come on. Let’s get a good table.”
Paige followed behind as quickly as her dress and heels let her. She still had no clue why Shannon had brought her here to this lounge. She didn’t even know what had prompted this type of adventure in the first place.
They were let into a nice lounge area with black tables and leather chairs. A waterfall roared down in the middle of it with soothing lights flickering off the water. The smell of rich perfume and cologne filled Paige’s lungs as she followed behind Shannon to a table next to a patio that overlooked the city. A small dance floor sparkled under the candlelight while a slow jazz song filled the atmosphere.
Sitting down on the edge of the cool leather, Paige watched as Shannon scanned the lounge quickly. Unable to take it any longer, she asked, “What’s really going on? Why did you bring me here?”
“Because I wanted to spend time with my freshman sister,” Shannon replied easily. She smiled warmly at Paige. “I’ve heard that you barely leave your dorm room during the weekends. It’s our job as senior sisters to make sure that you enjoy your time here in New York City— not hide away from a fun experience.”
“Oh,” was all Paige could think to say. Still, something felt off, but she couldn’t pinpoint it. “I’m not much of a ‘get dressed and go out’ type of girl.”
Shannon gave her a look. “I’ve noticed. You shouldn’t be trapped up in your dorm all the time. You’ll go crazy being homesick.”
“Do you miss your parents then?” Paige asked.
Dark shadows danced along Shannon’s tanned face. Her pink and glossy lips pulled into a thin line.
“My parents aren’t around, so I’m used to being on my own. Their jobs require them to be out of the country most of the time.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“Oh, there’s my brother!” Shannon exclaimed. “And Luke is with him too. I didn’t know Luke would be here.”
Paige turned in her chair to find two men dressed in casual business suits approaching them. Her eyes landed on the blond-haired man who stood tall and proud with muscles threatening to rip through the fabric of his shirt. His long blond hair was sleeked back while a shadow of a beard danced along his strong jaw. He walked confidently toward them, his eyes flicking to where Paige was seated next to Shannon.
Her heart pounded when he raked an appreciative gaze over her bare legs. Shifting them out of sight, Paige gripped the edge of her chair as the two men sat down. The one with Shannon’s same eyes and hair color took a seat next to Shannon.
“You must be Paige Scott,” he said, holding out a hand. “I’m Toby Patel. I’m Shannon’s older half-brother.”
“Nice to meet you,” Paige said.
“And this is Luke Turner,” Toby said, gesturing to the man who took a seat directly next to Paige. “He’s one of my close friends, but I’m also his assistant.”
Luke held out a large hand that appeared to be covered in callouses. She gently laid her hand in his after hesitating for a moment. His skin felt warm, but his fingers were strong when they tugged her hand forward. Paige’s heart skip erratically at the sensation of Luke’s hot lips pressed up against the skin of her knuckles.
“Pleasure is all mine,” he said smoothly. “I’ve heard many things about you.”
Paige withdrew her hand from Luke’s before she could swoon even more. Cool it, Paige. He’s just a really gorgeous man kissing your knuckles like it’s the old days.
“Like what?” she asked, her voice garbled with nerves.
He didn’t answer. The waiter returned to their table with a platter of wine glasses. Picking her glass up, Paige took a tentative sip as slowly as possible. The last time she’d had wine had been with her parents when celebrating her high school graduation. Needless to say, she’d ended up throwing up all night from the fruity wine.
Alongside her, Luke ordered a whiskey after downing his wine in one gulp. His eyes were riveted elsewhere, and it confused the hell out of her. One minute he had been charming and interested in her. Now he appeared to be distant and uninterested.
“That you are a fellow student at NYU with Shannon,” Toby answered for him. “My sister travels with us a lot, you see. We usually leave the city on the weekends. She mentioned that she had a freshman sister she had no time to spend with.”
“So that’s why we are here,” Shannon added with a smile, cradling her own wine glass with a contented sigh. “It’s nice not to be on an airplane tonight either. It felt good to just stay here in the city.”
“What made you come to New York?” Luke asked abruptly. “A small-town girl like yourself, why are you here in the city?”
Paige stared at him in confusion. “To go school, obviously. That’s the only reason I am here.”
Is he this painfully awkward for being this attractive? Or is he just uncomfortable? She glanced over to where Shannon sat with her brother at ease. Maybe it was just his personality.
“Did you go t
o college?” Paige asked.
“No,” Luke said, shrugging his shoulders. He grabbed his drink from the waiter a second later. “I grew up with a nanny and tutor. I didn’t have time for college because I was too busy working with my dad in his business.”
“What is your father’s business?”
She bit her tongue when Luke arched an eyebrow at her, a silent “are you fucking kidding me?” type of question in his eyes. She honestly had no idea who he was besides that he was probably rich judging from the expensive suit he wore.
“My father died two weeks ago,” he said a bit harshly. “Turner Oil will pass down to me within the next few months. The college experience has never exactly been on my agenda.”
Sensing a touchy subject, Paige let the conversation drop, unsure of what to say. She lifted her legs from where they were sticking to the leather chair. Oil. If he came from an oil family, there was no doubt in her mind about that. This whole night felt strange, off. She didn’t like places like this, and Shannon didn’t seem too keen on letting her know the real honest truth of why she had been brought along. She only seemed to irritate Luke, given the agitated and weighted glances he shot in her direction.
“You’re an ass tonight,” Shannon commented, signaling for another drink. “Maybe we should’ve left for the weekend. You need some stress relief apparently.”
“Stress relief sounds good to me,” Luke said. His eyes drifted to Paige again, who squirmed under the weight of his gaze. She couldn’t read those damn expressions of his. They were utterly blank, but something was hidden behind them.
“I’m sorry,” he said, leaning in with a sigh. “It was a very rough day for me at work. It takes a bit for me to calm back down. I’m honestly not a strange guy, or an asshole.”
“It’s fine,” Paige said, smiling meekly. “Everyone has their bad days. I just don’t know how I ended up here to be honest with you.”
He looked at her curiously. “Why would you wonder that?”
Paige glanced over at Shannon, who was already wrapped up in a conversation with Toby about something on his phone. “Well, for starters, I’d never once spoken with Shannon until now. That’s different, and I normally don’t go out on a Friday night either.”
“What do you do for fun then?”
“I read books,” she said, shrugging. “Or I sketch, watch a movie. Normal things.”
“I see,” he said, his eyes sparkling. “You don’t think this a normal thing? Coming out to have a few drinks with someone you might like?”
The center of her cheeks flared hotly. It had to be the wine, but Paige felt herself drifting toward him a bit. There was just a pull about him that she couldn’t explain.
“I just came here because my senior sister asked me to come out,” she said. “I really don’t have any motive for the night. Do you?”
The corner of Luke’s lips curved upward. “I have some motive, but nothing I should honestly say out loud.”
Her heart did that erratic thudding again. It occurred to her then and there that she might’ve made a mistake in coming out with Shannon in a short black dress that barely covered anything. And it terrified her to feel an attraction to a man she had just met only a few minutes ago, but who could resist a man like Luke Turner? She felt flattered just having him look at her with mild interest.
Nothing will happen though. Nothing will happen even if he expects it to. She repeated that mantra to herself as Luke’s smile turned sultry. Swallowing the bulge of nerves in her throat, Paige looked away from that hypnotic stare that wanted to put her under a spell. God help me.
Chapter Two
Luke
Thirty fucking days.
That was how long Luke Turner had. He had thirty days to find someone, pop the question, and appease Roderick Turner’s lawyer, who had delivered the news that Roderick’s last request had been that his son be married before receiving his inheritance. Luke’s father was adamant that monogamy was right and natural. He had been married to Luke’s mother for over twenty years before she’d passed away from heart disease. His mother’s death had been a nasty and grievous divide between his father and himself.
Roderick had turned to the bottle to cope. Luke had turned to the open legs of a woman to cope.
He had never heard the end of it either. Since he was sixteen, Luke could remember his father’s stern lectures about treating women with respect. They were not sexual objects to gratify his desires. He needed to find the “right” woman to settle down with.
Luke grimaced inwardly at the thought. Settling down was not, and never would be, on his to-do list. He was twenty-nine years old, and he had no intention of finding a woman to marry and start a family with.
Except, he had thirty days to do it now. Even after death, Roderick Turner had found an effective tool to bully his son into marriage. If he wanted Turner Oil, or even a penny of his inheritance, he had to be engaged and on track to be married.
That was why Toby Patel, his long-time friend and publicist, had suggested letting his sister find a naive freshman student at NYU to do the trick.
And staring across the table at Paige Scott as she twirled a finger through a curl in her hair nervously, Luke had to give props to Toby and Shannon. They knew his tastes very well.
Paige was every man’s fantasy, including Luke’s. She was a freshman student who’d never once been in a city like New York until college. She was a home-grown girl with waterfall curls and an innocent expression that took in everything around her with a sense of amazement. She didn’t come from wealth, either, from what Toby had told him on the phone. Both her parents were blue-collar and worked on a farm in Wyoming.
And she was attractive, but either didn’t believe it or she didn’t see herself the same way Luke saw her—petite, nice-shaped breasts and ass, and a slender face peppered with adorable freckles. She constantly tugged at the hemline of her dress.
He caught sight of Toby’s eyes. A wordless question echoed in them. Luke gave a sharp affirmative nod before turning in his chair to face Paige, who looked up at him with wide eyes.
“So, I’ve been told you are from Wyoming,” he said.
“Yes,” she said. “I grew up on a farm with my parents there.”
“Wyoming is beautiful.” Luke grabbed his drink from the table. That part was not a lie. He did find Wyoming beautiful, what with its rugged, windy, and grassy landscape. “I regret that I never get to spend much time up there, but when I need a retreat from the city, that’s where I find myself gravitating too.”
He saw the tension in Paige’s shoulders lessen a bit. She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, and he had a flash of wondering what it would like to nibble it himself.
“It’s a good place to get away from everything and everyone,” Paige said, her voice so quiet that he had to lean in to hear her. “Although, New York City is beautiful in its own way.”
“It is,” he agreed, nodding. “If you’re into the hustle of it, New York is beautiful.” He caught sight of paint on the tips of Paige’s fingers. “Shannon tells me you’re an art student at NYU. You were accepted through a scholarship.”
Paige glanced over at Shannon, who was busily talking to the people at the table next to theirs, not paying attention to their conversation. Toby wasn’t even paying attention. He looked bored as he scrolled through his phone with a whiskey in one hand.
“How do you know so much about me?” Paige asked a bit coolly. She gave Luke a long and intense look. “No offense, but I still don’t understand why I’m here with you, or why you seem interested in me.”
Smart and observant. He mentally added those two qualities to the list of things he did genuinely like about Paige.
“Who wouldn’t be interested in you?” he asked bluntly. “You’re attractive. You’re smart. There’s a difference between a hot woman versus a woman who is beautiful and has actual goals in life.”
“While I agree with you on the last part of that sentiment, I still don�
�t think I’m exactly your type.”
“Why not?”
He leaned in even more to close the distance between them. He could smell the pleasant aroma of sugar and vanilla on her skin.
Paige scooted away while clearing her throat. “Because I am not from the same circle you’re from.”
“That’s why I like you,” Luke said. “You aren’t from the same circle I’ve been in my entire life.”
“You don’t even know me.” She shook her head at him. “We’ve only been talking for thirty minutes. You only know details about me.”
“Enlighten me then.”
“Why should I?”
Luke chuckled deep in his chest. He had to give it to Paige. She wouldn’t make it easy for him, and that thrilled him beyond measure. She’d make it a challenge, unlike the other women who jumped easily into his bed.
“I like you,” he said, and he did. He did like her. “You’re able to see through people’s bullshit.”
“I suppose I can,” Paige said cautiously. “Look, Shannon is my senior sister. She asked me to come here with her, so I’m here only for that reason.”
He rolled his eyes. “Do things like that really matter to you freshman students?”
Shannon spoke up then, defensive. “It’s a tradition,” she said. “Don’t knock it down, Luke. You never went to college. You just did online courses.”
“I was a bit busy running a business,” Luke replied, shooting Shannon a look that instantly quieted her. “Online courses were the only thing I could do at the time.”
“And you’ve got life experience that most people would only dream of having,” Toby added, clapping Luke on the shoulder with a grin. “No one is knocking that down. The oil industry isn’t easy to navigate through.”
“Not usually,” Luke said darkly. That was the last thing he wanted to talk about—work. The oil industry was always liquid gold, but there were constant bumps in the road. The economy affected a good part of his operations. Some were shut down while others kept going, and it flipped constantly. He lost money and then made money.