by Mj Fields
“So leave.” He picks me up then sets me down and stands. “But if I’m right, and you’re carrying my child—”
“Neither of us are in any position to have a child.”
He stops and shakes his head. “I’m not either one of my parents, Paige. I won’t—”
“I never said you were.” I stand up as he throws his clothes on and turns his back to me.
In the moonlight, I see the scars, and my heart tightens.
I walk up to him and wrap my arms around him, resting the side of my head to his back. “I know you’re not.”
His body is stiff like stone, but I don’t let go.
After several minutes of both of us barely breathing, he takes in a deep breath and almost barks, “Stay with me tonight.”
“Ask me nicely.”
“Please stay with me tonight.” He turns around and looks at me.
I shake my head, silently scolding myself. “I can’t.”
“Fine,” he snaps, taking my hand and starting to lead me toward the exit.
I yank our hands back, and he turns to look at me like he always does—with annoyance.
“I’m not being difficult, Vincent. I get seasick.”
“Then we sleep up here.” He nods. “I’ll—”
“My dad just came home.”
“Did your dog eat your homework?” he huffs. “Is that what comes—”
“Stop being an asshole.”
“Stop being a …” He stops and turns his back to me.
I smack myself in the head, trying to drive out what I want to say, but it doesn’t work, “Come stay with me.”
He turns and looks at me. “Your father.”
I shrug. “Sneak in my window.”
His eyes narrow, but he looks kind of amused. “Sneak in?”
I nod. “Sneak in.”
“How the hell would that work?”
“I’ll open my window, and you’ll crawl in.”
“Aren’t we a bit too old for that?”
I shrug.
He rubs his hand up and down his chin as he thinks. “How many guys have snuck through your window, Paige?”
“None.”
“I’ll need to get here early,” he says, thinking out loud.
“You can sneak out when Pace leaves.”
“Do you really want me to?”
I smile and nod. “Yes, yes, I do.”
“We won’t get any sleep.”
I laugh. “If you come over, we’re just sleeping. That’s it.”
He looks me up and down. “Then tomorrow, you better figure out a way to make it up to me.”
“Make it up to you?” I laugh again.
As he walks away, he simply says, “Yes. Give me ten. I need a shower.”
Opening the window of my bedroom, I feel like a kid breaking a rule. My God, it feels good.
“Took you long enough,” he whispers, pulling himself inside.
“My parents were awake.” I take his hand and pull him toward my full-sized bed. “And I needed a shower.”
I let go of his hand to pull down the duvet and climb in.
“You’re seriously wearing all those clothes to bed?”
I look down at my tank top and sleep shorts. “It’s what I wear.” I pat the spot next to me. “Come on; I’m exhausted.”
He pulls off his shirt and toes off his sneakers then climbs in.
“How do you like to sleep?” I ask.
“What do you mean?” he asks, lying back, his hands behind his neck.
“Back to back?”
He shakes his head, and I inwardly cheer.
“On my back, your head on my chest.”
I have always hated sharing a bed with a man. I like my space, and head to chest means I will likely hear him snore, or it will get too damn hot. But, as I have discovered in the past, as soon as they fall asleep, I can move to the other side.
I lie down, putting my head on his chest, and try not to move. He puts his arms around my back and rests his hand on my hip.
I close my eyes and whisper, “Good night, Vincent.”
“Mostly,” he says through a yawn.
“Mostly?”
“It was mostly a good night. Tomorrow should be better.”
Chapter 16
Who Says
Vincent
I awake with her snuggled up against me, arm and leg thrown over me, and my arms are still around her. I have no clue what time it is, but I know I should get the hell up. However, I’m really fucking comfortable, so I close my eyes.
It seemed like a good idea … until I hear someone banging on her door, and she jumps up, startled.
“Pea, I’d like to talk to you.”
“Shit, it’s my dad.” She rolls over and falls to the ground. “Dammit!”
I get up and walk over to help her up.
“Go.” She whimpers as she tries to sit up. “Fuck!”
“Pea, I’m coming in.”
“I’ll be just a minute.”
As the door swings open, I keep my eyes locked on hers.
“Daddy.” She smiles as she again attempts to sit up. “This is Vincent. Vincent, Daddy. And I know I’ve got some explaining to do, but I’m pretty sure my shoulder is dislocated, so could we hold off until I get it checked out?”
“You sure?” her father asks.
“Always am.” She smiles through her obvious pain.
“Jesus, Paige.” I shove my hands under her and pick her up as she whimpers again. “Does this happen often?”
“A few times … in the past. Just set me on the bed. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
I see her arm awkwardly positioned and cringe.
“Everything okay?” I hear her mom ask.
Then Babička says, “Stephan?”
I look back and smile. “Good morning, ladies.” I glance at Paige, who bites her lower lip.
“I looked for you in the garden, Stephan.” Babička walks up to me and hugs me. “I thought maybe you had left.”
I give her a quick hug and watch Paige’s mom hold her hand over her heart while Paige’s dad’s eyes narrow at me.
“Not yet, but I’m going to be soon,” I tell her, stepping back.
“Where are you going?’ she asks in confusion.
“He’s gonna drive me to the doctors. I popped my shoulder again,” Paige says.
Babička looks at her oddly for a few seconds. Arms still around me, she then looks up at me. “Oh, well, um …”
I smile. “She’s going to be fine.”
She leans in and whispers, “You aren’t my Stephan, are you?”
I shake my head.
She steps back. “Sometimes I get confused.”
“We all do, Babička.”
She smiles big now. “Are you the young man who held my hand under the table last night?’
I nod. “Guilty.”
“Now, why would you do that?” She grins bigger.
“Apparently, I was confused. I think you reminded me of your granddaughter.”
She laughs. “How so?”
“You’re both beautiful.” I wink.
She turns around and looks at Paige. “Oh, I like him, sweet pea.”
Paige smiles back. “Me, too.”
“Good, keep him. He’s handsome.” She leans toward her and whispers, “He also has a very nice upper body.” She turns back and whispers to me, “Would you like some advice?”
I nod.
“Keep the shirt off.”
“Mom!” Mrs. Arneson gasps.
“I’m old, Patsy, not dead.”
I look at Paige. “What can I get for you?”
“A sweatshirt.” She nods toward the closet. “Leggings, too.”
I pull out the first one I see and quickly put it back, digging around until I find one that zips.
“That one was fine, Vincent.”
When I turn around, her mom and grandmother are looking at me differently.
I hold up the zipper f
ront sweatshirt. “This one will be less painful.”
I turn back around and realize I’m shirtless. Fuck.
I find a pair of leggings and turn around, all eyes are focused on Paige now, all of them with questions in their eyes.
I walk over and kneel in front of her, not giving a damn about my back. They have already seen it.
“Feet.”
She smiles and pushes one in, then the next.
I wrap my hand around her back from the left. “Ready?”
She nods, and I try to be as careful as I can. When she whimpers, I whisper, “I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault.”
“I need my shoes.”
She nods and lets go of my shoulder.
I grab my shirt and throw it over my shoulder. Then I shove my feet in my socks and sneakers.
“I need to use the bathroom.”
“Okay,” I tell her as I pull her pants up the rest of the way.
I follow her to the bathroom, and she looks back at me.
“What?”
“I’ll help you, Paige,” her mom says, walking past me.
Shit, right, I think as I step back.
I hear her dad clear his throat and turn to face the music, or fist, or whatever he has to dish out.
“Good morning.” I thrust my hand out to him, and he just looks at me.
Evan Arneson is nearly my height. He has light hair and blue eyes that are carried on by his children.
“I can take my daughter to the doctors.”
“I was under the impression you just had surgery and needed to continue resting so you can properly heal,” I say, bringing my hand back and shoving it in my pocket. “Which would put you back in the helm quicker.”
He turns and waves for me to follow him, so I do.
Walking into the kitchen, he tells me, “Already been to the marina this morning; did some fishing.”
Thank fuck he wants to talk fishing. It’s much less awkward than talking about the fucking elephant in the room.
He points to the table. “Had some interesting catches.”
In an effort to keep the conversation flowing, I step around him to see what he caught. On the table is a soaked box of condoms and a ripped bra.
I look at him. “I wouldn’t eat those if I were you.”
“Eat what?” Paige asks as she enters the kitchen.
Evan and I stare at each other as she continues toward us.
She stops quickly, and when I look at her, she shakes her head.
“Daddy, I agree with Vincent.”
“Goddammit, Paige,” he sneers.
“As you can see, the box is full.” She smiles brightly and fake as hell. “And the bra—”
“I don’t want to hear about it. Just … For God’s sake, do you even know him!”
“I told you last night I did.” She walks over and kisses the top of his head. “I also told you that you raised a smart girl and—”
“That I was an idiot for not coming to you, and then this … this … asshole wouldn’t be here,” Evan sneers.
“You called me an asshole?” I ask her, and she shakes her head.
“Evan, that’s enough,” his wife says as she sits next to him.
“I agree for now it is, since your daughter’s arm is jacked and I’m sure she’d like to get it fixed. But Evan, I can assure you this … this … purchase was a business move.”
The way he looks at me, like I’m a fucking idiot, would piss me off, if it wasn’t for the fact that what I just said is complete and total bullshit.
“One brought on because there is something between Paige and me that needs further exploration, and because Warren Black is a piece of shit who—”
“You ready?” Paige interrupts.
I nod and look back at Evan. “It’s also a smart business move.”
He nods then looks at Paige and shakes his head, a ghost of a smile spreading across his lips, but it disappears as soon as he sees me looking at him.
“Are you going to take my little girl to the doctors, or am I?” he snaps.
I feel my eyebrow raising, and Paige nudges me. “Let’s go.”
“Do you have a vehicle?” Evan’s question stops me dead in my tracks.
I look back. “No, but I will by the end of the day.”
“Paige, this joker doesn’t even have a vehicle.”
She laughs and shakes her head. “He has a ship.”
“A boat,” I correct.
He pulls the keys from his pocket and dangles them like a carrot. “You can borrow my vehicle if I can borrow yours.”
He is out of his fucking mind if he thinks my million-dollar yacht will have anyone driving it besides me.
Paige nudges me, and I look at her.
I hear Evan stand and look back as he walks toward us.
“The way you feel about a yacht, multiply that times a million, add to it a heart that was created from the woman you love, the strength of a family she was raised by, and the knowledge that you own everything a man worked for his entire life to feed, house, and give opportunities to is now gone.” He holds the keys up in front of me. “And ask yourself if you’d let him breathe if he put so much as a scratch on it.”
I reach in my pocket and pull out the keys to my yacht, holding them up the same way he is. “Understood.” I hold them out and take the keys from his hand as he takes mine.
“Treat her well.”
I nod and turn toward Paige. “You ready?”
She smiles. “Yes.”
Once inside the vehicle, Paige laughs.
I start the engine and rev it up as much as I can without doing any harm.
“Are you crazy?”
“No, just making a point.” I put my arm on the back of the seat and back out onto the road then squeal the tires as we head down the road.
“The point being you’re crazy?”
“The point being I am going to push his daughter to her limits but remain in control.”
“You do know his daughter likes control and would find that offensive.”
“I’m sure she’d prefer me in control than me losing my shit and putting her on my boat, taking off, and fucking her into submission.”
I look over to see she looks shocked.
I shrug. “The thought has crossed my mind.”
She laughs. “You’re insane.”
“No, Paige, I’ve never been more sure of any-fucking-thing in my life.” I reach over to take her hand, but she pulls it away.
You have got to be fucking kidding me.
“My shoulder,” she reminds me.
Fuck, my bad.
“Right. Now, where is the hospital?”
She punches the address into the GPS and sits back. The GPS starts giving me directions.
I set my hand on her leg. “You’re going to be …” I look up and see his fucking mug on a billboard. No fucking way. “Mayor.”
“What?” She laughs.
“You should consider running against that asshole.” I point at the sign.
“Right.” she laughs again. “Like I have a chance in hell.”
“You’d win.”
“I don’t even live here.” She continues to laugh at me.
“You will.”
“You’re very sure of yourself.”
“Confidence is sexy.” I give her a wink. “Aside from the obvious, that’s what drew me to want to know more about you. Kept me fucking curious as to why this woman could walk around in heels, head held high, tits pushed out, without a man making sure no one else was trying to make you his.”
She giggles. “Oh really?”
“You were fucking untouchable.”
She smirks. “But you touched me.”
“I saw a different side of you, at the right time in my life, that made me open a door; gave me an opportunity. A taste that caused an addiction.”
“So, you like me strong and weak?”
“I like real, Paige. I like someone who fight
s and wins. I like someone who doesn’t need to try to be anyone else, because they are deep enough, have lived enough that they don’t have to borrow troubles, and they don’t give up. So, yes, I love your strength, and now I have an unexplainable need to protect you from your weaknesses.”
When she doesn’t say a damn thing, I look over. “Did I offend you?”
She shakes her head.
“Good, because I’ll give you both sides of me, too. But no one else.”
She nods, her lower lip pouting out.
“Are you in pain?” I ask.
“It could be worse.”
“What would make it worse?”
“If I actually fall in love with someone who can’t love me back.”
The navigation system sounds off, telling me that our destination is one hundred feet on the left. I pull into the driveway of an old house.
“Is this right?”
“Yes.”
“It’s not a hospital.”
“It’s Dr. Sweet’s office. She’s been my doctor since I was born.”
She starts to unbuckle her seatbelt when I hold my hand over hers.
“I give you honesty, trust, and loyalty—all three stronger and definitions more definitive than the emotion which everyone calls love. It’s more than love.”
She closes her eyes and gives a quick nod. “Let’s get inside.”
When I walk in behind her, I look around. It’s not like any hospital or doctor’s office I have ever been in. When I look for a receptionist in the room, there is none.
“You sure about this?” I whisper.
“Yes, absolutely.”
I pull the hoodie off her shoulder and help her take her arm out of the sleeve.
When a door opens, I look back and see a woman in her early seventies wearing a white lab coat over a tank top with a pair of pants that make no sense at all. Are they trying to be a skirt or pants? Do any of those colors even remotely go together?
“Pea, how are you, well, aside from the fall and that trick shoulder of yours?” she asks while walking over and sitting next to her.
“I’m well. Thank you, Dr. Sweet.”
“I heard the marina was sold. How’s Evan dealing with the news?”
“It could be worse,” she answers. “The new owner is keeping he and Pace on. They’ll have benefits and vacation time.”
“Have y’all looked into this new owner? From what I understand, Warren Black is behind several locals going out of business, and he’s selling off to some of his college buddies. If you ask me, it’s a big scam.” She stands. “And to think he’s running unopposed as mayor of a tourist town that has half the businesses it did ten years ago and with no clear intentions of what he will do, to bring it back to its former glory.”