WindSwept Narrows: #18 Paige Andrews

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  “Paige?” Chase looked at the man, noticed the black and white collar and felt his stomach twist.

  “Mr. Ambrose and his associate were just leaving the premises,” Paige said coldly. “And they won’t be back.”

  “I want to speak with my daughter,” Jacob Ambrose stated firmly.

  “She isn’t your daughter. I’ve found the original birth certificate and I’ve got it narrowed down as to her real father,” Paige saw the information flair anger in his eyes. “Didn’t count on that, did you?”

  “I raised that girl,” he took a step forward, stopping when he looked from one man in each doorway. “Which one of you is Montgomery?”

  “I’m Chase Montgomery,” cold brown eyes stared at him, his feet planted a foot apart and hands in the pockets of his slacks, jacket open and shoved back. It was a deceptive stance that dared idiots to make a mistake. Part of him seriously hoped for the mistake. “The restraining order is in effect. I won’t tolerate you harassing or frightening Pepper.”

  “You won’t…” the older man laughed bitterly. “You won’t keep me from my daughter. Not either of you,” he told them callously. “I raised that girl and I’ll get what’s coming to me.”

  “She’s my wife. If you got what was coming to you…” Chase caught himself, shaking his head. “There’s nothing for you to get. I’ve had my attorney in touch with the firm handling her inheritance.”

  Paige watched the emotions edging high in anger cross his features. “You thought the inheritance was unknown to Pepper.”

  “It isn’t hers! I married that bitch and then she died on me!”

  “You have a minute to get out of this office before I call the police,” Paige stepped in front of Chase. “She’ll never forgive me if she has to bail you out.”

  “I won’t be treated this way…”

  Paige read the scene, taking a deliberate step toward Jacob Ambrose. She shifted at the last minute to the left, knowing that the bodyguard would step in to intercept her hand. While he aimed at her right hand, her left came up and behind him, gripping the back of his jacket and using his own momentum to propel him into Ambrose, forcing them both out through the door. She continued out after them, pulling the door behind her and whipping out her cell, her thumb poised.

  “Nine-Nine-One guys…or get in your vehicle and leave. If you are caught around Pepper, you’re in violation of the restraining order,” she stood with two feet firmly planted, daring either of them to make a wrong move. She wanted a good confrontation, needed a sharp sparring partner. “Oh…and that little confrontation in there…logged on private office security cams that will be given to the attorney for additional charges, should you decide to ignore good, free advice.”

  “We’ll meet again.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah…” Paige went into the office, ignoring the looks from both men. “Don’t…shit…I’m taking my two hours personal. Don’t forget to lock up and set the alarms,” she moved swiftly to her desk, grabbed up her pack and rummaged for keys. “Tomorrow. Bye.”

  Chase exhaled slowly pacing through to his office.

  “Personal hours?” Sebastian came in behind him, frowning.

  “She cleared it Monday,” he looked at his partner.

  “You need to bring me up to date on the bruiser and the reverend,” Sebastian said tonelessly, striding to sit on the edge of Chase’s desk. He listened to the quiet, clear words of explanation and inhaled deeply. “Nice guy…how’s Pepper handling it?”

  Chase ran his palm heavily over his neck. “Jumpy. Afraid for me, not herself.”

  “Do you know where she’s going this afternoon?”

  “Didn’t ask. Not my business,” both of them looked up when the bells Paige had installed sounded over the main entrance. “Pepper…” he started to get up but she waved at him and came straight into the office, smiling at him and then at Sebastian.

  “Hi…you guys are looking a bit serious,” she let her gaze go over Chase. “Something wrong?”

  “Are you here for Paige?” Sebastian asked, hoping to help with a distraction.

  “No,” Pepper shook her head. “She’s gone to a shop up north a bit. I finished a lot of stuff and called Leo and thought you might be able to quit early.”

  “Your father was here,” Chase said quietly, their eyes meeting and her chin tipped a little. She swallowed and nodded.

  “It was only a matter of time,” she said softly. “Was Paige here?” she looked from one to the other, the answer on their faces. She laughed. “Knowing how he travels, he had a gorilla with him…and Paige loves a good sparring partner.”

  “He was taken more than a little off guard,” Sebastian leaned back, his head shaking. “You two look so…harmless…”

  “You look sturdy enough to adjust,” Pepper inserted with a shrug. “If not…did you talk to him about my suggestion?”

  Chase exhaled raggedly. “Not yet. Things were happening with the recycling issues.” He leaned back in his chair, watching her cross to the fridge and pull a bottle of water from inside. She perched on the window ledge behind him, drinking from the bottle.

  “I’m sure they’re professional,” Pepper said easily. “Paige doesn’t know how to be anything else.”

  “Is this about her boss issue?” Sebastian asked, looking from one to the other.

  “She can’t protest if you’re not her direct report,” Pepper said simply. “You really didn’t play a part in her hire, I mean you signed off and read her resume, but Chase made the choice. A smart one, too. And it is not a boss issue,” she scowled at him. “Office romances…” She shook her head. “We’ve been talking about it all week.” She laughed at the expression on Sebastian’s face.

  “I know it bothers her,” Sebastian said quietly. “I don’t want to dismiss her concerns, Pepper, her worry.”

  “No, but you’re like Chase…crap with the patience so we have time to process some things,” she shrugged lightly and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “I’m okay, Chase. You’re worried. I can see the pulse thumping.”

  “Yes. I’m worried.”

  “He’s not the kind of guy to obey laws,” Sebastian stated firmly. “I’m going to check the alarms. I’ll do a run past your place on my way home. Make sure they’re all secure. I don’t like the idea of those two trying something,” he stood up and headed out of the office, stopping at the door. “Pepper…have you been to the granary with Paige?”

  Chase went still beneath fingers that massaged his shoulders. He watched Sebastian turn very slowly, their eyes crossing before his rose to look pointedly at Pepper.

  “Yeah…now there’s a surprise,” Sebastian muttered, his head shaking as he left them alone, closing the door after him.

  Chapter Eleven

  Chase gripped her fingers before she could move, tugging until she came around the chair and leaned against his desk.

  “You went to the granary with Paige?”

  “Once or twice,” Pepper answered. “Just looking around…it must have been a bustling interesting place when trains were coming and going through, ships from all over the country loading up American grain and traveling thousands of miles to deliver it.” She ran out of breath.

  “Finished?”

  “It really isn’t something to fight about,” she said cautiously, nipping on her lip and watching him closely.

  “The only time you think we’re going to fight is when you think you did something that’s going to disturb me,” Chase commented casually, dark honey eyes catching the tiny wince on her face. “You didn’t tell me that’s where you were going.”

  “I don’t tell you when I go to the bathroom, either,” she bit her tongue the instant the words were out.

  “Friday evening a couple weeks back…and a Sunday when I was discussing prices with a company in Florida,” Chase said after a quiet minutes recollection. “You came in and went straight into the bathroom and didn’t come out for half an hour, all nice and shiny clean. Both times.”<
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  “It’s really messy there…” She said finally.

  “Why the secret?” Chase asked and knew the answer immediately. “No…I’m sorry you think you can’t talk about it…I’m sorry you…”

  “I can’t live feeling afraid, Chase. I can’t,” she whispered. “And I can’t live ignoring my curiosity…or my friends…and I know you don’t mean to…no, you do mean to…you’re protective and I really love that, I truly do,” she rubbed her palms over her face. “I can’t handle a cage…I can’t. We had our phones. We wore gloves and were very careful.”

  “It’s been basically condemned by every building ordinance out there, Pepper,” Chase stood up and pulled her against him. “I get the right to numerous I told you so’s if either of you are hurt exploring.”

  “Fair enough,” she murmured and sighed, peeking up through her lashes. “Now we go home and make-up?” His deep laughter echoed through the office before he kissed her.

  Paige knew she was tired. But she still took the stairs two at a time, going straight to the bedroom and shedding clothing, leaving it lying on the bench before the vanity as she dug for her running clothes. She didn’t know the right answer. She had five sets of very expensive jewels and couldn’t find the right path for them. Technically, they belonged to Sebastian. She tied her shoes and sighed. It wasn’t technical, she told herself. It was his property, therefore, they were his, regardless of who found them or even who they belonged to before they were left on the property.

  Hector was either a smuggler or a thief or maybe he was both. She groaned and pulled the door open, patting down her pocket for her house key and visibly jumped.

  “Surprise?” Sebastian didn’t move when she jumped, her arm immediately going back to strike. He watched her fist open and arm fall to her side. “I was about to knock…”

  “Sorry…” She stepped back, rubbing her face again, pacing to the patio window. “I was going out for a run.”

  “Come home with me and let me change and I’ll run with you,” Sebastian suggested easily, offering his palm. Her hand was in his and her mouth open, eyes narrowed.

  “On the…”

  “Yeah,” he nodded, amused at her expression. “It’s barely five. We have about ninety minutes of sunlight.” He went to her closet, fingers going over the hangers until he found one he wanted and pulled it out, handing it to her. It was a long, simple pea coat in navy.

  “You’ve never had a problem with personal space before, have you?” She asked testily, taking the coat and shoving her arms inside, doing the buttons and following him out the door, making certain the lock was set.

  “Mine or someone else’s?”

  “Obviously you don’t realize you’re in someone else’s until you’re there and out again,” she told him, sighing and jogging lightly down the stairs. “It’s all part of your irascible charm, I suppose.”

  Sebastian laughed and handed her the helmet before he mounted and waited. “You seem to be handling it rather well,” he said while she was adjusting the strap. He heard her draw in a long breath, one hand on his shoulder and the other on the chrome behind the seat. “Are you any less frightened?”

  “I am not frightened,” she said immediately, only a slight growl in her voice. Then he turned the key and her hands went around him, her face crushed against his back and eyes squeezed tightly closed.

  “Just a little…Christ, Paige, I have to breathe…” he put his hands on her, making a mental note to take her to the bike shop and get her some gloves. He separated her hands, placing one on each of his sides, hitching her thumbs in the leather belt.

  “See…see that’s one thing…what if you can’t breathe? What if…if you pass out…”

  He listened to the slight elevation in her voice and shook his head. “The same thing would happen in a car.”

  “Yeah, but I got metal…I got cushions and…and bags…air bags…here…I just got air!”

  “That’s the best part,” he said gently, easing the bike onto the road. “I think I was twenty-two when I had my last accident.”

  Paige groaned. “That means you’re due…”

  “Alright…tell me what scares you,” he said, his laugh soft in her ears.

  “Sebastian, please don’t ask me to think right now,” Paige swallowed and lifted her head, her gaze caught on the sunlight glinting off the still waters of the Sound far below them. “It’s very pretty…the view…amazing on a clear day like this. Snow all over the mountains…” She sighed and relaxed a little.

  “I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, Paige,” Sebastian told her, his palm sliding over hers.

  “I know that. I don’t know how…or even why,” she admitted slowly. “But I know that. Where do you live?” She asked, recognizing the neighborhood.

  “Have you been to Pepper’s?”

  “Yes…took her home before,” her head was up, her back slowly straightening as her body adjusted to the movement of the bike beneath her.

  “I bought the mirror house,” he told her. “Interesting architecture for this neighborhood or even this side of the Atlantic.”

  “It’s beautiful. Mediterranean styling, gorgeous arches and it sparkles in the sunshine,” she recalled when Pepper had given her a tour. “It isn’t so much the bike that scares me,” she blurted out, dragging in a breath before trying again. “It’s…it’s new…very different…like being on a horse and I really didn’t like that.”

  “Then what?” Sebastian pulled up to the gate, raised the visor and tapped in the code, gliding them inside quickly and up to the large arched double doors.

  “Honestly?”

  “I wouldn’t want anything less,” he told her even as he felt his stomach clench. He turned the bike off, put the stand down and held his hand up for her. She leaned into him and swung to the ground, his eyes taking in the slight sway as she collected her ground feet again.

  “You…this bike…I…” she pulled the helmet off and absently locked it into the case, keeping her back to him as she walked forward. “It’s not what I would have seen for myself…”

  “What did you see for yourself? Inside?” Sebastian pushed the door open, keys falling to the small shelf he’d installed next to the door.

  “Just me. I…never really gave it thought,” she walked over the gleaming hardwood, weaving around boxes and displaced pieces of furniture.

  “And you believe I expected it as normal operating procedure?” He saw the denial and a little hurt in her eyes. “Paige, I didn’t mean…”

  “Do I believe you habitually set out to seduce your admins? No, Sebastian, I don’t think that of you at all,” she said with a long sigh. “Eventually, it would have caught up with you somewhere through your life. Girls can be incredibly devious if they want something, the female the species kind of thing, you know? And I’ve known more than my share of guys who were caught in a trap because they were upwardly mobile and showed excellent earning potential.”

  “On that note…I’ll change into my sweats and be right out,” Sebastian tossed his jacket to a box and went up the stairs to the next level.

  Paige walked around, reading boxes and shoving. She had a stack of kitchen labeled boxes out of the center of the large, open living space. “You’ve neglected your house, Sebastian.”

  “The stuff was delivered day before yesterday,” he came out, plain black sweats and a pair of good running shoes in his hand.

  “You haven’t been for a run in this area yet, have you?” Paige took her jacket off and laid it over his.

  “Not yet. I’ve been using the track at the resort and the treadmill. The VR technology with the treadmill is fascinating,” he stood up and lifted his keys. “Mac is really up on what’s new and trendy.”

  Paige blinked, noticing for the first time that he had tied his hair back, a smooth cover of straw and a small, thick tail resting against the black sweats. It somehow made his features all the more sharp, more regal, she decided, glancing back at the boxes.
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br />   “I can help you…after the run, if you like,” Paige went outside, stretching and flexing her feet while he locked up. They went through the side gate, the lock snapping behind them as they took off.

  They wore two different style of clothing, hers stretched and hugging her curves from calf to the long sleeved, scooped neck leotard. The fitted tights had a long pink stripe up the sides of each of her thighs and her shoes sparkled as the sun went down far over the Sound. His clothing was simple black sweats. She led him on the sloping, easy run through the eclectic neighborhood. She checked her wrist unit and picked up the pace. He didn’t seem to be floundering and she wanted a run.

  “Are you holding back on my account, Miss Andrews?” Sebastian’s voice broke the thumping of their shoes on the concrete.

  “You aren’t used to the altitude or the slopes,” Paige looked over at him, her head tipping slightly. “I’m out for a run. If I don’t run off the need to beat something into the ground because of those idiots this afternoon, I won’t sleep. If I lose you, I’ll be back at your place in an hour.” She informed him, taking off without looking back.

  Sebastian only grinned and upped his pace, his long stride increasing as he moved alongside her. Nothing as appealing as a challenge, he thought. And he’d seen that and much more when he had first looked into her eyes in the warehouse.

  An hour later, he coded them onto the property and opened the house, heading straight to the fridge and pulling out two bottles of water and handing her one.

  “I like running the waterway,” he said, leaning back on the counter and watching her drift to the floor and drain the water. “It’s really different than Kansas City. The smells, the air…lots of moisture but not humid.”

  “I fell in love with it when I first came here,” Paige said, leaning against the sofa filled with boxes, her head turned to the falling sun in the distance outside the patio doors. “I was a bicycle cop downtown Seattle after the academy. You can get really involved with people that way…and really tired. Anyway…” she tipped the bottle up and drained it, tossing the empty to him after capping it.