by Tia Siren
I couldn't stop thinking about what it could be. Was she upset about the pregnancy? Or was she, like me, having second thoughts about this whole contractual relationship? I wanted something more, and I wondered if she did as well.
We should have talked, the night before. But I wasn't going to stop her when she got down on her knees in front of me.
I rolled over and stared at Paige for a moment. She was sleeping peacefully, her face more relaxed than I'd seen it in a while. That was good at least. I knew she had come hard the previous night, and I had hoped that would take enough out of her that she would be able to sleep away some of her exhaustion. It seemed to have worked, and I was proud of myself.
Unfortunately, it meant that we still wouldn't be able to talk about what was wrong, because I had to get to work soon, but I didn't want to wake her up when she so clearly needed the rest.
I sighed and lightly kissed her shoulder, noting that she didn't stir even in the slightest. She was out, then.
I thought back to the guy at the bar the previous night, and I suddenly had to wonder if he had anything to do with the way she had been acting. Maybe she had lied about him. Maybe he was an old boyfriend of hers or someone she had had some sort of a relationship with, anyway.
I frowned. If an old flame had come into town, her pregnancy had to complicate matters. But then again, if he was some old flame, would she have agreed so quickly to continue hooking up with me?
Unless she thought she had to, in order to get you to pay her the rest of the money. It was an ugly thought and one I didn't want to consider. What if Paige thought I considered hooking up to be part of our contract? There was nothing that specified we couldn't keep seeing one another, but there also had been nothing that stated we didn't have to continue seeing one another. Maybe Paige thought this was the relationship I intended when I drew up the contract, and she thought I would refuse to pay her if she didn't go along with what I wanted.
I swallowed hard, suddenly feeling uncomfortable being there in bed with her. We needed to talk.
Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen just then.
I rolled out of bed and went to get ready. I wasn't overly noisy as I dressed and washed up, but I didn't make any extra effort to be quiet, either. I didn't know what I wanted, for her to wake up so we could talk or for her to continue sleeping.
Whatever I wanted, she continued to sleep, and finally, I couldn't linger any longer. I scrawled a quick note for her, telling her that I hoped she had a good day but we really needed to talk. I left it next to the bed, on the bedside table where I had left the first note for her, and then I went to work.
The day dragged on, and I waited for Paige to call. Or at least to text me. Maybe I shouldn't have left a note for her, I thought. Then, I could have called her instead. As it was, it felt like I had put the ball back in her court, and now I had to wait for her to initiate the conversation. Given the way she had been avoiding me, I wasn't sure she would.
I frowned, wondering if I was going to have to go to The Shift for the third night in a row. Then I frowned even deeper, wondering if the guy from last night would be there again. Maybe I should go, either way, just to make sure Paige was okay.
I shook my head. I was starting to sound almost obsessed with Paige. Surely, I could wait until she contacted me. Besides, I had to leave the note for her that morning. I could only imagine how she would feel if she woke up to an empty bed and no note from me. She would probably start thinking that I regretted what we had done last night. That maybe I didn't really want to keep hooking up with her.
I had no regrets, and I wanted to keep hooking up with her. I only hoped that she continued to feel the same way.
It was nearly time for me to go home for the day, and I realized I still hadn't heard from Paige. I deliberated for a moment and then decided to call her. If nothing else, we could schedule a time to talk. I couldn't look too desperate if I just wanted to stay organized.
Paige's phone rang three times before she answered it. “Hello?” she asked, sounding groggy.
“Hey,” I said. “Are you still asleep?”
“Yeah,” Paige said. She sounded totally disoriented, and I suddenly realized she was probably still in my bed asleep. I mentally congratulated myself on helping her sleep so well, even though I was also worried about how exhausted she must have been feeling.
Again, I wished I could convince her to quit working at The Shift, sooner rather than later.
But for now, I just smiled. “Are you planning on blowing off work tonight?” I asked her.
“What time is it?” Paige asked.
“Nearly 5:30,” I told her. “I was just getting ready to head home.”
“Oh wow,” Paige said, sounding a bit more alert. “Shit, I didn't realize it was that late.”
“Yeah, you must have been totally out of it,” I told her. “How are you feeling?”
“Good,” she said. “Really good, actually.” I heard rustling, and I assumed she was stretching. I could feel my dick twitch in interest as I thought of her spread out on my sheets, covered by only a thin blanket, but I sternly reminded myself now wasn't the time. Paige and I needed to talk about us before we engaged in any more sexual activities.
“What time are you supposed to work tonight?” I asked her.
“Not until 7,” Paige said. “But I need a shower, and I need to go home and get some fresh clothes. Erica's probably worried about where I am, too; I didn't tell her I was going home with you last night.”
“I'm sure she knew where to find you if she was worried,” I pointed out. Unless she's been sleeping with someone else.
Again, I had to push those negative thoughts out of my mind.
“True,” Paige said, but she still sounded embarrassed.
“How about this,” I suggested, “you give Erica a call and let her know where you are and that you'll still be coming to work tonight. Take a shower. Borrow one of my shirts to wear with your jeans. I'll stop for takeout on the way home, and then we can eat a quick dinner, and I'll drive you over to work.”
“You're a lifesaver,” Paige said warmly.
I grinned. “All right, I'll see you soon,” I told her.
As we quickly downed the food I had brought home, I kept watching her. She looked so lovely like this, fresh out of a shower, her hair curling around the edges. She didn't have any makeup on, but even in her natural state, she looked gorgeous. It was those bewitching eyes of hers, I thought.
“What's up?” Paige asked, giving me an inquisitive look.
For a moment, I wanted to have that talk with her. I knew that she must have found my note because it hadn't been on the bedside table anymore when I'd gone in there to change out of my work clothes. But she hadn't mentioned the note or the need to talk, and when I really thought about it, I wasn't sure right before she went to work was the best time for it. I didn't want to upset her, after all. And it wasn't like we had unlimited time, either.
I sighed internally, resolving to wait for another time. Again.
“It's nothing,” I told her, in answer to her question. “I was just thinking about how pretty you look. And how much I like seeing you in my shirts.”
Paige grinned over at me and plucked at the collar of the green checkered flannel that she had grabbed out of the back of my closet. It was a shirt that I rarely wore anymore since it wasn't nice enough to be worn to the office. Now, I almost wanted to tell her that she could keep it, except that I liked the idea of having it here at my place in the future, and of her wearing it around my apartment with nothing underneath.
She must have seen something in my look, because she quickly turned her eyes back to her food, focusing intently on it. “I'm never going to get to work on time if you fuck me right now,” she told me, her tone bland.
I laughed outright. “That's a fair point,” I said. “But a guy can dream.”
“Well, keep dreaming,” Paige said. “But I hear delayed gratification is worth it.”
I grinned, appreciating her dirty words. But I chose not to comment, knowing if I allowed myself to think too much about how badly I wanted her, I was either going to end up hard and desperately wanting, or else she wasn't going to make it to work after all.
And we would end up having sex again, rather than talking.
I smiled and let it rest for the time being. After we finished eating, I escorted her down to the limo.
“You don't have to come with me,” Paige protested as I climbed in afterwards. “I appreciate dinner and the ride, but surely you could just tell your driver to drop me off.”
I shrugged. “It's not like I have anything better to do,” I told her, wondering why she didn't want me there.
When we got to the bar, I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew why. Was it a coincidence that the guy from the previous night arrived there at The Shift just before we did? I frowned. “You know, why don't I hang around for a little while?” I suggested. “Have a drink or two. I'm sure I know somebody in there, and I haven't really been keeping in touch since you and I have started sleeping together.”
Paige frowned at me, but I didn't think that she had seen the other guy go in. She had no idea what my true motives were. Something about this whole situation didn't sit right with me, though, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. What better way to do that than to keep both of them in my sight. Maybe I could ask Paige about it again tonight. Confront her, ask her why she had lied to me.
I really hoped that she hadn't lied to me, but again, this just seemed like too much of a coincidence to be ignored. And given the way that she had been looking at him the previous night, well.
I got out of the car and followed her inside.
Chapter Thirty
Paige
Despite Michael picking up food for us and driving me to work, I was still about ten minutes late when I walked into The Shift. I grimaced, feeling guilty about it. Erica had already been so good to me that week, giving me a couple extra tasks to make up for the time I'd missed going off with Michael. Even though I didn't need the money anymore to make rent, she was helping me out and helping my life feel a little more normal. I appreciated that, and this was no way to show it.
“Hey Erica, sorry I'm a little late,” I told her as soon as I saw her, right after clocking in for the evening. “I just woke up about an hour ago.”
Erica frowned at me. “Really?” she asked. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah, I think so,” I said. “I just haven't been sleeping well lately, I guess.”
“Because of the pregnancy?” she asked sympathetically, keeping her voice low so that no one would overhear her.
“Probably,” I admitted. “I'm still not sure how I feel about all of this.”
Erica's eyes flicked over towards Michael, who had seated himself at the far end of the bar and was currently being served by one of our coworkers, Jessica. “You guys had a good talk about it last night, though?” Erica asked.
I blushed and ducked my head. “We didn't do much in the way of talking,” I admitted. “At least we agreed that we're both cool with continuing to hook up, though. I'm not sure how much longer that will last, because I know he sleeps with the hottest chicks and I'm sure my pregnant body is not going to be interesting to him, but we'll see.”
Erica looked unimpressed. “If the two of you don't sit down and have a long talk soon, I swear I'm going to have to beat some sense into both of you,” she said.
I laughed, even though I knew she wasn't joking. “I know,” I told her. “We need to talk. But I'm just not sure what I want to say. I don't think he is, either.”
“Well, you'd better figure it out soon, because now that you're pregnant, you're on a timer,” Erica reminded me.
I nodded at her, but before I could say anything else, someone behind me called my name.
I frowned, turning around, for some reason expecting it to be Michael behind me, even though it hadn't sounded like his voice, and even though I knew he was sitting at the far end of the bar. But instead of Michael, it was the creepy guy from the other night.
I didn't know what his problem was, and I didn't know why security kept letting him in. But as I looked toward security, I remembered we had different guys in there for the weekend shifts, when things were busier. Dan and Jimmy, the guys who had been in there on Wednesday night, were both broad-shouldered and competent, but the guys that we had in there on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, our busiest nights, were even more intimidating. Of course, they wouldn't recognize this guy, so he was still getting let in.
“I never got your number the other night,” the sleaze-bag said to me.
“Like I told you the other night, I have a fiancé,” I snapped, hands clenching into fists. Normally, this kind of attention didn't make me so angry, but I had had it up to here with this dude. I had enough on my plate without having to worry about asshole guys who thought they could get into my pants.
“Let me buy you a drink,” the guy suggested. “Like I told you the other night, I'm not opposed to having a threesome with you and your fiancé.”
“I'm not interested,” I gritted out.
“Is this guy bothering you?” Michael asked smoothly, coming up to the bar next to him. Without waiting for a response, he pushed the other guy. “Look, buddy, I don't know what your problem is, but I think it's pretty clear that she's not interested in you. So I suggest you find someone else.”
“Look, buddy, I don't see where any of this is any of your business,” the creep retorted, pushing Michael right back.
I gestured frantically for security, sensing where this was headed, but the guys at the door didn't see me in time.
Michael neatly decked the guy, who staggered back, grabbing his mouth. His hand came away with blood on it, and that only seemed to make him even more enraged. He lunged at Michael, throwing punches of his own. Michael managed to duck a couple of them, but it wasn't long before one caught him on the cheekbone.
He roared with animalistic fury and lunged at the other guy, toppling him to the floor. By this point, there was a crowd gathering around the two of them, some of them cheering and others just watching. Fights broke out at The Shift somewhat regularly, given the type of people we had in there, and the bouncers knew how to break them up quickly. But that didn't mean people didn't enjoy them while they lasted.
I didn't want to feel this sense of relief at the fact that Michael was brawling with this dude. I didn't want to feel proud of him for holding his own in the fight. I didn't want to feel turned on by the fact that Michael wanted to protect me. I was angry. But as with my feelings for Michael in general, and for the baby, that anger seemed to be tied up in a bunch of other feelings, some of which I couldn't even sort out.
A couple of the bouncers moved in, parting the crowd and grabbing the two combatants. I could see them talking sharply with the two men, but I couldn't hear what they were saying over the noise of the last cheers and jeers. Whatever was said, the two guys were escorted to the door, and I had a feeling they were being told they weren't allowed back inside.
I wasn't sure how to feel about that. I already missed Michael's presence there at the end of the bar. But I was also hopping mad at him for butting into my personal affairs like that.
I glanced back at Erica, who was looking on with tight-lipped fury. “Remember when I said that you being mopey around here was bad for business?” she said. “I think we've found something that's even worse.” I swallowed hard, wondering if she was going to fire me. But instead, she just pushed me toward the door. “Go on, go talk to him,” she urged.
I scowled. “I don't want to talk to him after that,” I told her. My anger towards Michael spiked as I realized that he could have just cost me my job. And put a strain on one of my best friendships. Not that Erica was the kind of person to hold a grudge, but still.
It was all so confusing.
“Well, then you'd better go tell him you don't want to talk to him after t
hat because I don't want him coming around the bar and making a scene in another couple nights when he hasn't heard from you!” Erica snapped. It was the first time I'd ever seen her this angry, and that, in turn, made me even more angry with Michael for causing the scene.
I stalked out the front door of The Shift and found Michael and the creep still standing there, with one of the bouncers in between them. “What the hell was that?” I snarled, totally ignoring the other dude. “Michael, you can't just fight for my honor, or whatever it is you think you were doing in there!”
Michael stared incredulously at me, his eyebrows rising towards his hairline. “Excuse me?” he asked. “You're mad at me? I saw this fucker wouldn't leave you alone, and for whatever reason, you didn't want to call security. I just wanted to make sure you were safe. That both of you were safe.”
I could feel blood surge towards my skin, a combination of my anger and his public announcement that I was pregnant. It didn't really matter who knew, but at the same time, I wasn't ready to start telling people yet. “Get away from me,” I told him. “I don't want to see you around here anymore. This whole thing was a bad idea.”
Michael looked stricken, but when he reached for me, I took a step back, shaking my head. What, did he think that he could just pull me into his arms, sweep me off my feet, and suddenly everything was going to be okay?
“I work here,” I reminded him. “You can't start fights like that. It reflects badly on me, and that reflects poorly on The Shift.”
“People start fights in here all the time,” Michael protested, but when he realized that wasn't going to get him anywhere, he looked suddenly, miserably contrite. “I'm sorry,” he said.
“Whatever,” I snapped, done with the whole thing. I realized there were people still watching us out there, on the street. This wasn't fixing the situation. In fact, it might be making things worse. It would be better for me to just get myself back inside, get away from him. At least until we'd both cooled off. At least until we could talk about things someplace more private.
I turned on my heel and stalked back inside, missing Michael's helpless expression. I didn't know if he tried to follow me, but with the bouncer still out there watching him, he couldn't get back inside. I hated feeling triumphant about that, but I felt as though I had bought myself a little time to think.