by Unknown
The officer came back out. “I didn’t see anything.”
“Mind if I have a look?” Shane asked politely. Paige had a feeling he’d asked out of courtesy, but one way or another, he was looking.
“Why don’t we both look to make it official?” Captain Weller said.
Shane stepped over the threshold of the small room and stopped. The only furniture in the room was an overstuffed chair and a trifold mirror.
“Well?” Captain Weller stopped behind him.
“If there is a camera, it’s fixed.” Shane went to the chair, sat down, and looked at the cluster of flowers over the trifold mirror in the corner of the room. “Strange place for flowers, don’t you think?”
“If there’s a camera hiding in there, Patrolman Jenkins, his sergeant, and I will have a long talk before the day is over.” Captain Weller went back outside and returned with a straight-back chair from the kitchen table. “You’re probably itching to do this, but I need to be able to testify about my findings. If we’re right, I want to nail him to the wall and make it stick.”
Shane held the back of the chair. “I don’t care how it’s done, just so he pays.”
Climbing on the chair, Captain Weller stared at the black center of a sunflower. On closer inspection he could see it wasn’t wax, but glass. He cursed softly under his breath. “I hope I give the bastards watching a heart attack when they see my badge. Slimy perverts.”
“The computer equipment has to be behind the mirror,” Shane said. “There’s no telling how many unsuspecting women he’s filmed.”
Captain Weller stepped off the chair. “Miss Mathis wasn’t one of them. She stood up to him.”
“Because she knew Paige would be there for her,” Shane said proudly. Paige had made a difference in the young woman’s life. She was Gayle’s center. And his.
“She’s a feisty one. I wouldn’t want to make her angry.”
“On that we agree,” Shane said. Yet he had a feeling that he wasn’t going to be able to prevent it when she learned he was hiding a secret as well.
Paige couldn’t believe her mother was waiting for them outside Gayle and Noah’s apartment. Paige had called her after Shane’s initial phone call to tell her that Gayle was all right, and again when they were leaving Berger’s studio.
“It’s almost three, and I’m sure no one had thought about food,” Joann said, holding up two large take-out bags from a popular Italian restaurant. “I know you like pasta, Gayle; and Noah, there’s plenty of lasagna and salad.”
“Thanks, but I’m not hungry,” Gayle managed between sniffles.
“Of course you are.” Joann gave Noah a meaningful look. “Noah, please open the door. Paige and I can set the table.”
“Sure thing.” His arm around his sister’s trembling shoulders, he climbed the stairs and opened the front door, then led her to the kitchen. He pulled out a chair for her.
“Let me help you, Mother.” Paige took one of the bags and began unloading the food.
“Oh, mercy,” Joann said. “Shane, I forgot drinks. Would you and Noah mind going to the store and getting some soft drinks?”
“Not at all.” Shane caught Noah’s eye when he was about to protest leaving his sister. “Noah can direct me to the nearest store. Be back in a jiff.”
“Gayle, why don’t you get those bamboo place mats we found at the estate sale?” Joann removed a container of salad. “Your home is beautiful. You have such an eye for detail and color.”
“It didn’t keep me from being a fool.” Gayle’s eyes flooded with tears.
“There’s probably very few women on this planet who haven’t believed the wrong man at one time or another.” Joann pressed her hand gently on Gayle’s shoulder. “The thing is to learn. You learned.”
Paige sent her mother a look of appreciation. Gayle had broken down when she learned there was a camera in the room where she was supposed to change. Shaken as well, Paige had let her cry, but now tough love was in order.
“Mother is right, Gayle. You made a mistake, but you also kept your wits about you and refused to be intimidated.”
“I was so scared.” Gayle sniffed.
“Shane said there’s nothing wrong with being scared,” Paige knelt in front of the trembling woman. “You didn’t let that fear keep you from standing up to that creep.”
“That took courage,” Joann agreed, coming to stand by Paige.
“I knew you’d come get me.” Gayle looked at Paige, then her mother. “You always told us your mother said there was nothing so bad that you or your brother couldn’t tell her. You wanted us to be the same way with you, to know you’d be there no matter what.”
Paige glanced up at her mother. In the past two weeks she had remembered that more and more. “And she always was.”
Joann placed her hand on Paige’s shoulder. “You and Zachary made it easy, just as Gayle and Noah have done. Love is better when it’s shared and returned.”
Paige felt her throat tighten. “Yes, it is.”
“I want to be loved.” Gayle’s hands tightened in her lap.
Paige covered Gayle’s hands with hers. She was talking about a man. “We all do. Give it time.” She wasn’t sure how her mother would feel about what she was about to say, but Gayle needed to hear this. “I’m twenty-seven and for the first time in my life there’s a man I like being around. Just talking to him is enjoyable.”
“Shane,” Gayle whispered.
Paige looked up at her mother. “Yes.”
Her expression unreadable, Joann went back to preparing the table. “Your young man will come, Gayle. When he does, don’t let anything or anyone stand in your way.”
Paige stared at her mother. She had a longing, a regret in her eyes that Paige didn’t recall seeing before. Despite the problems they might have had, her mother missed her father.
“Yes, ma’am.” Gayle stood and opened a cabinet drawer to get the place mats. “I don’t think I want to go back to the restaurant.”
“Why?” Paige asked, placing the brass napkin holder on the table.
“I’m a disaster,” Gayle admitted. “I’m not comfortable around a lot of people like you are.”
Paige put one hand on her hip. “Neither was I at first, but I liked helping people. I’m still not the best in large crowds.” She grinned and folded her arms. “I have a new strategy when I doubt myself. I think of something that empowers me. You could do the same thing at the restaurant. If you stood up to that creep, you can handle the customers there.”
“If you decide to quit later, at least you would have tried,” Joann said. “There’s no worse feeling than knowing you failed without trying.”
Again Paige caught the sadness in her mother’s voice. Without thought, she rounded the table and placed a comforting arm around her shoulder. “Mother.”
Joann’s smile was strained. “Paige always tried. Nothing held her back.”
“And you were always there to help me go on when I failed,” Paige recalled fondly.
“I’m your mother and I love you. Where else would I have been?” Joann swept her hand over her daughter’s hair.
“You two are lucky to have each other,” Gayle said. “Just like I am to have Noah.”
Each other, Paige mused. For so long, it had been just her and her mother. Zach was protective of her, but he was older and had his own friends and interests. It was only later that Paige’s father had deemed her worthy of his love and time.
“Paige, are you all right?” her mother asked.
She shook the unfair thought away. Her father had been busy. Some fathers didn’t know how to relate to their young daughters. “Fine. Let’s get this table set before Shane and Noah return.”
As if on cue, the front door opened. Noah came through first, heading straight for his sister. “I love you, you know.”
His sister blinked back tears. “I know. I’m sor—”
“No.” He placed the twelve-pack of Pepsi on the kitchen counter. �
�You trusted the wrong man one time. Too many times to count I knew I was wrong and did stupid things anyway. If ever you can top me, then we’ll talk.”
“Oh, no.” Gayle closed her eyes. “The newspapers.”
“Taken care of,” Shane said. “Captain Weeler wasn’t anxious for the press to find out one of his men had missed finding the camera. Plus he didn’t want it getting out that the governor was involved.”
“Governor,” Gayle said in a strained whisper. “I don’t understand.”
“Why don’t we sit down and eat, and Paige and Mrs. Albright can explain it?” Shane said, crossing his arms. “You don’t mess with the Albright women.”
Chapter 17
“Thank you again, Shane. If you hadn’t been here, things might have turned out differently,” Mrs. Albright said in the foyer of her home a little after eight that night.
“You helped.” Shane looked at Paige. More and more she was coming into her own. “You both did. Noah and Gayle are lucky to have you two in their corner.”
“We’re lucky to have you.” Paige looped her arm through his.
Her mother’s gaze went to their linked arms. Paige’s hold tightened. She stepped closer.
“I think I’ll go up and call Bitsy to give her a report on how Gayle is doing. Good night, Paige. Shane,” Mrs. Albright said.
“Good night, Mother.” Crossing to Joann, Paige hugged her. “Thank you. Sleep well.”
Her brow arched, Mrs. Albright glanced over her daughter’s shoulder at Shane. “That might depend.”
“Mrs. Albright,” Shane called when she started to turn away. There was something he needed to say. “I won’t abuse or take advantage of you or Paige.” He’d rather face a crazed gunman than get on the bad side of the mother of the woman he cared about more with each passing second. She had to know that with one word she could send him to hell. Without Paige, that was exactly where he’d be.
“People often say what they think you want to hear,” Mrs. Albright said, her gaze as direct as his.
“Mother, please,” Paige said, obviously distressed. “I make my own decisions.”
“She loves you, and that gives her the right to have her say and be concerned,” Shane said. “I can be gone in ten minutes.”
Paige cried out in alarm. “No!” She pulled him around to face her. “You’re not going anywhere.”
He looked back over his shoulder at her mother. Mrs. Albright had the last word in this. They both knew it.
As the silence lengthened, Paige faced her mother. “Trust me to know what I’m doing.”
Shane felt his stomach knot. “Paige, you and your mother’s relationship is too important for anything or any man to come between. Why don’t you go to bed, and tomorrow we’ll talk?”
“You’ll be gone if I do.”
He almost smiled. Paige learned fast and was nobody’s fool.
“The only person who is going anyplace is me . . . to bed,” Joann said. “Paige, of course I trust you. Shane, if I thought you weren’t to be trusted, you wouldn’t be in my house. Good night.”
“Good night, Mrs. Albright,” Shane called as she went up the stairs. “Thank you.”
“We both know how you can thank me.”
Ouch, Shane thought. She could have left that out. “Paige, I guess you better go to bed.”
Paige walked her fingers up his chest. “It’s not even nine.”
His hands closed over hers, trapping her hand against his chest. “Paige. You heard your mother.”
“I did.” Freeing her hand she slid both arms around his neck, leaned against him. “Although it’s kind of cute, I can’t believe you’re afraid of my mother when you can make men shake in their tracks.”
His hand grasped her waist to keep her from sinking closer. “Paige, behave. You know where this is leading if you continue. We both have to face your mother in the morning.”
Her lips brushed across his, bit. He groaned, felt his lower body stir. Behave. He was just a man and all too weak where Paige was concerned.
“We didn’t have any problem this morning.”
His face heated. He could not believe she was teasing him. He pulled her into the great room. “I’ve created a monster.”
Her body sank against his, her breasts, her thighs flush against him. “Complaining?”
“I’m not that big a hypocrite or fool.” His mouth took hers. He angled his head to deepen the kiss. She opened for him, arching against the hard line of his body, her tongue swirled against his, pleasuring him. He could gladly lose himself in her kisses, her arms. He had, and he would again and again.
Much later that night, Shane let himself into his room and called Rio. “Your quick work saved the day.”
“Paige?”
It wasn’t like Rio to ask questions, but then, Shane hadn’t been acting his usual self in the past few months, either. “No. One of the teenagers she’s helping transition from foster care. The phone number belonged to a creep photographer with a Web camera in the dressing room.”
“If the person in jeopardy had been Paige, I’d be on my way there with a lawyer,” Rio commented, his tone flat.
Shane rubbed the back of his neck. “So I’m protective of her.”
“If only that was all.”
“Rio, you don’t understand.”
“Since I’m reasonably intelligent, why don’t you explain it to me?”
Shane paced. “It’s not that simple.”
“Sure it is. You’re just making it complicated” came the laconic answer.
“It is complicated,” Shane almost shouted, then he sat on the side of the bed.
“I’ll say. Do you realize you’ve completed your initial assignment and you’re still there?”
He did. “I told you, it’s complicated. Paige is so giving and sweet. I don’t want to hurt her.”
“Damn. You, too.”
The horror in his best friend’s voice—the man whom nothing got to—somehow made Shane feel better. “You know they say things come in threes.”
Rio grunted. “Funny.”
“I mean, I’m not ready to marry or anything, but I enjoy being with her. I won her a panda bear at the amusement park yesterday,” Shane said proudly. “She—” There was a click followed by a dial tone.
Grinning, Shane disconnected. “Rio, when your time comes, I’m going to remind you of this conversation.”
Tuesday morning Paige woke up with a smile. A man in a woman’s life certainly made it more interesting. While she bathed and dressed she couldn’t help thinking how much fun it was to tease a man, especially a man like Shane. He was so incredibly complex. One moment tender, the next dangerous, the next kissing her until her body simply melted, then heated, tingled, wanted.
Yesterday he’d sent a five-pound box of Swiss chocolates to her office. She’d shared with the office staff and kept a grin on her face the rest of the day. Of course she’d save some to feed him. If she closed her eyes she could still taste the sweetness of the chocolate mixed with that of Shane. Incredibly delicious and addictive.
He’d helped her to be more self-assured. He was good for her and, she hoped, she was good for him.
“Paige?”
Whipping an egg into the batter mixture, Paige glanced around. She’d decided to show Shane her cooking skills. “Good morning, Mother. Please have a seat. We’re having banana Foster crêpes this morning.”
Joann sat at a breakfast table already set for three. “You got up early.”
“Yes.” Paige poured the thin, yellowish batter into the sprayed skillet. “I wanted to surprise Shane with breakfast.”
“You really like him, don’t you?”
Paige took her eyes off the sizzling batter to look at her mother. “Yes.” She didn’t think her mother was ready to hear that it went deeper than like. She loved Shane.
Joann picked up her cup and saucer and went to the coffeepot. “Have you considered that he might decide to relocate someplace else?”
“And?” her mother pressed when Paige didn’t say anything further.
“I refuse to think about it too much or I’ll . . .” She couldn’t prevent the quick rush of tears in her eyes, the stinging in her throat.
“Paige, honey. This isn’t a fairy tale where wishes come true. It’s not like you not to face reality.” Joann set the cup aside.
“Mother, I believe in Shane. I can’t explain it, but somehow I knew from the day he arrived that he would be important to me.” She slid the crêpe onto a plate.
Joann studied her daughter for a long time, then briefly closed her eyes. “I don’t want you hurt the way—” Biting her lip, she glanced away.
Paige frowned. “The way who was? Zachary and Carmen?” Her brother had had a fiery relationship with the tempestuous socialite before he moved to Los Angeles. Alone. Carmen had refused to leave Atlanta and go with him. “He’s successful and loves what he does. He doesn’t have to put up with a spoiled woman like Carmen. He’s happy.”
“What if Shane found a job someplace else?”
Paige sprayed the crêpe pan again. “It will work out somehow. I have to believe that.”
“For both your sakes, I hope you’re right,” Mrs. Albright said, but her voice lacked conviction.
“Have you considered what will happen when you have to leave?” Mrs. Albright asked the moment Shane returned to the kitchen after walking Paige to the garage to see her off to work.
“I have, but I don’t have an answer,” he confessed.
Mrs. Albright shook her head. “You can hurt her worse than Russell ever could.” “
“I’d never hurt her,” Shane said, angry that she thought he would.
“You think leaving won’t hurt her?” Mrs. Albright challenged. “She has no defense against this. She thinks it will work out because of the way you both feel. Trent’s father and I are proof that that doesn’t always happen. I would have died for him, but I was doomed to live without him.” She had almost died when she’d faked Trent’s death to save his life.