by Rachel Magee
“It’s a special place. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.” Someone should. The emerald waters and snow-white beaches shouldn’t be lost on the lonely and heartbroken.
Sasha stepped closer to Brody. “I bought two new bikinis for the occasion.”
Brody’s gaze transferred to Sasha and whatever not-so-sweet thought was running through his mind while Paige’s disappointment grew. She started to walk away, but Gram’s words rang in her ears. When you finally see the one your soul desires, it’s impossible to look away.
So Paige wasn’t expecting Sasha to come on their walk down memory lane, but life often didn’t line up with what she was expecting. If what Paige and Brody had shared was the real deal, he would see it whether the new girl was there or not. And if Brody really had fallen for Sasha, in such a short time…well then, nothing Paige said or did would make a difference, anyway.
“The forecast looks great, so we should have plenty of beach time.” She shifted her gaze to Brody. “Remember that one time when we stayed out on the beach from sunrise to sunset? That was a great day.”
Brody’s gaze met hers and the memory lit his eyes. “It was.”
Excitement shot through her. Maybe all wasn’t lost after all. She gestured at the champagne on her shoulder. “Duty calls. But we can catch up this weekend. Maybe we can all find time to grab a frozen mocha at that cute little café we used to love. You can tell me everything you’ve been up to, and Sasha and I can get to know each other.”
Brody smiled. “I’d like that.” Sasha looked lost but nodded enthusiastically anyway.
With one last lingering glance at Brody, Paige started across the marble floor in her best attempt at a saunter. True, she hadn’t practiced this particular walk in these heels, but she’d been around it enough to know the basics of what to do. She added a slight arch to her back, the way her mother had always instructed her models. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure both of them were noticing and added a bit more swing to her hips. She wasn’t one to brag, but she was owning the moment.
Then her tractionless shoe hit a wet spot on the slick marble floor, sending her foot sliding out from under her. The momentum from her quick pace sent her flying forward. Perhaps if she had been facing forward she could’ve done something to regain her balance, but she wasn’t.
The drinks were the first to go, tumbling off the tray and shattering across the floor. The tray hit the ground next, followed by Paige who barely got her hands out in time to keep her nose from breaking her fall.
It didn’t matter if pain shot through her ankle where she twisted it, or if her knees throbbed from the impact. What mattered was that there was nothing attractive about a wet mess sprawled out on the floor. And Brody and Sasha had witnessed every humiliating second of it.
Aiden was sitting at the table with the investor and his masters-of-the-universe friends, listening to yet another story about how they had the world on a string, when Paige landed face-down on the floor right at his feet.
It just so happened that the piercing shatter of glass was perfectly timed with the silence at the end of a loud dance song. The entire room went quiet and every single eye focused on Paige sprawled out on the floor in the middle of the mess. A wave of concern rolled through him, bringing with it a prickle of fear. He dropped onto his knee next to her and laid a gentle hand on her back.
“Paige, are you okay?”
“Is everyone looking at me?” Her muffled voice was thick with defeat, but she didn’t sound like she was in pain. Aiden’s concern simmered into sympathy.
“That was freakin’ hilarious! Tell me someone caught that on their phone,” some jerk yelled from the dance floor. The whole room erupted into laughter. Paige, still face down, let out a weary sigh.
“Maybe one or two people,” Aiden tried to joke. He signaled for the DJ to start the next song. The thumping bass from the loud, upbeat music filled the air, along with the announcement that this would be the final dance of the night. Most of the guests drifted toward the dance floor.
Paige’s assistant appeared and hovered over Paige, who remained face down on the floor, lying perfectly still. With wide eyes, she looked over at Aiden. “Is she okay?” she whispered.
“Besides the big ol’ bruise on my ego?” Paige’s muffled voice said. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Aiden and Lucy exchanged a look. “Do you think you can handle the reception from here on out by yourself? I’ll take her to the back and make sure she’s not hurt.”
Lucy nodded. “I’m on it.” She disappeared, and Aiden and Paige were left alone on the floor between two of the tables.
“So, you wanna try to get up, or should we hang out here for the rest of the night?”
“Is turning invisible an option?” she muttered from her face-down position.
“We can try.” Aiden pulled his legs into the most cross-legged position his tight muscles would allow, ready to sit next to her for as long as she needed. “But I gotta tell ya, it would’ve helped if your dress was the color of the floor instead of purple.”
Her shoulders shook, which he took as laughter.
She reached around and pulled down the bottom of her dress as she rolled to her side and sat up. “How many people saw my underwear?”
“Not nearly as many as who wanted to.” It elicited another half grin. She was going to be okay, which filled him with relief. “Are you hurt?”
Paige circled her wrists and rubbed her knees. With a sigh, she ran her hands through her hair and focused her attention on her feet. “I think I twisted my ankle.”
She pointed to her left ankle, which was already beginning to swell. That wasn’t a good sign. “Come on, let’s get you to the back.”
Aiden helped her to her feet as housekeeping arrived.
“I’m so sorry about this mess, guys.” She laid her hand on the uniformed maid closest to her and looked in her eyes. “Thank you so much.”
“It is no problem, Ms. Paige,” she said.
Even in the midst of her personal drama, Paige went out of her way to be kind. It was another thing Aiden had always liked about her. The world could use more people like Paige Westmoreland. He remembered thinking that the very first time Ciera brought her new best friend home from college.
With the rest of the guests focused on the final toast being given on the dance floor, Aiden slid his arm around Paige’s waist and supported her as she limped in the opposite direction to one of the conversation areas hidden in an alcove in the back corner. He stopped in front of a plush armchair.
She sank into the large chair and propped her arms on the high armrests. “I’m over today.”
“That good, huh?”
“I mean, there have been some highlights, but this ankle thing kinda tipped the scale on the overall rating of the day.”
“How’s it feeling?”
Paige winced as she rotated it in a slow, timid circle. “I don’t think it’s broken, but I’m going to feel it tomorrow.”
“May I take a look?” She nodded and he took a knee on the floor next to her, cradling her foot in his hand. The touch, along with the close proximity, filled him with an odd combination of calm highlighted with a faint buzz of excitement. It was as if being near her was both the most natural thing in the world and the best part of his evening. But they were friends, so being around her should feel natural, right?
His large fingers fumbled with the tiny buckle as he attempted to loosen the thin leather strap that was already cutting into her ankle. But as hard as he tried to be gentle, it was nearly impossible for him to free her foot without moving her ankle. “Are these shoes or torture devices?”
Paige chuckled. She closed her eyes and she massaged her temple with one hand. Everything about her look tired and defeated. “They weren’t made for comfort.”
He finally got the first strap undone and slid her shoe
off. Deep red lines crisscrossed down her foot from where the straps had been, and there was a pretty good-sized blister forming on her toe. The sight of her physical pain made him ache with sympathy from a place deep inside his chest, and he looked up into her warm eyes. “You okay if I move it? Let me know if I hurt you.”
She nodded and watched the ankle in his hand.
With a growing desire to protect her from any more pain, he slid his hand up to her calf to be able to fully support her leg. With his other hand, he gently moved her ankle in a slow circular motion. He wasn’t a doctor, but he’d been involved in enough sports injuries to know the basic signs of what to look for.
“It doesn’t appear to be broken, but you probably should get it checked out.” Aiden placed her foot back on the floor. “I can take you to the ER if you want.”
Paige shook her head and leaned down to touch her swollen ankle. “I’ll make an appointment with my doctor tomorrow.”
With his examination done, he stood and sank into the armchair next to hers.
She gave her ankle one last rub before she switched to taking the shoe off her other foot. “Let’s hope it’s nothing serious. I don’t want to have to hobble down the aisle in some sort of splint at Georgia’s wedding.” Once the shoe was off, Paige lifted both sandals up by the ankle straps with the long, spikey heels dangling right in front of her face. “Keep ’em or burn ’em?”
“Burn ’em,” Aiden said. “They don’t even look like you. What made you want to try out stilt shoes when you’d be on your feet all day?”
“It’s too embarrassing to talk about.”
“With me? We’re practically family. We don’t judge.”
“Families do plenty of judging.” Her expression looked as discouraged as her voice sounded. Aiden ached for her, but in an effort to make this increasingly somber mood a little lighter, he stuck with his attempt at sarcastic humor.
“You’re right. I’m judging your choice of hanging those bowling balls from your ears. Were the five-pound weights already spoken for?” His dumb joke managed to coax out a smile, as intended.
Paige pulled the giant, dangly earrings from her ears. The tiny red specks of dried blood clustered around one of her piercings confirmed that the earrings were too big for her delicate ears.
She closed her fingers around them and stared at her fist, as if considering something. “It was part of Operation Get Brody Back, remember?”
The familiar pang of unease that had plagued him all night hit him square in the gut. All during the reception, he’d pretended to be interested in conversations he cared nothing about while cozying up to people he didn’t care to be friends with to nurture his multimillion-dollar sale. Yeah, he understood playing the part to close the deal.
“I get that.”
“I thought maybe if I caught his attention, got him to notice me, he’d remember what we had.”
That shocked Aiden. He’d always thought Paige was stunning. She was the kind of pretty that made you not want to look away. How could she question that?
He clasped his hand over hers. “You, Paige Westmoreland, are beautiful without boulders hanging from your ears. And you don’t need to wear ridiculous shoes to remind him of what you had.”
She kept her gaze on his hand covering hers and silence hung over them. He was starting to think she didn’t believe him when he caught a hint of her confidence returning and her lips curled up in a slight grin. “Thanks.” She massaged her earlobe with her free hand. “I don’t think I was made to wear these kinds of clothes.”
“I said the boulder earrings and the shoes with weapon-heels were ridiculous. But you were made for that dress. You look terrific.”
Pink tinged her cheeks and she glanced down at her dress, looking unconvinced. Was it possible she didn’t realize she was a knockout?
He added, “I mean, if you were trying to turn heads, you succeeded.”
The pink in her cheeks deepened to scarlet. “Thanks.”
She glanced up at him from under her lashes and something soared inside him, which was weird. They didn’t have that kind of relationship. She was his kid sister’s best friend.
Aiden cleared his throat and tried to return the conversation to a more neutral topic. “We should probably get you some ice for that ankle.”
He started to stand up, but she caught his arm. “Not yet. Let’s give it a few minutes until everyone clears out. I’m not up for questions.”
He nodded and sank back into his seat. She rested her head against the back of her chair and closed her eyes. “What was so important that I had to rework the entire seating chart today so you could sit with the old people at table eight instead of your buddies at table four?
It was Aiden’s turn to sigh. “Business. He’s a key decisionmaker in a pretty big deal.”
“Big enough to make my blisters worth it?”
Her eyes were still closed and her face relaxed, which indicated that he should take her casual, joking tone for what it was: giving him a hard time. Joking and friendly razzing was the kind of relationship they had. But there was enough truth in her words that they stung.
“Yeah, sorry about that. If it goes through, I’ll buy you some orthopedic shoes perfect for the demands of a wedding planner.”
She chuckled. “That would get me noticed, for sure. Too bad I won’t have them in time to turn Brody’s head at Georgia’s wedding.”
Aiden snapped his fingers. “Which reminds me, I could use your help.”
She cracked one eyelid to look at him. “Sure. What do you need?”
“The investor and his partners are going to be at the beach all weekend, and I have to do some sort of lunch presentation thing on Friday to finalize the sale of Cedar Break. Jacob wants me to put together something that will wow them. Grilling burgers on the beach wows me, but I don’t think that’s what he had in mind.”
Paige opened both eyes and arched an eyebrow. “You own the most successful restaurant in Hilltop and you can’t come up with a lunch menu?”
Aiden didn’t know how to explain it. It wasn’t just the menu or the lunch or the presentation. There was something about this deal that made him hesitant. Maybe it was the fact that the price tag was staggering or that after three years of wasting time, he still didn’t have his next great business idea. Whatever the reason, it left him uninspired when it came to the sales end. Maybe if he had some help planning it, he could pull off the sales pitch with the same gusto he was known for.
“Food I understand, but it’s combining the lunch menu and the presentation and the atmosphere where I need some help. I need, maybe, an event planner to help me make it go from a bunch of dudes eating lunch in a plain room to whatever it was you did out there.”
Quiet settled over them. Paige twisted her mouth to the side in the cutest expression that showed she was considering it. “Do I get two pairs of orthopedic shoes?”
“I’ll get you a pair in white and in black.”
She chuckled, and for the first time all night he thought she looked like her normal relaxed self. “You have yourself a deal.”
At the same moment, Brody peeked his head around the corner. “Hey, Paige. Thought I’d check on you before I took off. You okay?”
Paige whipped her head around to look at him. The confident expression she’d just recaptured fell away, and her whole body tensed. She blinked a few times, as if considering what to say. Then she motioned to her leg, her forced smile attempting to cover up the strain on her face. “Probably a minor twist. Nothing to worry about.”
Brody glanced at Aiden before looking back at her. “Great. Good.” He stood there for a moment, looking somewhat awkward.
Aiden had never liked this guy. There was something about Brody that made Aiden think he wasn’t sincere—or good enough for Paige. But since Paige seemed to be convinced Brody was the one she want
ed, Aiden was willing to put his own hesitations aside.
Finally, Brody jerked his thumb in the direction of the main room. “I gotta run because Sasha’s waiting for me.” He looked right at Paige. “But I’ll see you this weekend.”
“Yep. I’ll see you then.”
“See ya,” Aiden added. He couldn’t help himself.
Brody’s gaze jumped from Paige to Aiden, and his expression went from shocked to possessive. Aiden probably should have let him walk away, but then again, he was the reason Paige had such an awful day. Well, one of the reasons, at least. He didn’t get to pop around the corner and make everything better with one comment. So Aiden matched Brody’s gaze with his own look of authority.
After about a second Brody looked away, casting one last weak smile at Paige before he disappeared around the corner.
“He’s jealous,” Aiden said.
“Jealous?” Paige’s gaze lingered on the spot where he’d been long after he’d gone.
“You got carried off by another guy. His territory has been threatened.”
Paige turned to him. “First of all, I’m not his territory. Secondly, it was you that helped me over here. Our relationship isn’t like that.”
“I know that, and you know that, but Brody doesn’t know that.”
Her face twisted in concentration. “He knew you when we were dating.”
“That was before he left. A lot can change in a year.”
Her eyes focused on something in the distance as she seemed to be working through the situation in her mind. “You really think he’s jealous?”
“Positive.”
“Huh.” They were both quiet for a moment, then she shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. “Sorry, back to your lunch dilemma. Tell me what you need and let me see how I can help.”
“I need food, a place, something to make it look impressive. Normal stuff. And if you’re up for playing matchmaker, I need a date. Jacob’s convinced the investors will take me more seriously if I’m committed instead of some party-throwing bachelor out for a good time.” Aiden paused and studied Paige. “Actually, do you want to be my date?”