I hadn’t expected Paige to say yes, but I was damn glad that she had. We took the elevator down, and then managed to slip away while the crew were loading up the truck. We hurried down the block and around the corner, and just like that, we were free. Already the night was a hundred times better than any of the evenings spent at the mansion surrounded by women in bikinis vying for my attention.

“Where do you want to go?” I asked her as soon as we were a good distance away from the Empire State Building, and Andrea’s watchful eye.

“I’m game for anything,” Paige told me, and I believed her. Obviously the girl who had taken the keys from a former Formula One driver and driven in the rain and stayed in a crappy motel in Pittsburgh just to get to a job on time was someone who could roll with the punches. Someone who was open to having fun.

And I needed some fun right now.

“Why don’t we just walk for a while and see if anything catches our fancy,” I suggested.

“I love that,” she responded, and I realized that I liked Paige. I really liked her.

Why wouldn’t I? She was beautiful, smart, quick on her feet, and obviously up for a good time. It made me wish—not for the first time—that our circumstances were different.

But they weren’t. I was on the cheesiest dating reality show known to man, and she was working behind the scenes.

As we walked, I cast a sideways glance in her direction. She was dressed as she always was, as the rest of the crew always was, in head-to-toe black. Black sneakers, tight black jeans, an equally tight black shirt, all topped off with the riotous head of red curls. Curls I just wanted to sink my fingers into.

It was weird. I’d just spent the day with two very beautiful women, on two very romantic dates. Both of the contestants were lovely, sweet, and obviously interested in getting to know me better, especially Savannah. And out of all of them, she seemed the most genuine. We’d had a good time walking along the Brooklyn Bridge, even though a camera had been shoved in our face for most of the date.

I liked her because she sweet, and funny, and actually seemed to listen to what I was saying. The other girls listened, but I got a feeling that they were only processing half of what I said, while the rest of their attention was focused on finding ways to brush up against me at every possible moment.

Savannah didn’t do that. She just treated me like a normal guy, like we were on a normal date—not a date for TV, not a date with a guy who raced very expensive cars for a living. It would have been a great date.

If I wasn’t thinking about Paige the whole time.

“Are you hungry?” I asked Paige, not wanting to think about Andrea or Patrick or Savannah or the show. I just wanted to focus on this moment. On this perfect summer night in Manhattan with one of the most gorgeous girls I’d ever met.

“Starving,” she told me.

I grinned. It was hard not to love a girl with an appetite. And Paige seemed to have an appetite for everything.

“How do you feel about Ethiopian food?” I pointed to a little restaurant across the street from us.

“I’ve never had it before,” she said.

“Wanna try?”

“Why not?” She smiled at me.

We sat on the floor of the restaurant, with all the other patrons, my knees knocking against the low table in front of us as I balanced on a pillow. The place smelled incredible, the lighting soft and mellow. It looked like everyone around us was on a date, couples leaning close to each other, everyone smiling and blushing at each other.

“Not the easiest set-up for tall people, is it?” Paige observed, her own long, beautiful legs having trouble fitting under the table.

“Not really,” I admitted. “We could go somewhere else,” I offered, but was grateful when she shook her head.

“Not a chance,” she said. “This place looks wonderful.”

I’d had Ethiopian food once or twice before, but when the waitress came over with the menu, I didn’t even look.

“Why don’t you just bring us your favorite dishes,” I told her, shooting a quick look at Paige, who nodded in agreement.

The waitress’s face lit up, and she rushed off towards the kitchen.

“I have a feeling this is going to be good,” I said to Paige, rubbing my hands together with anticipation.

“I have a feeling that everything here is good,” she told me, looking around at all the tables covered with delicious-smelling dishes of food. “Lucky that you spotted it.”

“I have a good eye.” I took a drink of the beer I had ordered. “I can spot something special from a mile away. Or a few seats away,” I teased.

Paige rolled her eyes. “Please,” she said. “You were so focused on your collection of stewardesses, I had to literally run into you to get your attention.”

“So you were trying to get my attention, then?” I wanted to know.

Paige blushed. “No,” she quickly said. “I had no interest in talking to you at all.”

“Mmhmm.” I winked at her. “Keep telling yourself that.”

Before she could respond, our waitress returned, loaded down with a tray full of food. All of it looked incredible, and my stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten much that day. Paige dug in to the meal with vigor, and our conversation was set aside for a while so that we could fully concentrate on our amazing meal.

“Oh my god,” Paige groaned, trying some of the spiced vegetables. “This is so good.”

I paused, my hand halfway to my mouth, completely distracted by Paige. Watching her eat was more erotic than I could have ever imagined. It helped that all of our food was meant to be eaten with our hands, so I got to watch Paige scoop some of the vegetables and pop them into her mouth. Her eyes closed, her head falling back as she savored the food, her eyelashes fluttering as a low moan escaped her throat.

I got hard just watching her, imagining how intense it would be if what we were savoring were each other’s bodies, instead of a meal.

After she finished, Paige licked her fingers clean. It took an amount of self-control I didn’t know I had to keep from throwing the table aside and taking her right there on the floor of the restaurant.

“How’s your food?” Paige asked, and I realized I was still holding my hand in mid-air, my most recent bite untouched.

I shoved it in my mouth. “Delicious,” I told her, still distracted by the numerous naughty fantasies that were running through my head and playing havoc with my concentration.

“Have you had Ethiopian food before?” Paige wanted to know as our eating slowed.

I nodded. “Once or twice. A friend of mine introduced me to it.”

Liam had been one of my closest friends when I had been racing. The three of us—he, Jean-Luc, and myself—had become fast pals when we started out. Even though we were often in competition against each other, we never let it get in the way of our friendship. We supported each other no matter what. When one of us was on top, we made sure to bring our friends along for the ride. We shared endorsements, spoke about each other in interviews, and found ways to support each other when we were doing well. And for that reason, Liam was why I had become as successful as I had.

He was also the reason I quit.

His death had been one that could have been avoided. All racing deaths were deaths that could have been avoided, but Liam was someone who had thrived on being reckless. And in the end, it cost him his life.

There wasn’t a day that went by where I didn’t think of him.

“Are you OK?” Paige asked.

I smiled at her, pushing aside my depressing thoughts.

“I’m great,” I told her. “Ready to explore some more of the city?”

* * *

Manhattan had a magic to it. A magic that revealed itself at night, especially on evenings like this. Everyone was out and about, the streets as full as they had been during the day. No one wanted to be inside on a beautiful night like this, and so Paige and I wandered the city with thousands of strangers all around us.

We walked, letting our feet lead us. It had been so long since I had done something just for the fun of it. And Paige was fun. She seemed just as excited to explore as me, not playing it cool at all.

“Let’s check this out.” Paige grabbed my arm, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I looked up and saw that we were standing outside a jazz club, with the sounds of a saxophone and cymbal pouring out onto the street corner. Without waiting for me to respond, Paige tugged me through the door.

The club was small and dark and full of people. Two musicians were on stage, making pure poetry with their instruments. It was crowded, but somehow Paige managed to get us through the throng and found a table closer to the front. She even was able to flag down a waitress.

“Gin and tonic,” Paige told her.

A girl after my own heart. “I’ll have the same,” I said to the waitress.

“I love jazz,” Paige had to lean close in order for me to hear her. She smelled like oranges and cinnamon.

“I love this club,” I told her, leaning even closer. Probably closer than was necessary, but she didn’t stop me. Nor did she say anything when I lay my arm across the back of her chair.

I could have stayed there all night, enjoying incredible music, a really great gin and tonic, and the company of an intoxicating woman, but said woman became restless after an hour or so and pulled me out of the club and back onto the street. Apparently we hadn’t had enough of an adventure.

“So, where’s this house that you bought for your parents?” Paige asked after we had found some ice cream, and we were walking down the lamp-lit streets.

“Michigan,” I told her. “Where I grew up.”

“A Midwesterner,” Paige teased, licking her frozen treat. “I should have known.”

“I’m not sure if that was a compliment or an insult.”

“Good,” she said with a smile.

“What about you?” I asked, realizing I didn’t really know anything about her life outside of Ever After.

“I’m from San Diego.”

“Any siblings?”

“An older sister, Penny. She actually lives in New York,” Paige confessed. “If I hadn’t made it to the Hamptons in time, I would have had to go stay with her until I found another job.”

“You don’t sound too enthused about that. Are you not close with her?”

“It’s not that.” Paige finished her ice cream and threw her napkin away. “I love my sister, we’re just very different.”

“Are you saying that she might not have shared a car with a total stranger in a bid to get somewhere?”

Paige laughed. “Exactly. Penny is way too uptight to ever do anything like that.” She shrugged. “And our differences notwithstanding, I really didn’t want to depend on the charity of anyone. Even my sister.”

“Is staying with her considered charity?” I asked, even though I had a pretty good idea of what she was talking about because I felt the same way about my parents.

“She wouldn’t think of it that way,” Paige told me. “But I really want to be standing on my own two feet, and living with your sister is kind of the opposite of that.”

“I understand completely.” I finished my own ice cream, and then noticed Paige was shivering a little. “Maybe ice cream wasn’t the best choice for a snack,” I noted, taking my jacket off and putting it over her shoulders. I half expected her to reject it, but instead she just slid her arms into the sleeves and wrapped it around her tightly.

Seeing her dwarfed in my jacket, her pale, freckled face and bright, wild curls, tugged at my heart in a way I didn’t expect, or understand.

“What do you want to do next?” she asked me.

I wanted to sweep her off her feet. I wanted to romance her in a way I’d never wanted to romance a woman before.

Stepping off the curb, I hailed a cab. Holding the door open for her, I helped her in.

“Take us to the Empire State Building,” I told the driver, before turning to Paige and giving her a wink. Her eyes widened, but she smiled back at me. There was that strange twist again in my chest.

If Paige wanted that romantic moment, then hell, I was going to give her that romantic moment.

We sped back across the city, and climbed out in front.

“I think it’s closed,” she noted, looking at the deserted lobby.

“Never fear,” I told her, crossing the lobby towards the security guard who was already shaking his head at me.

“The young lady is right,” he told me. “We’re closed.”

“I know.” I pulled out my wallet. “But I was hoping you could give us just fifteen minutes up there. I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”

Fifty bucks and a few minutes later we were heading back up to the top.

“Fifteen minutes,” the guard told us with a wink, and then left.

It was just the two of us, and the city of Manhattan spread out beneath us.

“How does it compare to before?” I asked, leaning on the railing next to her.

“You mean without the crew and the lights and my boss giving me the evil eye?” Paige asked. “It’s way, way better.”

“More romantic too?” I asked, moving closer to her, echoing the position we had taken only a few hours before, my hand at her waist.

She gazed up at me. “Definitely more romantic,” she whispered.

Her hand slid up my chest, and I was unable to resist. Lowering my head, I pressed my lips to hers, thrilled to find that she had moved to meet me halfway.

The kiss was sweet. At first. I took a moment to revel in the simple, perfect feeling of her lips against mine. It was nothing like I’d ever felt before. But it quickly wasn’t enough. I tightened my grip on her hips and deepened the kiss. She responded with enthusiasm, her tongue hot and wet as it tangled with mine.

Her hands slid upward, one wrapping around the back of my neck, the other dragging along my jaw, her nails teasing the five o’clock shadow that had appeared. It felt so good that I couldn’t help shivering from the pleasure of it all. Paige smiled against my lips, and I realized that she had taken control of the kiss.

I couldn’t allow that.

In an instant, I had her pinned against the railing, my body hard against hers. I felt her moan against my lips. I wanted to touch her everywhere, my hands roaming over her gorgeous body, palming her ass, her breast, her hip. And it wasn’t enough. None of it was enough.

Her fingers were fisted in my shirt, the pull of them urging me on. I angled my head, deepening the kiss even further. She tasted of ice cream and spice. Of warm New York nights and something special. Something I wanted more of.

Suddenly, though, Paige pulled away.

I was breathing heavily, my heart racing, my cock aching, but I stopped, releasing her from my grip. She looked up at me, her lips red and swollen, her eyes round.

“We shouldn’t have done that,” she said, looking worried. “We’re in trouble now.”

The show.

The damn show.

I sighed and kissed her forehead.

“We should get back,” she said with a frown. “Andrea’s probably freaking out already. I’m surprised she hasn’t sent out a drone to find you. If she knows we were together . . .”

“I won’t tell if you don’t.” I tried to crack a joke, but Paige wasn’t smiling anymore. We didn’t say anything on the elevator ride back down to the lobby, nor did we speak in the cab ride back to the hotel. We said goodbye in the lobby, not touching. Not really looking at each other.

“See you back in the Hamptons?” I asked, still trying to get a smile.

“I’ll be the one in black,” she deadpanned with a regretful smile.

She walked away, and I waited for her to look back before getting into the elevator. She did, her red curls loose across her cheek. I felt my stomach clench. Maybe my heart too. She was right. We were in trouble.

But I loved trouble.