Chapter Twenty-Three
Michael
I felt kind of bad for springing something like this on Paige, but it just seemed like the perfect way to get her to go out to dinner with me on some neutral territory, where it wasn't just the two of us. It really was better that I show my face by attending at least one of the fancy benefits that were planned for the year. No better time than now, when I had an interesting woman to accompany me.
And to be honest, I kind of wanted to show her off. I wasn't sure where the desire for that came from. After all, it wasn't as though she was my girlfriend. But very soon, she could be the mother of my child. And beyond that, she was interesting.
And funny, I was starting to realize.
When we reentered the ballroom, I could practically see Paige's transformation, and I wondered what was behind it. As I introduced her to a few people, she stood there confidently and charmed them all. She was getting businessmen to laugh, guys who I had never even seen smile before.
I was in dangerous territory, I knew. I was starting to realize how amazing she really was, and that wasn't what our relationship was supposed to be. She wasn't my girlfriend. I had never really had a serious relationship before. I had never wanted one. But now, I was picturing it. What if I could introduce her to all these people as my girlfriend, rather than as just a friend?
I didn't like the way the other men were looking at her, that was part of it. I mean, I did; they were eyeing her up like she was the hottest woman in the room. And she was, that was the thing. In that dress, god. I just wanted to bring her upstairs to one of the rooms, strip her down, and have my way with her. But I couldn't do that, not when she was acting so aloof toward me.
I wanted to stake a claim on her, tell everyone that she was mine and that they could look all they wanted, but they couldn't touch.
Except I didn't know how she was feeling, that was the problem. It was as though the more she pulled away from me, the more I wanted her. And she kept pulling away from me. No matter how charming she was that evening, no matter how confident and outgoing, it didn't escape me that none of those smiles were directed at me. She hadn't even wanted to come there that evening, hadn't wanted to go to dinner with me at all.
I sighed minutely and steered her towards Chris when I saw him appear at the far end of the room. “Hey man, what are you doing here?” I asked.
Chris raised an eyebrow at me. “I have a couple investment opportunities that I'm researching,” he said. “Or rather, a couple people that I'm schmoozing with.”
I laughed. “All right, that makes sense.”
“What are you doing here, though? You usually avoid these things like the plague.” His eyes skimmed over Paige, and suddenly, his eyes got comically wide. “You must be Paige,” he said, holding out his hand. “Nice to formally meet you.”
Paige blushed and shook his hand. “You're the friend,” she said.
“Chris,” I introduced. Now that we were standing and talking to him, it seemed so stupid for me to have brought Paige with me. I only hoped that Chris didn't say anything I would regret.
“You're looking lovely tonight,” Chris said, smiling at Paige. “Michael must have really wanted you to make a good impression on everyone.” He winked, and although I expected Paige to be upset, she merely smiled at him.
“I think it's time that we made our exit, actually,” I said smoothly. Was that disappointment on Paige's face? I shook my head; it couldn't have been.
We said our goodbyes, and I led Paige back out into the hallway. “I'll call my driver and ask him to meet us around front with the limo,” I told her.
Paige was quiet for a moment. “You don't want to show me around this place first?” she asked.
I blinked over at her, surprised. If I didn't know better, it sounded as though she was reluctant for the evening to end. “Sure,” I said, taking her hand and leading her aimlessly down the halls, watching as she picked out different details with her eyes. I knew exactly where I wanted to take her, but I was afraid that if I tried to take her in an elevator, she would think that I had something else planned.
“Tonight was actually fun,” Paige said suddenly. “I've never been to an event like this before.”
“You handled it really well,” I said. “If I didn't know this was your first one of these, I wouldn't have guessed it. You were perfect. Everyone loved you.”
Paige blushed demurely, and the urge to kiss her coursed through me. But I held myself in check. I needed her to make the first move. An obvious first move, not one that I guessed at. I didn't want to screw things up irreparably if she really was trying to pull away from me.
But finally, I made a decision. “All right, I know a cool place in this building, but it's up on the top floor,” I said. “And no, it's not the penthouse suite. It's a public space, but I doubt anyone's up there at this hour.” It wouldn't hurt to take her up there. Even though the surroundings would be undeniably romantic, it would be up to her to make the first move, if she wanted to. Otherwise, we'd take a peek at the room and then head home for the night.
“All right,” Paige said showing no emotion, heedless of my inner turmoil.
I pressed the button for the elevator, and escorted her inside. I felt almost nervous, having her so close to me, in light of the feelings I realized I had for her. It would have been easier if I had known whether she felt the same, but she was giving me no clues.
“Are we supposed to be up here?” Paige asked.
I laughed and shrugged. “Probably not,” I admitted. “It's supposed to be for guests, but we're kind of guests since we were here for the banquet.”
“And since you own the place,” Paige said, a hint of a smile on her face. “It just reminds me of this one other time, that's all.”
“This one other time?” I prompted.
Paige blushed. “It's nothing,” she said.
“Come on, tell me about it,” I said, turning toward her. “You started it.”
Paige grinned. “I snuck into the Empire State Building,” she admitted. “It was the first time I ever went there. And I haven't been back since; I've been too worried that someone would somehow recognize me, even though that was years ago now. I was so interested in seeing what the place was like.”
I laughed. “You little rascal.”
Paige grinned. “I mean, it was stupidly easy, so I doubt I'm the only person who's ever done it. I did my research ahead of time. Picked a random name off the internet and said that I had a package to deliver to him. I pretended I was from one of those special couriers, the ones with the flowers and the chocolates. And I told the guy at the desk that I was bringing them from his mistress but because everyone had to think they were coming from his wife, I wasn't allowed to entrust the delivery to anyone else. The guy totally bought it.” She laughed. “I have to wonder if the man at the desk had a mistress that he was worried about people finding out about.”
I chuckled. “I don't know, that sounds like a clever plan,” I said. “It must have taken a bit of thought to come up with it. I doubt just anyone would have been able to pull it off.”
Paige blushed again and ducked her head. “It wasn't that big of a deal,” she said.
Just then, the elevator dinged, and the doors opened. “Come on,” I said, taking her hand and leading her down the hall.
The solarium, when we reached it, was just like I remembered it. And just as empty as I had hoped it would be. Through the glass ceiling, the stars were twinkling merrily, and the thin crescent of the moon was visible just at the edge of the glass.
Paige gasped and walked towards the center of the room, her eyes glued to the ceiling. “All right, this is really, wow,” she said, the exact words failing her. She grinned at me. “I would love to have a place like this in my apartment,” she said. “I'd sleep in there every night.”
I smiled indulgently. “Well, I don't think we should sleep in here, but we could probably sit on the couches for a little while if you wanted.”
Paige stared at me, and I wondered if the romance of the location was getting to her. “I'm not going to try anything,” I promised, holding up both hands.
At that, she visibly relaxed, and I felt bitterness flow through me. Still, I tried to mask it, moving impassively over to the couches and taking a seat. Paige sat down next to me, close enough to still appear friendly, but far enough away to give the signal she didn't want to do anything with me tonight.
I wanted her. I sat there watching her almost as intently as she was watching the stars. I couldn't help cataloging her cute, upturned nose, the faint shimmer of starlight on her silky hair, the way the little lights reflected in her eyes. As I traced the patterns of moonlight across her skin, my eyes were drawn lower, to her full breasts, which the dress did nothing to disguise. Suddenly, I realized exactly how dangerous it had been, bringing her up here. As much as I might want this to lead to something else between us, I had to respect the fact that she wanted nothing more to do with me.
I stood up abruptly. “Well, I should probably get you home.”
Paige gave me a quizzical look but stood slowly as well. “All right,” she said. She lingered there for a moment, and I couldn't deny the energy sizzling in between us. I wanted to reach out, to pull her close to me and hold her. I had to restrain myself.
It was like she was reading my mind, though. She moved toward me, her confidence from before evident in her posture and her gaze. She moved slowly, giving me plenty of time to take a step back or to stop her. And I wondered if maybe I should. We ought to talk before we did anything else. I could tell we were both having reservations about the contract. I knew what mine were, but I didn't understand what hers were.
With this much attraction between us, though, I was powerless to stop her. Instead, I let her move into my personal space, and I brought my hands up to rest on her hips. She stood on her tiptoes and leaned toward me, a questioning tilt to her head.
Our lips met, moving gently against one another's. It was as though neither of us wanted to deepen the kiss, as though we were both still waiting for a sign from the other. Suddenly, I wondered whether Paige was as uncaring as she had pretended to be. Maybe when she said she didn't want to be friends with me, she meant that she didn't want to be just friends with me.
Maybe she was developing feelings, as much as I was.
The thought scared me more than anything else. But there was still time to enjoy this, and I didn't want to cut it short.
As we broke the kiss, I stared down at her, our breaths mingling beneath the starlight.
“Do you want to come back to my place for a drink?” I asked, my voice husky with lust.
Paige stared at me for a long moment and then nodded slowly. “All right,” she agreed breathlessly.
When we kissed again, it was deeper, more passionate, and my hands traveled to the curve of her back. This time as we broke apart, we were both breathless, and Paige giggled a little. I placed a chaste kiss on her forehead and led her back to the elevator, almost forgetting to message my driver.