Chapter Fifteen

“I don’t like this plan,” Wyatt told Paige the next morning over the phone.

“I’ll be fine. She’s a reporter, Wyatt. For the school newspaper. Not a member of the Secret Intelligence Service.”

“She’s strange, and she spent half the morning yesterday spying on you at my house. Our house,” he amended, making her smile. “Even though you didn’t sleep in it last night, it’s still yours. There’s always tonight.” Of course, he would take the first opportunity to point that out and rub it in.

She had left him several hours after he gave her that life-altering orgasm. After lying in his bed half naked talking and cuddling. After eating lunch in his kitchen while Dale worked outside. After sitting on his couch with their feet on the coffee table, his arm around her while he checked his email on his computer on his lap. After she watched his profile for long stretches of time, knowing he’d been right and everything between them would be okay.

Even once she came to that conclusion, she still thought it was best to go back to her apartment and take a break from the intensity so she could regroup.

It might have been better to remain at Wyatt’s, however, because in the tiny apartment she was subject to the inquisition. She’d told Gavin nearly everything that had transpired, including her total meltdown after seeing Antoine’s picture but excluding the fantastic orgasm.

Gavin was supportive. He liked Wyatt. His only hesitation was based on his total lack of understanding about how shifters could meet and nearly instantly bind themselves for life.

He’d flushed and turned away when she asked him about Dale, giving her only two quick sentences. “He’s older. And he’s a shifter.”

“He’s the same age as Wyatt, and therefore also eight years older than you. So, don’t give me that unless you’re willing to admit Wyatt is old for me too.”

“Not the same,” he’d responded.

She figured he was crazy, but said nothing and changed the subject. “I’m worried about you.”

“Don’t be.” He’d eyed her crossly. “I’m a big boy. I’ll figure this out. I knew I wouldn’t be able to lean on you forever.”

“I expected you to be the one to bail.”

“Well, I never would have had the balls. So it was always going to be you.”

Wyatt, still on the phone with her, yanked her back into the present. “Paige? You still there?”

“Yeah. Sorry. My mind wandered. What did you say?”

“I said Kelly is strange, and I don’t like you alone with her. She gives me the creeps.”

“Strange doesn’t make her dangerous. She didn’t stick around your house long, and she didn’t come back.”

“You do realize that only makes me more suspicious. You’re not helping your case.”

Paige sighed. “Like I said, I’m sure she thinks she’s gonna catch me not doing my job like some sort of spy for the university. She probably thinks it would be to her advantage to tattle on me so that she appears to be holier than thou. She’s nothing but a brown-noser, Wyatt. That’s why I’m going to meet with her this morning like nothing’s wrong. I have a perfect story all made up to convince her why I was legitimately at your house yesterday. Hoping if I tell her something she already knows, she’ll stop being so suspicious of me.”

“Did you at least call your professor?”

“Yes, but I got voice mail.”

“Damn. And he didn’t call you back?”

“At this point, I’m inclined to think he’s not working this week. I’m sure it’s no big deal. He’ll get back to me when he can. It won’t change anything. I’d just like to know what he expects.”

“You’re awfully articulate for nine in the morning,” he teased.

“I’ll have you know I’ve already been up an hour. Two cups of coffee, shower, even dressed.”

“Please tell me you’re wearing more than you were yesterday morning when you declared yourself dressed.”

She smiled. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Yes, so why don’t you come by the brewery before you meet Kelly?”

“For wardrobe approval?” she joked.

“Call it whatever you like if it will lure you this direction.”

“Well, for future reference, I can tell you wardrobe approval will not win you any brownie points. Ever.”

“Okay, then let’s say I want you to come by so I can taste your lip gloss.”

She couldn’t keep from smiling. All the time lately. But she wasn’t ready for that. “Not ready for that. Not sure I can face your entire pack yet.”

He didn’t respond or make a sound.

“Wyatt?”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “Do your thing. But be careful, and I want to see you later, after work. Dinner.”

“Bossy.”

He snickered.

“Are you mad I don’t want to come to the brewery?”

“No, not mad. I totally get it. The truth is my pack will be more overwhelming than you’re even imagining. So no. I’m just…antsy.”

“Antsy,” she deadpanned.

“In a hurry. Not your problem. Don’t worry about it.”

“What kind of hurry?” She wasn’t following.

He hesitated. “Paige, I waited a long time to find you and then what seemed like even longer before you would see me, and now I just want to get past this awkward stage and get to the part where you move in with me, sleep in my bed, eat your meals in the same kitchen I’m standing in, and stroll into my office at the brewery like you own the place. I’d give anything to skip the part where I have to introduce you to everyone and get a slap on the back.”

She couldn’t breathe. He’d said so much, and things were moving so fast. But also she felt a tightness in her chest, and her clit pulsed as he listed off what her future would look like.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to freak you out.”

“No. It’s okay. You’re right. That will be nice. But what’s wrong with your family congratulating you? I’m the antisocial one.”

“It’s not me I’m worried about, babe.” His voice was lower. Soothing. Filled with emotion and love and caring.

“Oh.” He was stressed worrying about her being overwhelmed when she met his family. His thoughtfulness was abundant. “Don’t worry about me.”

A sharp chuckle. “For the rest of my life, I’ll be doing nothing but worrying about you.”

The twinge in her clit turned into something much more powerful. For the first time in her life, she had the urge to reach between her legs and touch herself. Imagining Wyatt doing so. “I’ll see you tonight?” She needed to get off the phone before she broke down and begged him to drop what he was doing and come bind her to him.

“I’ll pick you up after work. You’ll be at the apartment?”

“Yeah, but I could drive. Then I’d have a car to get home.”

“I’ll pick you up.”

“You worried about my driving too?” She straightened a bit. If he was that overprotective, she would have a problem on her hands.

“Nope. I just don’t want you to have the means to leave before I’m ready for you to.”

She relaxed. “Okay.” That damn pulsing. More intense. Demanding. Maybe she would rub herself. A knock at the door made her jump and spin around. “Gotta go. Kelly’s here.”

“I’ll text you when I’m leaving work.”

“’K. Later.” She ended the call as she headed for the door. Gavin had left earlier, saying he needed to get to the library to work on his thesis, though she suspected he simply didn’t want to be within a hundred yards of Kelly Smith.

Not shocking in the least, Kelly was all smiles and excitement when Paige opened the door. “Hey.” She rushed into the apartment without being invited. “You’re up and dressed.”

“It’s rare, but I figured I owed you after yesterday. Sorry I was so busy.”

“Where did you go? You weren’t even home.”

Kelly knew exactly where Paige was, so Paige gave her the story she’d already rehearsed so that she would play right into Paige’s inquisition without getting caught in a lie. “I went to interview Wyatt Arthur at his home. He had a free morning, so he squeezed me in. It was so early I didn’t want to bother you.”

Kelly’s gaze was narrowed as she studied Paige, who prayed the story was believable. There weren’t really any holes in it, but somehow she got the feeling Kelly was the kind of person who ferreted out shit a mile away. So, basically, a reporter.

She schooled her face, however. “Did you find out anything interesting?”

Paige padded across the room to grab her keys and stuffed them in her pocket. “I did. It’s not hard to see how this research is going to go. The people living in Silvertip come by their longevity honestly. I mean, they live at the perfect altitude. They eat healthy. They drink natural spring water. And they hike. A lot. Like all the time. It’s not hard to imagine they’re healthier and live longer.”

“They’re also gigantic,” Kelly pointed out. “I mean, nearly all the men I’ve seen in town in the last few days have been over six feet. How’s that possible?”

It was almost as if Kelly had been sent to Silvertip to question everything Paige researched in order to debunk her work later. Paige cringed inwardly. She shrugged for Kelly’s view. “I guess clean, healthy living helps children grow and thrive.”

“Or beer.” Kelly’s eyes got wider. “There are two breweries in town. Have you noticed that nearly everyone who works for those breweries is huge? I mean huge.” She lifted a hand in the air to indicate height. “Maybe their beer does something to people. And maybe they let their kids drink beer.” She was so excited it was almost contagious. Almost.

Paige actually managed to smile at Kelly for a change. “Shall we go?”

“Where are we starting today?”

“I thought we might start at the grocery store in town. The manager we spoke to the other day seemed to think my study was fascinating. He said I could set up a table near the entrance and interview people as they come in or leave. I have a questionnaire.” Paige held up a giant pile of papers as she stuffed them in her backpack.

Kelly looked a little deflated. “Oh. Okay.”

Weird reaction. After all, Kelly had done nothing but hound the hell out of Paige about working on this project night and day. What did the woman think Paige’s research would entail? She needed to collect all this data by the end of the summer. As long as Kelly felt the need to stick to Paige like glue, Paige might as well hit the ground running. If Kelly found it boring, all the better. Paige didn’t care for the woman hanging around her at all.

The reality was simple. It wouldn’t take the entire summer to grab the data she needed from both the human population and the shifters. The town wasn’t that large. And her professor never indicated he cared one way or the other how long it took her. She’d simply been assigned to do the project. Period. So, why the hell was Paige feeling the need to act overly professional in front of Kelly?

This new development was heartening and gave Paige an idea. Perhaps if she bored the hell out of Kelly by doing the grunt work for hours every day, Kelly would back off and stop showing up every morning. Not a bad plan.

They walked to the grocery store. This also irritated Kelly. Another point in Paige’s favor. It was only a few blocks from the apartment to the center of town, and then a few more blocks to the largest grocery store. Paige was used to walking distances that short. She did it all the time at U of C. But if it annoyed Kelly, even better.

Three hours later, Kelly was no longer chipper. In fact, she was grumbling about being hungry and bored. Paige was hoping to shake the woman at lunchtime and go find Gavin, but Kelly didn’t show any indication she was planning to bolt, either.

On the plus side, Paige had gotten over a hundred people to fill out her questionnaire, which put a serious dent in her research. Granted, in the next few months, she intended to get nearly everyone in town, but she didn’t intend to visit shifters in their homes with Kelly on her heels.

“Are you sure this is the best way to collect data?” Kelly asked just after noon.

Paige frowned at her. “What do you mean? By paper or in the grocery store?”

“Either.” She pointed at the messy stack of pages. “I’d think you’d be more environmentally conscious than that. And it would seem you’d need to go door to door to get a good test group.” Kelly had taken her own notes during this process on her hand-held electronic tablet. She had also taken several pictures.

“Not sure what you mean. I never could have gotten this many questionnaires filled out in this short of time door to door. Everyone in town has to go to the grocery store at some point. And as for the use of paper, I weighed my options there too. People are more receptive to something tangible. They can easily see it’s only one page. Plus, several of them can fill one out at the same time. It would take ten years if I did everyone individually asking them the questions myself and recording them in a device.”

“I suppose.” Her shoulders fell. “Are you planning to do this all day?”

“Yes.” Especially if you’re planning to leave me alone soon. This could not have gone better.

“Mind if I go to lunch? And then I think I’ll spend the afternoon working on what I’ve got so far to start my story.”

“Sure. No problem. I’ll probably do this again tomorrow. Same time, same place?”

“Yeah. I’ll let you know.”

Paige smiled wide. “Sounds good.” Sounds like I won the lottery.

Fifteen minutes after Kelly left, Paige packed everything up also. She sent a quick text to Gavin.

You free? Lunch?

He responded immediately.

I could eat, as long as it’s just you.

He even added a winky emoji, making it clear he didn’t want to dine with Kelly.

I’m alone.

She added a smiley face.

The diner in town?

Meet you there.

Ten minutes later they were seated at a table sipping a glass of iced tea and waiting on their burgers and fries.

“How was Miss Sunshine today?” Gavin asked.

“Odd.”

“How so?”

“She was grumbly the entire time. I spent the morning at the grocery store having people fill out my survey, and she thought it was a horrible idea.”

“What in the hell did she think you were going to do to gather research?”

“I have no idea. It makes no sense.”

“If you ask me, the woman didn’t come here to tail you at all. I think she has another agenda.”

That thought made Paige cringe. It wasn’t that she hadn’t considered the possibility, but she had no idea what the woman wanted from her.

“What kind of creepy woman sneaks around spying on people from the edge of their properties?” Gavin took another drink of his tea and set the glass down.

“I figure she was pissed at me and thinks she can catch me not doing my internship properly so she can report me to the university.”

“And you don’t think that’s creepy?” Gavin straightened his spine, leaning forward. “Dale thinks she was taking pictures from across the backyard yesterday. Gave me the heebie-jeebies.”

Paige smiled. “So…Dale, huh?”

Gavin jerked back. “What?”

“He’s cute.”

Gavin shrugged. “This again? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“What? You don’t think he’s cute?”

“I didn’t say that. But just because he’s cute doesn’t mean I’m interested. Are you interested in all men who are sexy?”

“First of all, we both know I’m not interested in any men who are sexy. And second of all, I never said he was sexy. You did.” She pasted a smug smile on her face.

Gavin rolled his eyes. “You’re interested in Wyatt,” he pointed out, lifting his brows.

“Don’t change the subject.” She pointed to his chest. “I noticed you have on your favorite silky, orange button-down and your best jeans. Are you seeing him later?”

Gavin glanced down at himself as if he wasn’t aware of his attire. He cocked his head. “We need to talk.”

“Yes, we do. I know I brought you here this summer to be my cover, but it’s not working for you.”

“It’s not working for me?” He cackled. “I’d say it’s not working for you.”

Paige sighed. He was right. She needed to face a bit of reality too. “You’re right, but I can make things work easily. You, on the other hand, need to stop pretending to be straight. And Silvertip is the perfect place to see how it feels. We’re two hours from home. No one will know you lived authentically for the summer. Why don’t you take the opportunity to try it out and see how it feels?”

She expected an argument, but instead, Gavin crossed his arms and leaned back in the booth, saying nothing.

In the silence, their food arrived, and the waitress disappeared as quickly as she’d slid the plates in front of them.

Paige continued, “Look, I did something I never expected to do in my life. I opened up to someone, told him my story, and he didn’t run. In fact, he held me tighter. He’s the nicest man I’ve ever met. It can’t be easy for him, and yet he’s going out of his way to help me face my past and move on.”

Gavin unfolded his arms and grabbed a fry.

She kept speaking. “Wyatt and I are going to give this thing a shot. I can’t promise I’m capable of being what he needs, or what anyone needs for that matter, but I have to try. And I think it’s the perfect opportunity for you to do the same.”

Gavin picked up his burger and bit into it, still not speaking.

Paige did the same, wondering if he was pissed or what he was thinking. They’d never had a conversation this frank before. They’d always enjoyed this mutually beneficial arrangement without pushing the issue. Not to say they hadn’t argued on occasion that one or the other should be doing things differently, but Paige, for one, had never been faced with the possibility of dating anyone. And Gavin, though he’d kept a few men in secret on the side from time to time, had never once been willing to make any changes to ensure they stuck around.

After a few bites, Gavin finally nodded. “I think it’s a good plan.”

She froze, widening her eyes. “You do?”

“For you, yes.”

Her shoulders fell. “What about you?”

He shrugged. “I’ll play the role of the jilted boyfriend,” he teased.

She groaned. “You can’t do that.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because it’s a lie, that’s why.”

“Look, it’s at least a step in a new direction. It means I get to spend the summer living somewhere where nobody knows me. If I don’t have an attachment, I’m free to do whatever I want. Let’s see how that plays out.”

The smile Paige felt all the way to her toes grew wider and wider. “So that just leaves one little detail that needs ironing out.”