Sean
“YOU LOOK NERVOUS, bro,” Marcus says as he slaps me on the back. Lydia and Paige decided they were going to get ready for my parents’ dinner tonight together, so Marcus stopped by to kill time.
Looking in my empty fridge, I make a note to go to the store tomorrow. “I’m fine.”
“Really? You keep looking in the refrigerator like it holds the answers to world peace or something.”
Closing the door, I roll my eyes. “I’m just worried about Mom. You know how she can get and I don’t want her running Paige off.”
“Dude, you’re constantly handling Paige with kid gloves like she’s going to bail at any moment.”
Because that’s how I feel. She thinks she hides it from me, but I see it when she thinks I’m not paying attention. Panic hits her at the most random times and over the smallest of things. I’m hanging on to her with my fingertips, unwilling to let go.
“I don’t know why you’re always giving me shit. You went through the same thing with Lydia if I remember correctly.”
Lydia was worse than Paige if that’s possible. Where Paige is leery of me, Lydia was leery of all men.
“Yeah, but I didn’t act like a pussy over it.” I throw daggers at him with my glare, causing him to laugh. “I’m kidding. Lighten up. Want me to ask Mom to not be her usual, meddling self?”
“No. If you make a big deal about it, it’ll only make it worse.”
“It won’t be that bad. It’s not like they haven’t met before,” he reminds me.
“Only in passing. Plus, this is different.” I pinch the bridge of my nose, already dreading the evening.
“You’re me two years ago,” Marcus remarks.
“How so?”
“Absolutely miserable at the idea of going to this thing.” Laughter laces his words, but I don’t find it funny.
“Don’t you need to get ready or something?” I reply, sick of his smartass comments. He’s not helping and only making it worse. I suppose payback is a bitch. I had given him enough shit about Lydia, I’m sure he couldn’t wait to return the favor.
He looks down at his watch. “Yep, gotta go get my monkey suit and fake smile on.”
I shake my head and press my lips together in mock disappointment. “Well, if the cop life ever gets boring, you could always come to the corporate side.”
Marcus visibly shudders, like the idea of working for Dad’s company repulses him. It actually makes me laugh. “No, thanks.” With those parting words, he turns around and leaves.
My nervousness over Paige being introduced to my parents as my girlfriend was soon overshadowed by my anxiousness to see her. Images of her in that dress have toyed with my mind since I saw her in it two weeks ago. Now that the driver is pulling up to her condo, I’m afraid the urge to pounce on her will be too great to resist.
I rock on the balls of my feet as I wait for her to answer the door. When she does, it was well worth the wait. Her hair is pulled up with a few loose curls framing her face. She’s radiant and absolutely gorgeous—no, stunning—no, there’s not a word to adequately describe the way she looks right now.
“God, Paige, I’m speechless.” My mouth parts as my eyes travel up and down her body before settling again on her face.
“Well, that’s a first.” One corner of her mouth quirks up, and all I want to do is kiss the smartass right out of it.
In one measured move, I loop my arm around her waist and dip her back. Her hands fly to my shoulders and grab on, a little yelp escaping her lips from the sudden movement. My lips capture hers in a slow and passionate kiss that’s sure to have her toes curling. When I pull back, she’s slow to open her eyes.
“Now who’s speechless?” I ask, a cocky grin of my own firmly in place. That earns me a swat on the arm and I stand her back upright so we can be on our way.
With my hand on the small of her back, I guide her to the car.
“A driver, huh? Well aren’t you fancy this evening.”
Kyle, our driver, opens the car door for us. “Only the best for you.”
“I’d call you spoiled, but we don’t have time for the punishment right now.”
“Punishment?” I ask, my eyebrows rising up my forehead in amusement.
She leans in close so only she and I can hear. “Every time I’ve called you spoiled, you’ve fucked me senseless for it.”
A growl vibrates in my throat as my grip on her waist tightens. “You better get in the car before I drag you back inside and we don’t leave the bedroom until tomorrow.” When she climbs in, I swat her ass for good measure.
“Are you nervous?” I ask her when we get on our way.
“Maybe a little,” she admits as her fingers fumble with the strap on her small purse.
“You’ve met my parents before, and you’ll have Lydia and Marcus there, so there’s no need to be nervous.”
She gives me a weak smile in response, and this is exactly what I was afraid of. She’s getting into her own head and freaking out. She turns away from me and looks out the window, effectively shutting me out.
“Hey,” I say to bring her attention back to me. “If at any point you’re uncomfortable, just say the word and we’ll leave, okay?”
“I know this is important to you though. You need to be there.”
“No, I need to be with you. The company isn’t going to fall apart because I’m not at some stupid dinner party.”
She nods and I see the relief in her eyes. The tension leaves her shoulders, and it helps put me at ease as well. Leaning down, I give her one more reassuring kiss.
About thirty minutes later, we’re pulling up to my parents’ home. While they started in modest beginnings, they’ve done well for themselves. With grand pillars and a large porch, their home has a colonial feel that’s accentuated by a circular driveway framed with a perfectly manicured lawn. It may appear stiff and pretentious from the outside, but Mom has made it warm and inviting on the inside.
“You ready, gorgeous?” I ask when we get to the front door.
She smooths her hands down the front of her dress. “As ready as I’m going to be.”
With a wink, I place my hand at her lower back and open the front door.
A steady murmuring of conversation meets my ears, followed by the soft tones of classical music in the background. My mother’s face is the first one I see. She’s smiling and working the room like normal and when she sees me her eyes light up.
“Sean, you made it.” Her arms are open wide as she walks toward us, enveloping me in a hug when she’s close.
Her comment makes me chuckle. “You act like you weren’t sure I’d show up.”
“Oh, stop it, you know what I mean.” She swats at me before turning her gaze to Paige. “It’s so nice to see you again.”
Paige smiles wide and holds her hand out to her. “It’s nice to see you again too, Mrs. Riley.”
“Around here we give hugs, darlin’,” my mother drawls out, accentuating her Southern accent. Paige seems taken aback at first, but quickly recovers and hugs Mom back. “It’s not every day we get to meet one of Sean’s girlfriends. In fact, you’re the first one he’s ever brought over. Do you know I’ve got a plethora of embarrassing stories to tell and no one to listen?”
“Do you now?” Paige glances at me with a mischievous gleam in her eye.
“Did he ever tell you how he got that tiny scar on the bridge of his nose?”
Paige doesn’t look away from me, grin firmly in place as she says, “No.”
“Well, he was about five years old and decided to stick both of his arms in his shirt. He was chasing Marcus around outside and tripped over his feet. Because his arms were in his shirt, he wasn’t able to put his hands out to catch himself. Needless to say, his nose broke his fall on the pavement.”
Paige has the decency to wince before she laughs. “Oh my God, I could listen to stories like these all day.”
“I’ll tell you what, he was a mess. Always keeping me and his father on our toes.”
“Alright, that’s enough stories for one evening. Let’s spread them out before she realizes how lame I really am and leaves me, okay?” Grabbing Paige’s hand, I pull her close to my side.
“We’ll have to grab lunch sometime so I can dish the dirt.”
“I’d like that,” Paige replies. Through the embarrassment, a smile creeps across my face. I’m close to my family and it’s important to me they like her. Of course, it wouldn’t be a deal breaker because I’m fucking crazy about her, but it helps.
Before any more damage can be done to my reputation, I lead Paige across the room to the safety of my brother and his wife, Lydia.
“I thought about rescuing you, but watching you turn every shade of red was much more entertaining,” Marcus tells me.
“Thanks, dick,” I mutter.
The evening runs fairly smooth, and I realize all my earlier worries were for nothing. Seeing Paige interact with my family and people from the company makes me see how much she belongs in my life. Over the course of the night, she charmed the hell out of my mother and had my father eating out of the palm of her hand. But I’m not going to lie; watching her hold her own with some of our office’s best was a major fucking turn-on. I knew she was smart, but she’s way more knowledgeable about this business and over qualified for her position.
“Want another drink?” I whisper in her ear when there’s a lull in conversation.
“Sure, thank you.” She smiles, and it goes straight to my damn heart like an arrow.
I walk over to the bar on the other side of the room and order a glass of champagne and a whiskey neat. While I’m waiting, I spin around to catch a glimpse of my girl, but as soon as my eyes find her, I know something is off. Her stance is stiff and her facial expression is tight. With brow furrowed, I look next to her to see David Sanchez. She’s always spoken kindly of him, so her reaction is a bit unusual and has me on high alert.
Forgetting our drinks, I walk around the perimeter of the room so they don’t see me approaching and come up behind David to catch what he’s saying.
“Don’t get me wrong; I’m impressed. You skipped right over me and went straight to fucking the CEO’s son. Very clever. Depending on how good you are, you should do well here.”
Her lips part and all the color drains from her face the same time my fists clench at my sides. Grabbing his shoulder, I spin him around. His surprised reaction lasts but a second before I punch him in his smug fucking face.
“What the fuck did you say?”
Punch.
“Don’t you ever talk to her like that again.”
Punch.
“You hear me, asshole?”
Punch.
I’m seeing red and I don’t know if I can stop. Who the fuck does he think he is talking to her like that?
“Whoa, whoa! Sean, stop!” Arms wrap around and pull me from behind.
“Don’t even look at her, you son of a bitch!”
David falls to the floor, but I’m not done with him. I want more.
“Stop!” It finally registers that my brother has me in some sort of arm grab that keeps me from getting away. Probably some shit he learned in the fucking academy.
The red fog starts to dissipate as my chest rises and falls rapidly. I take my first glance at Paige, but part of me wishes I hadn’t. Tear-filled eyes stare at me in horror as she shakes her head and looks around, desperate to get out of here.
“I’m cool,” I tell Marcus who finally lets me go. “Get that piece of shit out of here,” I tell whoever will listen as I rush over to Paige. “Are you okay?” My eyes search her face frantically, but I can’t tell what she’s thinking.
“I want out of here,” she whispers.
There’s nothing but silence as every set of eyes is focused on us and the scene I’ve caused. Even the music has stopped.
Nodding, I wrap my arm around her and escort her out. My father attempts to grab my attention, but judging by his terse tone, it’s not going to be a pleasant conversation so I blow him off. “I’ll call you later, Dad.”
I hear her sniffling as we wait for the car to come around, but I can’t bring myself to look at her again. I don’t know if she’s upset with what that prick said to her or if it’s my reaction.
The ride to her condo is spent in silence, and honestly, I’m okay with that. I need more time to calm down and gather my thoughts before we talk about what happened.
She unlocks the door, walks into her place, and flips on the light. “Let me get some ice for your hand.” Even though she says this barely above a whisper, in the quiet of her foyer she might as well have shouted it.
“My hand is fine,” I tell her.
“You’re bleeding and it’s swelling. You need ice.” Without further discussion, she goes into the kitchen and puts some ice in a towel to place on my hand.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her.
She spins around, her head tilted to the side. “You’re sorry? Why?”
“I acted like a Neanderthal and embarrassed you back there.”
She shakes her head. “I’m not upset about that,” she states calmly. “I’m upset because the one thing I was afraid of was thrown in my face. I didn’t want people to think I was sleeping my way to the top.” Her eyes focus on her fingers as she picks at the fabric of her dress. Her lip quivers as she tries to hold in the tears.
“Paige, look at me,” I say gently. When she does, I continue. “That guy is a dick. He fucks anything that walks and HR has already had to talk to him about his . . . extracurricular activities with fellow employees. He’s just pissed he doesn’t have a chance with you.”
“It was so humiliating.” Her words are strained as she holds back her emotions. “All I kept thinking was ‘Oh my, God. He’s being so loud. Who else can hear him?’ I thought if I didn’t reply he’d go away, but he just kept talking.”
“When you were talking earlier, did you see the look on everyone’s face? Your understanding of the way the business works is more than impressive. You held your own tonight with some of the smartest guys we have working for us. Plus, you won’t have to worry about David anymore. Once I talk to Dad, he’ll be out on his ass.” She gives me a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Come here and let me hold you.”
Without hesitation, she walks over to me. Once I sit down, I pull her down onto my lap and she cuddles against my chest. “Want to change?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “I spent forever getting this thing on, I’m not ready to take it off.”
I kiss the side of her face before resting my head on hers. “Whatever you want, princess. Whatever you want.”