Chapter Seven
“That guy was totally eye-fucking you,” Sally said as she shimmied in time to the beat. “He’s hot, too. Looks like he’s headed to the bar—you should go and say hi.”
Paige’s mouth was dry, despite the drink in her hand. Her pulse thumped, ringing in her ears louder than the vibrating dubstep beat that the DJ had mixed over the top of some pop song. At first, she’d wondered if the image of Noah was a mirage. A hot, delicious, sinfully tempting mirage. His light eyes had seemed to burn like blue fire, but his expression was hard to read. There was no trace of his usual, jovial smile. No playfulness.
He had watched her so intently that she couldn’t help but preen under his gaze. She’d turned slightly, letting him see the bare skin at her back. Letting him get his fill of her body…and then he was gone, leaving disappointment stabbing at her. Which was stupid. She’d outright told him that she had a rule against dating people at work and made him a bet to back it up. So why would he hang around and watch her dance if there was no chance of it going anywhere? He probably had women lining up to do more than eye-fucking.
Ugh. Why did he have to be so smoking hot?
“You’re trying to get me in trouble.”
“You need a little trouble.” Sally nudged her. “Go. Blow off some steam. Remind yourself that you’re twenty-six instead of eighty-six.”
Paige opened her mouth to retort, but the words stuck in her throat. “I don’t act like I’m eighty-six. I know what I want. What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing, but you seem to think knowing what you want means not having any fun on the way to getting it.” Sally grinned. “Just because you’re going to the supermarket for a carton of milk, doesn’t mean you can’t stop to smell the roses along the way.”
“I think you’re mixing metaphors.”
Sally shrugged. “I’m not pushing you to do anything, only putting ideas out there. That’s all.”
Paige’s eye darted toward the crowded bar. Noah wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but suddenly she didn’t feel like dancing anymore. “I’m going to grab another drink.”
Sally looked down to the half-empty cocktail in Paige’s hand. “Not enjoying that one?”
“It’s, uh…too sweet.” She shoved the glass toward Sally. “Want the rest?”
“Well, I did pay for it.” Sally shrugged and took the drink. “I’m not above keeping both hands occupied. Travis is going to stop by anyway, so I might have to call it a night soon.”
Ahh, Travis, the ever-doting boyfriend. Paige tried not to roll her eyes—she was happy for Sally and her newfound loved-up status. Really, she was.
Well, mostly.
Paige tried to keep a neutral face. “He’s stopping by on ladies’ night?”
“He said he misses me already.” To her credit, Sally looked a little guilty. “I couldn’t tell him not to come.”
Paige didn’t point out that she’d stayed at his place the last two nights. “He’s only allowed to join us if he wears a dress.”
“Don’t be like that. He was going to come over, but we were out…”
She patted Sally’s arm. “It’s fine, Sal.”
Paige headed to the bar and tried to ignore the throbbing in the balls of her feet. There would be blisters tomorrow, she was sure of it. Maybe she should skip the bar and head home—if Noah were interested in chatting to her, he would have come over.
But then again, did she really want to go home and hear the evidence of Sal and Travis’s relationship honeymoon period? No freaking way.
She squeezed past a group of women standing near the bar and tried to find a free stool. Sitting would make her feel better. Reprieve for her feet and a few more drinks to dull her insecurities. Spotting someone leaving the bar, she made a dash for the opening and slid herself onto the stool.
“Are you following me?”
A deep voice sent ripples of awareness along Paige’s spine. Noah stood next to her, his elbows resting on the bar. Up close she could see how the fabric of his T-shirt stretched across his biceps, hugging the well-defined muscles in a way that made her stomach flip.
Thor’s hammer, indeed.
“Hardly. You happen to be where the good stuff is.” She signaled to the waiter and ordered a drink. “I am not following you.”
“Glad we got that straightened out,” he said drily.
The bartender slid two purple cocktails toward Noah, along with a gin and tonic. The cocktails definitely weren’t for him, if his comments during the mixology class were anything to go on. He must be buying drinks for someone else. A female someone else, most likely.
Paige swallowed against the rush of jealousy in the back of her throat. Friday night he’d acted like the kiss had gotten him all worked up, and yet he’d moved on in less than forty-eight hours. So much for the thrill of the chase. She should have known better—this was exactly why she stayed away from guys who were good-looking and charming as hell. If he wanted to sleep around, that was totally his business, but she wanted no part of it.
“Looks like you’re occupied tonight,” she said. “So I won’t keep you.”
She turned back to the bar and forced herself to watch intently as the bartender made her drink. His deft hands sliced the lemon for her Tom Collins.
“You’re so chatty usually.” There was a hint of amusement in Noah’s voice that made heat rush to her cheeks. “What happened? Is it something to do with our bet?”
She was being childish. It wasn’t his fault that she couldn’t seem to get her head straight where he was concerned. Nor was it his fault that she hated herself for her own rules. And right now, using every ounce of willpower to stop herself from fisting her hands in his thick golden hair, she did hate herself. Just a little.
“It looks like you’re on a date so I didn’t want you to think you had to sit here and talk to me.” She forced herself to smile, but her cheeks felt stiff. “Regardless of anything that happened Friday night.”
He opened his mouth to respond, but at that moment a woman came up beside him and slipped a hand over his shoulder. She had long dark hair that curled and kinked every which way. Her makeup was on point, and she was dressed like she’d stepped off the cover of a magazine.
Side by side they looked like one of those annoyingly perfect couples. He was all gold tones and baby blues, while she could have been a fifties silver-screen starlet with her olive skin and heavy-lashed eyes.
“Hey, I though you must have gotten lost,” she said, her dark eyes flickering between Paige and Noah. “Megan and I are getting thirsty.”
There were two of them? Holy moly. He was hot, sure, but he hadn’t struck her as a complete manwhore. Well, the last guy she’d gone on a date with hadn’t struck her as the type to get her fired…so maybe her judgment was off.
“Ginnie, this is Paige.” He gestured to her with a twinkle in his eye that said she wasn’t doing a very good job of keeping her feelings off her face. “Paige is our new barista at First.”
“Nice to meet you.” Ginnie stuck her hand out and smiled warmly. Then she spotted the cocktails. “Is that my drink?”
“Sure is. Why don’t you take the other one to Megs, and I’ll be back out shortly?”
“Yes, sir.” She winked at Noah and reached for the drinks before disappearing back into the crowd.
In the meantime, the bartender had finished Paige’s drink and she found herself gulping it down in an effort to hide her awkwardness. Thank God it was two-for-one night and there was a second one ready to go. Noah continued to smile at her as if he knew exactly what she was thinking.
Wouldn’t be a problem if you weren’t thinking such dumb things.
“That good, huh?” he asked, his lips twitching with a smile. “I was going to say cheers, but you might be done before I get the chance.”
“It’s okay, I have another.”
“Well, cheers.” He held his drink out to hers, and she obliged.
“I don’t know why you’re still here,” she said, trying to sound unaffected. “You’ve got not one but two women waiting for you.”
He cocked his head as if studying her. “Does that bother you?”
“It’s none of my business.”
“That doesn’t answer the question,” he said, sipping his drink.
“Why should it bother me? I mean, there’s nothing wrong with that, I guess…so long as you’re not lying to either one of them.”
“Why would I be lying to them?”
“Well, I mean, you did kiss me and now you’re here with two women.” Heat rushed up to her cheeks. The alcohol had loosened her tongue and all the silly, jealous thoughts were slipping past her lips before she could stop them. “I hope you’re not in a relationship or anything, because that’s not a very nice way to treat people.”
He blinked. “I feel like you’re about to smack a ruler over my knuckles.”
“I’m not going to judge you. You’re my boss.” She gulped the reminder of her first drink and reached for the second. “What you do in your spare time is up to you.”
She slipped off the stool and went to walk away but he moved in front of her, blocking her path. “Why don’t you join us outside?”
“And sit with your little harem? No thanks.”
To her complete surprise, Noah threw his head back and laughed. The unapologetic sound zinged through her body, radiating with little tingles of awareness. “My harem? Good Lord. I don’t know what you’ve gotten into your head about me, but I’m not that guy.”
“The guy who has multiple women on the go?” She tried to step past him, but he deftly blocked her again.
Another patron shoved past them to get to the bar, and Paige found herself being pressed closer to Noah. She brought her hand up to keep the distance, but when it landed against his chest, she sighed at the feeling of hard muscles beneath the soft cotton of his T-shirt.
“Let me revise my offer,” he said with a sigh. “Would you like to join me and my sisters outside?”
She blinked. “Your sisters?”
“Yeah, Ginnie and Megan are my sisters. I’m treating them to a few drinks.” His eyes skated down to where her hands still touched his chest. “Not sure they’d like to think of themselves as my harem, though. That’s a little creepy.”
Oh God, she was a grade-A idiot.
“Well, this is embarrassing.” She pulled her hand back and smoothed it down her dress. “Please don’t tell them about the harem thing.”
“It’ll be our little secret.” He winked. “Now, do I have to invite you again?”
Paige was about to decline when her phone buzzed. It was a text from Sally letting her know that she and Travis were heading back to the apartment. If she left now she’d have no choice but to hang out with Damon the Terrible and try to ignore the sound of squeaking bedsprings.
“Sure. Why the hell not,” she said.
…
Noah nursed his drink as he watched Paige charm the pants off his little sisters. She had them both completely enraptured with her tales of growing up in the country—including the time she had to rescue a lamb that’d been stranded during a storm. Even Megan, who usually took a while to warm up to people, was giggling like she’d known Paige since they were kids.
“I’m sorry to be the one to break up the fun, but I’ve got an early start tomorrow,” Megan said with a resigned sigh. “It’s a bit of a drive back and I promised Adam I’d be home before he finished up at work. We’re going to the movies.”
“And I have to start packing for Sydney,” Ginnie said.
“I thought you weren’t leaving for another three weeks?” Noah drained the last of his gin and tonic.
“I know. Three weeks is nothing. I have to plan all my outfits and figure out how I’m going to manage with only one suitcase.” She looked genuinely distressed.
“Only one suitcase, Noah.” Megan stifled a laugh. “It really should be a crime. I mean, how are these young fashionistas supposed to cope? Someone should start a petition.”
Ginnie elbowed her sister and rolled her eyes. “Who invited you anyway?”
The girls continued to tease each other as they pushed out of their seats and said their good-byes. From the corner of his eye, Noah waited for Paige to make a move to leave. But her hands stayed firmly wrapped around her drink. She sat with her legs crossed, her black high heel hanging off her foot in a way that was so casually seductive Noah couldn’t seem to direct his eyes elsewhere.
He wondered what it would be like to slip the heel from her foot and run his hand up the back of her bare calf. Would she feel as smooth as she looked? Would she sigh as he slipped the hem of her dress farther up her thighs?
“Your sisters are really sweet,” she said suddenly, interrupting his fantasy.
He bobbed his head, trying to shut down the swell of desire that had his blood stirring down south. “Yeah, they’re good value.”
“I, uhh…I’m sorry about before.” Her tongue darted out to run along her lower lip. “The harem comment was out of line.”
“It’s cool. You were jealous, I get it.”
She coughed as if her drink had stuck in her throat. “I was not jealous.”
“Just judgmental, then?” He raised a brow.
“You’re not very good at accepting apologies.” She reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ears.
He grinned. “I’m not very good at a lot of things.”
Paige tilted her head, curiosity dancing across her face. “Like what?”
“Like keeping my thoughts to myself.” He leaned forward, bracing his forearms on his thighs so that their bodies were closer together. To his delight, her lips parted as her breath stuttered in and out. “I’m not very good at sugarcoating the facts, either.”
“That’s not a bad thing. People who want to sugarcoat the facts tend to be the ones who like to ‘bend’ the truth.” Her fingertip traced the rim of her drink. “And I prefer being able to take things at face value.”
“You and me both.” He watched as she toyed with her empty glass, her delicate hands moving slowly but carefully. He wanted nothing more than for her to use that deft touch on him. “So, tell me, Paige, why haven’t you gone home yet?”
She looked around the patio area, which had thinned considerably in the last hour. The fairy lights still twinkled bright against the inky night sky, but the sound of conversation was lower now. Intimate. People had mostly paired off, with lots of interwoven fingers and whispers and low laughter. Verbal foreplay. Except for him and Paige, of course, because they were in an unspoken standoff. He knew that if he rushed in she would pull away, but he couldn’t help wanting to be close to her.
“I don’t know,” she said, her eyes raking over him with a burning intensity. “If I look at the facts, I should be back home and tucked into bed.”
“And what are the facts?”
Her hand fluttered at the neckline of her dress, which was modest in contrast to the high hemline. “That you’re too good-looking for my sanity and that I have a thing about losing.”
Well, damn. That made him want to puff out his chest in pride. If only he didn’t hear the “but” that was most certainly coming next.
“A thing?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I don’t do it.”
“And what would be so bad about losing a little old bet?” He grinned. “You’ll have fun—I’ll make sure of it.”
“For one thing, I don’t date guys like you.”
“Who said anything about dating?” What he had in mind was a little more immediate than that. And a little more…sweaty.
“My point exactly.” She placed her drink on the ground and folded her hands in her lap. “Even if we weren’t working together, I don’t sleep around. No judgment, I promise, but it’s not my thing.”
“So you’re a white-picket-fence girl?”
“Totally and unapologetically.” She bobbed her head. “I don’t sleep with someone unless the relationship is going somewhere.”
It was a sweet sentiment. Sweet but naive. “So you’re carrying your V-card?”
She pursed her lips. “Not that it’s any of your business, but no. I’m not.”
“Then you thought previous relationships were ‘going somewhere,’ right?” He wasn’t sure why he was getting into this with her. Normally, such a declaration would be enough to have him heading for the door.
She folded her arms across her chest. “I thought so at the time.”
“But you changed your mind?”
“Circumstances changed,” she corrected. “My last boyfriend ended up moving away for work. It was an unforeseen event.”
“And you didn’t want to go with him?”
It was hard to read her expression in the dim lighting. “I had my own dream to follow and, unfortunately, it took us in different directions.”
“You don’t seem cut up about it.”
“There’s no point being cut up. It was sad, but I moved on.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “What’s with the inquisition?”
“I’m curious.” He shrugged. “You tell me that you’re a good girl who only wants a relationship and yet you’re here, drinking with me.”
“Can’t a boss and his employee share a social drink?”
“You haven’t exactly been acting like this is a social drink, what with the jealous comments about my harem and all.”
“I told you, I’m not jealous.” Her cheeks flushed pink, and she shifted in her seat, fidgeting and avoiding his eyes. “And I said I was sorry for the harem thing.”
“You’re sending some mixed signals, is all I’m saying.”
She rolled her eyes. “Because of one comment?”
“Not just that. I know you saw me while you were dancing and maybe I’m wrong, but I got the distinct impression you liked me watching you. It was almost like you were showing off for me.” He tilted his head. “If I’m way off base, then tell me.”
Her nostrils flared as she searched his face, not a sound emanating from her lips. The excitement was undeniable in her expression—wide pupils, flushed cheeks, and that damn tongue darting out to wet her lips again. She wanted him. And the fact that she was resisting it so hard made him want to push until he knew why.
“I walked away before and I can do it again,” he said. “Tell me to go.”