But watching Paige, he couldn’t stop himself from thinking what it would be like to steal her away somewhere. To take his time running his hands over all that smooth, pale skin. His hands, then his mouth.
His only relationship had been as a perpetually horny high school kid going all the way with his girlfriend whenever and wherever they could without getting caught. His ex-girlfriend, Rachel, was hot and cold, sexy as sin one second, spitting mean the next, and he’d been infatuated. The two of them together had been the epitome of teen love. Young, explosive, turbulent.
The football star and the cheerleader, king and queen of the prom. But he’d been a senior with dreams of the NFL while she’d been a junior, drawing hearts on her notebooks and trying out his last name.
It had been football, Rachel, school, in that order, meaning he put himself first. And then in seconds everything changed. Maybe God had felt the need to knock him down a few pegs. But then, it wasn’t God who’d glared at his girlfriend instead of the road or pressed the gas instead of the brake.
He straightened his leg under the table, the slight ache in his thigh reminding him he’d gotten exactly what he’d deserved.
Paige finished her set and went right back to serving, and damn it, her first order was for the table of drooling assholes. Paige ignored them, but he kept a close eye, hating how their eyes roamed her slender frame like she was on the damn menu.
She wasn’t his, but she sure as hell wasn’t theirs.
For the next thirty minutes he watched her work, their eyes meeting ever so often. He ordered a water, read and returned emails on his phone, and waited. And then waited some more.
She was off at ten. That was twenty minutes ago. The next time she passed his table, he reached out and caught her wrist. “You’re done,” he said, and without thinking, brushed his thumb over the soft skin there.
Her gaze fell to his hand, but she didn’t pull away. “You don’t have to wait.”
“It’s not the waiting that’s bothering me. It’s you working any longer than you already have.” She worked too hard. No telling how long she’d already worked today.
“Okay.” She swallowed, her blue eyes staring back at his. “Just let me close out.”
Minutes later, he felt like a winner as she walked out beside him and away from every other man in the room. Any man would feel like that with a woman like Paige at his side. Not a woman like her, but her.
“I can still take the bus, you know. Or I could walk. It’s not that far.”
Was she serious? “You’re not taking the bus. And you’re sure as hell not walking. Really, Paige, it’s no big deal.”
She sent him a quick grateful smile. “Okay. Thank you.”
They reached his truck and he opened the passenger door, offering his hand for a step up. She hesitated, and when she took it, he felt it tremble in his.
Was she afraid? As in, woman gets in car with man never to be seen again? Shit. He hadn’t thought of that. He rounded the hood and got in but didn’t start the engine. “I have a sister,” he blurted and she looked over at him as surprised as he was.
“Five brothers and one sister. I don’t know….” He wrapped his fingers around the steering wheel and looked straight ahead. “I thought it might put you at ease.”
“Thank you.” She sent him a grateful smile that was pure gold. “I appreciate that. I’m okay, though. Jenny knows where I am and she knows where you work.”
“Okay.” Of course. He turned the key and pulled out. “Hot? Cold?” He reached for the controls to turn down the air he’d had blasting earlier.
“I’m fine.”
“Hungry? We can stop if you want.” He’d like to stop. This ride was going to be too damn short.
“I’m fine,” she said again, and he caught a cute grin before she turned to the window.
She told him the first few turns and they rode a ways in silence. He managed to keep his eyes on the road. Not easy with Paige sitting so close beside him, her feminine scent filling the space. Light and subtle, but it made him imagine getting closer, less subtle.
“You were really good tonight. The singing,” he clarified.
“Thanks.” Her teeth scraped over her bottom lip and he just managed not to run them into the gutter.
“You sure you don’t want to be a singer?”
“Ugh. No.” She scrunched up her nose. “I like to sing. I do not like to sing in front of people.”
“But you did it.”
“Yeah, well. Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do.”
He glanced at her profile. She didn’t sound bitter when she said it, or sad, and he wondered how often she had to do things she didn’t want to do.
“So you’re the youngest of seven? That’s crazy. Do they live around here?”
“No,” he said, stopping at a light. “None of them do. They all live in Virginia.”
She gave him a long, considering look. “And you live here.”
“Yes.” From one ocean to another. From his past to his present.
“Do they have kids? I only ask because you’re so good with Casey.”
He rolled his palms over the wheel. “Yeah. They all have several. It’s kind of a zoo when we’re all together.”
“Sounds fun,” she said, a wistfulness to her voice.
They all thought so, had all wanted that life. What was wrong with him that when given the opportunity he hadn’t wanted the same?