Handsome Hero

by Lori Wilde

  After Alma walked away, Paige glanced up at Max. He was looking at her in that sexy I'd-love-to-get-you-naked way of his. She grinned at him, and he winked.

  “You really need to credit Paige for this,” he told Hal. “If it had been up to me, I think it would have been pizza, beer, and a rock band.”

  Paige was about to argue with him, but he did have a point. The theme of the party had been her idea, but he had pitched right in and helped once she'd explained what she had in mind.

  “I couldn't have done it without Max,” she said.

  Hal looked from one to the other, then said, “So now that you two are officially in love, does that mean we'll be hearing wedding bells soon?”

  Stunned, Paige stared at him. She'd never even considered it. Okay, maybe she had, but only a little.

  “Of course not. Max and I are just...” She had no idea what to say. What were they? Lovers? Sure, but were they anything more than that?

  She looked at Max, who didn't say a word. She could tell from his expression that he didn't know what to say, either. And who could blame him? He knew about Adam and had to understand that until that situation was resolved, they couldn't decide what the future held for them if, in fact, it held anything at all.

  Short term. That had been their agreement upfront. Sure, she'd been thinking that maybe they could reconsider what they'd agreed on, but that was as far as she'd thought. She certainly hadn't given any thought to love. And definitely not to marriage.

  “You're what?” Hal prompted when neither of them completed the sentence. “You have to finish, Paige. You two are what?”

  “We're busy right now,” she finally said in desperation and then decided to get away before he could nudge her for any more information. “I think I'll go check on the booths.”

  Max fell into step with her. “I'll join you.”

  With a loud laugh, Hal said, “Okay, message received. I'll leave well enough alone and not pry. But just so you know, I think the two of you are cute together.”

  “Gee, thanks.” Max glanced at Paige. “Nice to know Hal thinks we're cute.”

  She smiled and bumped against him. “That's because we are cute together.”

  “Yeah, I know it.” He leaned down and kissed her lightly. Paige rose up on her toes, meeting his kiss and trying to woo him into lingering, but Max just chuckled.

  “Later,” he promised when he broke the kiss far too soon for Paige.

  “I'm holding you to that.” She threaded her fingers through his, and together, they wandered around the festival. She was proud of how her idea had come to life. Proud of what she'd accomplished here.

  “You did good,” Max whispered in her ear.

  Paige completely agreed, but again she reminded him, “We did good.”

  Max was leaning down to whisper something in her ear when Krystal and Annie came running over.

  “I can't believe what you've done,” Krystal said. “This is amazing. Not at all what I expected.”

  “Does that mean it's not as boring as you expected?” Paige teased, knowing the other waitresses had been figuring on far worse.

  “It's not boring at all,” Krystal said, sounding incredibly surprised.

  “Do you get the feeling she didn't hold out much hope for us?” Paige teased Max.

  “You do seem to have pleasantly surprised her,” he said and then laughed when Krystal pouted.

  “Okay, okay. I was wrong. You didn't make it boring. Of course, it's not as exciting as it would have been if you'd invited the body painters, but it's still a lot of fun,” Krystal said.

  Annie nodded. “Definitely. And the people are flooding into the restaurant. I've picked up mega tips tonight. Should be a banner night for everyone.”

  That's exactly what Paige wanted. She wanted the charities to make a lot of money and the café to do well. Based on the number of people pouring into the parking lot, it looked like she was going to get her wish.

  She was scanning the crowd when she saw Diane weaving through the mass of people, her boyfriend Kyle in tow.

  Paige waved at the other woman. “That's my friend, Diane, and her boyfriend, Kyle. I'd love for you to meet them.”

  “I've already met her,” Max said. “She stopped me outside your house one day and gave me the third degree. I'll say this: she's very concerned about your well-being.”

  “She can be intense, but she's really very sweet,” Paige said, curious as to what Diane would have asked Max. Based on his expression as he watched them approach, she'd bet Diane asked some tough questions.

  When Diane and Kyle got even with them, Diane gave her a hug and said, “This festival is great, and you're a genius, Paige.”

  Paige was about to point out that Max had helped, too, when he said, “She did do a terrific job, didn't she?”

  “We did,” she said, nudging Max. “He doesn't want to take any of the credit, but he worked hard on this, too.”

  And he had. Despite everyone making a fuss over her, she couldn't have pulled off this festival without Max. She'd come up with the idea, but he'd done a lot of hard work to make the idea a reality. He’d been the one to gather the supplies and enlist helpers. He’d been the one to assemble the tents and hang the lights.

  ''Paige, you didn't tell me you worked with your boyfriend,” Diane said. Then she introduced Kyle to Max, her gaze never leaving Max's face.

  “I told you I worked with Paige,” Max pointed out. “The morning we met. You asked me specifically how I knew Paige, and I told you that we worked together.”

  “Hmm. I guess you did. I must have forgotten you'd said that,” Diane said vaguely, but Paige didn't believe her. Diane was too sharp to have forgotten.

  “I understand you asked Max a lot of questions when you met him,” Paige said. “What sort of things did you ask?”

  Kyle laughed. “Knowing Diane, she asked him everything from his shoe size to whether he wore contacts.”

  Diane made a huffy noise. “I asked nothing of the sort. For starters, I can tell he isn't wearing contacts, which means he either was born with good vision or he had his eyes operated on and now has good vision.”

  Unable to resist, Paige looked at Max's eyes. He winked at her, then said, “Born with perfect vision.”

  “See, so I didn't ask him everything, but since you mentioned it, there are a couple more questions I'd like to ask.”

  Kyle and Paige groaned, but Max chuckled. “Sure. Go ahead.”

  “Where were you born?”

  Paige almost told Diane to stop, but then she realized she wanted to hear what Max said.

  “Dallas. You?”

  Diane sighed. “Memphis. But I'm the one asking the questions.”

  “I'd be pretty rude if I didn't take an interest in you, too, since you're a friend of Paige's,” he said with a grin that looked suspiciously smug. “Do you have any more questions?”

  “Of course.” She took a step closer to him. “How old are you?”

  “Thirty-two. You?”

  Kyle laughed again. “She's not going to tell you.”

  That remark earned him a frown from Diane, who then looked at Max and said, “Thirty-six.”

  Paige hadn't realized her friend was that old and based on the somewhat surprised look on Kyle's face, she got the distinct feeling he hadn't known for certain how old Diane was, either.

  Kyle seemed puzzled, then he said, “I thought you were thirty-one.”

  “You must have gotten confused,” was all Diane said. Kyle gave his girlfriend a hug. “Doesn't matter to me if you're one hundred and thirty-six.”

  Diane's expression softened for a second while Kyle hugged her, but the second he released his hold, she went back to frowning at Max.

  “What day were you born?”

  “Trying to figure out my sign?” Finally, he said, “April 7. I'm an Aries. You?”

  “Capricorn. January 14.”

  Paige stared at her friend. “You know, you've told Max more about your
self in the last two minutes than you've told me in all the time we've known each other.”

  Diane looked partially self-conscious, but mostly determined. “I have a funny feeling about this guy.” She looked at Max. “No offense.”

  Before Paige could protest, Max laughed and said, “None taken.”

  But there was no way Paige was going to let Diane get away with that. “Hey, you just insulted him. Diane, Max is a great guy.”

  “Yeah,” Kyle said, nodding. “You insulted Max. Not nice, Diane.”

  “I said no offense,” she repeated.

  “That doesn't matter. You still were offensive.” Kyle looked at Max. “Sorry about this. She's overprotective.”

  “She's also standing right here.” Diane enunciated each word slowly. She managed to adopt an innocent expression, which wasn't easy considering she was doing everything but turning a spotlight on Max. “I didn't mean to offend him. I'm just...curious.”

  “Or snoopy,” Kyle offered.

  “Who, me? I'm not doing anything.”

  “Of course, you are,” Paige said. “You're treating Max like a criminal.”

  Diane ignored her and instead asked Max. “Where do you live?”

  Paige opened her mouth to tell Diane once again to cut it out, then suddenly realized she, too, had no idea where Max lived. He had a duffel bag with spare clothes and stuff that he carried in the back of his truck, so he'd never needed to go to his place to get things.

  Funny, she'd never thought to ask him such a basic question, and as much as she hated to admit it, she wanted to hear what his answer was.

  “Leave the poor guy alone,” Kyle said.

  But Max made no protest and answered her question. “I haven't really found a place. Mostly I've been staying at a motel nearby.”

  “A motel?” Diane looked at Paige. “Have you been there?”

  She wasn't about to admit she hadn't and that, in fact, this was the first time the question had come up. “Diane, stop. I appreciate you coming to the festival tonight, but Max and I are busy and need to go check on the booths.”

  Diane held up one hand. “One more question. You drive a black truck, right?”

  “Yes, I drive a truck. And yes, it's black. But you know that since you've seen my truck,” Max said, his tone still polite although Paige imagined he was getting tired of being grilled like this.

  Diane looked at Paige. “A truck, Paige. He drives a truck.”

  Oh, for crying out loud. “Diane, most of Texas drives a truck. What’s your point?”

  Max looked completely baffled as he said, “I'm sorry you don't like my truck, but it gets good mileage. It’s great up on a ranch. I hope to buy another one someday.”

  Diane was staring at Max like he was a puppy kicker, and it made Paige cringe. She'd never seen her friend act this way before.

  Enough was enough. “Cut it out,” Paige told her.

  Max had folded his arms across his chest and was studying Diane. “It's okay. I don't mind. Does it help if I tell you I really care about Paige and have no intention of hurting her?”

  “Men say that all the time right before they break our hearts,” Diane maintained.

  Kyle looked at Max and sighed. “Sorry about this. She worries about her friends.”

  “You know what really worries me?” Diane said. A rowdy crowd of festivalgoers squashed by them, pushing Diane closer to Max. “I’m worried why a black truck was parked down the street from our houses night after night weeks before you started seeing Paige. Were you spying on her, Max?”

  No one said a word for a couple of seconds. Then Max laughed. “Of course not.”

  Drat. Paige hadn’t expected her friend to be so observant. “He and I got involved much earlier than you noticed. Now excuse us. We’ve got to mingle,” Paige said, pulling Max away.

  “She pays attention, doesn’t she?” Max said once they had walked away from Diane and Kyle.

  Paige nodded. She hated that she’d lied to her friend for the past couple of months. Tomorrow, she’d explain everything to Diane before she had her interview. She’d already arranged to meet a journalist from the main Dallas television station tomorrow afternoon.

  “I hope she understands when I tell her who I am,” Paige said. “I don’t want her to hate me.”

  “She won’t hate you. I’m sure she’ll understand.”

  Paige wished she shared his confidence, and she was still worrying about it when Max stopped, cursed softly, and tugged on her arm. “Go inside, into the storeroom. We have company.”

  Paige glanced around. Max was right. Two TV vans had just pulled into the parking lot. Paige knew immediately who they were and why they were here.

  Somehow, they’d found her.

  9

  Damage control.

  Max knew he needed to do some serious damage control. He hurried Paige inside and into the storeroom without anyone noticing. The task proved surprisingly easy since most people were watching the television reporters and photographers climb out of their vehicles and swarm through the crowd outside.

  Max gave her a quick kiss. “Stay here. I’ll see how bad it is.”

  Paige nodded. “I’ve got to think about this.”

  The café was almost empty when Max walked out of the storeroom. Most of the patrons had shifted to the parking lot to get a better view of the commotion. The few who were still inside were pressed against the windows, watching intently.

  How could he have been so stupid? He'd have to take care of this before something bad happened.

  He walked outside and discovered two television crews, along with a few photographers had shown up. At the moment, they seemed to be interested in interviewing the people of Honey, who seemed baffled by the media attention.

  Scanning the crowd, he watched as Paige’s father and Adam Taylor climbed out of a limo and started working the crowds. Her father, especially, was busy shaking hands and pontificating about how thrilled they were that they’d found Alyssa and how much they’d missed her.

  One of the main questions Roger Delacorte answered for the crowd was that a friend of Paige’s grandmother, Kenneth Davis, had told a reporter about Honey, Texas. They’d immediately shared the happy news with the press and were now anxious to see Alyssa.

  Max sighed. Talk about jerks. Her father and Adam were lower than a snake’s belly.

  Spotting him on the steps, Roger made his way through the crowd and joined Max. “Walker,” he said. “Good to see you. Wish you’d told me sooner where my daughter was, but I’m glad you took care of her. Girl doesn’t know what she wants.”

  Max gritted his teeth. “Paige didn’t need my help. She’s capable of taking care of herself, and she very much knows what she wants.”

  “Paige?” Roger laughed. “She always preferred that name to Alyssa. I don’t really care for it. I’ll talk to her about it. Speaking of Alyssa, where’d she run off to? Why don’t you go get her for me.”

  Max wanted to argue, but he needed to talk to Paige and determine what she wanted to do. He headed inside the café, making sure to lock the door behind him. He found Paige sitting on a box in the storeroom.

  “Your dad is here. So is Adam.”

  She didn’t seem surprised. “I’ll talk to them in a minute.”

  “Your dad told everyone that a man named Kenneth Davis told the press where you were,” Max explained.

  Paige sighed. “Guess I shouldn’t have called my grandmother,” she said. Then she took a deep breath. “Oh, well. Now is as good a time as any to let the world know where I am.”

  Max couldn’t help admiring how she was handling this. He leaned down and kissed her slowly, hoping she knew how proud he was of her, how much he cared for her.

  When the kissed ended, she smiled softly. “Will you come with me?”

  He told her, “Of course. I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll go wherever you need me.” He held her gaze and added, “I’d do anything for you, Paige.”

  Paige c
upped the side of his face and gave him another quick kiss. “There you go, being a hero again.”

  Paige stood and headed across the café. She knew this fiasco was going to be easier for her to face because Max was with her. He meant the world to her. He really did. She glanced at him and knew deep in her heart that she loved him. Truly loved him. And she’d do anything for him.

  When they reached the door to the outside, she stopped.

  “I love you,” she said. “You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted you to know.”

  Max flashed her a lopsided grin. “I don’t, huh? Well that’s too bad because I’m going to say something.” He gave her a quick kiss. “I love you, too.”

  Paige felt like she'd won the lottery. Max loved her.

  “Okay, then, let’s go take care of these yahoos in the parking lot,” she said, taking his hand.

  He nodded. “Whatever you want. I’m here to help you.”

  When she stepped outside, she was temporarily blinded by the lights from the television trucks and the noise of too many people shouting at once. She’d barely gotten her footing when a couple of aggressive reporters tried to shove their microphones into her face.

  Suddenly, Max’s voice boomed over the crowd. “Stand back.”

  Paige was stunned to see it worked. The reporters closest to her moved back, and the crowed momentarily quieted. The only noise for a few seconds was the click of some cameras. Then her father and Adam pushed their way through the crowd.

  “Alyssa, dear,” her father said when he was by her side. He leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek, but she moved back.

  Adam also was trying to kiss her, but with Max’s help, she dodged them both.

  Her father flashed one of his insincere smiles at the crowd. “Let me just say how happy I am—”

  Paige shook her head. “Nope. You don’t get to talk, Dad.” When Adam started to say something, she held up one hand. “You don’t get to talk either.”

  Reporters started shouting questions again, but Paige didn’t answer them. Instead, she fished in the pocket of her shorts and pulled out the piece of paper holding the speech she’d planned to make to the reporter tomorrow.