Cole wasn’t here to get her back; he was here to get back at her.
Sighing heavily, she picked up the flowers, moved over to where the black velvet box was, and dropped both the flowers and the box over the railing. They landed on the ground, right beside the three small steps up her deck.
“He’s trying to remind you of the stalker,” Justin mumbled. He quickly shook his head and replaced the frown he was wearing with a smile. “I’m over thinking things, just be careful around him. Putting aside my suspicion, his behavior isn’t normal.”
She nodded slowly. Something was wrong with Cole. Despite the exterior facade he’d placed, he wasn’t the person she thought she knew.
Over the last few years, Justin had made quite a profit from buying bank-owned foreclosed home. There were a few bad investments, but he had learned from them.
He had contacted realtors over the interest of buying such houses and from the emails, he’d chosen three of them, arranging to view them all in one day.
The appointment was still an hour away, but he’d made sure he arrived earlier to scout out the area.
“Are we lost?” Paige asked as he slowed his car and drove around the neighborhood.
“I’m checking out the neighborhood,” he explained. “Many of these properties have been through several auctions without any takers. Sometimes, buyers are unwilling to fix it up and that’s where I come in. But sometimes, there are good reasons. Maybe it’s been used as a meth house, the neighborhood is bad, or it’s stuck in an area where there are too many foreclosed homes.”
“So what are you looking out for?”
“Signs on how many of the houses here are up for sale. If children are allowed to walk and play around freely without adult supervision.”
Paige’s brows rose, and she nodded. “Because if parents allow that, it means the neighborhood is safe. You give yourself too little credit, you know?”
“Credit for what?”
“Your success. You didn’t take a gamble. You’re really smart.”
“You sound surprise.”
“I never thought otherwise,” she quickly said. “The things you say, they sound completely logical, but I don’t think I’ll ever think or notice them if I’m house shopping.”
“I learned from my mistake. I once bought a house in a high-end neighborhood for what I thought was a pretty good deal. Turns out, it was used as a meth lab, so it was basically poisonous for anyone to stay in there for prolong periods.”
“What did you do?”
“I could get so-called professionals to clean the house. But after some research I realized no matter how much you clean it, there are still risks. So I tore the house down and rebuilt it. That cost me quite a lot of money, but it taught me a lesson. There’s more to it than the dollar value of the house itself.”
“So how do you check if it has been used as a drug house?”
“Test. I either demand it from the realtors or I get it done on my own.”
“These tests, aren’t they expensive?”
“Few thousand at the most. Cleaning up will cost tens of thousands, and rebuilding a house will costs even more.”
Paige pointed out the window. “There are some kids cycling around. And I haven’t seen another house that’s up for sale in this neighborhood.”
Justin pulled up to a house with a pink bicycle and a skateboard lying in the middle of the front lawn. “Shall we?”
“This is the house you’re viewing? It doesn’t look like it’s been abandoned for months.”
“This isn’t the house we’re viewing. But it sure seems like there’s a mother at home to answer my questions.”
She laughed softly. “Okay. Do I wait for you here?”
“Come along. I’m sure the mom or whoever is inside will be more relaxed if they see a couple instead of just me.”
“Okay.” She unbuckled her seat belt and stepped out.
Justin joined her and took her hand as they strolled over to the house. Just as they were about to ring the doorbell, two kids came running out of the house with cookie crumbs still on their lips and a mother hollering behind them to watch out for cars.
The strawberry blonde wearing a light green T-shirt and black capri pants saw them and paused for a moment, her eyes immediately flickering over to her children.
“Hi, I’m sorry to disturb. My girlfriend and I are looking at a house for sale in this area, and we’re hoping we can ask you some questions about the neighborhood.”
The mom broke into a smile and waved them in. “The blue house a block away?”
“Yes,” Justin answered.
“Have a seat. Water?”
“No, thank you.”
“All right, what would you like to know?” the mom asked as she sat on the couch.
“How’s this neighborhood?”
“Good. It’s pretty safe. There was a break in a few years back. Since then, we have a neighborhood watch. There’s a cop living on our street, he organizes the shifts for the patrol.”
Justin nodded with a smile. “Then do you know why the house we’re looking at was foreclosed?”
The mom pursed her lips and continued in a gentle tone. “Bad luck. I guess it could happen to anyone of us. Steve was the sole breadwinner in the family. He got let go from the company and couldn’t find another job.” She took in a deep breath and said, “He tried. He ended up taking two lower paying jobs, but later suffered a stroke and couldn’t work. Joyce hadn’t worked for years and couldn’t get a job. I guess they couldn’t keep up with the medical bills and all.”
“That’s so sad,” Paige said, her brows etched in a frown.
Justin lifted her hand to his lips and smiled at her.
“It’s a great neighborhood to start a family.”
His lips curled further up as he thought about that. It did seem like a good neighborhood.
Paige smiled politely at the mom. “We heard the house has been empty for awhile. Is there some reason why no one bought it?”
“The Flemings tried to keep the house for as long as they could. They had the house for over a decade so if you’re getting it, you’ll probably have to do quite a lot of renovations to make it look new again. I heard that the pipes are leaking through the floors, and the floorings are popping up. Those can be quite expensive to change. The interior is quite old-fashioned, too. It hasn’t been remodeled.”
None of those would be a problem for him. “And since the house has been foreclosed, has there been squatters or even drug pushers.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. We’ve all seen the news of meth labs and all. We didn’t want that in our neighborhood. The neighborhood watch I told you about, we always check the house to make sure the doors are locked, windows intact, and no one is living inside. The neighbors keep a look out for any suspicious people hanging around the neighborhood as well.”
“Great,” Justin said and stood. “Thanks for the information.”
“It’s nothing,” the mom replied with a shrug. “Good luck with the house.”
Justin and Paige thanked her again before returning to the car.
“So, are you happy with what you’ve heard?” Paige asked as she slipped into the car.
“Yeah, it’s worth taking a look.”
When they got to the house, there was a car parked up front and the door to the house wasn’t locked. Justin knocked on the door and entered.
The realtor stopped fiddling with the vase and went up to him. “Hi, Mr. Doyle. And you must be Miss Watson.”
Justin had already emailed all the realtors they were meeting, informing them that Paige would be coming along. In the email, he listed out some of the things that Paige’s stalker had mentioned in the letters and emphasized to the realtors that they were not to say any of those lines while showing them the house.
He didn’t bother to give an explanation, simply that they shouldn’t mention them in front of Paige.
Paige shook the realtor’s hand a
nd they stood in the living room with an awkward silence for a moment while the realtor tried to size up the relationship between Paige and him.
“Erm, this is a great house,” the realtor finally said. “Come, let me show the two of you around.”
Paige was the perfect partner to bring around.
She appeared genuinely interested in the house, but pointed out all the nooks and cracks she noticed. And when the realtor told them the price, she took a quick scan of where they stood and arranged her lips into a small, uninterested pout.
He did think the asking price was too unreasonable. With all the renovations he would have to do, he didn’t think it was worth it. He gave the realtor the price he was willing to pay and told her to discuss it with the bank.
“You’re a great actress.”
She chuckled softly. “Haggling 101, never show that you’re interested, right?” She laughed again. “My mom taught me that.”
They went for lunch and after that, the same house viewing cycle repeated itself over the next two houses.
Having Paige by his side made the viewings fun.
At each house, she would complain and whine about the houses not having a view, the rooms being too small for the wardrobe, and all the things appropriate for women to complain about. Her complains led to the realtor discounting the price of the house without Justin having to bargain.
It was also fun to listen to the realtor talk about the house, suggesting the possibilities of what he and Paige could use the rooms for.
Viewing houses had always been just business for him.
Whenever he viewed a house, his thoughts were usually focused on the numbers. He looked out for the things that had to be fixed or changed and calculated how much it’d cost him to do so. He would have checked the selling prices of houses in the neighborhood and would know the extent of renovations he would have to do in order to get the house looking as good as or even better than the rest.
He loved the money he made from flipping houses. He loved putting his hands to work on improving the house. The viewings, however, had always been dry.
This was the first time he’d brought someone else along.
For one, he didn’t like to tell people what he did. Secondly, he didn’t want the women around him thinking that he was intending to bring their relationship, or whatever they had, to the next level.
He’d convinced himself that he only brought Paige because it wasn’t safe for her to be alone in Pine, not when Cole was acting all crazy. But he ended up having a great time with her.
Simply having her next to him, feeling her arm around his and smelling her shampoo, made this the best viewing he ever had.
Being able to listen to her whines and watch her commitment to their act was a bonus; it made the viewings much more entertaining.
After all the viewings, they went to pick out the grills for her windows before having dinner. Throughout dinner, they talked about the houses they had seen, and he told Paige some of the worst houses he’d renovated.
Though he’d spent an entire day with her, Justin didn’t want to send her home right after dinner. He asked if she was tired and when she said no, he drove them to Lion’s park for a stroll.
“Do you think you’ll be getting any of the houses we saw today?” Paige asked as they walked leisurely along in the park.
“Probably, I like the first house we saw. Good neighborhood. I’ll take it if the bank is willing to let it go at the price I offered. The third house wasn’t too bad either.”
Her head bobbed up and down as he spoke. “Then are you going to move into the house while you’re working on them?”
“Are you asking if I’ll stay on in Pine?”
She licked her lips and continued staring ahead, not saying anything.
He pulled Paige to a stop and turned her toward him. “Now that you know more people in town, now that you’re more confident of your driving, will you be upset if I left?”
He’d asked her that question once, but she hadn’t given him an answer.
She gazed right into his eyes and smiled. “Yes,” she said softly.
“Do you want me to stay?”
“Will you be happy if you stayed? I know you hate the place.”
His lips curled, and he leaned in closer. “I just need a reason to stay. You asking is more than enough for me.”
Her smile widened. “Then don’t leave.” She rested her hand on his chest, her thumb playing with the edge of his shirt. “Please stay.”
Her soft, gentle words warmed his heart. He gave a satisfied sigh and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her up for a kiss. He could feel her tugging on his shirt; she didn’t want to let him go as much as he couldn’t get himself to break from the kiss.
With one arm across her waist, another of his hand weaved into her hair.
All along, he’d never tied himself to another person. He’d never allowed himself to rely on anyone. With his mother, he was always the parent. With the Seymours, as grateful as he was to them for taking care of him, as much as he loved them for giving him a family when he didn’t have one, he never felt complete.
He had never felt so needy of someone. He didn’t just want to have Paige in his arms, he needed her. His heart pounded hard as he held her tight against him and deepened his kiss.
The kiss captured him thoroughly.
He couldn’t pry himself from her. Each second of his lips on hers, each taste of her tongue, was making him crave for another second, another taste.
Everything felt right where they were. He had never been happier or more satisfied standing where he was.
Pulling back from the kiss, Paige dropped flat on her feet and leaned her head against his chest as she drew in a deep breath. She sighed softly and snuggled closer against his chest while he kissed her hair.
“We should go,” she said softly, still breathless from their kiss.
They should.
He tipped her chin and gave her another peck on her lips. “We should go,” he repeated, mainly as a reminder to himself.
Standing at a safe distance behind a tree, he glanced around and made sure he wasn’t causing any suspicion.
He had to be careful. If he were seen now, everything would be over.
He clenched his fists as he saw Paige kissing the new guy.
She was supposed to be his. He had done so much for her. He had prepared a future for her.
She wasn’t supposed to leave. She wasn’t supposed to start a new life without him.
He gritted his teeth and his body tensed as he thought about her betrayal.
Opening and closing his fists, he shook off the tension that was causing his muscles to quiver.
There would be time to punish her. There would be time to make her understand that she was his, and only his.
It wasn’t really a punishment, not for her.
She loved him. She didn’t know what she was doing.
Slanting his body away from the oblivious couple, he took in a deep breath and strode away in the opposite direction. She would be his…eventually.
Chapter Sixteen
Everything in a small town was routined. Each morning as she jogged, the same cars would pass her by, and the same houses would have their lights on. After skipping the few days of run, Paige got up, put on her running shoes, and headed out.
Maybe Justin’s pep talk sank into her heart, or maybe she had hit her point of what-the-hell.
Whatever it was, she was done whining.
Whining about her fear, about being trapped in her own house wasn’t going to change anything.
So she took the first step to regaining control of her life.
The same sights greeted her, and the same cars drove by. But now, without her ear phones she could hear the high-pitch screech coming from the dusty yellow car going past her. From one of the houses, a loud wake up call from a mother drifted onto the streets.
Justin was right about her being too focused when running.
It was simply better to be more cautious.
So, she retired her audiobooks and instead learned to pay attention to her surroundings.
Jogging toward the Seymours’ house, Paige scanned the area and made sure there wasn’t anyone around her. She slowed down her pace and stopped the timing and heart rate monitor on her watch.
Stopping outside the door, she rang the doorbell. She had to go back to her house to take a shower, but Justin had requested in his deep, musky voice that she let them know before doing so.
She couldn’t say no, not when he used that voice.
“I got it.”
Jane? “Hey,” she greeted Jane as the door opened.
“Good morning.”
Paige couldn’t help feeling that Jane was studying her for whatever reason. “Joining us for breakfast?”
“Actually, I’m here to check up on you.”
So she wasn’t imagining things.
Paige did notice the genuine concern in Jane’s eyes. “What’s wrong?” She unwrapped the face towel she’d twirled around her palm and wiped off the perspiration on her forehead and neck.
She stepped into the house and followed Jane over to the couch, but didn’t sit; she didn’t want to dirty the couch.
“It’s all right, I’m sure it’s nothing.” Jane looked up at Paige and asked, “Do you want to take a shower first?”
“Can you wait?”
“Yeah,” Jane assured.
“All right. Give me 15 minutes.” Paige jogged across to her house and headed to her bathroom. She got ready in less than fifteen minutes and returned to the Seymours’ house.
She gave Jane a warm smile and sat next to her on the couch. “So, what are you here to check up on?”
“It’s probably nothing but a rumor. I just wanted to make sure you’re all right.”
A Fresh Start Page 19
