Clem looked as if she was about to cry. ‘I’m so sorry, Paige, I didn’t want to tell you, but Olly thought you needed to know as soon as possible. I phoned Luke and he said to tell you you’re not to worry, but I could tell he’d had a shock. He said they’ll deal with the repercussions of the article when it comes out, and you’re not to stress about it. After all, it’s not as if you can do anything to stop it.’
‘It’s my fault.’ Paige closed her eyes. Opening them, she forced a smile at Clem. ‘You were right to tell me. I’ll phone Bea and Luke to apologize, and then I’ll speak to Sebastian.’
‘It’s not your fault,’ Clem argued. ‘They must really want to get at Sebastian if they’re going after your cousin. How the hell could you foresee this happening?’
Paige swallowed the rising nausea in her throat and rubbed her pounding temples. Poor Clem, she was just as scared as her for Bea’s pregnancy. She had to try and stop this hideous story. This couple had been good to her and deserved to be happy. ‘Go on. You get back to Olly, I’ll have a think. I’ll catch up with you tomorrow.’
‘You’re sure you’re OK?’
Paige nodded. ‘Yes, I’m fine. Now you go and leave me to digest this mind-blowing information.’
‘You’re still going to watch that film?’ Clem looked stunned.
‘If you’ll let me, yes.’ She picked up the remote control from the coffee table, willing her sister to leave her in peace.
‘But it’s Sense and Sensibility, again.’
Paige winked at her. ‘Yes, and I know I’ve seen it a hundred times, but I want to watch it again.’
‘OK,’ Clem said, confused. She leant over Paige and gave her a quick hug. ‘If you’re sure you’re all right?’
Paige gave her sister what she hoped was a convincing smile. ‘Positive. Now go and meet Ol. I’ll give this some thought for a bit. Please tell him everything’s fine.’ She waited until she heard the door close behind her sister and pulled the chenille rug over her legs.
So, now Luke was involved. This was disastrous. How could those journalists print such lies about her life? If they printed that story about her, how far could they twist the ones about Luke’s court case? Paige rubbed her eyes, exhaustion seeping through her. Why was this happening? She was so ordinary it never occurred to her that anyone could make a dramatic story out of her lifestyle.
She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, thinking back over Clem’s words. Seb had been jilted too. It made it doubly difficult for her to understand why he would give someone who had let him down so callously a second chance. It didn’t make any sense. Then it dawned on her like a shard of glass in her chest, causing such physical pain she gasped. For Sebastian to forgive Lucinda such a public betrayal, he must love her very deeply. The realisation stunned Paige. Their night together, however memorable it was for her, must have meant very little to him.
‘Bloody hell,’ she shouted, sitting up and turning off the television. Paige picked up her mobile and located Sebastian’s number. She needed him to help sort this mess out for Luke and Bea’s sake. And just because Lucinda had told her she was going to have Sebastian didn’t mean that Paige had to stand back and let it happen without a fight. She clicked on his number and waited as it rang.
‘I was hoping you’d ring. You must have a few missed calls from me.’
‘Hi, Sebastian,’ she said. ‘I was wondering what you’re doing this evening. I think we need to have a bit of a chat.’
‘Sounds interesting, I’ll come right over.’
Chapter Thirty-three
Sebastian knocked on her front door and smiled when she opened it to greet him. ‘You don’t look very happy,’ he said. ‘I’m assuming this has something to do with the picture of you with me in the papers? I did try to call you a few times, but you didn’t pick up.’
She followed him into the living room and motioned for him to sit. ‘Yes, there was a story yesterday, and an even more ludicrous one today. Oh, and there was also that picture of you and Lucinda at the ball.’
He sat down opposite her. He could tell she was not in the mood to let this one go. ‘She can be so infuriating. To be honest I didn’t give it too much thought at the time, it was only afterwards that I realized she’d probably set the whole thing up.’
‘Go on.’ Paige crossed one leg over the other and leant back into her chair.
She looked so tiny sitting there with a scowl on her pretty, make-up-free face. Sebastian forced his mind back to the evening of the photo. ‘I wasn’t even talking to her at the time. One minute I was speaking with one of my uncle’s friends, the next there was a tap on my shoulder; I turned around, saw a camera, and smiled.’
‘I see?’
‘Yes. You know how it is at these events.’
‘Not really.’
Sebastian was beginning to get annoyed. ‘Bloody cameras in your face constantly, I just smile and let them get on with it and then carry on with whatever conversation I was having before.’
‘You don’t care that people might get the wrong idea about you two?’
Sebastian stood up and crouched down in front of her, resting each hand on one of the arms of the chair. ‘I don’t care what people think, or say, about me. I’ve had enough experience in the public eye to know they’re going to make whatever decisions they choose, whether I like it or not. The only person whose opinion does matter, apart from my sister, of course, is yours.’ Their eyes locked and he could tell she wanted to believe him.
‘Lucinda’s horrible,’ Paige said eventually.
Sebastian smiled. ‘My sister would agree with you.’
‘She wasn’t wrong though when she said that you and I weren’t suited.’
Sebastian stood up, furious at the thought that Lucinda had been working on them. ‘When did she say that?’
Paige stood up. ‘She came to the shop yesterday.’
‘And you didn’t tell me?’ He’d suspected Lucinda was going to be trouble, but stupidly hadn’t expected her to go direct to Paige. He should have known better.
‘No, because whether I liked it or not, what she said was true.’
Sebastian raked his hands through his hair. Just when he could believe Paige was beginning to trust him again, Lucinda was plying her with lies. ‘Go on.’
Paige crossed her arms in front of her. ‘She showed me the picture of us at the races and explained about all the attention I would receive if I was with you.’
‘We’ll have to be more careful in future.’ Sebastian narrowed his eyes. What wasn’t she telling him? ‘What else did she say?’
‘I thought it wouldn’t worry me so much, but it’s escalated from there. A journalist contacted my cousin, Bea, asking for a comment to go with a piece they’re publishing about her husband this weekend.’
‘Go on,’ he said, imagining only too well what was coming next.
‘A year or so ago, Luke was accused of being involved with money laundering, and you know how fascinated the press seems to be about that subject, especially when it’s connected to Jersey. He was innocent, and the charges were dropped, but it nearly ruined everything he’d worked for, as well as causing massive problems between him and Bea. The last thing they need is for this to be brought up again.’
Sebastian waited for her to finish.
‘It’s one thing opening myself up for inspection, but it’s a different matter entirely when members of my family are dragged into it.’
And there it was, he thought. Sebastian was only just holding back his temper. ‘Leave this with me. I have contacts. It might not be too late to stop this story.’
Paige frowned. ‘How do you propose to do that?’
He shrugged. ‘By giving them something else to write about instead.’
She looked stunned, ‘You can do that, so easily?’
Sebastian wished it was the case. ‘I’m not promising anything, but I’ll give it a try.’ He didn’t relish giving them information
about himself he’d rather withhold, but he had no intention of letting Paige’s family suffer unnecessarily because of her connection with him.
‘Thank you,’ she said, reaching out and touching the back of his hand. ‘Bea will be incredibly relieved.’
‘As far as Lucinda’s concerned, she’s vindictive and extremely cunning. She also knows exactly what to say to get the effect she’s after. If she says anything more to you, promise me you’ll tell me. Or at least give me the chance to resolve any lies she feeds to you. Will you do that?’
Paige nodded.
‘Good. Because I don’t want you taking her lies to heart and distancing yourself from me again. It’s been hard enough trying to work things through as it is.’
‘Yes,’ she said thoughtfully.
He pulled her tightly against him, breathing in the smell of her perfume. ‘I don’t want to lose you again.’
When she didn’t reply, he bent to kiss her, relieved when she responded instantly. ‘I’ll do my best to sort this mess out, Paige.’
She turned to go from him. ‘We both know that this won’t be the last time the papers want to print something about my family. Did you see the story today about me leaving Jeremy sobbing at the altar before racing off to chase you?’
His stomach tightened. ‘Don’t say it.’
‘Whatever I feel for you, we both know that Lucinda isn’t the real problem here. I’ve never been in the public eye before, and I must put my loyalty to my family first.’
He willed himself to remain calm. ‘Paige, please.’
She shook her head. ‘I can’t do this to them. My father will be horrified when he reads today’s story, and my mother will want to track down the journalists who wrote those lies about me and batter them. Who knows, it could be something to do with my father’s past that they’ll print about next time.’
He could tell that she had made up her mind and for now, at least, he had no choice but to walk away. He was going to have to find a way to resolve this problem, if they were ever to have any sort of future together.
Chapter Thirty-four
Paige needed time away before the build-up to Christmas, so decided that taking a break in September was perfect timing. ‘There’s nothing else for it,’ she explained to Clem the following morning over the phone.
‘But if you’re attracted to him, which is what Olly insinuated the other day when we were chatting, then why do you want to leave him?’
Paige wound the telephone cord absent-mindedly around her thumb. ‘I’ve explained everything to you. I have to be sensible.’
‘And running away is sensible, is it?’
Paige groaned. ‘I’m not running away.’
‘Then what do you call it?’
She could hear the rustle of paper and could imagine her sister throwing down a magazine in temper. ‘It could never work between us, Clem. I’m not willing to have my family’s private life splashed across the tabloids. I’m not just thinking of myself here.’ She sighed miserably. ‘Whether I like it, or not, if I was to become a part of Sebastian’s life then I would have to accept that anything he did, maybe me too, would become fodder for the papers.’
‘There must be a way around all this though.’
‘You don’t think I haven’t thought endlessly about it? It won’t work. So, will you run the shop while I’m away?’ Paige had known Clem would want to argue with her, but she had made up her mind and no one was going to change it for her.
Clem sighed. ‘What choice do I have? It’s my job. What are you expecting to get out of this sabbatical?’
‘It’s hardly a sabbatical. I’m only going away for a couple of weeks. I want to take the next few days off, make a few plans, and book flights.’
‘Yes, but I think you’re making a mistake. Sebastian might be different from you, Paige, but he’s not Jeremy. I think you need to remember that fact and learn to trust him a little.’
‘Let me deal with this my way, please,’ Paige said, wishing Clem would stop being so annoying.
‘If you’re sure you can.’
Paige switched off the phone, determined to have as much uninterrupted thinking time as possible. She was in love with Sebastian, but that only made walking away from him even more painful. ‘Not really,’ she said to herself, sitting down in front of her laptop and clicking on the airline website to check the availability of flights.
Paige booked a return ticket. She then made a list of everything Clem might need to know in case of an emergency. The most important thing was to take her notepads and pencils. After all, she smiled; she could design anywhere in the world.
‘You’re what? Why?’ Olly groaned the next morning in her kitchen, waving his arms about him in frustration. ‘I don’t get it. It’s not like you to go off so suddenly.’
Paige leant against the granite worktop. ‘I’m not.’
He marched around to where she was standing, ‘You bloody well are.’ He stood in front of her, his arms crossed and feet wide apart as if blocking her way. ‘What I want to know is, why? Is it this paper thing?’
Paige stared from her best friend to her sister, and back again. ‘I just need to get away. It’s been a traumatic few months, and I can’t think straight here anymore.’ She passed him a can of beer. ‘I was hoping you two could look after everything for me.’
Clem nodded. ‘You know I will.’
Olly stared at her, his eyes narrowed. ‘What utter bollocks. It’s that bloody Sebastian, isn’t it?’ He slammed his palms down on the worktop, making both women jump.
‘It’s not just that. There’s the issue with Luke being in the papers, and all the lies they keep printing about me.’ She repeated everything she had told Clem about her conversation with Sebastian. ‘I thought that if I went away for a bit, maybe they would get bored and find something else to write about. I can keep in contact with my suppliers via email. Clem is happy to run Heaven in Heels and you can look after the website, if that’s OK with you?’
‘Poor Luke,’ he said, looking stunned. ‘At least Sebastian is going to try and sort that situation out.’
‘For now, although who knows what they’ll find next time those journalists go looking for another story to print about our family.’ Paige didn’t dare contemplate what secrets her father could have hidden away in his filing cabinets.
‘Stop nagging her now, Ol,’ Clem said, taking him by the elbow and pulling him away. ‘She’s a big girl. She’s more than capable of making her own decisions.’
‘What will you do when you get there?’ he asked.
‘I’m not too sure,’ she answered honestly. ‘Maybe I’ll just spend a couple of weeks in the sun doing very little.’
Sebastian left several messages on her house phone. Paige returned his call later the following day.
‘Good to hear from you. How is everything?’ he asked, sounding as if his cheerfulness were a little forced.
His deep voice resonated through her body, making her wish for the hundredth-time things between them could be different. ‘Fine thanks. Busy. Takings are up, and the new batch of designs has taken off really well.’
‘Good, I’m thrilled for you. I’m going to have to go home to London for a few days,’ he said. She could tell he was smiling. ‘I wondered if you wanted to join me.’
The Jersey Scene series box set Page 59
