Here to Stay

by Debra Webb

  “I’m really not interested, Nathan,” she broke in.

  He sighed, frustrated. Paige ignored him. He could stand there all night, and still she wouldn’t care.

  “Paige, I just want—”

  “I don’t care what you want, Nathan.”

  “Stop stroking that damned horse,” he thundered, snatching her hand and pulling her around to face him.

  “Fine.” She pulled her hand free of his, put the brush down and folded her arms over her chest. “You have my attention, now talk—fast—before I change my mind.”

  He blew out a heavy breath and plowed a hand through his hair. His eyes glowed like hot coals. Paige didn’t look directly into his eyes for fear of igniting herself. She kept her gaze on his full lips, which was probably an even bigger mistake.

  “I don’t want there to be any more misunderstandings between us,” he began hesitantly. “If we’re going to start this friendship off right, I want to keep it that way.”

  Friendship. Paige almost sighed, but caught herself. If only friendship was enough. It would have to be enough. She couldn’t keep acting like a jealous lover. “I’m sorry, Nathan. You’re right. We don’t need any more misunderstandings.” The last one had ruined any possibility of her ever finding happiness. For Jesse’s sake she had to make sure it didn’t happen again. “We’ll make that rule number one,” she added.

  Nathan nodded, the fire in his eyes cooling somewhat. “When I got home last night, she was waiting. I asked her to leave and she left.” He exhaled some of the frustration and relaxed a bit.

  “If you say that’s what happened, than I suppose that’s the case,” Paige replied noncommittally.

  “That is what happened.”

  “I can’t tell you how much better I feel, Nathan, Now that you’ve shared that with me, I mean,” she said sarcastically. Did he really expect her to believe that load of bull? What healthy, unattached man would turn down a woman who looked like Celine and who was obviously ready to jump his bones?

  Nathan squeezed his eyes shut and swore. It wasn’t English.

  “Now I’m really impressed.”

  In a move so lightning fast that Paige didn’t see it coming, Nathan clasped her face in his hands. “I’ll show you impressive,” he growled before taking her mouth with his.

  All thought ceased. His lips felt firm and hot yet unbelievably tender. Slow and easy, he kissed her, cupping her face gently. His tongue skimmed over her lips…traced and prodded until she opened for him. His taste, strong and wild, filled her. Oh, he tasted so good. She moaned softly and balled her fists at her sides. She held her body rigid and away from his. She would not respond…She would not respond!

  “Paige,” he murmured, his lips still caressing hers. “Touch me, please.”

  His plea sent a shiver of awareness sweeping over her. She relaxed the fists her hands had become. How could she deny him? Deny what she felt herself? “I can’t…where?” she asked, lost in his kiss and helpless to resist his request.

  “Somewhere…anywhere.” His lips continued to torment hers. “Just touch me, please.” His tongue teased and tortured her mouth. He stroked her neck, her hair. His fingers sent tendrils of fire racing through her.

  Slowly, hesitantly, she placed her hands against his muscled chest. Nathan groaned, the sound filled her, melted her. Desire, strong and hot, surged through her body. He slid his hands over her shoulders and down her back, pressing her—molding her—to him. He cupped her bottom and crushed her to his hardened length. Paige felt him tremble with need and she trembled herself. His kiss grew harder, deeper—more demanding and she never wanted him to stop.

  But he had to stop, she pushed at the rock wall of his chest. Pushed as hard as she could. This couldn’t happen. It would only make matters worse when she told him about Jesse. Nathan would feel even more betrayed. She couldn’t bear to hurt him any worse. They had both already suffered enough. And even if he didn’t hate her when she told him about Jesse, he would never want her. Not now. She had nothing to offer him. She would spend the rest of her life alone. She pushed again with what little force remained in her seemingly boneless body.

  “You want me to stop?” His words were taut, ragged. His gaze darted from her lips to her eyes and back.

  “Yes,” she said hoarsely. “I want you to stop.” Want had nothing to do with it. She stepped out of his embrace and crossed her arms over her middle. Her lips fairly sizzled. Desire coursed through her body, but she had to stop before things got completely out of hand. This couldn’t happen.

  Nathan started to say something, thought better of it and closed his mouth. Hunger blazed in his dark eyes. He licked his lips, no doubt tasting the kiss they had just shared and dropped his head. “I guess that was a mistake.”

  No, it wasn’t, she wanted to scream. Paige searched her brain for an appropriate response to his statement. Something neutral. Nothing came. For Pete’s sake, Paige, you’re a lawyer—words are your business. Say something. “Rule number two,” she said, as calmly as possible considering she’s just had her socks kissed off. “Friends don’t kiss friends like that.”

  He smiled slightly and nodded. “You’re right.” He shoved his hands into his back pockets, unconsciously making his arousal even more visible. “Sorry. I’ll do better, I swear.”

  Paige forced her eyes to stay above his belt buckle. “I guess it’ll take a while to work out the kinks in this relationship, but we can do it.” Her words came out more hopeful than confident.

  Nathan took her hand in his and gave her one of his heart-stopping smiles. “We can do it, Blondie.” His voice was low, caressing, reassuring.

  “Help me with the horses and I’ll let you stay for dinner,” she offered, her heart still beating a little tattoo. Somehow she had to shift the focus away from what had just happened.

  “All right.” He squeezed her hand one last time before letting go. Nathan’s eyes sparkled with some emotion that Paige couldn’t quite define.

  At that moment, she would have wagered all the chips in Vegas that a friendship with Nathan Blackrope would never work—not in a million years. Every instinct she had told her she would win that bet. Or would she really be losing?

  ~*~

  Paige said grace as quickly as possible for fear that while she had her eyes closed the two men sitting on either side of her might go at each other’s throats across the table.

  Her gaze moved from one agitated male to the other as she pulled her linen napkin across her lap. Nathan sat on her left and Calvin on her right. The two glared at each other without saying a word. Each filled his plate without taking his eyes off the other.

  “Nathan, do you still have that old Corvette?” Paige asked, breaking the tense silence and hoping to establish a conversation to which both men could relate.

  “Oh…ah, yeah, sure,” He shook his head distractedly and then gave Paige a hard look. “Old? It’s not old, it’s a classic.”

  “He has a Vette?” Calvin blurted, shocked.

  “Yes.” Paige mentally kept her fingers crossed and hoped this would be a subject the two men could reach common ground on. “Nathan lives just across the road, maybe he’ll take you for a spin.”

  Nathan’s gaze shot back to Paige, his eyes widened with disbelief and then narrowed into a warning.

  “That would be awesome,” Calvin exclaimed. “You live across the road in that mansion?” he asked Nathan. “Man, that place looks like Graceland. You rich, too? What kind of work do you do?”

  “Calvin,” Paige scolded, shaking her head.

  Nathan looked from her to Calvin. “I breed horses and run a few head of cattle.”

  “Nathan breeds and trains champion quarter horses,” she explained.

  “Man, I’d really like to see that Vette,” Calvin said eagerly, more interested in the car than what Nathan did for a living.

  Nathan finally drew his gaze from Paige to Calvin. “I suppose that can be arranged.”

  “All right!
” Calvin threw up his hand for a high five.

  “On one condition,” Nathan added.

  Calvin’s expression fell.

  “My name is not Tonto or Chief, it’s Nathan, I’d appreciate it if you called me that,” he said evenly.

  Calvin nodded. “Okay man—Nathan. I can do that.”

  “Good.” Nathan breathed a sigh of relief.

  Calvin ran with the conversation. He talked incessantly about cars and motorcycles. Nathan seemed to enjoy talking about guy things with him. Paige liked watching the two of them. So different, yet so intrinsically the same. Full of enthusiasm and totally animated, Calvin’s whole body seemed to be a part of his language. Nathan sat very still, speaking only with his mouth and eyes. Yet the two thought a great deal alike, inherently male.

  After dinner, with the kitchen cleaned and the dishes put away, Calvin excused himself to watch some television.

  “Thanks for dinner,” Nathan told her. “I had a nice time.”

  “I knew you’d like Calvin—once you got to know him.”

  Paige followed Nathan onto the porch. A full moon lit the yard and a surprisingly warm breeze stirred the air.

  “It’s nice out tonight,” he noted as he slipped on his Stetson.

  “Yes, it is.” Paige hugged her arms around herself and fought the shiver that being alone with Nathan generated.

  Nathan stared at the plank porch floor for a long moment. Please go home, Nathan. She couldn’t bear this much longer.

  “Good night,” he finally said. His gaze rested on hers, but he made no move to leave.

  “Good night.” Paige smiled a nervous little smile. If he looked at her like that much longer, she’d simply die on the spot.

  Nathan touched the brim of his hat with two fingers and turned away, She closed her eyes and breathed a tiny sigh of relief—or perhaps regret.

  “Oh, by the way,” Nathan turned around on the first tread of the steps. “Send Calvin around tomorrow and I’ll take him for a ride in the Vette.”

  “That’s be great, Nathan.” She hurried across the porch. With Nathan down a step, she stood almost at eye level with him. “I didn’t want to ask you in front of Calvin, but I have court in the morning. I’d really appreciate it if you would let him hang out with you until I return. I don’t want him to be alone.”

  A frown creased Nathan’s brow. “What’s his story?”

  “I don’t know all the details yet, but we’re going to talk tonight. I would just feel better if I knew you were with him.”

  Nathan nodded. “No problem.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I have one question.”

  “Yes?”

  “On rule number two, when you said friends don’t kiss friends like that, did you mean there was some other way of kissing that would be acceptable?”

  If he only knew how much she wanted him to kiss her again. Right now. But that would be a mistake. She sighed and tried to read the emotion behind the intensity in his gaze. What did he really want from her? He probably didn’t know what he wanted any more than she knew what she wanted.

  “I didn’t mean to complicate the issue,” he said softly.

  Paige leaned forward the few inches necessary and kissed him on the cheek. “Good night, Nathan.”

  He smiled and brought his fingers to the spot she had kissed. “Good night.”

  Paige turned and walked into the house without looking back. She closed the door and sagged against it. She would have to tell him about Jesse soon. No way could she tolerate this kind of tension. He wanted more than friendship and he wasn’t dong a very good job of hiding it.

  Pushing away from the door, Paige headed for the parlor. She had one more issue to deal with tonight. She crossed the newly carpeted room and shut the television off. She had awakened at seven this morning to find the carpet installers in the parlor. Of course, they possessed a key.

  “What’s up?” Calvin straightened from his supine position on the couch. He propped his forearms on his widespread knees.

  Paige sat down beside him. “I need to know why you’re so popular, Calvin.”

  He dropped his head and blew out a heavy breath. “My cousin A.J. works for the man.”

  “I assume you mean Malcolm Reed, the drug dealer?”

  “Yeah.” He paused. “I was running late for work. My car wouldn’t start and I didn’t want to get into trouble with my boss so I hitched a ride with A.J.”

  “Is A.J. one of the guys who took you for a ride today?”

  “Yeah. Him and Baby Dave.” Calvin shifted and clasped his hands, twiddling his thumbs around each other.

  “Did A.J. tell you something or show you something he shouldn’t have?”

  “Naw, he’s too smart for that. That day he took me to work he got a call on his cell phone. The caller wasn’t none too happy. So A.J. said he had to make a quick stop.” Calvin shifted again. “What could I say? Beggars can’t be choosers, you know?”

  “I understand,” Paige assured him.

  “When we got to the place, I waited in the car for a long time like he told me to.” Calvin shrugged. “But I was gonna be late for work, so I got nervous. I went on in the pawn shop to see what was keeping my cuz.” He let out a long breath and paused again. “The man running the place said gave A.J. a package and told him he should be especially careful with it.” He fell silent then.

  “What happened then, Calvin?”

  “A.J. yelled at me for coming in. Told me to go back to the car.” Calvin rubbed his hands over his face. “He said if I ever told anybody what I saw that I’d be history. Said he had a hard time talking to the man into letting me walk as it was.”

  “Do you think A.J. had anything to do with the drugs planted in your locker?”

  “I figure they did that to make sure I understood they were serious.” He shook his head slowly from side to side. “I wish I’d just went on and called in late for work that day.”

  Paige put her arm around his shoulders and squeezed. “Don’t worry, we’ll work this out, Calvin.”

  “I appreciate everything you doing for me, Miss P. But I don’t want to cause you no trouble.” He gazed at her with the saddest eyes she had ever seen.

  “You’re no trouble, Calvin.” She smiled.

  Calvin returned her smile and then his expression grew somber. “What’s the deal between you and Tonto—I mean Nathan?”

  “No deal, just old friends. We’ve known each other since we were kids.”

  “Yeah, right and my cousin A.J.’s the Pope.” Calvin chuckled. “I got eyes, Miss P.”

  “Well, I think you need to have your eyes checked, because we’re only friends.”

  Calvin snorted. “The man’s got it bad for you and you’re only friends. Yeah, right.”

  Paige shook her head. “Don’t be ridiculous, Calvin.”

  “Just ‘cause you blind, don’t mean I am. I read the signals loud and clear. Old Nathan thinks you’re his woman.”

  “Well, old Nathan is wrong and so are you. I’m my own woman,” Paige stated firmly.

  “Whatever you say, Miss P.” Calvin shrugged. “Personally, I don’t see what women see in the tall, silent type. The man don’t have a sense of humor at all.”

  Paige laughed. And when she started she couldn’t stop. Tears streamed down her cheeks she laughed so hard. She hugged her abdomen and tried to compose herself, but nothing worked.

  “Don’t strain yourself, Miss P., it ain’t that funny.”

  “I’m sorry, Calvin,” She choked out, her breath catching on every other word. “You’re right. Nathan doesn’t have a sense of humor. Everything’s serious to him.” She sucked in a long breath and swiped her eyes.

  “I know I’m right,” Calvin informed her. He jutted his chin stubbornly. “I’m right about the other part, too. Old Tonto’s crazy about you and you know it.”

  Paige didn’t laugh this time. It wasn’t funny, because she knew Calvin had hit the nail on the head.

>   Chapter Seven

  “I can’t believe this,” she muttered to herself as she bolted from her car. Paige took a deep breath, grasped her briefcase a little tighter and headed for the courthouse as fast as she could in heels. She had fifteen minutes to meet her assistant Denise, get the file on the Redmond case, and be in court.

  Paige had left Trinity in plenty of time, but she had somehow managed to get behind every farm tractor between Trinity and the interstate. She cursed planting season, John Deere, and the inventor of high heel shoes as she half-ran, half-stumbled down the busy sidewalk. She muttered “excuse-me’s” as she pushed her way through the going-to-work crowd. Nothing riled Judge Mattson more than tardiness.

  God, she was so late. Her heels tapped against stone as she hurriedly climbed the steps to the courthouse. She glanced at her wrist watch. Ten minutes. She might make it—just barely.

  She looked up just in time to see a hefty figure before it collided with her. A wave of something cold and wet flowed down her chest. She gasped from the cold and the impact. Paige teetered for a moment, ready to tumble down the steps she’d just climbed. A beefy hand grasped her arm and steadied her.

  Her gaze darted from the robust man before her to the carry-out tray and Styrofoam cups scattered around her feet. She winced at the mess in between. Orange juice stained her white blouse and mint green blazer. Grape jelly smeared her breasts and midriff as half a jelly biscuit oozed down the material. He’d obviously been eating the biscuit at the time of the collision.

  “I’m so sorry,” the man exclaimed, plucking the sticky biscuit from the waistband of her skirt. “I guess I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

  Paige stared down at herself and then up at him in disbelief. This couldn’t be happening. Not today.

  “I’ll be happy to pay your dry cleaning bill,” he added apologetically. The man a yanked a clean, white handkerchief from his pocket and swiped at the purple jelly.

  His hands fumbling over her breasts snapped Paige back to reality. “It’s all right,” she assured and moved away from his helpful hands. “I should have been watching where I was going. Sorry about your breakfast,” she added, rushing past him. The man called back another apology, but Paige kept going.