WindSwept Narrows: #18 Paige Andrews

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  Chapter Twenty

  Paige stretched and snuggled down, her face buried in his shoulder until she felt those fingers raking back her hair. One eye opened and she met a puzzled look on his face.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I’ve got a sexy warm woman in my arms and I smell coffee…”

  Paige yawned and pressed even closer, her head tipped back, half open eyes blinking up at him. “I set it up last night. It has a timer.”

  “It does?”

  She sighed. “I bet you can take that bike apart in your sleep and put it back together.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “And you could probably write RFP’s with your eyes closed?”

  “Probably. Your point?”

  “Not a thing…” She shoved the blankets aside and wandered into the bathroom. “I’ll make us some eggs and stuff after I shower. I’m hungry,” she said to herself after starting the shower, waiting for steam to appear before sliding inside and soaping from head to toe. She found him sitting back on the sofa watching the news with a cup of coffee in one hand, already dressed for the day.

  Two pale brows rose when he saw the black trunks and a couple folded towels dropped to the end of the sofa.

  “Paige, there is no way in this universe that I’m stepping foot into the ocean,” Sebastian stated firmly, setting up and perching on a stool at the breakfast counter, watching her move around his kitchen. She fit there, he decided, hash browns and scrambled eggs turned out in no time, along with some toasted sour dough bread and orange juice.

  “Okay,” she answered with an easy shrug.

  Sebastian felt a cold tremor run down his back, lashes narrowed and watching her closely. “Okay?”

  “Of course…” She glanced at him casually. “You can swim though?”

  “I can swim,” he repeated slowly.

  “Oh, good…so if I was out frolicking in the waves and suddenly started to drown…”

  “Shit.”

  “I’d take off your boots first, though, I hear salt water isn’t good for the leather,” she remarked with a cheerful grin. “I’ll be patient and not drown while you take them off.”

  “I might just drown you myself,” he vowed darkly.

  “I heard it’s very good luck for new couples to frolic in the Pacific Ocean.”

  “Where the hell’d you hear that crap?”

  “I just made it up,” she answered cheekily, cleaning up the plates and finishing her juice.

  “Up a notch on the drowning scale,” he returned, helping clean things up and checking the locks before reaching for his jacket, scowling at the trunks and towels on the sofa.

  “You’d miss me,” Paige tossed back. “Besides…who would fit the jacket?”

  “True…you are a little on the scrawny side,” blue eyes twinkled and sizzled as she zipped the jacket and snagged up her pack and the towels and swimwear.

  “Scrawny? I am not…I’ll take you on…we need mats…we need…something…” She packed things into the side bag and glared at him. “Now who’s made it to the drown list.”

  “Naw…you’d miss me,” he winked before dropping the helmet over his head. “You like that cozy warm spot I offer in the bed.”

  “Hmmm…there is that…you’re much more fun than a vibrator.”

  “I’m pretty sure I didn’t need to hear that,” he murmured. “You have toys?”

  “I have a few,” she answered enigmatically.

  “Hmm…”

  She put her palm in his and climbed behind him, sighing as she pulled her gloves on. “You’re right…I’d miss you….so I’ll try not to drown.”

  Sebastian knew he was smiling the entire three hours riding the highway to the ocean side town of Grey’s Harbor. They stopped once half way and he winced in sympathy for her when she wobbled a little and stretched, rubbing her behind as she walked toward the fast food place for bottles of water and a rest room while he filled the gas tank. But she didn’t complain. And she was relaxing and talking about things they road past and pointing out things that only made his grin that much wider.

  He didn’t know too many women who would find being called his girl endearing, but she did. When they parked outside the large store for sandwiches, he watched her wiggle and bend and squat to get her muscles back where she wanted them. She tucked her helmet away and took his hand, striding with him through the store. He tossed a packet of pineapple into the small basket she carried. They had two large sandwiches, two large bottles of water, two boxes of condoms, just in case, she winked and a large, thick beach blanket. He was mentally doing space calculations as she paid for things.

  He carried the bag, listened to her talking, watched the very light, warm winds grab up stray hairs that worked loose from her braid and couldn’t remember ever feeling as right as he did at this moment. And he knew inside it would always be like that. She would always listen and talk and laugh with him. He continued to watch as she arranged and rearranged before nodding and declaring them ready for their beach picnic. She blinked up at him beneath the sun and he didn’t try stopping his hands from circling her waist and pulling her against him. A long, slow kiss later he raised his head and stepped back.

  “Sebastian?” Paige waited until he was on the bike, her hand on his shoulder as she slid behind him.

  “Which way, Paige?”

  “Oh…the sign says out there and right. I can smell the ocean!”

  He laughed at the excitement in her voice and watched the signs she pointed to until they were headed parallel with the ocean on their right side. He flipped the visor up, taking in the collection of small shops, brightly colored kites, running kids and sea gulls swooping and calling out over the sands. He found a spot and parked close to the edge of the sand.

  “Have you been out here before?”

  “No,” She breathed, removing the helmet and putting it into the case. She stuffed her gloves inside and unzipped the jacket, folding it and pressing it around the helmet before closing the lid and locking it.

  Sebastian unlocked the case and tossed his gloves inside, locking it again. He snatched up her palm before she took off toward the shops without him. He bent his head close to her ear. “Remember…we do not have the SUV here.” He could easily see her trying to haul something home on the bike.

  “Right…I want a soda…” she informed him, releasing his palm and sliding her arm around his waist as they walked. Hips bumped now and then and it was a nice, intimate feeling, she thought, cup in one hand a few minutes later as she walked around the outside of a store with all things ocean dangling, jangling or mounted. “You said I could arrange the room for us…” she said thoughtfully, watching him glance over some of the hanging chimes. “Does that mean I can play with the outside, too?”

  “I’m not having it painted purple. I like it white.”

  “Okay…good…so do I…” she said with a laugh.

  She mentally calculated and bought three of the wind chimes, one with dangling shells, another with sweet metal sounds and another that sparkled and glittered with delicate bells on it. She carried them to the bike, removed the large waters and sandwiches and beach blanket. She had things nicely balanced in her arms when he took the bag of food and her palm.

  “Beach?” he asked, the brilliance of her smile sending his heart skittering off in too many directions to count.

  Sebastian felt his brain run and hide. Their food was sitting on the packed sand and she told him to hold the blanket up. Which he did. Until he realized what she was going to do.

  “Paige…”

  “Sebastian…no one is out this far…look…” She did a wild spin on bare feet as she wiggled out of her jeans and dropped them to the pile. Standing there in her tee shirt and panties. She lifted his hands once more. “And out there…nothing but ocean…no one is peeking…please, I’ve done this dozens of times…just hold it up.”

  He had to admit he couldn’t remember watching a woman jump from nothing to swimsuit as q
uickly. He still couldn’t believe she was going into the surf. He spread the blanket out and took his boots off. Just in case. He was stretched out when she took off at a long legged run toward the peaceful waves that broke over the crème colored sands. Damn the woman had long legs and a nice ass.

  He checked his watch. Once. Frowned and straightened from his lean on the blanket. Checked his watch again.

  Then he saw the sunlight splash over the sparkling red of her hair. He had his phone out and snapped photos as she walked toward him. Soaking wet, gleaming in the sun, pale skin sparkling against the blue of the ocean and sky in the deep blue one piece swim suit she had on. She took off at a run and he stood up, shaking out one of the towels she brought with them, he had her wrapped snuggly inside and sitting on the blanket with him.

  “Got that out of your system?” He asked, opening his sandwich and watching her take a long drink of water.

  “I think so…it’s cold out there…really, seriously cold…but it’s so open,” she looked out toward the spread of ocean along the very lengthy stretch of sand that spread in both directions. “It’s…moving…constantly moving…the sands, the water…it’s just alive.”

  “You have sand all over you,” he commented with a grin.

  “Oh…well…it’ll come off…just sand…” she opened her sandwich and bit down hungrily. “It’s nice here…look at all the kites!” She pointed excitedly as more and more kids joined the running collection a couple hundred yards from them.

  Simple things, Sebastian thought. Part of him wondered how he’d lost that years ago. How he’d let prestige and other things dig into his life until he thought he’d smother. Male ego. A beautiful woman telling you what you thought you wanted to hear instead of the truth. And here he sat on a blanket with sandwiches and water, sunshine and Paige. He saw her shiver a little and lifted the towel to her shoulders. He felt like a king when she turned a grateful smile on him.

  “I’m okay…a little chilly…but it’ll dry and I’ll just put my clothes on over top. We can explore the other shops…next time we need to bring running clothes. I’d love a long open run on this sand, next to the water,” she said with a nod.

  “As long as we keep an eye on the distance,” he agreed with a laugh.

  “True…it would be very easy to get lost and just enjoy the run and forget having to come back,” Paige laid back on the blanket and closed her eyes. “This is a perfect Sunday. Thank you.”

  Pale red lashes closed, she didn’t see the stunned expression on his face as more and more of the now broke inside him. Different. Alive and different, Sebastian stretched out beside her, their hands twined at their sides beneath the spring sunshine. He leaned up half an hour later, convinced she had new freckles and he struggled with the urge to kiss each and every one of them. At least once. He raised his hand, drawing one finger down her nose.

  “You’re turning pink…”

  Paige sighed and opened her eyes, smiling at him. “Yeah…it’s a curse…I’ll get dressed and we can head back,” she kissed him and stood up, pulling the tee shirt over her head and shaking sand from her jeans before hopping into them. She carried her boots and the blanket while he collected the things for the trash bin and his helmet and boots.

  Paige sat on the curb, shaking sand from her boots and slipping her socks on while he did the same from a seat on the bench. She didn’t know why they fit, but it was nice. And she wanted it and him in her life for a long, long time, she decided fiercely.

  “I’m afraid to ask.” Sebastian held his palm out, tugging her to her feet and leading her to the wooden planks forming the sidewalk outside the collection of shops.

  “Oh…just thinking I like being part of us,” she wrapped her fingers with his. “How about an ice cream cone and we can head home? You’ve got a six-thirty with the demolition people at the granary. The filming crew will be there, too, recording it all.”

  “Six-thirty…any clue on the weather?”

  They spent the next several hours talking about everything from funny billboards to business to the crap left to be cleaned up at the granary. He promised to show her the finished image when they got home and he savored the taste of the word with her inside it.

  “Light and misty, which according to the demolition people, is a good thing. Less dust, et cetera going off in the winds to annoy neighbors, even if they are across the flipping bay, but hey, who am I to quibble,” Paige said, listening to his laughter and relaxing as he headed them to the highway home.

  “I’ve seen a few of the demolitions…pretty precise stuff,” Sebastian listened to her questions and they had a lively discussion about everything from throwing a tarp over it when it came down to eliminate the dust to making certain the ground was solid enough to support the weight of the two ship terminals.

  “I still like the tarp idea,” she mumbled as she dismounted, winced and bent and hung upside down for a few long minutes. She opened the bags and removed the wind chimes she’d bought, glaring at him. “My butt is not getting on that bike for at least a week, so don’t even think of asking again,” she told him firmly, striding to the house and coding in the alarm and pushing the door wide, ignoring the chuckle from behind her.

  “It gets easier and better with time, Paige,” Sebastian carried the rest of the stuff into the house behind her. He heard her voice a few minutes later, music coming from the bathroom as she showered the salt from her. He sat before the computer going over the latest RFP’s that had been submitted. Some he knew were a waste of his time, but he’d read them anyway. He knew the ballpark figures he wanted to work with and didn’t like the games some contractors played to get a job.

  An hour after they returned home, Sebastian looked up from the computer. It was quiet. Too damn quiet. He didn’t like the prickle at the back of his neck and was up, scanning and walking. He made it to the arch of the bedroom when he thought his brain shut down. The screen was off the window and standing on the ledge, one hand holding to the wall while the other worked to hook a wind chime on the eave, was Paige. Dressed in one of her camisole sets and almost at a ninety degree angle. He was across the room silently, his arm snugly and quickly around her middle.

  “Oh…hi…almost…got it…there!” She used her hand to pull herself back, blinking when the arm tightened and she was hauled into the room. “Hey…lighten up there…” breath caught in her middle at the same time she glimpsed a little hint of mayhem in his narrowed blue eyes. “Uh-oh…”

  “Are the words…can you help me…absent from your vocabulary, Paige?” Sebastian held her until he was sure the terror had left his body and mind.

  “I…it was easy…you were working…I had a hold on the wall…” Paige swallowed and offered a little wince. “Sorry,” but her face brightened into a brilliant smile when the tiny bells sounded. “Isn’t it perfect! Listen!”

  Sebastian knew instantly what a deflating balloon felt like. He let the soft tinkling and the delight in her surround him and sighed thickly.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Dinner, a little more work, a lot of laughing and playing and finally nothing but peace that lasted until the clock announced morning was right around the corner. Two adults groaned into the dim room.

  Paige waited until he came out of the bathroom before going and almost tripping over a very large heavy boot. Pale lashes blinked as she hopped, cursing and muttering as she dipped her face in cold water to wake up. Long nights with a sexy guy…she could only sigh as she pulled on jeans and a tee shirt before adding a sweater. Gone was the sunshine for a bit, she thought, snatching up her boots and heading down to the kitchen.

  She threw a hasty glance at the clock on the oven and drained the glass of juice he’d poured for her. He was zipping his jacket up when she finished filling the go-cup for him, snapping the lid in place and holding it out for him.

  “You’re going in this early?” Sebastian watched her gather her things and heard her keys jangling.

  “Why not? I’m a
wake and the bed is cold now,” she teased, kissing him and taking off for her car, his laugh making her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

  Paige left the windows in the office down today, the light mist and thick fog a little on the creepy side, she decided as she began sorting the collection of folders on her desk top. She’d brought some with her from the work Sebastian had done at home and glanced up absently when Chase came inside.

  “Any word on the demolition?”

  “Nothing bad…so I’m guessing things are going along. It’ll be wild seeing the video, though,” Paige said with a nod, taking the folders he pulled from his briefcase before heading into his office. “I talked to the attorney last night. He’s pretty sure Ambrose won’t be out for a long time to bother you and Pepper again. I’m glad.”

  “You and me…I take it Bastian calmed down?”

  “He was worried,” she shrugged. “We had it all planned carefully. It’s okay now.”

  At twelve-thirty she was working on the fruit plate she bought at the deli down the road when the phone sounded, her finger tapping the speaker button.

  “Hartley and Montgomery.”

  “Sebastian Hartley, please,” crooned the soft, feminine tone that was too familiar.

  Hunting knife, Paige thought briefly, applying a smile. “I’m sorry, Mr. Hartley is out of the office at the moment. Can I help you?”

  “I left a message for him to call once already.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Paige said with heavily laced sympathy. “I can give Mr. Hartley messages, but I cannot force him to return calls. Would you care to leave another message?”

  “You can give me his cell number, please.”

  “I just can’t do that, it’s against company policy to hand out private numbers to strangers,” Paige made a face at the phone and at Chase when he glanced up from his desk.

  “An ex-wife is scarcely a stranger. Never mind, I’m sure I know someone who has his new number,” she said cheerfully, breaking the connection.

  Paige tapped the button and turned to stare at the computer screen. Ex-wife. Gee, now there was something someone forgot to mention. She worked to avoid looking at the man framed in the doorway to his office, hands in his pockets and jacket open and shoved back. A sparkled of sunlight blinked off his glasses now and then until she sighed and looked over at him.