She approached the house, an adobe fence blocking any view of the yard from the parking area. Leaving the barn for another day of exploration, Paige moved around her car and toward the house.
Mr. Walker swung open the iron and held it as she stepped through.
“Thanks.” She brushed past, catching the spicy scent of his shaving cream.
Mr. Walker was dressed in a blue-collared shirt that made his skin bright and a dark gray pair of slacks. His loose tie hung around his neck and his hair was damp and unruly, as if she’d interrupted his morning routine.
Paige caught herself admiring him and abruptly turned to take in the yard. She wasn’t disappointed with the change in scenery, and the pool was much safer to take in than the drop of water on the tip of dark hair. “Wow! This is amazing.” The backyard included a pool shaped like an infinity sign, a granite bar with a sun umbrella, several lounge chairs with puffy cushions, and a waterfall that emptied into a hot tub.
“I’m glad you like it,” Mr. Walker spoke quietly.
Paige lowered her voice. “Why are you whispering?”
Mr. Walker stepped close and pointed to the upstairs window. Paige held her breath in an effort to keep his scent from buckling her knees. Heaven help me, he smells so good.
“Addison’s room is right there, and everything echoes off the stucco.”
Paige nodded. Of course sound echoed; there wasn’t anything out here to absorb it. The space was all stamped concrete, water, and marble. “Got it.”
Mr. Walker checked his watch. “Let me show you around, and then I have to get going.”
Stepping back to take a breath, Paige said, “If you’re in a hurry, just show me where to find Addison and I’ll be fine.”
“That would be great. I’d like to get in before the manager and have a chance to review some information.” He held open one side of glass French doors that opened into a family room.
Paige glanced around as she entered the immaculate home. The walls were a light tan and the furniture was dark. Cream-colored curtains hung over the windows, and there were a few black-and-white photos on the wall.
Mr. Walker motioned toward the kitchen. “Help yourself to anything. Addison knows where the cereal and bowls are. Her favorite changes from week to week.”
Paige smiled. “It’s a phase. I have a niece Addison’s age, and I babysit now and again. She’s always picking one food over another.”
“Oh.” Mr. Walker’s dimple appeared.
Paige wanted to know exactly how to make that happen so she could repeat the process. Dang, the man is a fine lookin’ stallion.
“Would you babysit her while you live here?”
Paige tipped her head. “I hadn’t thought about it. If you didn’t have any objections, I wouldn’t mind. She and Addison could play together. It would be fun.”
Mr. Walker’s dark eyes cut to Paige’s and held her gaze. “Addison had a tough year in school, and I’d like her to find a new social group.”
“Social group? What are you, a parenting magazine?” Paige joked. “At camp, we just call them friends.”
Mr. Walker’s gaze dropped, and Paige sensed there was more concern behind his request than he wanted to let on. She immediately felt bad for teasing him. “Um, I can work on that.” She wanted to ask about school, but decided to hold her questions until a time when Mr. Walker wasn’t in a hurry. “If you have other goals or concerns for Addison, maybe we could discuss them at our weekly date night.”
Mr. Walker took a step back, his hands coming up to ward her off. “Date n-night?”
Paige could see the uncertainty in the furrows of his brow and realized she’d made him nervous. “The meetings BMB insisted we have once a week. They called them date night, but we can just call them meetings if dates make you uncomfortable.”
“I’m not uncomfortable,” Mr. Walker insisted as he buttoned his top button and pulled up his collar. His words said one thing, but his shaking fingers said another.
Paige backpedaled. “I didn’t mean to imply that you were nervous about dating or marriage or anything.”
He ferociously whipped his tie into a knot. “I don’t get nervous.”
Paige felt like she was fumbling with a football pass, the ball bouncing off her fingertips when she tried to get a good hold. “Good, then. Me neither.”
“Great. I’ve got to go.” Mr. Walker turned and all but ran off.
Paige followed, a little slower in order to put some space between the two of them. Mr. Walker crossed the living area, the stunning kitchen, and the dining area before disappearing into a room on the opposite side of the house from where Paige stood shaking her head with her hand on her hip. “I don’t think a boy’s run away from me that fast since I played kissing tag.” Paige’s face burned. She might have considered kissing a guy like Mr. Walker, but not Mr. Walker himself. That would be ill-advised, given the situation.
Noticing a wrapping staircase for the first time, Paige decided to explore the house a bit while her mind ran over what she’d done to send Mr. Walker into a fit. Sheesh. If a little teasing got his goat, her family would tear him apart. It was a good thing she had no intention of introducing him to the Baker family anytime soon.
***
Cody shut the door to his room and leaned heavily against it. His conscious mind knew Paige wasn’t on the other side waiting to seduce him, but the irrational part of his brain had panicked when she mentioned date night. He banged his head against the door, disgusted with himself for running off like a coward. He did remember Pamela talking about a weekly appointment without Addison, where they could review their goals and plans for the week and connect with some open communication about their situation—er, marriage.
He hadn’t thought anything of it at the time. Pamela was throwing out all sorts of words like “bride,” “prenuptial agreement,” “officiant,” and “witnesses,” which were all very wedding-ish and not at all threatening in the atmosphere they were presented. However, as he stood in his home without Pamela and Paige’s glaring brother, discussing date night with a delightfully exquisite woman took on a completely different meaning. Instead of charts and graphs, he pictured soft candlelight on Paige’s creamy skin. The image had come on so suddenly that it frightened rational thought to the deepest corners of his mind. He was still struggling to coax it out.
Pushing away from the door, he crossed to the master bath, where he splashed cold water on his face. The shock to his system helped clear his head. After hastily combing some gel into his hair and making sure the cowlick in the back was wrangled, he grabbed his suit coat off the hanger and braced himself before opening the door.
Paige wasn’t on the main floor, so he quietly climbed the stairs. He couldn’t just leave his daughter with someone without saying goodbye. Strangely, even though he felt jumpy around Paige, he had no worries about leaving Addison in her care. He chalked it up to Paige and Addison’s instant connection yesterday, and to Pamela’s recommendation. Pamela had a way about her that instilled confidence in her decisions—life-altering decisions. Cody wished he could bottle that talent and distribute it to his salespeople.
When he reached the top of the stairs, Paige was just coming out of Addison’s room. She pressed a finger to her lips, indicating Addison was still asleep. She moved carefully, as if she was worried she’d set him off again. Cody could have kicked himself for making a scene. He wouldn’t blame Paige if she walked out and didn’t look back. Instead, she raised her eyebrows, silently asking what he needed.
Cody vowed to keep himself together—at least until he made it to the privacy of his car— even if it cost him an artery. He pointed to the door on the other side of the sitting room, and Paige moved that direction. “This will be your room,” he said in low tones as he swung the door wide and stepped inside.
Paige wrinkled her nose.
“Is there something wrong?” Cody scanned the bed, nightstand, dresser, bookshelves, and open closet. It felt empty, but
that should have been a good thing.
“It’s very … creamy.” Paige took a few steps to the bed and pulled back the white blanket to reveal white sheets.
“You don’t like cream?” he asked, confused. The walls were the same color as when they’d moved in. He’d ordered the furniture online several years ago, simply buying what matched the room.
“I like colors.” Paige giggled. It was a throaty sound that reminded him of bubbles in homemade root beer. “I come by it naturally.” She flipped her copper hair over her shoulder, and Cody was snared by the way it changed color in the light.
“I can see that.” He licked his suddenly dry lips.
“Would it be a problem if I changed the blanket or added some drapes?” Cody swore Paige’s eyes brightened two shades of blue.
“Uh.” Cody hesitated. None of the nannies had wanted to alter the space. He wasn’t sure how he felt about Paige stamping the room her own. The space would be hers for the next year; he wouldn’t go in there. However, there was a lot of change going on and he didn’t think he could handle one more thing. Blaming his stubbornness on his late father, he said, “I’d rather you didn’t.”
Paige pressed her lips together as if holding back an argument. “O-kay.”
Cody heard the words and caught the undertone—it was a problem, at least for her. “I’ll leave you to your shopping trip.” He backed out of the room. “You have my number if anything happens.”
“Yep.” Paige tucked her fingers in her back pockets and rocked back on her heels.
“Okay. Bye?” It came out as a question, surprising Cody. Leaving Paige felt like tearing himself away. That crazy feeling of completeness had snuck through the door when she walked in.
Shaking his head at his foolishness, Cody decided to skedaddle before he said anything that might upset her more than he already had. They weren’t married yet and they hadn’t yelled, but this was their first disagreement. He wondered how many more they would have before the year was out.
Once on the stairs, he pulled his phone out and scrolled through until he found Gabe’s number. It was early, but Gabe would be up.
“Hi, Cody. What’s up?” asked Gabe.
Cody gave a dry laugh as he pressed the button on the wall to open the garage door. “That’s a loaded question. How much time have you got?”
“Not much,” answered Gabe.
Cody appreciated his blunt answer and cut to the chase as he pulled into traffic. “I signed with BMB. I’m getting married tomorrow and Paige wants to redecorate her room. I don’t want it redecorated.”
“Why not?”
“Because … I’ve got enough going on right now. I mean, marriage? This is huge, and I don’t think I can handle even one more adjustment. Ya know?”
“I do know.” Gabe’s voice was full of hard-learned knowledge in the area of loss. Cody knew Gabe had lost a sibling when he was younger, and that experience had driven most, if not all, of his decisions in life. It had also made him one of Cody’s greatest confidants after Kylee died.
Gabe continued, “Trust me: this discomfort you’re feeling, it’s a good thing. You’re pushing your limits, expanding your mind. You’ll be a better person on the other side of this.”
Cody shrank under the weight of Gabe’s words. How much had he grown since Kylee died? If anything, he’d shriveled up to the basics of who he was, which weren’t bad, just rudimentary. He’d dropped his hobbies and interests and focused on running his dealerships and taking care of Addison. “Maybe,” he allowed.
“What’s she like?” asked Gabe.
“She’s …” Cody searched for a word that would describe all of Paige, including her amazing hair and her eyes that changed color like the sea. “… vibrant,” he blurted. Shaking his head at himself for sounding sappy, Cody tried to correct himself. “I mean, she’s wonderful with Addison and she was on time this morning, so I guess you could say she’s punctual.”
“Punctual is a great quality,” Gabe said, his tone laced with humor.
Cody rolled his eyes. “I thought you were in a hurry.”
“I am.” The sound of a car door slamming came through the line. “I’d like to meet this punctual bride.”
“Yeah, we’ll see about that.”
“Good luck.”
“I’ll need it.” Cody hung up the phone and steered his Durango onto I-15.
Gabe had a point. A good point. Cody was never the type to balk at a challenge. At least, he hadn’t been when he was younger. His headstrong ways were one of the reasons he had offered the opportunity to buy a dealership. Not that he’d pressed himself to acquire a new dealership lately, even though he could afford it.
His need to rise up and meet the problem head-on was still there; it worked around the edges of his mind, turning over the situation even as he flipped through radio stations and tried to ignore it. Frustrated with himself for finding a need to change, Cody swerved off the freeway and around the corner to his trailer dealership. He had things to accomplish today; he couldn’t spend another minute stressing over Paige and her stupid room.
Work. Work was the perfect solution. Work would see him through this, just as it had seen him through heartache and loss. Work didn’t expect him to grow, to develop, to self-evaluate or evolve.
Work was safe.
And he had no desire to go to work today.
For the first time in four years, his house felt like a home, and he’d missed that feeling. His soul had yearned for a sense of family, and this morning, with Paige, he’d felt a whisper of belonging. Like a hot drink on a cold afternoon, the feeling scalded at first, but then, once he’d acclimated, it brought comfort. Cody wasn’t used to comfort. Not the kind that came from a woman with wild hair who wanted to color his house.
How messed up am I, that the idea of comfort makes me anxious?
Unwilling and unable to face his demons, Cody climbed out of his car and strode through the glass doors.
Work.
Time to go to work.
Chapter 10
Paige could hear Addison giggling with the nail technician as they discussed polish colors. As promised, Paige had kept a close eye on Addison, which wasn’t at all difficult, because the girl was practically glued to her side.
Addison had said, more than once, that this was the “best day ever!” Of course, she also said her gown was the “best dress ever,” and her new shoes with the quarter-inch heel were “the best ever.” Somehow, each time she used the phrase, it sounded completely genuine and looped Paige’s heart one more time.
Paige’s stylist, Evelyn, gasped when she unwrapped the towel around Paige’s hair. Picking up a wet and somewhat stringy strand, she said, “To color this would be sacrilege. I refuse to add even one highlight.”
Paige shrugged. She liked her color and didn’t see a need to adjust it. Evelyn began finger-combing Paige’s locks.
Addison climbed into the swivel seat next to Paige. Her hair was up in a towel, and she had to move gingerly to keep it from toppling over. “I want my hair like Penny Paige’s. Can you make it curly?”
Evelyn shook her head. “I can’t duplicate that natural curl, and I don’t think Paige wants me to dye you hair.”
Addison turned pleading eyes on Paige. Paige smiled. “You have beautiful hair, Addison. It’s the same color as your dad’s.” Paige paused. She was getting too close to a sensitive topic. Mr. Walker’s damp hair had filled her thoughts all morning, and she was constantly hearing herself blurt her thoughts. Thankfully, she hadn’t said anything too embarrassing, but when mixed with the flutters in her stomach, her comments were alarming.
Addison resembled her father, in all the right ways. She had the same dark hair; deep, soulful gray eyes; and even a dimple on complementary cheeks. Just one, because one was endearing and two would have been over the top.
“But it’s not like yours.” Addison’s eyes grew dewy with disappointment.
Paige had an idea. “Why don’t I have
mine straightened like yours?”
Evelyn’s hand came to her hip. “I am not putting a chemical straightener on that curl.”
Paige rushed on. “I meant for a day. If you flatiron it, I can wear it straight for the wedding tomorrow and Addison and I will look alike.”
Evelyn was nodding before Paige finished, and Addison brightened. She looked so cute with the huge towel wrapped turban-style and her round cheeks.
Paige pulled out her phone. “Let me get a picture of you before we start.” She clicked the picture and took a moment to enjoy the happy cherub. On a whim, she sent the image to Mr. Walker’s cell.
She’d avoided talking or thinking about him by throwing herself into Addison and listening to Trish’s endless fashion tips. They’d managed to find a gown for Addison fairly quickly. The girl had a picture in her head of a hot-pink dress with a satin bodice and full tulle skirt. Once she’d explained her vision to Trish, the dress was in Addison’s hands in mere seconds.
As they were leaving the boutique, Addison spotted a green dress on the wall and paused. Paige leaned down and whispered into her ear: “That would make the perfect dress for Christmas dinner. We’ll have to come back.” With the promise of another visit, Addison was happy to press on.
They’d shopped for everyday clothes, a couple business suits just in case, and several skirt combos. Trish explained that all couples were encouraged to adopt regular exercise routines, and that a trainer would be coming by to run Paige through the paces. Since Paige never minded gym class and she’d always played football and basketball with her brothers, she was fine with jumping back into working out.
Paige’s phone beeped, and she clicked on the messages icon. Mr. Walker wrote: Looks like she’s having fun. Thanks.
Paige leaned forward to tuck the phone in her purse sitting on the counter in front of her. She bit her bottom lip. There was nothing wrong with the text; she just didn’t want to start up a dialogue. The last one she’d tried hadn’t gone over all that well.
The Country Bride: Billionaire Marriage Brokers Book 4 Page 7
