This was going to be it for us.
My heart was in a freefall when it came to Paige, and after talking with her about Rebecca, I knew that I needed to change my plan. I had known for awhile that I was going to be outing her to Josiah Reagan as his illegitimate child. The plan was to take her to the gala next weekend and, during his big speech about morality in the city, expose him. I was going to make my own speech and show everyone in Ruby City exactly who they were dealing with.
But I couldn’t, I realized suddenly. She was kissing me, and I wanted her, but all I could think about was that I didn’t want to hurt her. I didn’t want to break her heart. Not after all of this.
I’d been fighting the pain of losing my sister for so long that it had consumed me. Was I really willing to make Paige suffer, too?
“Come to the gala with me,” I found myself asking her. She pulled back and looked at me, surprised.
“The gala?”
“It’s next weekend,” I said. “There’s going to be a huge art gala. Some of my sister’s work is going to be showcased, along with a bunch of other local artists. The theme is love and morals.”
It was fitting, I thought.
“I didn’t know your sister was an artist.”
“She used a secret name,” I admitted. “The art in my office? All done by Rebecca.”
“Why did she use a secret name?” Paige asked wondrously. “That art is all so incredible. I love it so much. There’s the piece with the father and daughter walking, and-“ She stopped, and her mouth formed a tiny “o” as realization dawned. “It wasn’t a father and daughter. It was a brother and sister, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” I told her. “Sometimes she painted us.”
“She really was full of surprises,” Paige said.
“Come with me.”
“I don’t have anything to wear,” she told me.
“I’ll buy you a dress.”
“Okay,” she said. She didn’t argue, didn’t promise to pay me back, and didn’t tell me that was too much. I was happy about that. It was nice to offer someone a gift and have them just accept it totally, unconditionally, without feeling upset or awkward.
With that one word, that “okay,” I suddenly felt like truly, everything really was going to be okay. It was going to be better than okay.
It was going to be wonderful.
I’d find another way to tell Paige about her father. It wouldn’t be at the gala. It would have to be another time. Maybe in a month, maybe in six. I didn’t know. Josiah Regan wasn’t going anywhere, and knowing Paige, I suddenly felt like it wasn’t such a pressing thing for me to seek revenge on my little sister’s killer.
Suddenly, I was starting to wonder if I’d been living my life all wrong. This entire time, I’d been fighting pain with pain. What if it was time to let all of that go? What if it was time to forget about the past and start looking forward?
I wondered if I could do that with Paige.
She was sweet, and she was wild. She was sassy and beautiful and funny. It wasn’t easy to make me laugh, but somehow, with her foot-stomping and her bratting and her jokes, she always managed to make me feel like I was the luckiest bastard in Ruby City.
“Kiss me,” I commanded, happy that she was going to go with me, and she did. She wrapped her arms around my neck and she climbed onto my lap. She kissed me, reaching down to rub my cock over the pants as she did. I was hard, and I was ready, and she started stripping off my clothing. Piece by piece, she pulled off the suit, and along with it, her dress.
And then we were naked.
She kissed on my neck, moving around to my front, and then she moved down to my stomach, and then lower.
“Okay,” she looked up at me. “This really is a huge bathtub.”
I wanted to laugh, but I also wanted her to keep going, so I compromised and tugged on her hair, urging her lower.
“Paige,” I said.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Locke,” she murmured. “I won’t stop.”