Authors: Tessa Dayne
“About time! I was getting worried,” Darcy said, enveloping her in a big hug.
Paige hugged Darcy back, glancing at the decorations over her shoulder. “You’ve been busy,” she commented.
“Well, I had to get started without you. The decorator just left. The caterer and his crew are in the kitchen getting started and the DJ is setting his equipment up in the living room.”
“I’m sorry we are late. Darcy, this is Jonas Barnett,” Paige said, introducing the two of them. “Jonas, this is Darcy Milian, my boss and good friend.”
Darcy looked over Jonas, took in the mussed up look, the devil may care smile, the twinkle in the eyes and grinned. “If that man was in my bed, I’d be late for everything too,” she whispered to Paige.
“Darcy!” Paige exclaimed, blushing to the roots of her hair.
“What! It’s the truth.”
Jonas heard the not so hushed whisper and had the decency to blush. He looked over Darcy Milian, and found that she resembled Paige slightly. She was tall and slender with dark hair and that was where the similarities ended. She carried herself with authority whereas Paige had confidence. He figured it came from being in charge of a multi-million dollar company.
“Down the hall and to the right is the spare room, Jonas. You can drop the coats on the bed,” Darcy said, dismissing him. “Now tell me everything,” she said, pulling Paige into the living room.
~*~
Jonas stepped into the bedroom and dropped his coat, along with Paige’s and their overnight bag onto the bed. He sat on the bed, his head in his hands. Hearing the baby’s heartbeat two days after Christmas had really put his life into perspective.
He had been thinking about his future ever since. He had a lot tied up in his acting career and had finally reached a point where he could choose the roles he wanted. Unfortunately, that career would take him all over the world and he had already missed his own son’s life by doing that. Could he risk not being around for Paige, when she wanted to tell Darren the baby was his?
Jonas thought telling Darren about the baby was risky on all fronts. They couldn’t rely on him to be predictable. What would he do once they told him the truth?
~*~
Jonas returned to the living room where he found the two women sitting on the couch, chatting. He looked around and smiled. Darcy had gone all out for the shindig of hers. There were hundreds of lights strung along the ceiling, candles on the hard surfaces and discreet speakers around the room.
The woman knew how to put on a party. The last party he had been to hadn’t been this well put together, and it had been a party at a well-known producer’s home.
“Are you sure there isn’t something I can do to help?” he heard Paige ask.
“Oh no! Everything is well in hand. Just stay and relax. I’m so glad the two of you decided to come tonight. Did you think to bring an overnight bag? The weather is supposed to get bad tonight.”
“Yes, we did, Darcy. Or should I say mother hen?” Paige teased.
“Well, you saw the snow when you came in right? You know how Chicago can get. Hell, we could have a blizzard before the night is over.”
“I’m teasing Darcy. Thank you for extending the invitation to stay the night. I don’t think I would like to drive in a bad snowstorm, even if it was just across town. And that looks like what we might be getting after all.”
~*~
All afternoon the snow came down, coating the entire city in white. The wind howled around the building, whistling loudly. Inside the penthouse, Paige and Darcy poured over contracts from work while Jonas read a book he had discreetly placed in his bag. He knew the two women used this day to catch up on things and this year, it was more important than ever since Paige had put in her resignation.
Had it only been a few weeks ago that he had met her? Glancing up from the page he was reading his gaze rested on her profile. She was beautiful. Her skin was radiant and she literally glowed. Suddenly, she laughed and his heart skipped a beat.
“Harold Kline wants you to come back to work, Paige. He’s completely unhappy with Abner,” Darcy said, handing Paige a file.
“So Abner got his wish and he got the Kline account?” Paige asked, flipping through the papers.
“Not that he knew what to do with it. It’s become obvious that he has been stealing ideas from others in the company. His father had to move him to another department. Abner just isn’t cut out for advertising. Can I talk you into coming back?”
Paige glanced at Jonas who seemed to be absorbed in his book. She knew better however. She knew he had heard Darcy’s request. She also knew that he wouldn’t stop her if she decided to go back to work.
“I don’t know, Darcy. With the baby on the way… The doctor in New York seemed to think I needed less stress in my life, not more. I don’t see how a high profile job at Milian & Watkins is going to reduce my stress levels.”
“You would only have the Kline account. No one to answer to except me. I swear. Please Paige?”
“I don’t know, Darcy. I’m going to have to think about this. I had accepted the idea of being a stay at home mom. I don’t know if coming back to work would fit in with those plans.”
“Okay, but please think about it at least.”
“I’ll think about it,” Paige promised.
Darcy smiled. That was all she wanted. She had planted the seed and she knew Paige would truly weigh her decision carefully. The truth was, they needed Paige at Milian & Watkins and she had been a fool to let her turn in her resignation. She needed her back at work. The office was falling apart without her there.
~*~
Paige glanced at herself in the mirror. The little black dress she wore clung to her curves, enhancing the slight swell of her tummy and the increase in her bust line. She turned to glance at her rear in the mirror, frowning.
“I should have brought a different dress,” she muttered.
“You look absolutely gorgeous. No one will be able to hold a candle to you,” Jonas said, coming up behind her. He wrapped an arm around her and held her tight, his chin resting on her shoulder. His blue eyes twinkled and he smiled at her. “I won’t be able to think of anything else tonight except getting you back into that bed,” he said huskily.
Paige blushed, the pink hue
creeping up her face to her hairline. They had spent about two hours ‘napping’, so she could be rested for the party.
“Is that all you can think of?” she asked, turning in his arms.
“When it comes to you, it seems to be the thing on my mind the most. I love you, Paige. I love making you smile, I love making you happy. And I love the way you say my name when you…”
Paige placed her fingers on his lips, hushing him. “You have to get those thoughts out of your mind.”
“I like those thoughts right where they are,” he said gruffly, capturing her fingers in his hand. “And when the clock strikes midnight, I am whisking you away from that party and playing out those thoughts,” he said.
“Is that a threat or a promise?” she asked.
“Take it however you want, Paige. But before the clock strikes the twelfth stroke, we will have a private party of our own.”
Paige’s breath caught in her throat, desire burning in the pit of her stomach. How the hell was she supposed to go out to that party with those words ringing in her ears?
~*~
Paige mingled through the crowd, not at all surprised at how many people had come for Darcy’s party. The dinner guests were still there and now along with the twelve she had invited for dinner, there were at least another hundred mingling around Darcy’s huge penthouse.
She recognized three quarters of them, most of them being former co-workers from Milian & Watkins. Some of the others she remembered from last year’s party. Most of the others were from circles that Darcy ran in outside of work.
Heading through the throng, Paige tried to keep stray elbows and backs from jostling her arm. She may not have liked her dress, but she didn’t want apple cider spilled down the front of it either.
Careful of the bodies in front of her, she missed the one backing into her. She felt an elbow in her back, felt her body jostle forward, the apple cider she held sloshing over the edge of the glass to spill over her fingers and onto the floor.
“I’m sorry….” she heard, the voice causing her blood to run cold. “Paige?”
Turning she found herself face to face with Darren Armstrong, the one man she never cared to meet again. “Darren? What are you doing here?” she asked, surprised that her voice still worked.
“I was invited. I didn’t think you would be here though. You look fabulous. Motherhood agrees with you. Say, are you still with that fellow, that actor?”
Paige couldn’t believe he was standing there trying to make polite conversation with her. He said he was invited. Darcy would never do that to her, never. “What do you mean you were invited?” she asked, not giving the rest of his conversation a moment’s notice.
“Just what I said, I got the invitation in the mail just after Christmas. You know how competent Darcy is,” he said smugly.
Paige felt her heartbeat flutter rapidly in her breast. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t really be here, could he?
“So, are you still sticking to that story you told me at Christmas? That the baby you are carrying isn’t mine?” Darren asked, glancing around the room. “Or are you going to come clean?” he whispered to her, leaning close enough that she could smell the liquor on his breath. “I know you’re lying to me, Paige. That baby is mine. And I am going to prove it,” he threatened, his arm snaking around her waist to pull her close to him. “You see, I know you couldn’t have sneaked around with him. He’s too famous. The paparazzi would have tracked him down. There is no mention of him being in Chicago at the time you would have conceived, I checked. Now come clean, Paige. Tell me the truth.”
“Get away from me!” she cried, coming to her senses. She pushed at him, breaking his grasp on her waist.
As she stumbled away from him, his laughter echoed in her ears. She pushed her way through the crowd, intent on finding Darcy and getting some answers. If she hadn’t invited him, how had Darren gotten into the penthouse? There was no way in hell Darcy would have invited him. She knew that.
Spying Darcy standing in the corner with Jonas and another man, she made a beeline for them. She wanted answers and she wanted them now.
~*~
“I have seen your work. It is quite impressive.”
Jonas tugged on his ear, smiling. “Thank you.”
“Darcy! I need to speak to you, now!” Paige said, interrupting the conversation.
Jonas turned and was shocked to see how pale Paige was. What really concerned him was the way her hands were shaking, how her lips trembled when she spoke. Something had her really upset.
“You will have to excuse us,” Jonas said to his companion.
He grabbed Paige’s arm to steady her and led her down the hall to the bedrooms. Darcy followed behind them, concerned about the way Paige was trembling.
“Paige, what’s wrong?” Darcy asked, the three of them slipping into her bedroom.
“What is he doing here?” Paige demanded, the tremors in her voice causing it to crack in places.
“Who, sweetie, who has you so upset?” Darcy asked, placing her hand on Paige’s arm.
Paige pulled her arm away, her whole body shaking with anger. “Darren! What the hell is he doing here, Darcy?”
Darcy blanched, her eyes going wide. “What?”