The Gideon Affair (24 page)

This must be what contentment feels like.

Relaxing against the low back of the sea-weathered rattan, his body angled in her direction, Edward listened to Paige prattle on. They already had a close relationship, which was what made this date a singular event. There was no first-date awkwardness. He wasn’t sizing her up for dessert … well, okay maybe he was. But not in a wham-bam way.

With all that weirdness out of the picture, he was free to enjoy the sound of her voice and get lost in sharing her un-self-conscious exuberance. His Paige was one of a kind. He was a lucky bastard.

She’d been going on for the last ten minutes, regaling him with humorous tales of her college exploits, when he’d paused to consider all she’d shared. Since their business association had always been about his career, Paige’s aspirations had taken a backseat. Had he benefitted from her impressive talents and wide range of skills? Hell, yeah. A sobering thought. Had she given up on her dreams to help him reach his? The notion did not sit well with him. Not one damn bit.

“What’s your professional take on this place?” His question came out of left field, but he was genuinely interested in her opinion.

Resting an arm on the sofa back, she fiddled with an earring, crossed her legs, and casually glanced around. It was no hardship to wait while she made her assessment because, from his vantage point, a stunning summer sunset and the blue Pacific framed her beautifully.

What would she look like at his beach house … wearing nothing but something decadent from Victoria’s Secret and standing in front of the wide windows on just such a gorgeous night?

“You’re more beautiful than the ocean at sunset.”

Her eyes shot to his.

Oh, shit … so he
had
said that out loud. He shrugged. No use pretending that wasn’t exactly how he felt.

The brief flash of a smile tugged at her mouth.

“So, my professional take on this place up till now is neutral.”

Edward relaxed, relieved she was going to let his blurted comment slide. This out-in-public thing was hard on both of them. Being on middle ground, where his alter ego was the main player, was probably not the time to express his desires.

“First, it was obvious you aren’t a regular here by the behavior of the parking attendant and front end staff. Having Gideon Shaw in their midst was unexpected.”

Hmph. She was good. “How could you tell?”

She was blushing. Good lord! Paige Turner was blushing. Tugging the hem of her dress down, unnecessarily in his opinion, she made a cute moue with her mouth and snorted. “The hostess all but whipped off her panties and stuffed ‘em in your suit pocket.”

Had she? He hadn’t noticed. Not when the lady by his side was earning the appreciative gaze of every man in her vicinity. Shit, to be honest, that hostess could have stripped naked, jumped up on the bar, and sang “It’s Raining Men,” and he wouldn’t have blinked.

“Then, the waiter had to ask for your drink order. If you were in any way a regular, he’d have known your preferences and been prepared with some waitery-shtick. He also wouldn’t have had to explain the chef’s special in such specific detail.”

She sat back and looked at him with comic triumph. “Plus, you gave poor Chase a heart attack when you turned green while he gushed about the squid pasta.” She chuckled, reaching for her drink, and smiled mischievously. “I think he was worried you were going to hurl on his shoes.”

Edward shared her laughter, murmuring, “I’m sorry, but the words ‘squid’ and ‘pasta’ should never be used in the same sentence.”

“It’s not what you think,” she teased. “Your reaction was hilarious, but I get what you’re saying.” Her mocking smile made it hard not to kiss the smirk off her pretty face.

A soft, warm ocean breeze swept across the patio. The occasional gusts made more and more tendrils of her hair escape confinement. As if he’d been doing it for a thousand years, he reached for the wayward curls and feathered them softly behind her ear. The act felt so natural and easy. He liked this new aspect of being with Paige. The touching. Yep. He liked it very much.

“I see why it’s such a trendy restaurant. They’ve covered all the bases starting with a fantastic menu.” She wiggled on the loveseat and turned toward the ocean. “And seriously …” Her voice lowered with a conspiratorial inflection. “This view. I mean … come on. When nature is the lead designer, well …” Her swift shrug was so damn cute.

He remembered her saying something similar when they were viewing the Wyoming property for his folks. Somehow, the gods saw it fit to bless him with an outdoor girl who took stopping to smell the roses to an eleven. Or maybe even a twelve.

When she turned back, Paige leaned close and ducked her head briefly then met his gaze with a bashful, hesitant grin. “Thanks for bringing me here. I know how much you love sushi …”

Goddamn, she was charming as shit. Keeping things light and humorous was working well, so he cut off her little speech with a provocative comeback.

“Yeah, well,” he wagged his eyebrows and growled, “I figured watching you eat slimy raw fish was a surefire way to douse the flames. Make sure you get safely home without being defiled along the way.”

He shuddered with mock dramatic emphasis and ground out a gag-worthy, “Blech.”

Paige’s gurgling laugh was music to his ears so when her hand shot out and smacked him hard on the chest, he was startled and raised his hands to ward off her attack.

“Asshole.” She snickered, smacking him again as he tried in vain to fend her off.

“Don’t make me haul you over my knee, young lady,” he barked.

Before he knew it, they were playing handsies on the beach patio of Nobu where everyone could see their antics. She’d try to whack him, and he’d smack her hands away and laugh. They were putting on quite a show.

“Hey, wait a minute.” In the blink of an eye, she went from playful to Nancy Drew. “What’ve you got stashed in your coat pocket?”

Leaping on him, she had the advantage of surprise until he realized what was happening. Stopping her questing fingers from slipping inside his coat until she zeroed in on the pocket, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her close.

Thinking they were still kidding around, she struggled against the restraint and nudged him with her body. If he were to lean back any further, she’d be lying on top of him. This was getting out of hand. Moving the wrist he held behind her back, he grabbed the hand still roaming his chest and pressed her fingers till they stilled.

“Enough,” he growled. “This isn’t the place … or the time.”

She immediately stopped moving. Hell. She might even have stopped breathing. He wasn’t sure. They stared at each other in silence for a long time. Sweat broke out at his hairline as he watched her face. She was biting and wetting her lips, her eyes glittering. Just as he began to speak, she interrupted.

“I was serious about the water torture. Cut it out, Ed … er, uh, Gideon. There’s no time like the present, so either put up or shut up.”

W
hat the hell was he up to? Not having a clear picture of the situation was worrisome and threw her off. She’d just been kidding about whatever he had stashed in his pocket, but his swift reaction stunned her into silence.

Was he wired? The assumption, though ridiculous, matched his unusual response and showed her how far her imagination was willing to go. Did not help any that he was restraining her or that people were watching. And snickering.

Shit.

“I have to visit the ladies’ room,” she announced out of the blue. It was the only thing she could think of that would quickly get them both sitting up again.

Edward reacted as any guy would, practically jumping up as he glanced around looking for the restrooms. Nodding to the back corner, he muttered, “I think it’s over there.”

Embarrassed, although not sure why, Paige pulled it together and finally stood up, pushing the short black dress into some sort of order.

He wasn’t looking at her, and she didn’t miss the way his hand slid to the inner pocket she’d been trying to investigate.

The silence was awkward—just what they didn’t need.

“Look, I’m sorry if I was overstepping.” She was babbling and couldn’t help the terse head shake and eye roll that followed her lame apology. The put up or shut up comment might have been a road too far. “I’ll behave.”

She didn’t know why she said that—it was so unlike her. But aware of the many curious eyes observing them, she was reminded that they were there for a reason and that they were playing parts.

Edward surprised her by wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her against his warm body.

“Like hell you will, Paige Turner. I don’t want you to behave, and you weren’t overstepping, babe. Just caught me by surprise, that’s all.”

Her eyes darted around the patio. The way he was holding her left little to the imagination as far as the nature of their relationship was concerned.

“And we’re not putting on a show.” He said it like the notion was an insult.

She sighed and patted his chest. When he put a finger under her chin and lifted her face, it was a struggle not to get lost in his startling blue-eyed gaze.

“Hey,” he murmured. “This is your reminder that it’s just you and me, sweetheart. Remember?”

She did. Hearing him call her sweetheart, though, completely wiped her brain of coherent thought. All the looky-loos watching them so closely might be getting an eyeful of super-sexy Gideon Shaw, but she’d just experienced a new side to Edward Banning.

Damn. She liked being his sweetheart. Nobody had ever called her that before.

Gently releasing her, he teased, “And don’t go making up lists of ground rules. That’d be like working from a script.””

She looked at him shocked. Was he reading her mind because she’d just thought that maybe they should have come up with some guidelines before jumping into the breach unprepared.

He pushed her in the direction of the ladies’ room. “You go freshen up, and I’ll have coffee and dessert at the table when you get back.”

Dessert? She could do dessert. “See if there’s ice cream. Vanilla is fine.”

His knowing smirk was all kinds of cute. Oh, my god, really? He’d even noticed her recent descent into ice-cream purgatory? Oy.

It seemed like overkill to haul the enormous bag for a trip to the ladies’ when she didn’t carry anything in it, so she left it and set off to find the bathroom. Almost the second she stepped away from their table, a waiter appeared with some helpful directions to get her moving in the right direction.

Her mind overflowing with thoughts of Edward and her, Paige ambled along in her usual loose-limbed way. When her eyes caught a couple who were balls-out pointing at her as they huddled together talking, she winced.

She was on display. She hated being on display. Instantly transforming herself, Paige slowed her walk, squared her shoulders, and rocked along on her undeniably sexy shoes. Considering what she was getting into, it occurred to her that she had better get used to the scrutiny.

With dozens of eyes on her judging and gossiping, she headed straight for the privacy of the restroom, hoping with each step that she didn’t wobble or fall flat on her face.

“Thank god,” she murmured once she was alone in the bathroom. Giving her reflection half a glance in a large mirror, Paige opted for one of the water closets in the corner and closed herself in the stall.

She really did need to pee and quickly relieved her poor bladder. They’d been drinking Sapporo nonstop since they sat down, and while Edward had slowed down because he was driving, she’d been having a high old time. There was nothing like a cold beer and some melt-in-your-mouth sushi. Complemented the wasabi and ginger flavors. Her favorite.

Maybe it was her buzz or maybe it was the interference of that pesky librarian part of her personality … she couldn’t be sure, but she was certain that she wanted this show and tell part of the evening to be over so they could go back to being who they really were.

And then she intended to jump his bones.

Whoooa. What? Jump his bones? “Oh, my god,” she groaned quietly, her head shaking in denial. She wasn’t sure if that was the alcohol or her libido talking.

The door whooshed open and shut, and right away, voices filled the room. Damn. Other people. Paige didn’t want to stumble out and put up with anyone gawking at her, so she stayed put, perched sideways on the closed toilet, and waited them out.

“I swear if he calls me his baby girl one more time, I’m going to throat punch him. Honestly.”

Hmph. “Make sure you get paid first and remember, any number followed by four zeroes is going to come along with an ass-load of stupid comments. Ignore it, blow him in the limo, fuck him in the pool, he signs the check, and you’re out … baby girl.”

Oh, my god. Was this really happening? Paige couldn’t believe what she was overhearing. From the sound of it, the two women were veterans of the pay-for-pussy squad. Just … great.

“Shut up, Vanessa. I can’t believe I have to put out for that old jerk. I get that he’s Hollywood royalty and all, but what the fuck with the obnoxious laugh. And to think, we used to love his movies. Ugh.”