That wasn’t to say that Paige wasn’t still completely freaked out by the whole corpse thing. She’d taken to calling the dead bodies
situations
and Tara made fun of Paige’s refusal to be alone in a room with one.
“It isn’t funny,” Paige had said the other day.
“It isn’t like Mr. Abernathy is going to pop up and say hello,” Tara had said, shaking her head as she’d walked into the viewing room with Paige so she could set up the projector.
“I know that. I just…They freak me out, okay? How do they not freak
you
out?”
“I’m used to it,” Tara had said, shrugging.
Paige hoped that there was never a day that she got
used
to dead bodies.
Paige had an early dinner with her parents that evening. She gave her stomach some time to digest her food before she went for a light run. The weather was starting to get cooler. The humidity was almost nonexistent on most days and a cold front had come in over the weekend, leaving the last couple of nights a little bit more than just nippy.
After her run, Paige took a hot shower to warm up, pulled on a thick pair of socks with her pajamas, and settled into bed to start a new book. At a little after ten, her phone beeped and she looked down to see a text message from Brendan.
You still up?
Yeah, you back yet?
Her phone beeped when the message sent, and then she heard a faint beep outside the French doors that led from her room into the backyard. A second later a faint knock rapped against the wood of the door.
“Paige,” she heard Brendan whisper.
Her stomach flew up into her throat and she scrambled out of bed. Her sock-covered feet slid on the hardwood floors. She pulled the yellow curtains to the side and peaked out the window just to make sure that it was Brendan in her parents’ backyard. He was standing there in a black hoodie with his hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans.
Paige flipped the dead bolt and opened the door. The chilly air breezed in and wrapped around her bare legs. His face split into a grin as he took her in. He pulled her into his big, warm body. His arms wrapped around her waist and his mouth landed hard on hers. She curled into him, letting her hands drift up under his sweatshirt to his bare skin.
“What are you doing?” he whispered against her mouth.
“Trying to keep warm,” she said, pressing her hands into his warmth.
“Maybe if you were wearing pants you’d be warm.”
Paige pulled back and looked down at herself. She was wearing an old baggy gray sweatshirt that fell about midthigh and a pair of baby-blue pajama shorts that just peaked out underneath it. She wiggled her toes that were encased in a thick pair of rainbow-striped socks.
“It’s not cold in my bed,” she said, looking back up at him.
“Is that an invitation?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
“That’s not what I meant,” she said, pinching his side. “It’s not cold
inside
the house. So I didn’t need to wear long pants.”
“Oh, I’m not complaining.” He grinned, letting his hands travel down to her bare thighs. “I’m pretty fond of these legs of yours.”
“Hmm,” she hummed. “What else are you fond of?”
“When it comes to you? Everything. God, I missed you,” he said, putting his mouth on hers again.
Her fingers dug into his back as she tried to hold on to him. She was about to melt into the floor. His mouth moved down to her neck, where he pressed his nose into her skin and inhaled deeply.
“What time did you get back?” she asked as he opened his mouth on her throat.
“About an hour ago.”
“What took you so long to get here?”
He pulled back and looked at her, his smile reaching all the way up to his eyes. “So you missed me too?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “Very much.”
“I went home to shower,” he said, bringing his hands up to the back of her head and pulling her hair down from the messy bun that she’d thrown it up in earlier.
“Had to wash off all of the deer urine?” Paige asked as he pulled his fingers through her hair.
“You don’t wear it. At least we don’t. You spray it on rags and hang them up in trees.”
“It still smells disgusting,” she said, wrinkling her nose.
Brendan laughed. “Yeah, it does, and so did I after not showering all weekend.”
“Well, you smell good now,” she said, pressing her nose into his throat.
He touched her chin, lightly pushing her mouth back to his, and then let his fingers delve into her hair. Paige had no idea how long they stood there like that, kissing in the moonlight, but when he pulled back they were both breathless.
“So, did you kill anything?” she asked, brushing her lips across his neck.
“Yeah, enough deer to last me all winter.”
“I’ve never eaten deer.”
“I’m going to make you some venison burgers. Once you’ve eaten those, you’re never going to want to eat beef again.”
“Mmm, you cooking for me? I’m always game for that,” she said as she moved her hands slowly up and down his back.
“I should go,” Brendan said, pressing his lips into her temple. “If I stay much longer, this is going to turn into more than just a kiss good night.”
“You’re right.” She sighed. “But I doubt I’m going to be able to fall asleep anytime soon. You’ve managed to get me all riled up,” she said, pulling her hands down from underneath his sweatshirt.
“Riled up?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Is that just another word for horny?”
Paige punched him in the shoulder.
“You know, I don’t have to take this abuse.”
“You’re the one who came here.”
“You’re right. I just can’t seem to stay away. I must be a masochist. Have lunch with me tomorrow,” he said, pushing her hair behind her ear.
“Pick me up at one?”
“If I can wait that long.”
“I think you’ll manage.”
“Only if you wear those socks,” he said, looking down at her feet. “Those things are awesome.”
“Shut up. I get cold feet sometimes.”
“Want me to warm them up?” he asked, letting his hands travel down to her butt.
“Okay, enough of that, mister,” she said, pulling his hands away. Before she could let go, he grabbed her hands and laced his fingers with hers.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, kissing her softly on the lips one last time before he let go of her.
“Tomorrow,” she said, watching him walk away.
* * *
Paige walked into Adams and Family on Monday to find everything in chaos. A pipe had burst in one of the bathrooms upstairs and had run through the ceiling and down an entire wall. The wallpaper in the hallway was peeling at the top and around the edges.
There were three men in the hallway talking to Mr. Adams. One looked to be in his late fifties, with thin graying hair and a slight belly peeking over the top of his jeans. The other two were younger, no more than thirty. One had shaggy beach-blond hair. The other guy’s hair was cut so close to his head that Paige couldn’t tell what color it was.
“Paige,” Mr. Adams said, waving her over. “This is Marlin Yance,” he said, indicating the older gentleman. “He owns the best construction company here in Mirabelle.”
“Nice to meet you,” Paige said, sticking out her hand.
“And this is Chad Sharp,” he said, indicating the blond. “And Bennett Hart,” he said, patting the man with the buzz cut on the back. “Bennett just got back from his final tour in Iraq.”
Paige shook both of their hands as well. Bennett nodded silently, but Chad gave her a sly smile, his eyes traveling slowly down her body. She felt a small prickle at the back of her neck.
“You’re going to be seeing a lot of them in the next couple of weeks. That busted pipe has caused some major damage. We have to replace this whole wall.”
“What about the services?” Paige asked.
“We’re going to have to move them into the other parlor. We have only one service this week and it should be a small one.”
“Well, I’m going to go up to my office. It was nice meeting you.”
“Nice meeting you too,” Chad said, still watching her.
She didn’t like the way he was looking at her, especially that appreciative gleam in his eyes. It made her nervous, and just a little more than uncomfortable. She wanted to move out of his line of sight immediately. She stepped around them and headed for the kitchen, getting a cup of coffee. When she passed them on her way upstairs, she felt eyes on her again and the tiny prickle on the back of her neck got sharper.
* * *
Brendan showed up ten minutes early when he went to pick Paige up for lunch. He was surprised that he’d been able to last that long. If his impatience when it came to her was any indication, he was probably going to embarrass himself whenever they made it to bed. Hell, who was he kidding; he probably wouldn’t even get that far.
It had taken everything in him to walk away from Paige the night before. He’d thought about her the whole damn time he’d been gone, missing her so much it hurt. He’d seen her every single day for over two months, and going the whole weekend had been torture. If he’d touched her for even five more seconds, he’d have backed her up into her room and stretched her out on her bed. Or the floor. The floor would have worked just fine.
When Brendan walked through the front door of the funeral home, he was greeted with loud hammering and two men taking a wall apart. Their faces were covered with masks to prevent them from inhaling the dust that was flying around them. Brendan didn’t have to see their faces to know that it was Bennett Hart and Chad Sharp.
Bennett had been a year behind Brendan in high school. He’d played third base during Brendan’s junior and senior years and then enlisted in the air force as soon as he’d graduated from school. He’d spent almost eight years in the service, most of that in Iraq. In his last tour, he’d been shot down in a helicopter and almost died. Only one other man on the mission survived.
Chad was four years behind Brendan in school. He’d dated Grace for a couple of months when she was a sophomore. Chad had been a senior and Brendan hadn’t been a huge fan of Chad ever since. Not that Chad had ever done anything to Grace…well, not that Brendan knew of, because he would have hurt the little shit. But there was something about him that just got under Brendan’s skin.
Bennett saw Brendan first. He stopped hammering and pulled his mask to the top of his head. Chad stopped too, his eyes narrowing on Brendan from above his mask.
“Long time no see,” Bennett said, holding his hand out for Brendan.
“It’s definitely been a while,” Brendan said, grabbing Bennett’s hand and slapping him on the back with the other. “How you doing?”
“Better these days,” Bennett said.
“Good. Man, you should really come out and play on the league next year. It would be like old times.”
“Maybe.” Bennett nodded.
“You should come down to Shep’s sometime. He’d love to see you, so would Jax.”
“Maybe,” Bennett repeated.
“Right.” Brendan nodded. “Hey, Chad,” Brendan said turning to him. “Things going good?”
“They’ve been going. I met your girlfriend today,” he said, letting his lips curl up. “She’s something.”
“Yeah, she sure is,” Brendan said cautiously. He really didn’t like the fact that Chad had met Paige.
“Beautiful. She doesn’t seem as scandalous as people say. But I guess looks can be deceiving. The only way to find out is to test it out. You tested her out yet? Which reminds me,” he said, snapping his fingers together as a wide smirk spread across his face. “How’s Grace doing? She been doing, I mean seeing anyone these days?”
If Brendan didn’t walk away this second he was going to hurt the snot-nosed little prick.
“That’s enough,” Bennett said, taking a step toward both men. It was probably his years in the military that helped him sense danger, or maybe just his years knowing Brendan. “Walk away, Brendan.”
“Gladly,” Brendan said, taking a step back. “Stay away from my sister and Paige.”
“I’m going to be working here for the next couple of weeks.” Chad shrugged. “I can’t make any promises.”
Brendan took another step back, shaking his head. Chad wasn’t worth the energy. Brendan turned and headed up the stairs, his shoulders so tense he thought they were going to snap. Paige was going to be around that asshole and he wasn’t okay with that in any way.
“Hey.” She smiled, looking up from her computer.
She stood up as he walked into the room and he closed the distance, grabbing her and kissing her before she could say another word. She made a startled noise but relaxed into him after a second, her hands coming up to cup his jaw.
“You okay?” she asked, pulling back and looking at him.
“Yeah.” He nodded. “Just needed to do that.”
“You sure?” she asked, reaching up and tracing the space between his eyebrows.