Brendan.
“What exactly did she hear?” Brendan asked, his voice more menacing than Paige had ever heard it.
Chad just smiled wide as he took a step back, his hands in the air. “Oh, nothing,” he said, shaking his head. “Just curious how talented your girlfriend here is.”
“Curiosity can be a pretty dangerous thing, Chad. So how about you stop wondering.”
“Yeah, problem is, once I get an idea in my head, I’m pretty damned determined to figure it out. Bye, darling,” he said, waving at Paige before he walked away with his two friends.
Brendan’s hands tightened on Paige’s waist, not painfully, just possessively.
“What did he say to you?” he whispered low in her ear.
Paige turned in his arms and looked up at him. He was furious.
“It’s okay,” she said, placing her palm on his chest.
“What did he say to you?” he repeated.
Paige took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “He wanted me to kiss him,” she said, simplifying it. And that was
basically
what he’d said, though Chad’s proposition had been a little bit more specific.
“I really hate that guy,” Brendan said. “Did he touch you?” he asked.
“No.” Paige shook her head. “I’m fine, Brendan. Don’t worry so much.”
“Yeah, that isn’t going to happen,” he said, shaking his head, his eyes softening as he looked at her.
“When did you get so protective of me?” she asked, reaching up and touching his face.
“The day I met you.”
Paige just looked at him, a little shocked.
“If he comes near you again, I want to know about it.”
“Alright,” she said and nodded.
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
B
rendan and Paige stayed at the festival until about four and then they both headed home to get ready for the night. Paige wanted to change and shower before Brendan picked her up and they went back for the barbecue cook-off and the dance. He was on her parents’ front porch by six thirty. She opened the door a moment after he knocked, smiling wide as she stepped outside.
Brendan forgot how to talk.
She was wearing that same red shirt she’d worn on their first date. Her freckled shoulders were bare and perfect. A black bohemian skirt swayed around her knees and left a good amount of her legs visible above her red cowboy boots. Her hair was pulled to the side in a low knot just above her neck.
She was stunning.
Brendan reached forward and grabbed her, pulling her into his arms and kissing her like his life depended on it.
“Wow,” she said when he pulled back. “What was that for?”
“You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.” She smiled.
“There’s just one thing missing,” he said, reaching into his pocket.
“Oh?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.
Brendan pulled out that silver spoon ring that Paige had been eyeing the day before and slipped it onto her left thumb.
“Brendan,” she whispered, looking down at her hand and then back up to him. There were so many emotions flittering across her face, but shock and awe were winning for the most prominent. “I can’t believe you got this for me,” she said, reaching up to touch his jaw. She pulled his face to hers and pressed a kiss to his mouth. “You didn’t have to, you know.”
“I know,” he said, running his hands up and down her back. “But I wanted you to have it.”
“Thank you,” she said, pressing her mouth to his again. “I love it.”
“Yeah?” He grinned
“Yeah.”
Paige spent a few more minutes showing him her appreciation before she slipped back inside, grabbed her jacket and purse, and they headed over to the festival. When they got there, they found Grace, Mel, Harper, Jax, Shep, and, much to Brendan’s surprise, Bennett.
They all ate the barbecue and voted for their favorite. The guys went and got some burgers because the samples didn’t fill them up like they did the girls. They got another round of drinks and let their food settle. Some of the tables began to empty and people working the event started to put them away, clearing out a space in the middle of the barn to be used as the dance floor. Then the band filed out onto the stage and music filled the room. Brendan stood up and held out his hand for Paige.
“Come on now, let’s see what you’re made of.”
She raised one of her eyebrows and smiled wickedly. “Is that a challenge?”
“Absolutely.”
“Let’s go, cowboy,” she said, putting her hand in his and letting him pull her to her feet.
Brendan couldn’t help but grin. He turned around and pulled her out onto the dance floor. The band was playing a fast-moving country song as he spun her around and pulled her into his arms. They moved across the floor quickly, Paige in perfect step with him. She swiveled her hips in a way that made him want to fall to his knees.
They stayed out on the floor for a few more songs before Paige leaned into him and whispered breathlessly that she needed a break. The table was empty when they got back. He scanned the room and saw that Mel was dancing with Bennett, Shep with Grace, and Harper with Greg Myers, who worked at King’s. He looked around and saw Jax talking to a couple of guys in a corner, staring moodily at Shep and Grace while he drank his beer. Brendan shook his head and smiled. Some things never changed.
When the song ended, Shep and Grace came back to the table, both out of breath and a little pink in the face.
“You can dance, city girl,” Grace said as she sunk down into the chair next to Paige.
“She sure can.” Brendan grinned.
Jax came back to the table and sat down next to Brendan, scowl still firmly in place.
“What’s wrong with you?” Grace asked, throwing a balled-up paper napkin at Jax. “Why are you brooding?”
“Princess, I don’t brood,” he said, narrowing his eyes at her.
“Really? You could’ve fooled me,” Grace said, rolling her eyes.
“You want another drink?” Brendan asked Paige.
“Yeah.” She nodded.
“Be right back,” he said, getting up and kissing her on the head.
“I’m going to get another one too. You want anything Grace?” Shep asked.
“Cider.”
“Coming up,” Shep said, standing, and so did Jax.
The three men made their way across the room. The bar was made of a couple old barn doors laid out on stacked apple barrels. There was a thick crowd converging around it. Shep’s family might have been running it, but he had to wait in line just like everybody else.
“So,” Shep said as they joined the crowd, “you and Paige are working out.”
“Yeah,” Brendan said and nodded, taking a step forward as the crowd shifted.
“That’s all you’ve got? Yeah?”
“What do you want me to say? That I like her a lot? I do.”
“Like her a lot?” Jax asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Fine, it’s a little more than like.”
“How about it’s
a lot
more than like. She’s got you wrapped around her pretty little finger,” Jax said.
“Is there a problem with that?”
“No, but I’m thinking you’d like her to be wrapped around something of yours.” Shep smirked.
Brendan couldn’t argue with him there.
“We’re taking things slow,” Brendan said.
“It’s killing you, isn’t it?” Shep asked.
“You have no fucking clue,” Brendan admitted.
Both men laughed at him.
Brendan looked over to the table where Paige sat. She and Grace were laughing. A second later Bennett and Mel came back to the table and sat down.
“I’m glad Bennett came out tonight. He’s a good guy,” Brendan said, turning back.
“Yeah, he is.” Jax nodded. “That war really messed with his head. He’s got some demons to battle.”
“It would mess with anyone’s head. I couldn’t imagine going through what he did,” Brendan said, shaking his head.
“He seems to be having a good time tonight. He’s stayed pretty active out on that dance floor,” Shep said. “Unlike others, who just stand in the corner and glare. You know if you want to dance with Grace, you should just ask her, Jax.”
“I don’t dance,” Jax mumbled.
“Maybe you should make an exception in this case,” Brendan said.
Jax didn’t say anything. He just turned around and stepped up to the bar.
Brendan wasn’t oblivious to what was going on between one of his best friends and his baby sister. Grace and Jax had been circling each other for years. Problem was, Jax had his own demons to battle.
The guys made their way back to the table. Paige grabbed her drink from Brendan and took a long pull before she stood up. She grabbed Brendan’s hand and dragged him back out onto the floor. After a couple fast songs, they played a slow one. Brendan pulled Paige in as close as he could get her and she curled around him in that way she always did. He rested one hand on her lower back while the other gripped one of her hands and held it close to his chest. He pressed his face into her hair and breathed deeply.
Brendan’s life had changed so drastically since Paige had been in it. To say that it was better was an understatement. He loved having her in his arms, having her arms wrapped around him. She was becoming everything to him.
Brendan glanced up at the room for just a second and did a double take. Jax was dancing with Grace. And if Brendan didn’t know any better, Jax was smiling.
Maybe those demons of his would be fought a little sooner than later.
* * *
The dance ended just before midnight, and Brendan walked Paige back to his truck, his arm around her shoulders and his nose in her hair. She’d had an amazing time but when the music had ended, she hadn’t been disappointed. The plans that she had for the rest of the night would be possible only behind closed doors.
“What time is your curfew tonight?” Brendan joked as they stopped in front of the passenger door.
“Oh, didn’t I tell you? I don’t have one tonight,” she said, raising an eyebrow as she reached down and ran her finger along the top of his belt.
“Paige?” he asked, going still.
She stretched up, pressing into him, and put her mouth to his ear. “I want you,” she whispered.
He moved so quickly she didn’t even see it coming. The passenger door was opened and he’d bodily lifted her into the seat, reaching across her and buckling her seat belt. He slammed the door and ran around his truck. He climbed in and was backing out in about five seconds.
“You okay there, cowboy?” she asked, trying not to laugh.
“You aren’t allowed to talk,” he said as he navigated out of the parking lot.
“Why?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest.
“Because you have a tendency to say things that make me swerve off the road, and right now I need to have as much focus as possible. Otherwise I might kill us,” he said, staring intently through the windshield.
“I don’t have to say anything,” she said, reaching across the seat and running her fingers up his forearm.
“You also have to stay on your side of the truck,” he said as his hands clenched the steering wheel, his knuckles going white.
“That’s no fun,” she said, as her fingers trailed up his shoulder and to his neck.
“Please, Paige, I’m begging you,” he said and groaned.
“Hmm, I like the sound of that.”
“What has gotten into you tonight?” he asked, sounding desperate.
Messing with him was fun. She shouldn’t be enjoying it so much but she was. She wanted him more than she’d ever wanted any man, ever, and it was driving her crazy. So in turn she was driving him crazy. Really it was just fair play.
“Nothing yet, but I’m hoping you’ll change that.”
“Okay. No more talking from you, or touching. Not until this car is parked and turned off.”
“If you insist,” she said, holding up her hands in surrender and placing them in her lap.
When Brendan pulled into his driveway ten minutes later, he got out of the car faster than she could blink, helped her get out, and then pulled her up the stairs to his front door.
“Shit,” he said when they walked in. “I have to take Sydney out,” he said as the dog in question came skidding down the hall and started circling them, her tail wagging.
“I can wait five minutes, Brendan,” she said, reaching down and scratching Sydney’s nose.
“Yeah, but I don’t think
I
can,” he said as he walked to the back door and opened it. Sydney followed and bolted down the back stairs, disappearing into the darkness that reached past his backlights.
Paige pulled off her boots in the living room and padded out onto the porch. She came up behind Brendan, slipping her hands around his waist and gently biting him through the back of his shirt. He groaned deep in his chest as her hands dipped down to the front of his jeans.