Golden Lies - Barbara Freethy [84]
"I needed my robe. I forgot to get it earlier. I saw your car so I figured it would be all right to come in. Plus, I saw Gilbert sitting in his car at the corner, so I know I'm safe. You hired those old boys to watch over me, didn't you?"
"Yes," he admitted, still feeling a bit uncomfortable when she turned her gaze on him.
She stared at him for a long minute, and he wondered what she was seeing. Did he have lipstick on his face? Was his hair as messy as Paige's? He distinctly remembered feeling her fingers run through his hair.
"What's wrong?" she asked him.
"Nothing."
"You look—funny."
"It must be all the dust I've been stirring up."
"Must be."
"There's your robe." He grabbed it off the chair in front of her dressing table. "This is your favorite one, isn't it?"
"Yes, it keeps me warm." She gave him another long look. "I guess I'll go back to Millie's, unless you want me to stay and help."
"No. You take the night off. There will be plenty to do tomorrow."
"Are you going to sleep here tonight, honey?"
Sleep was the last thing he had on his mind. "I don't know yet. I'll see how late it gets."
"If you are, you should change the sheets on your bed. I have extras in the hall closet. Why don't I help you do that before I go?"
"No," he said abruptly. "I mean, I already did it. So you can just go back to Millie's."
"You already did it? I must have taught you something after all." She smiled at that. "Well, don't work too hard."
He followed her down the stairs, praying she wouldn't suddenly stop and decide she needed to get something else. But they made it to the front door without a hitch.
"I'll watch you walk next door," he said.
"You always take good care of me, Riley."
"That's my job."
She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Good night, honey." She walked down the steps, then paused. "By the way, tell Paige I said hello." Her knowing grin made him feel fourteen years old again. "I hope you didn't make her hide in the closet like you did Jenny Markson."
"Paige is definitely not in the closet," he replied. Her laughter lasted all the way next door. When be shut the door, Paige was right behind him.
"I am totally embarrassed," Paige said. "She knew I was here the whole time."
"I never could get away with anything." He took a step toward her. "Now, where were we?"
She put a hand on the middle of his chest, holding him at arm's length. "Who is Jenny Markson?"
"She's not competition, if that's what you're worried about. I think she has a couple of kids by now, and at least one husband."
"Was she your girlfriend?"
"For about two weeks in the tenth grade."
"Did you make out in your bedroom?"
"We tried, but my grandmother came home early."
"So I wasn't the first." Paige crossed her arms in front of her chest, a sexy little pout on her face.
He grinned. "You were definitely not the first."
"Did you have sex with her?"
"Unfortunately, that bedroom has never been lucky for me in the sex department. I'm hoping tonight we can change my luck."
She dodged his oncoming embrace. "Are you kidding me? Your grandmother knows I'm here. I can't possibly have sex with you in that bedroom tonight."
"The idea wasn't bothering you a few minutes ago."
"I went a little crazy," she admitted.
"I like you a little crazy." This time when he put his hands on her waist, she didn't move away. "Want to know what else I like?"
"I don't think so," she said breathlessly. "I should go home."
"I could come with you. Your bedroom would certainly be more private."
She hesitated, and he saw the answer in her eyes even before she said it. She'd had time to think—too much time, apparently.
"You have a lot to do here," she said.
"It's not going anywhere."
"Riley—"
"The moment is over. I get it."
"It's not that I don't want to." She looked at him with her heart in her eyes, and he felt a rush of emotion as well as panic. What was he thinking? What was casual for him would probably not be casual for Paige. She wasn't a one-night-stand