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I led her out on the balcony. As we stepped out, Paige squeezed my hand, and I followed her gaze to the red wine bottle I’d set in a bucket, and the glasses and candles.
“You.... When did you do this?” she asked.
“After you said you’d join us. Figured you’d want to relax after so much driving. If you don’t want wine, I have other drinks.”
“Wine is great.”
She sat at the edge of the comfortable double lounge chair. It was my favorite place in the apartment. Since I lived on the top floor, there was no balcony above mine, so I had a full view of the sky. A tall palm tree right in front of us obscured us from anyone’s view. I lit the candles before pouring us wine. Paige was unnaturally quiet during the process. I wasn’t an expert on women’s minds, but my sisters had drilled one thing into me: when a woman was quiet, it was not because she didn’t have anything on her mind, but rather because she had too much.
We clinked glasses, and after the first sip, I asked, “Want to tell me what’s on your mind, pretty girl?”
She played with her glass, looking up at the stars, murmuring, “You’re very good at... romancing.”
I smiled, kissing her forehead. “Come on, let’s lie down. It’s a beautiful evening.”
We both sipped some more of the wine, then set the glasses on the small table and moved to the center of the lounge. I lay back first, holding my arm out for her to use as pillow, and she did just that, coming so close to me that our bodies touched completely. I brought my hand under her chin and tilted her head up, then kissed her slowly. I coaxed her tongue, deepening the kiss. My free hand moved to her dress, bunching up the fabric until I found her skin. Smooth and warm, inviting.
I kissed her until we were both out of breath and then kept my forehead pressed to hers, because I needed the contact.
“I’m glad you could swing by tonight,” I admitted.
“Thanks for inviting me.”
“I didn’t know if hanging out with me and Milo was up your alley.”
She laughed softly. “I’m always up for some fun time with kids.”
“I know that now. You’re quite a woman, Paige. The more I find out about you, the more I like you.”
She’d buried her face in my neck, and I felt her smile against my skin.
“Oh yeah? I like the sound of that.”
I couldn’t be sure, but I thought she might have wiggled her toes. We spoke about everything and nothing for a while, and she even pointed out some constellations. I made note of her interest in astronomy. Who knew when it might come in handy.
Something vibrated between us.
“That’s my phone,” I said, taking it out of my pocket. It was a notification from the calendar I kept for the rentals.
“You’re going away next week?” Paige asked, her eyes on the screen.
“No, I own a few rentals, and this is the booking calendar.”
“Holy shit, those are a lot of bookings. How many rentals do you own exactly?”
“Ten, for now.”
“Nice.”
It afforded me a great lifestyle that wasn’t obvious at first glance, which I liked.
“Want to tell me about your day?” I asked, and not just to make conversation. I wanted to know.
“Made some progress with the funding. I’m confident that I’ll have at least 25 percent of it in the bag in about a month.”
I loved her confidence. It wasn’t just blind cockiness. Her confidence was born out of knowing her strengths.
“Man, I just love August,” she said, apropos of nothing. We were in the second week of the month.
