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Thank you. “Hi Scott, it’s Paige,” she started her voice mail message. “Sorry I missed your call earlier. I’ll see you on Saturday.”
Paige hit End and breathed a sigh of relief. Although highly unlikely, she hoped nobody else grilled her about the auction or Scott because then maybe she could forget about him and their upcoming date until Saturday morning.
In my dreams, maybe.
Chapter 4
Her smartphone buzzed, indicating she’d received a text message, and Paige glanced over at the bureau where the device sat.
Have fun tonight, the message from Aunt Bebe read.
With a roll of the eyes, she recapped the mascara and stepped back, pleased with the reflection in the full-length mirror. Two nights earlier she’d checked out the Spiced Pear’s website. While she’d heard the restaurant served delicious food, she knew little else about the establishment. She’d assumed it wasn’t the type of place you showed up to in shorts and T-shirt, but wanted to make sure. The pictures posted on the website confirmed her suspicions. While she had at least three outfits appropriate for the evening ahead, she’d used the upcoming date as an excuse to go shopping. Although she’d learned to curb the habit when she’d shared a dorm room in college with two other girls, she loved to shop. Shopping and good chocolate remained her two biggest weaknesses. She used any reasonable excuse to indulge in either.
Staring at her reflection, she was glad she’d not let her more rational side talk her out of finding something new. The indigo halter-style sundress showed off her legs, in her opinion her second-best feature. At the same time, the color brought out the blue flecks in her eyes, which were her best feature. Or so she thought. The dress also matched the silver high-heeled sandals she’d bought on a whim the summer before but rarely got the opportunity to wear.
“Don’t fidget and he’ll never know how nervous you are,” she said to the mirror. At the fundraiser her long gown had reached past her ankles, hiding the fact she spent the entire time crossing and uncrossing her ankles. It had been either that or continuously fidget in her seat. Tonight’s dress skimmed the top of her knees. It wouldn’t hide anything.
Paige grabbed the small purse that matched her shoes and left. Before retreating to the kitchen, she stopped in the bathroom. She’d put on deodorant before slipping on her dress, but a little extra never hurt. In fact, if she could fit it in her purse, she’d take some with her. The weather forecast said the temperature would remain in the high eighties with 90 percent humidity even after sunset. Between the weather and her nerves, she expected to do a lot of sweating tonight. The last thing she needed was to smell.
“He’s a man, not some superhero.” She’d told herself the same thing yesterday because despite her best efforts she’d thought about Scott and tonight’s date every day since the auction. While she’d like to blame her preoccupation on the fact that people kept asking her about it, she couldn’t—however, she suspected the constant questions hadn’t helped any.
“You’ve gone out with men before.” Yeah, but not men my aunt bought for me. “Tonight won’t be much different.” Keep telling yourself that.
In college, she’d dated men she met on campus. Often she’d have a course or two with them, and they’d get to know each other in class before ever going out. After college she’d dated men she met at the hospital. She and Benjamin, her ex-husband, had met in the cafeteria at work one afternoon. On their breaks, they’d often sat and chatted over coffee. After two months of lunch breaks together, he’d asked her out. Never in her life had she gone on a blind date, which in many ways this was.
“At least I’ll get to see the fireworks and have a delicious meal.” For as long as she could remember, she’d loved seeing firework displays no matter the occasion. Something about the beautiful displays of color exploding in the night sky fascinated her. Thanks to work she hadn’t seen any in a while, so Scott’s idea was perfect.
Ryder stopped at her feet, his dark brown eyes gazing up at her in his best begging position. “You want a treat, don’t you?” The dog viewed eating the same way she did shopping. She’d even had to move his treats from the bottom kitchen cabinet because he’d learned to open the door and help himself. Not even a child safety lock had stopped him. He’d merely chewed his way through the plastic before helping himself to the treats inside. “One more and that’s it.” He’d already had two this afternoon.
The dog followed her to the pantry closet then once again got into his begging position. “Enjoy.” She handed him the meat-flavored bone. Ryder didn’t hesitate to accept it. Before he got a chance to do anything but carry it across the kitchen, the doorbell rang. On cue, the bone fell from his mouth, and he bolted across the floor toward the door, his bark echoing through the kitchen.
Swallowing, Paige checked the clock on the stove. Five o’clock on the dot. The man was at least punctual. That was a good sign. Her ex-husband had been perpetually late. In fact, whenever her former in-laws had invited them over, they’d told him to be there at least an hour before necessary.
“Okay, Ryder, be nice. No eating anyone tonight.” Although friendly once he got familiar with you, Ryder had a tendency to be on the aggressive side when a stranger first entered the house or yard. Not necessarily a bad thing when you lived alone.
Just to be on the safe side, Paige peeked out the window panel alongside the front door. Aunt Bebe bought me a gorgeous man, at least.
Forcing her lips into a smile or at least something close, she opened the door. “Please come in. I hope dogs don’t bother you. Ryder gets excited when the bell rings. He’ll calm down once he knows you’re welcome here.”
“Love dogs. I’d have one myself if I spent more time at home.” Scott closed the door behind him and walked further into the kitchen, somehow swallowing up the space, and she suddenly wished the room was larger. “I apologize for not returning your call. I had to make a last-minute business trip Tuesday morning to Costa Rica and didn’t get home until yesterday.”
She hadn’t expected him to call back. “No worries. I’ve never visited there. My brother went there on his honeymoon. He said it’s gorgeous. A place everyone should visit at least once.” Since fidgeting was out, Paige took several steps back, only stopping when her back bumped into the kitchen island.
“He’s not wrong. It’s my favorite place in Central America.”
Scott’s voice rolled over her, causing her heart rate to accelerate. Time to get this show on the road. “I’m… uh, all ready to go if you are.” She tapped her fingers against the island countertop as she spoke.
“Great.” He opened the door and waited.
“Be good, Ryder. I’ll see you in a little while,” she said in the dog’s direction before picking up her purse and following Scott outside.
The slightest scent of sandalwood tickled her nose as she stood and locked the door. She wondered if the scent came from his soap or perhaps some cologne. It couldn’t come from shaving cream, because a short, sexy beard graced his jaw. For a moment the image of him standing in the shower covered in soap suds and nothing else popped up, causing her heart rate to step it up another notch. Hoping to dislodge the inappropriate image, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and hoped Scott hadn’t noticed.
“What kind of dog is that? I didn’t recognize it,” Scott asked as he led her to the silver car parked in the driveway.
Paige didn’t know a lot about the mechanics of cars, but her ex-husband had dragged her to enough car shows that she immediately recognized the Aston Martin waiting for them. “Ryder is a cocker spaniel-pug mix. I adopted him from a local shelter three years ago.” It’d been one of the first things she’d done after Benjamin filed for divorce and moved out. When they’d been married, she hadn’t been able to own a dog because of his allergies. Not having a dog around had bothered her the entire time she’d been married.
Neither of them talked much as he followed the GPS directions away from her house and to the highway. Once they hit 146, he switched off the GPS.
