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A grin stretches across his face as he sees me. "Wow, Paige. You look...wow."
"Thank you," I say as I give him a hug hello. "You look great, too."
He opens the door and holds a hand out for me to enter first. As we get into the restaurant, there's clearly a bit of a wait. Brad walks up to the desk to check us in for our reservation.
As I wait, I look around and notice there seem to be a lot of reporters around. It's not like North Haven is a breeding ground for celebrities, except for maybe Tessa's boyfriend, so it's definitely unusual.
I'm staring out the door when someone slips past me. His shoulder bumps mine and he apologizes, but the voice is what catches my attention. I turn my head in time to see Finn Bradford, Jace's attorney, heading out the door, and behind him is no other than Jace's dad.
But if they're here, that means...oh no.
It all seems to make sense at once. The reporters started coming around right after the trial became public knowledge. My parents have done as much as they can to shield me from it, turning the news off whenever I come in the room, but I still see it. It's all over everything. How can I not?
I go to find somewhere to hide when I run smack into exactly who I wanted to hide from. Two hands catch me before I fall, and I look up to find Jace's eyes looking right back into mine. My breath hitches as I feel the way his touch burns under the surface.
"Paige?" he asks.
Shaking my head, I try to walk away. "Nope, wrong girl. Sorry."
He chuckles, and with a hold on my wrist, he pulls me back. "Paige."
I start to run my fingers through my hair, until I realize Charlotte sprayed half a bottle of hairspray into it, as if making me look like a total hooker with eyeshadow up to my brows wasn't enough. I probably just messed up all of her hard work, but it's not like things can get worse now.
"They said it'll just be a couple minutes," Brad says as he comes back.
Okay, I lied. It absolutely can get worse.
Jace looks over at Brad, and his brows furrow. Meanwhile, Brad is glancing back and forth between Jace and me. If I ever had a worst nightmare, this would be it. I'm here. I'm living it.
"Uh Jace, this is Brad," I introduce them to try to get rid of the awkward tension.
Brad extends his hand toward Jace. "Her date."
Fuck.
Jace smirks and gives me a look that makes me roll my eyes but shakes his hand anyway.
"Jace," he says, and I'm surprised he's being the bigger person in this pissing war. "Her soulmate."
Nope, once again, spoke too soon.
My heart pounds inside of my chest as I watch them stare each other down. It’s so bad I’m waiting for one of them to try peeing on me to mark their territory. Something needs to stop this. Anything. Literally fucking anything.
"How are you here? I thought you were on house arrest?" I ask.
Ugh, anything but that. For fucks' sake, this is why I should just stay home.
Jace's attention leaves Brad the second he realizes he has mine, and he peers out the door before looking back at me. "I was here with Finn and my dad, going over the case. Technically, it's considered a meeting with my lawyer."
"It's next week, right?"
He rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah. I leave for Florida on Sunday."
"Jace," his dad calls, having come back in. "We have to go. The car's waiting."
"Be right there," he answers.
Mr. London doesn't look amused, but when he sees me, he smiles. "Hey, Paige."
