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“So?” She followed him into the living room, watching as he removed his jacket and tie before tossing them carelessly over the back of the sofa.
“What do you want to know?”
Seriously?“I want to know what happened between you and Paige. And don’t tell me nothing happened, because everyone was talking about it.”
“And what were they saying?”
“I want to hear whatyousay.”
“Fine,” he said. “On one condition.”
“You’re hardly in a position to—”
“Do you want to know what happened or not?”
“What’s the condition?” Heather asked.
“That that’s the end of it. I’ll tell you what went down, I’ll answer any reasonable questions you might have, and then we don’t talk about it ever again. Do we have a deal?”
Heather plopped down on the sofa, letting her evening bag fall to the cushion beside her, then kicking off her shoes and leaning back against Noah’s discarded tuxedo jacket, detecting a hint of Paige’s perfume clinging to the leather lapels. Which meant that they’d been standing awfully close to each other, close enough to touch.Damn you, Paige,she thought.You’ll pay for this.“Deal,” she said.
“Okay,” Noah said. “I just don’t want you to overreact. Paige is your cousin, she’s family, and I’ve already caused enough problems between the two of you…”
“What are you trying to say, Noah?”
“That what happened wasn’t entirely her fault,” he said. “I’m as much to blame…”
“For God’s sake, Noah. Just spit it out.”
“The party was breaking up,” he began. “Everyone was crowding around your uncle to say goodbye and I thought I’d sneak out for a minute to get some air. I guess Paige had the same idea, or maybe she saw me heading for the door and decided to follow me; I don’t know. I just know that suddenly there she was, and she said something like ‘walk with me,’ and I thought I owed her that much. And we walked about a block or so, not very far, and she started talking about how much she missed me, and she got all teary, said she was sorry and wanted…” He hesitated.
“Said she was sorry and wanted…?” Heather prompted.
“That she was sorry and wanted me back.” Noah took a deep breath before continuing. “And this is where I screwed up, because I said that I was sorry, too. But I just meant that I was sorry about thewayit ended, that she’d deserved better than that. But she clearly misunderstood because suddenly she started kissing me. And I tried gently to get her to stop, but she wouldn’t, until I finally had to push her away. She was furious, calling me names, screaming at me to shut the fuck up. And then just as we got near the hotel, she hauls off and slaps me. And everybody’s there, everybody’s watching. And then there you were, and I didn’t know what to do or say because I knew how upset you’d be…”
“Why didn’t you just tell me what happened when I first asked?”
“I don’t know. I guess I felt responsible. If I hadn’t agreed to go for that walk…”
“You had no way of knowing…”
“I should have been more careful. I’m a lawyer, for God’s sake. I know better than to put myself in that kind of position.”
“She was the one who came on to you.”
“Yes, but in her mind, I’m sure she thinks I led her on.”
Heather shook her head. “That bitch…”
“And that’s exactly why I didn’t want to say anything,” he interrupted. “The last thing I want to do is cause more friction between the two of you. Not to mention, your families. I feel guilty enough…”
“You have nothing to feel guilty about,” Heather told him. “This is my fault as much as yours. I should have known she’d pull something like this.” Damn her cousin anyway.
There was a moment’s silence.
“Okay?” Noah asked. “Can we put this behind us?”
“Not sure I can do that.”
