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“Jerk.” Giggling, she raced him down the stairs.
So far this day was turning out to be frigging awesome. And she refused to think about anything other than sexy men, long kisses and bacon.
Let the shoes drop where they may.
> 11
Two hours later, sore and happy, Paige parked at the store and reached across her seat for her tote bag of work stuff. For the first time in forever, she hadn’t even thought of touching any of the paperwork she’d bought home last night. There was renovation stuff to look over, permits to get taken care of, and an endless list of tasks that she normally dug into with gusto whether or not she deserved a night off. Her business with Charli was her life.
Or at least it used to be.
She crossed the back lot to head inside and frowned at Charli’s car tucked along the side. She rarely made it in before her. And post-honeymoon week? That seemed impossible.
A quick glance at her watch told her why. It was past eight, way later than she normally arrived.
So much for making a discreet entrance.
She blew out a breath and headed in, her smile already in place. “Hey, Charli,” she called. “I think I’m going to run and get some muff—”
“You’ve been out all night.” Charli slid down off the counter where she’d been sitting and raised an eyebrow. “So I’m guessing you got well and thoroughly fucked. Am I right?”
Paige didn’t speak. She barely breathed.
“Piece of evidence number one. You’re late. You’re never late. Ever.”
Paige chewed on the inside of her cheek. She’d wanted to have a talk with her best friend, really lay things on the line, but this wasn’t the time or place. Nor was the conversation off to the best start.
She’d never heard Charli use that accusing tone before. As if Paige was some kind of common…
No. She was simply acting as if Paige was sleeping with her ex-husband, which she was. So maybe she deserved the unspoken accusations. Maybe there was no way to make this okay.
Honesty and love and friendship only went so far. Perhaps some things were too much to be tolerated, no matter how much both parties tried to be civil and understanding.
God, she hoped not. She couldn’t lose her best friend. Nothing was worth that.
“Piece of evidence number two. You have straw in your hair.” Charli pulled it out of Paige’s hair and held it up.
To Paige, it might as well have been a bloody glove.
“Oh. Oh well. Um, see—”
“You’re not going to give me an excuse, are you? Because that would really suck.”
Paige tightened her hold on the strap of her tote bag. “No. Of course not. I don’t owe you an excuse. You’re not my mother, and I didn’t miss curfew.”
The hurt that scrolled across Charli’s face immediately made her backtrack. “Oh God, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I don’t want to fight. But I don’t want to feel guilty either, not when I’m happy for the first time in a—” She stopped and shook her head, laughing softly. “I was going to say a long time, but you know what? That would be a lie. I’ve never been this happy before. Not even when I was too young to know I’d probably get my heart broken.”
Charli frowned. “Look, there’s no delicate way to say this.”
Paige braced. Did Charli know something she didn’t? That maybe Drake and Colt were doing this with other women while they were with her, maybe? She hadn’t heard anything in town, but it was possible. Of course it was possible. She didn’t think it was likely, considering the amount of time they’d spent with her for the last couple of weeks, but her radar for such things probably didn’t work too well. Nuns had as active a social life as she had the last few years.
“Go ahead.” Paige pulled her tote bag in front of her stomach like a shield. At least she’d changed out of Drake’s shirt after the ride on Misty. Wearing his smell while she got her heart filleted would be a particular kind of hell. “You don’t have to be delicate.”
“Colt and Drake, well, this isn’t the first time they’ve done this with a woman.”
Here it came. “Okay. Keep going.”
Charli frowned. “Did you hear me? Ménages, they’re kind of their thing. They get a woman and they…they share her.”
