Chapter 11

CHAPTERELEVEN

Paige may be done beingstupid with men, but she wasn’t done being stupid, period. Case in point? Baiting Tanner into joining them for miniature golf. After their near-kiss in the hallway, she would have been smart to avoid the man altogether. Instead, they’d somehow formed a fivesome with Tanner instructing Emily, Henry, and Whitney while Paige trailed behind them. Kate, the traitor, was enjoying a glass of wine at the “clubhouse” aka the restaurant adjacent to the ocean-front course.

“They’re reasonably well behaved,” she told Paige. “No need for man-to-man coverage. I’ve got the rest of the week to enjoy maternity leave and I intend to make the most of it.”

“Nice putt, Whit,” Tanner said.

Whitney smiled up at him.

See, this wasn’t about being stupid, she told herself. It’s about giving him more time with Whitney.

The pain on Tanner’s face when Whitney shied away from him earlier nearly tore Paige in two. Clearly, he cared for the little girl. He was determined to put her first in his life, even skipping a golf tournament this week. It was important to Paige that Whitney become comfortable with Tanner. Who knew how long it would be until her mother returned.

“Make a vee with your thumb and forefinger, Emily,” he instructed.

“A vee goes the other way,” Emily mumbled, but she did as she was told and sank the putt.

“Woohoo!” She and Henry danced around the fake log meant to obstruct the hole.

Paige grabbed Henry’s club before he accidentally beaned Whitney with it.

“Whoa,” Tanner said sternly. “A player never raises his club above his shoulders unless he’s driving the ball. That would be considered bad etiquette, not to mention bad sportsmanship.”

Henry sobered immediately.

“You’re up, kiddo.” Tanner gave the boy’s shoulder an encouraging squeeze. “Remember what I said about keeping your toes pointed forward and your hips still.”

The boy chewed on his lower lip in concentration. After an agonizing minute, he finally tapped the ball with his club. It rolled straight into the cup.

“Atta boy!” Tanner fist-bumped Henry. “You’ve got it now.”

The three kids hurried on to the next hole. Paige waited for Tanner to follow. He didn’t. Instead, he tucked his hands in his pockets and arched an eyebrow at her.

Like that was going to hurry her up. She shooed him away with her hand. “Stick with the kids. I’ll be right there.”

He leaned a hip against the wood railing. “There’s a backlog up ahead. They won’t need me for a few minutes.”

“Well, I can’t concentrate on my shot with you hovering.” Truth be told, she couldn’t concentrate on much of anything just knowing the man was on planet Earth.

“A true professional learns to tune out the world around them.” He smirked at her. “Besides, someone has got to keep you honest. How do I know you’re not padding your scorecard back here?”

She pointed her club at him. “Did you just accuse me of cheating?”

He grabbed the head of the club and lightly tugged it from her hands. “I doubt you’ve cheated a single moment of your life,” he said, softly.

If you only knew.

Her shoulders slumped. She was living on borrowed time here in Chances Inlet. The news that Paige did cheat—whether she knew it or not—was only a phone call away for her father. In fact, she was surprised she’d made it this long without her dad discovering the reason she’d run from Chicago.

“Hey.” Tanner was suddenly beside her. “Where did you just go?”

To hell and back.

“I just don’t like being accused of something I’m not,” she said stiffly.

He studied her intently for several heartbeats as if he was trying to unearth all of her secrets. She wouldn’t let him have them, though. She wasn’t letting any man have them ever again.

“You almost done, lady?” a teenage boy called from the front of the hole.

“One sec.” She took her club back from Tanner and lined up for her putt.

“Not that way,” Tanner said. “You’ll drive it too far left.”

He stepped up behind her, sliding his arms around her torso. Her breath hitched when he wrapped his fingers around hers.

“Shift your feet ten degrees toward the hole,” he instructed, his warm breath fanning her now tingling neck.

She did as he asked and suddenly her hips were pressed against his. They both froze. She could feel his heart pounding against her back. Of course, her body would line up perfectly against his. Fate was a bitch that way. His fingertips slid along her wrists, his touch a barely-there caress. She stifled a groan.

“Tilt your wrist this way,” he whispered, his lips skimming the surface of her jaw. “We’re going to take this real slow.” He dragged out the last two words.

And just like that, her panties were wet. Again.

Why, of why, was it always the bad boys she was attracted to? Tanner Gillette was charming, sexy, athletic, famous—and so not for her. The man apparently had so many notches on his bedpost, he couldn’t remember the women he slept with. He was a prime example of why Paige had sworn off men.

For. Ever, she silently screamed at her traitorous body.

She jerked her hands free, smacking the ball so hard it soared over to the next hole. Untangling his arms from around her waist, she stomped off to where Whitney, Emily and Henry were waiting to tee off.

* * *

“Maybe you should get Botox,”Sonny suggested.

Tanner turned from the mirror in the club’s locker room where he was getting dressed after his shower. He’d just finished another disastrous eighteen holes when his hands could barely grip the putter. “What the hell are you talking about?”

The caddy looked up from his phone. “It says right here that Botox can help relieve the tension in your hand muscles.” He glanced around the locker room which was empty apart for the two of them. Sonny lowered his voice anyway. “It’s a recommended treatment for, you know, the yips.”

Tanner turned back to the mirror to finish shaving. “Jane has some sort of visualization mumbo-jumbo she wants me to try first.” He doubted it would work, but the physical therapist had done wonders for his back and his migraines. He could at least give it a try. Besides, he’d been holding a migraine at bay since last night. If the visualization was a bust, at the very least she could help ward off his headache.

Too bad he couldn’t get any relief for the other part of his anatomy that ached.

Paige Hollister and her sultry body were torturing him. Remembering the feel of her torso pressed up against his made other parts of his body twitch uncontrollably.

He’d never taken advantage of a woman before. Yet, twice yesterday he’d tried to do exactly that with Paige. The woman was so far from his type, it was laughable. She was too outspoken. Too stubborn. Too bold. The fact that she had lush lips that invaded his dreams nightly and a body built for all kinds of sin shouldn’t have him this fired up. There were plenty of golf groupies on the tour with the same characteristics.

It’s simply her close proximity that had his libido racing, that’s all. That and her devotion to Whitney. He didn’t know another woman who would unselfishly shower a little girl she’d just met with such adoration and care. Sure, he’d practically blackmailed her into it, but she’d never taken it out on Whitney. He wasn’t sure some of the other women he’d been involved with would be that unselfish. Hell, he wasn’t sure any of the other women he’d been involved with possessed the backbone Paige did.

Not to mention that no other woman dared to challenge him the way Paige did. The way she’d hustled him into playing putt-putt with them yesterday was amusing. And downright cute. He knew she’d done it to get him to spend more time with Whitney. Part of him, though, wished she’d done it to spend more time with him.

Then there was the mystery surrounding her sudden appearance in Chances Inlet. Sheriff Hollister’s instincts were likely correct, and that intrigued Tanner. His daughter was hiding something. He got the sense someone had hurt her. And that didn’t sit well with him. Not at all.

“What time are you seeing Janey for physio?” Sonny asked, interrupting Tanner’s thoughts.

“Not until this afternoon.”

The rest of the day stretched out before him. As much as he wanted to return home and hang out in a blanket fort with Whitney and her alluring nanny, he didn’t dare. Not when all he wanted to do was strip Paige naked, lay her out on one of those damn blankets and have his wicked way with her.

Jesus.He needed to get a grip.

“I think I’ll kill some time reading by the pool,” he said. The day was unusually warm and sunny for the end of March. If Tanner had to slog through a prospectus from Gillette Industries, he’d just as soon relax while doing so.

Since Tristan’s death, he’d made it a point to become more involved in the family business. Not that he ever planned to take his brother’s seat at the table. He just wanted to be up to date in case his nephews ever needed guidance.

And now, there was Whitney to consider.

A few minutes later, Tanner headed from the clubhouse to the pool area, stopping along the way to order a club sandwich and fries. Unfortunately, he forgot to factor in that it was spring break. The pool deck was crowded with kids of all ages, presumably visiting grandparents. A group of coeds in brightly colored bikinis eyed him over their sunglasses. He felt the stares of some of the mums, too. It was no secret that he lived in the community. It was also no secret that women parked themselves by the pool in hopes of getting some face-time with him.

Swearing beneath his breath, he scanned the pool deck to find the waiter who’d just taken his order so he could redirect it back to the bar area. A familiar purple bathing suit caught his attention, however. The woman wearing it was lounging in a chaise, her skin glistening beneath the mid-day sun, her nose buried in a paperback book. Even better, the chaise next to her was empty.

Tanner was already halfway to her when his brain kicked in, reminding him that this was unwise. He was supposed to be avoiding Paige. He couldn’t be trusted around her. But he couldn’t retreat now. Not when he could feel the eyes of every woman at the pool tracking him.

Make that every woman except Paige Hollister. She was too engrossed in her book to notice.

“Where’s Whitney?” he practically barked when he tossed down his towel onto the chaise next to her.

Paige jolted at the sound of his voice before pulling her sunglasses down and eyeballing him. “She and Emily went joyriding in your golf cart.”

“Not funny.” Her snark had him relaxing. He needn’t be worried about Whitney. Paige took her role very seriously. Likely, she was off with Kate and Emily somewhere. He stepped out of his slides before lowering himself down to the chair.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“That should be obvious.” He let out a satisfying sigh, crossed his bare feet at the ankles and closed his eyes.

Paige huffed beside him. “Fine. Kate is taking the kids for lunch after visiting the sea turtle rescue hospital.” She shoved her book into a canvas bag. “I’ll just finish my book on the porch at home.”

Let her go, his brain screamed. The rest of him wasn’t listening, however. Without opening his eyes, his fingers reached between them, finding her wrist, gently encircling it.

“Stay,” he heard himself saying. Opening his eyes, he turned toward her. “Please,” he whispered, not liking the pleading tone of his voice one bit.

Paige’s eyes leapt from his hand on her wrist, up to his face, only to drop back down to where her skin was scorching his. Judging by the wary expression on her face, she thought it was a bad idea, also. Still, she sank her teeth into her bottom lip before nodding.

Relief raced through him. He brushed the pad of his thumb against the pulse throbbing at her wrist. Time seemed to stand still.

“I’ve got your lunch, Mr. Gillette,” a voice from above announced.

Paige yanked her hand away. The server was holding a folding table, but he seemed unsure where to put it until Paige gestured wildly to place it between them. She grabbed a fry from the plate and popped it into her mouth before he’d even set it down.

“Mmm. Do you have any ketchup?”

The server produced several packets from his pocket. “Anything else, sir?”

Paige picked up half the club sandwich and unabashedly took a bite.

Tanner sighed. “Apparently I’m going to need another one of those.”

“And an Arnold Palmer,” Paige mumbled around the food in her mouth.

Tanner held up two fingers. The befuddled server nodded and disappeared.

“Enjoying yourself?”

“Mmm,” she replied. “You might have mentioned lunch was part of the deal. I wouldn’t have been in such a rush to leave.”

He shook his head to avoid laughing at her cheekiness. “Thank you.”

She paused mid-bite. “Does that mean lunch is on me?”

This time he did laugh. “No. Thank you for staying.”

Her eyes darted away. Despite her outward bravado, she was skittish around him today. Not that he blamed her. He turned into a fool whenever he was near her.

The server brought their drinks. Paige swallowed half of hers in one gulp.

“I doubt you would have been lonely too long,” she said.

“Precisely what I’m trying to avoid.”

She lowered her sunglasses again. “Are you telling me I’m the . . . what? Some sort of decoy?”

“It’s been my experience that women won’t approach me if I’ve got a beautiful woman by my side.”

Paige choked on a fry. Tanner leaned over to slap her on the back. She glared at him when he let his hand linger too long.

“Puh-lease. I’m no competition for those women.” She waved a hand in the direction of the co-eds shimmying to an R&B song blasting from one of their mobile phones.

Was she kidding?

How could this woman not know she was a stunner? He let his eyes wander down her torso, lush and full in all the right places. Her legs were sturdy and toned right down to the purple nail polish on her toes. But it was the challenge in those pale blue eyes of hers that always seemed to draw him in. That and her saucy, sinful mouth.

“Why do women always do that?”

“Do what?”

“Put themselves down. Find fault with their appearance no matter how gorgeous they are.”

Her mouth opened and closed twice. “Well—”

“No,” he argued. “Don’t you dare shame your body, Paige Hollister. It’s magnificent just the way it is. You are beautiful just the way you are. Any man who doesn’t see that is a damn fool.”

Tanner was breathing unevenly. He was surprised at the ferocity of his words. But he needed her to know she was perfectly desirable. Hell, after yesterday, she had to know he was attracted to her. Had some jerk made her feel less than enough? If he ever discovered the guy’s name, he’d wrap his driver around the dude’s neck. Paige was worthy of any man. And Tanner was determined that she know it.

She tore her gaze away. The waiter with the impeccable timing arrived with Tanner’s sandwich. Paige swiped another fry, then picked up her book and focused intently on whatever was between its covers. After inhaling his sandwich, Tanner tugged his golf shirt over his head, balled it up, and put it behind his head as a pillow.

“You should probably warn a girl before you do that. I need to get my stick ready to beat the women off,” she teased.

“Have you considered a career in comedy?”

She mumbled something under her breath that he couldn’t quite catch before she gestured to the five-hundred-page prospectus he was thumbing through.

“You could always beat them off with that,” she suggested with a grin.

“Or just read it aloud. It’s unbelievably boring.”

“So why read it?”

He sighed. “Golf will be my legacy. But this—” He held up the report. “This will be my nephews’ legacy. And Whitney’s legacy.”

When she didn’t respond, he looked over at her. It was hard to tell what she was thinking with her sunglasses on, but the smile she wore looked amazed.

“What?”

Her lips twitched. “It’s nice to know Whitney will be taken care of.”

Her words shocked the hell out of him. “There was never any question of that.”

They both went back to their reading.

“Do you think her mother will come back?” Paige asked after a few minutes.

Tanner leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “God, I hope so.”

“At the very least so you can remember which of the many women you slept with is Whitney’s mom.”

It was a good thing he was sitting down because her accusation would have taken him out at the knees. Jesus. Did she really think that poorly of him? The idea that she did shouldn’t surprise him. She was only judging him on the facts as she knew them. He should set her straight. He wanted to. And not just to see her have to backpedal from her ugly opinion of him. He wanted someone to share this immense burden with. Which was funny because he’d never needed to share anything with anyone before.

Except for Tristan.

But Tristan was gone. And he’d left a mess behind. A mess Tanner could better control if he kept the facts to himself. No matter how tempting it would be to lean on Paige Hollister’s very attractive shoulders.

“Because no child should be abandoned by its mother,” he replied tersely. He opened the prospectus and ignored her for the rest of the afternoon.