Chapter 24

CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR

Paige closedthe bookstore later than usual that evening. Chances Inlet was crowded with tourists, all of whom wanted flags to wave during the parade the following day. Kudos to Cassidy for anticipating the need and ordering them earlier that week. Especially since many of the flag-seekers ended up purchasing a book or a magazine to read while soaking up the sun at the beach this weekend. Denise and Lou would be thrilled when she told them.

She waved at Cassidy who was working her second summer gig, manning the Patty Wagon, a tricked-out ice cream truck owned by Patricia. Cassidy was industrious and hard-working, no doubt from spending time under the wing of the innkeeper.

“Headed home?”

Paige jumped at Deputy Lovell’s question.

“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to startle you. On busy nights like this, I like to stop in and make sure things are locked up tight with my mom’s store.”

She looked over his shoulder at the shop’s window featuring a fabulous display of red, white, and blue yarn in honor of Founder’s Day.

“Yarn is a hot commodity on the black market, I take it?” she teased.

He dipped his chin. When he lifted it back up, his dazzling smile had her rocking back on her heels. “Dude. Where do you think bank robbers get all their knit masks from?”

Paige laughed until tears escaped.

“Okay, that wasn’t that funny,” he insisted.

She wiped her eyes. “I know. But it was totally unexpected coming from someone as serious as you. And I mean that in the nicest way possible.” She patted his shoulder. “I needed a good laugh after the day I’ve had. Thank you.”

He nodded. “Your father mentioned Whitney’s mother reappeared.”

His reminder sucked the mirth right out of her. “Yep.” She sighed. “But it’s a good thing. Really. Whitney needs her mom.”

“That’s a very noble thing to say. You’re definitely your father’s daughter.”

The deputy’s words startled her more than his sudden appearance. He had it wrong, though. She carried her father’s DNA, but she wasn’t her father’s daughter. Just like Whitney, the title of father went to the man who raised her. Not that she particularly wanted to discuss their relationship with the man who was her dad’s protégé.

He must have sensed her reticence because he quickly changed the subject. “Is your car parked out back?”

“No. It’s at the inn,” she replied, certain he already knew that.

“You’re walking all the way there alone? At night?”

She scoffed at him. “It’s barely nine o’clock, and this isn’t Chicago. I’ll be fine.”

“That’s what Patricia thought last Founder’s Day. She was hit by a drunk driver and left for dead.”

His revelation shocked her. “I didn’t know that.” Her chest grew tight just thinking about the woman she’d come to admire suffering for even a moment.

“Long days in the sun and alcohol don’t mix well. Anything could happen out here tonight. Your father would fire me if he knew I let you walk. My cruiser is at the end of the block. I’ll run you up to the inn.”

The no-nonsense deputy she’d encountered weeks ago when she first found Whitney had returned. Resistance was futile. There would be no arguing with the man. Paige followed without protest as he led her to his cruiser.

He was right about the crowds being a lot more animated than previous evenings. Twice he had to flash his lights to clear a side street. He radioed something cryptic to another deputy.

“It’s going to be a long night,” he told her.

“You’re making my point that I don’t need a babysitter to walk home.”

He sighed in frustration. “Look, Paige, I want to share something about your dad.”

She held up a hand. “Deputy Lovell—”

“Hayden,” he interrupted. “Please. Call me Hayden. I have two amazing parents I love more than anything. But your dad, well, he’s like a second father to me. It would mean a lot to me if we could be friends.”

“At least he was a father to someone,” she muttered bitterly.

“That right there. That’s the reason I wanted to talk to you. To set you straight.”

“I’m not five-years-old, Hayden,” she snapped. “Your ‘second father’ has been my absent father for twenty-eight years.”

He steered the car down the long drive leading to the inn.

“Yeah, well, while he was ’absent,’” your dad was busy saving the lives of countless servicemen and women. Including mine.”

Given his allegiance to her father, she wasn’t surprised. She’d grown well aware of her father’s distinguished career. Whenever her mother spoke of her father, she always mentioned his heroics. She had to admit, though, it was humbling to be sitting next to one of the recipients of her father’s selfless actions. It would be rude not to give Hayden his two minutes.

“I didn’t just leave bits and pieces of my leg back there in Afghanistan. I left a big chunk of my self-worth. Your dad helped me find it again. He took me under his wing in counseling and he put me on the path to a new career. I’m not exaggerating when I say I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for him.”

“Counseling?”

“No one goes through what we went through without scars. Some of those scars are a result of the sacrifices we all make to serve our country. In your dad’s case, his sacrifice was you.”

She felt like she’d been punched in the stomach. He pulled up to the steps leading to the inn’s veranda and jerked the cruiser into park with a heavy sigh.

“I have no right butting into this. And you can tell me to shove it if you want. I deserve it. I just wanted you to know that you weren’t the only one who suffered when your father couldn’t be a part of your everyday life.”

Paige gnawed on her bottom lip, feeling every bit like the selfish brat Hayden had just accused her of being. She sat in stunned silence until a call came over his radio that he needed to respond to.

“Your father would rip me a new one if I let your ride along while I respond to a drunk and disorderly call.”

She reached for the door handle. “Thanks for the ride, Hayden. Be safe out there tonight.”

He waved a curt goodbye, heading back toward town as soon as she closed the passenger door. She pondered Hayden’s words as she climbed the steps into the inn. In the two months she’d been in Chances Inlet, Paige and her dad managed to avoid any deep discussion of their relationship. In fact, she was surprised her father never brought the subject up. He seemed content to let the subject lie. Perhaps that was the best way to handle things between them.

“Paige?” Patricia stepped out of the library. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, sure. Just lost in thought.”

“It has been an eventful day, that’s for sure,” Patricia said. “Would you like to join me in the kitchen for a cup of chamomile tea?”

Any other night, Paige might have enjoyed that. Tonight, though, she didn’t feel like the best company. Not only did Hayden’s remarks stir up a lot of uncertainty within Paige, but she missed Whitney. And she missed Tanner even more.

“Can I take a raincheck? I’ve been dreaming of a relaxing bath for the past hour.”

“That works, too.” Patricia pulled her in for a hug. “Sleep well, Paige.”

Paige was headed for the stairs when she turned back. “Patricia?”

The other woman looked up from where she was fanning out a pile of maps of the downtown on the foyer table. “Yes, hon?”

“Is my dad around by any chance?”

Patricia shook her head. “He’s got everyone out on patrol tonight. I can call him if it’s important.”

“No.” Paige waved her off. “Nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow.” She wasn’t sure what she would say to her dad, anyway. “Night.”

She hurried up the stairs and into her suite. A long soak in the tub would soothe her nerves. After kicking off her shoes, she dropped her bookbag onto the loveseat. A movement by the bed startled her. She swallowed a scream at the sight of Tanner reclining on the mattress.

A very naked Tanner.

“What? How?” The words were hard to push past her panicked throat.

He grinned at her distress, the rat bastard.

“Imagine my surprise when Gavin showed me the secret entrance to this room.”

Her pulse jumped up another ten notches. “There’s a secret entrance?”

Great.

There went any chance of Paige getting any sleep in this room. She ran to the wall and began tracing her fingers along the wainscoting. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tanner lift up one of her beloved paperback books.

“But what really surprised me?” He cocked an eyebrow devilishly. “Reading how naughty those dudes in Victorian England were.”

“Oh. My. God!” She jumped on the bed, trying to rescue her book. “Give me that!”

He laughed as he held it out of reach. She sprawled across his bare chest in an effort to retrieve it. Except the minute she came in contact with his warm skin, she lost interest in the book. His familiar scent filled her nostrils making her insides quiver. Her lips found their way to his neck as though following a homing beacon. She tangled her fingers in the coarse hair at his navel. He groaned when her hand traveled lower to wrap around the hard velvet length of him.

Her breath hitched when he reversed their positions. He skimmed his lips along her jaw. His greedy fingers slid beneath her T-shirt to toy with her breasts.

“I really want to try out the position they describe on page one-seventy-three,” he whispered. “First, we need to get these clothes off. You’re a bit overdressed.”

He snapped open the button on her shorts while Paige tried to gather up her scattered wits. She was supposed to be taking some time away from him. Time to figure out if he was worth the risk to her heart. She swatted at his hands. He took his hands from her body immediately. Then he pushed up on his elbows so that he was hovering above her. Her body instantly began complaining about the lack of contact.

“Paige,” he groaned.

“Why are you here?”

“Because you’re here,” he replied solemnly, as though it was the simplest answer in the world.

She slammed her eyes shut.

Why did he have to be so wonderful?

He touched his forehead to hers. “Paige. You don’t want people to know about us. Fine. I respect your wish for privacy. Trust me. I know how brutal gossip and the media can be. We’ll do this your way. As long as we can still be together, I’ll take whatever you’ll give me.”

She felt his lips trace over her closed eyes.

“Tell me you don’t want this.” He thrust his hips into hers. “Tell me you want me to go. I will if you ask me to. But you have to use your words, Paige. And you have to do it now.”

A moan escaped her lips. She forced her eyes open. The uncertainty in his eyes made her stomach clench.

“This thing between us is like nothing I’ve ever felt before,” he whispered. “Tell me you feel it too.”

She did. She was just having trouble making herself believe that the sentiments he professed were true.

“I’m scared,” she whispered. The words came out of nowhere. She meant to keep them bottled up with her battered heart. Except Tanner always seemed to be able to unravel all her secrets.

His face relaxed into a stunned grin. “Yeah. This feels pretty damn scary to me, too. I never expected to fall for you. To fall for anyone.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “It’s a lot to ask you to get involved with a guy who’s on the road half the year. But we can make this work. I know we can. We’ll figure out a way for you to keep your job in Chicago if you want that, too.”

A manic laugh rolled past her lips.

Tell him.

He spoke before she could spill her truth.

“I’m all yours, Paige Hollister. You’re the only one who knows all my secrets. You’re the only one I trust with them. I’ve got nothing to hide from you. Do you trust me?”

His softly uttered question nearly destroyed her. She thought back to all the ridiculous things Jon had once said to her. Lies about her being the only one in his life. About him seeing them together forever. Tanner was saying the same thing. But with one exception.

Trust.

In the past two months the man leaning over her had demonstrated countless times that he was a man of character. A man she could trust. He wasn’t hiding anything from her. Suddenly, she knew that to be true with every fiber of her being. Without hesitation, she took a leap of faith and gently pressed her lips to his.

“Yes,” she murmured against his mouth.

With a low growl, he stripped her naked and proceeded to act out the scene from page one-seventy-three.