Chapter Eleven

Morning came. It came with a harsh brightness to Paige. The storm had passed, and the temperature warmed slightly. Icy surfaces reflected light all the stronger. She rubbed sleep from her eyes and heard a tapping noise. She looked over and saw that Michael was still working hard at his managerial or technical task of some sort.

She looked down. She was still in the clothing from last night. Hung over, her head was foggy at best as pieces of the night came back to her. Not just the fun dinner or the lingering delicious shower, but the wine and…oh no…their discussion.

Knowing she had to look like death warmed over, she dashed to the restroom to freshen up and to give her reflection a good talking to.

“This whole time, Michael was, well, incredible,” she told herself as she squeezed toothpaste onto her toothbrush, finally using her own toiletries. “Really increbibble.” She spat out the toothpaste and rinsed, then looked at her complexion. It did glow a bit. She smiled and began brushing her hair. Her dopey grin vanished, and her eyebrows furrowed. “But he said all those nice things because he had to. Ya put ‘im on the spot. He did seem genuine, though.”

Her brush strokes lengthened, and her face brightened. She stopped in mid-stroke of the brush and shook her head. “Nope. He just thinks you’re a vacation, a dalliance, a dream.” Paige sighed a school girl sigh and put away the brush. “What a dream.”

“No, no, no, missy! Dreamy or no, you need to move on.” She started to floss but stopped with the string in her mouth. “You just had too much truth juice last night.”

She rinsed again and did her makeup very lightly as she preferred. Even with the talking to she gave herself, deep down, she knew she wasn’t convinced. Groundhog Man had stolen her heart. She’d need it back and soon. Well, sometime, at least.

Returning to the bedroom, Paige tried not to be obvious as she collected her things, but Michael looked up from his laptop and waved her over, taking off his headphones. “Morning, sweet stuff.”

She looked at him, not sure what to make of the newest nickname. He clicked something and stood up, rubbing his hands together and smiling. More new things.

“Um, sorry for the Cabernet show I put on last night.”

“Nothing to be sorry for.” He pulled her in close and hugged her tightly, kissing her forehead. He said something that sounded like, “Ya way lo hottie” followed by “Let it go.”

He kissed her lips. “Mmm. Minty. Are you okay, now?” He leaned back and looked into her eyes with those sincere amber-brown eyes of his.

Inside her, every ounce of her being wanted to scream, No! I’m not okay. I haven’t a clue what the F is going on, but I want to be with you and not leave. Instead, she took the high road and managed a few words, “Sure. Fine. Just need a sip of coffee or tea. Your project’s done?”

“Will be. I know we need to check out soon, so I’m rushing to get this phase done. A guy’s gotta do what a guy’s gotta do.” The computer bleeped at him. “Excuse me.” He looked excited, sat down, and put his headphones back on. She let him work.

She had texts and messages waiting on her phone but ignored them after seeing most were from Davis. Dressed in her overly worn jeans, she looked for something warm to wear on top. While she had a few things from her car, she just didn’t have the right clothing. She found his sweater on top of his luggage and pulled out the last of his socks.

She motioned to Michael, “Can I wear this again?”

He nodded and returned to his web cam meeting. She had little to gather and did so quickly. Since he had told her the wine was her gift, the sentimental part of her told her to take the bottle. Screwing the cap on tightly, she shoved it in her bag. She looked about the room. The exquisite room. Their room.

With an inhale and steady exhale, she stuffed away dreamy thoughts of the last two nights. Reality hit as harshly as the glaring sunshine.

She interrupted him again. “You said we have to check out. Going to get breakfast first. Okay?”

“Sure,” he answered quickly with that business smile and turned back to the computer.

“Leaving now. Bye, then.”

All she got was a wave.

Momentarily, she was dumbfounded. Was he really shooing her away? It would have crushed her if she dared let it. She couldn’t. She was raised to be a strong, bright woman. She had a soft exterior and an inviting drawl, but she could be hard as nails if need be. She left Davis and Atlanta. She could handle this. Or so she told herself as she pulled closed the door to her namesake, Amelia’s room.

She scoffed as she walked down the stairs, “Meant to be all right. Meant to be a rebound.”