CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
After spending three hours at the park, eating ice cream, hot dogs, and potato chips, Paige and Brian were just as worn out as Mickey was, who slept in between them in Brian’s truck. Paige rested her arm around Mickey’s shoulders.
“Are you still awake over there?” Brian asked, glancing at her.
“I’m barely awake. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“Why was that?” he asked as he turned on to their street.
“I had a man on my mind,” she replied with a smile.
Brian raised his eyebrow in mock jealousy. “Should I be worried?”
“Yes,” Paige said as she unsnapped her seat belt when he pulled into the driveway. She scooped Mickey into her arms. His legs dangled near her waist. “You should worry about what I’m going to do to that man tonight.”
A wicked smile spread across Brian’s face. “Well, you know, I did have a little something special planned for us tonight,” he said as he walked up the steps ahead of her to unlock the door and open it for her.
Paige took Mickey to his bedroom and gently laid him on the bed, kissing his forehead before heading to the living room. Brian was sitting on the sofa flipping though the TV channels.
Paige circled her arms around his neck. “And just what do you have planned for tonight?”
Brian reached up and grabbed her arms, pulling her across the sofa and into his lap.
“You’ll have to wait and see, Miss Paige. But do me a favor and wear something sexy,” he said. “Not that you’re not looking good in those daisy dukes.”
Paige had changed into a pair of cut-off shorts and a tank top before they went to the park. Laughing, she twirled around in the middle of the floor. “Then I guess I’d better go home and change.”
“Not yet,” Brian said, planting a deep kiss on her. She lost herself in his lips. This was blissful, heavenly, and soon she was going to have him every day for the rest of her life. She pulled him closer to her, running her hand up and down his neck and felt his hardness pressing against her hip.
They fell back on the sofa. Paige wanted to rip her clothes off and make love to him on the sofa, but Mickey was in the other room and she would be mortified if he walked in and saw them. Reluctantly, she pulled back from Brian, leaping off his lap.
“Let me leave before we start a fire we can’t put out,” she said.
“Oh, I can put the fire out,” Brian said as he stood up and wrapped his arms around her waist. “But in due time.” He kissed her on the back of her neck.
Paige wiggled out of his arms and turned around to face him. “I’ll see you later.” Blowing him a kiss, she headed out the door.
The first thing Paige did when she walked inside her house was grab the phone and call Patrick. She hadn’t spoken to her friend since she leaving Nashville earlier in the summer.
“Well, if it isn’t Paige Grayson,” Patrick said when he answered the phone. “Either you’re just getting out of rehab or all is right in your world.”
“Is that your way of saying I don’t call enough?” she joked.
“Uh, yeah. Last time I talked to you, your heart was broken and you were on your way to becoming a Lifetime movie.”
Paige couldn’t help laughing. “Just shut up. Listen, I’m getting married.”
There was dead silence on the phone line. “Patrick, did you hear what I said?”
“Is this smart?” he asked. “I mean, what about his ex-wife? You thought they had gotten back together.”
“I was mistaken about that. As a matter of fact, Brian’s ex-wife is the least of my worries. She’s going to be out of his life permanently; she almost got their son killed,” Paige said.
She told Patrick all that had happened after her return to Elmore—the knockdown, drag out in her front yard, Brian’s custody case, and the fire in Atlanta.
“Wow,” Patrick said. “What a total one-eighty. So, things weren’t as bad as you made them out to be, huh?”
“No,” she said. “I kinda flew off the handle, as usual.”
Patrick laughed. “So you and this guy are the real thing?”
“I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, Patrick. I miss him when he’s not around. And I love his son just like he was my own.”
“Are you happy?” Patrick asked. “Because if you’re happy, then I’m all for it.”
Paige smiled as if Patrick were right there. “I’m happy.”
“When is the wedding and how many carats?” he asked.
“Well, I haven’t gotten a ring yet. I mean, he asked me to marry him last night and I said yes this morning.”
Patrick sighed. “Are you sure you guys aren’t moving too fast?”
“When you’re sure about a person, there’s no such thing as moving too fast,” Paige said. “Just tell me congratulations.”
“Congratulations.” Patrick said. “But he’d better not hurt you again, because if you come crawling back to Nashville again, he’s going to have problems with me.”
“I love you, Patrick,” Paige said, feeling warm that he cared about her. “You’re going to have to be my man of honor or something.”
“Yeah, so you can try and stuff me into a pink dress. I think not. But seriously, I have to come down there and have a heart-to-heart with the future Mr. Paige Grayson. Remember when you said you were going to make your husband take your name?”
Paige and Patrick broke into hysterical laughter. “That was because Professor Danford pissed me off in class that day, talking about the role of women in marriage and what not. I didn’t need to hear that 1950s mess. But you know what, I don’t think I’m going to mind being Mrs. Paige Grayson-Jackson.”
“All right, Paige,” Patrick said.
Paige and Patrick said their goodbyes and she headed for the bathroom to prepare for her date with Brian.
When he knocked on her door, Paige planned to knock his socks off. She walked into her bedroom and pulled a slinky black and white dress from the closet. The dress hit her at the knee and clung to her body, showing off her curves.
Paige ran a hot bath, sprinkling a few drops of almond oil in water. The steam from the bath was going to make her hair soft and curly. Inching into the water, immersing her shoulders, she closed her eyes and let the water swirl around her. She imagined that the lick of the water was Brian’s tongue, kissing every inch of her body. She ran her hands across her thighs, imagining that her hands were Brian’s. Then she stopped herself. If she got lost in her fantasy, she’d never be ready for their date. Wrapping herself in a plush towel, she walked into her bedroom, dried herself, smoothed cocoa butter on her supple skin and then dressed in a red satin bra and thong set.
Well, he said sexy, she thought as she put the underwear on. Paige grabbed her hair moisturizer and squeezed a dime-size amount in her hand and rubbed it through her hair, locking in her natural curl pattern and controlling the frizz.
She sprayed a mist of Estée Lauder’s Dazzling Gold on her neck and wrists, and then slipped into her slinky dress. She looked in the mirror, admiring the way the black and white dress hugged her taut breasts, high behind, flat stomach, and round hips. She looked sexy if she had to say so herself. Paige fluffed her hair before she glossed her lips with a peach-colored MAC lip-gloss. Next, she dipped her finger in a jar of facial moisturizer and rubbed it across her face to give her skin a healthy glow. The reflection staring back at her looked like a woman who was ready to move forward in love and life.
When Brian knocked on the door, it was as if Paige had been transported back to her prom night. She was excited and nervous at the same time and her heart was beating like a conga drum.
“Hi,” Paige said in a sultry voice.
“Wow,” he replied with his mouth hanging open.
“I hope this is sexy enough for you.” She spun around like a runway model.
Brian wrapped Paige up in a tight embrace, brushing his lips against her neck.
She pushed him back. “Aren’t we supposed to be going out?”
“The way you look, I don’t want anyone else looking at you.”
Paige blushed. “Oh, you’re not getting out of this.” She reached for her purse and keys. Brian walked behind her and she could feel him watching her hips sway. Paige stopped. “Enjoying the view?”
He laughed. “You know it.”
She handed him her car keys. “Why don’t we put the top down and drive wherever you’re taking me?”
Brian took the keys, unlocked the car and opened the passenger side door for Paige. She slid in the car, giving him a glimpse of her smooth legs as he closed the door. She heard him inhale sharply as he walked over to the driver’s side.
Brian got in and glanced over at Paige. “You’re so beautiful,” he said as he started the car.
“Thank you.”
He reached over and stroked her bare thigh. A tingle shot though her nervous system; making her close her eyes and will herself to regain her composure. “So where are you taking me?”
Brian didn’t answer. He drummed his fingers along the steering wheel as he drove and hummed a tune she’d never heard before.
“Brian!” she snapped.
“What?”
“Where are we going?”
“I bet you were one of those kids who tried to open Christmas presents before Christmas morning.”
Paige folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. “So what if I was?”
“Trust me, you’ll like where we’re going,” he said as he pulled into the parking lot of what looked like an abandoned business.
Paige looked at the small white building. He wanted me to get dressed up to come to this dump?
Brian opened the car door. “Wait here,” he said.
Paige watched him as he walked into the building. She’d passed this place every day, but had never stopped to sample their food. When Brian walked out with a picnic basket and a bottle of wine, Paige crossed her legs and leaned back in the leather seat. We must be going to the lake, she thought as he got into the car.
“All right, we’re off,” Brian said, as he switched the ignition on.
“And we’re going where?” she inquired.
“Patience is a virtue that you certainly don’t possess,” Brian said as he headed down the street. Paige pouted then uncrossed her legs. When she looked out the window, she realized where they were going. Brian was taking her to the park, the place where they’d had their first date. She smiled as he pulled into the parking lot.
“You do realize the last time we were here, things didn’t—”
Brian placed his finger to Paige’s lips to quiet her. “Most of the time, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. But we have a chance to start over. Tonight’s our first date.” Closing his hand around hers, he led her to a tall oak tree and then set the basket on the ground. He pulled out a red and white checkered cloth and spread it over the grass. Paige took her stiletto sandals off and sat down on the cloth as Brian spread out the food—pecan-crusted fried chicken, potato salad, crisp green salad, and chocolate- covered strawberries.
“I never knew that place had this kind of food,” Paige said as Brian poured the wine in two glasses.
“Normally they don’t. But the cook and I are close,” he said as he handed her the wine glass. “Let’s toast.”
They held up their glasses. “Here’s to good food, a beautiful woman, and the rest of our lives,” Brian said. Then they clinked their glasses together.
Paige took a sip of wine, all the while watching Brian as he set his glass down and reached into the basket again. He pulled out the green velvet box.
“I have something else I want to toast,” he said as he opened the box. The diamond ring sparkled in the moonlight.
Paige covered her mouth with her hand as she looked at the ring. “Brian, it’s beautiful.”
“It was my mother’s. The first time I got married, my sister wouldn’t let me have it and I’m glad, because you’re the one who should wear it.” Brian took the ring out of the box, grabbed her left hand and slid it on her ring finger. Paige was shocked that the ring fit her slender finger perfectly.
“See what I mean,” Brian said as he kissed her hand. “Paige Grayson, will you marry me?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Of course I will,” she replied.
Brian pulled Paige into his lap and stroked her cheek. “You’ve made me the happiest man in South Carolina—not just tonight, but ever since you came into my life. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Brian captured Paige’s lips, planting a deep, soul-shaking kiss on her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her fingers in the curly hair on his neck. Paige broke off the kiss and looked up at him.
“Maybe we should pack this up and go home. I don’t want to eat now,” Paige said.
Brian smiled. “You won’t get any complaints from me on that.” They began putting the food back in the basket so that they could head home and spend the night making love.