Five

Reed rolled onto his stomach in an attempt to get away from the annoying tug at his arm. He just wanted to sleep. God knew it had taken him long enough to fall asleep on the hard floor of Paige’s apartment.

“Get up, Reed,” the annoying voice said again. Reed wanted nothing more than to clasp his fingers around those lips the way he’d clasp a bug.

“Go away,” Reed said. “I’m trying to sleep.”

Now she was tugging on his arm. “Get up. I told Grandma Lewis that we were going for a morning run.”

Figuring she wasn’t going to give up, Reed turned over onto his back.

Paige’s smiling face was the first thing he saw. She was so beautiful, her face freshly scrubbed and her hair pulled back in a ponytail. His complaints almost fell away. Almost. “You know I go to the gym at the end of the day, not at the beginning. I’m not going running.”

Paige tweaked his nose like he was some naughty nine-year-old. “Yes, you are. Now, hurry and get dressed. I like to get in at least five miles before breakfast.”

Five miles! Reed wasn’t into running. He much preferred lifting weights at the gym. Besides, he ran around all day. His body didn’t seem to need more. “Well, you go ahead and do your miles. I’ll stay here with Big Momma.”

In her squatting position, Paige rocked back and forth on her heels. Reed wanted to reach out and rub his hand down one of her taut brown thighs. Those calves were appealing, too. “You probably couldn’t keep up with me, anyway,” she challenged.

Reed responded to the twinkle in her eyes. Was his old Paige resurfacing? “With one leg, Paige. I could outrun you if I had only one leg.”

“Big talk.” She grinned at him, her large eyes filled with teasing challenge.

Reed knew he was doing what she wanted him to do, but he didn’t care. Now, he wanted to do it, too. “Give me ten minutes.” He threw back the covers, jumped up from his pallet and made his way to the bathroom.

He was back facing Paige in a few minutes. Not missing her quick appraisal of his form, he caught her eye. “See something you like?”

She smiled. “Yes.”

Hot damn! he thought. Maybe he was getting somewhere. 

“Where’d you get those running shoes?” she asked. “I thought you weren’t a runner.”

Well, hell, he thought again. Maybe he wasn’t getting anywhere. He lifted three fingers to his forehead. “I was a Boy Scout, and I’m always prepared.”

She sauntered toward the door, giving him time to view her perfectly rounded bottom perched atop her long, lean legs. “Let’s go, boy scout. It’s time you earned a merit badge or two.”

Reed followed after her. They warmed up on the stairs of her building before starting a leisurely jog down the sidewalk. When it seemed to him they had been running for hours, he asked, “How much farther?”

“We’re almost at the halfway mark. How are you holding up?”

He needed oxygen and a minute or two to catch his breath, but he wasn’t going to let Paige know that. “Okay.” He could only muster one word. He had to conserve his energy. The feeling in his legs gave new meaning to the word “watery.”

“Good,” was her only reply, but it seemed that she’d picked up her pace. He had to go deep to find the reserve to keep up with her. There was no way he’d be able to keep up this pace until they made it back home.

“Ouch,” he said, moving off the sidewalk and plopping down on the grass.

A good ten feet ahead of him, Paige turned, continuing to run in place. “What’s wrong?” she asked, running back to him.

Reed unlaced his sneakers and pulled off his socks. “I think it’s my toe. I must have put too much weight on it too soon.”

Paige didn’t stop running in place. “Why didn’t you just say you were tired? You didn’t have to come up with a lame story about your toe.”

Reed wasn’t going to admit to anything. “Believe what you want, Paige. I know what I feel. You can keep running. I’ll meet you back at the apartment later.” He looked around with what he hoped was a pain-filled expression. “I hope I don’t have to take a cab.”

Paige dropped down on the grass next to him and gave a burst of laughter. The sound made the morning seem brighter to Reed.

“You’re not in as good a shape as you thought, are you?”

Reed continued to rub his foot. “I haven’t gotten any complaints on my physical condition.”

Paige pulled her knees up to her chest and clasped her arms around them. “Hey, your body looks pretty good now, but I don’t want to think about you five, ten years from now.”

Reed pulled up his T-shirt and patted his hand across his washboard-flat stomach. “I don’t think you should worry. I’m good for ten years, at least.”

Paige got up and began to run in place. “Don’t get too cocky, Reed. You know what they say, washboard today, beer belly tomorrow.” She turned and resumed her jog.

~ ~ ~

No, suggesting the jog had not been a good idea, Paige thought, slowing her pace. She knew that now. She’d questioned the wisdom of asking him as soon as he’d turned over and looked up at her. She’d been convinced of it when he’d lifted his T-shirt.

He was one fine brother. That was one of the first things she’d thought when she’d met him. She’d often wondered what would have happened if they hadn’t worked together.

Paige picked up her pace and tried to clear her mind of such thoughts. She was engaged to Dexter. She was going to be Mrs. Fine. Reed was her friend, and she wanted to keep his friendship, so that’s what she should concentrate on.

When she reached the steps of her apartment building, she did her cool-down and dropped down onto the steps to wait for Reed. He hadn’t been fooling her with that “hurt toe” excuse.

She smiled. The brother just couldn’t keep up with her.

~ ~ ~

Willie Pearl was sitting on the side of the bed, putting on her shoes, when she heard the phone. She let it ring a couple of times, hoping Paige or Reed had gotten back from their morning jog and one of them would answer it.

She knew they weren’t back yet when the answering machine picked up.

“Paige, it’s your father. I thought you’d be back from your run . . .”

Willie Pearl picked up the phone. “Hello,” she said, then she realized she didn’t know his name.

“Who’s this?” Paige’s father asked.

“Willie Pearl Lewis, Reed’s grandmother. It’s so good to talk to you, ah, Mr. Thomas. It’s a shame our families haven’t met.” 

“Reed Lewis’s grandmother?” Mr. Thomas asked.

“Of course,” she replied. “Who else would I be?” Willie Pearl didn’t know what to make of Mr. Thomas’s response. She was beginning to think he was not a nice man. He hadn’t even told her his first name. “Paige is a lovely girl. I know she’ll make my grandson a happy man.”

“A happy man?” Mr. Thomas practically yelled the question. “Where’s Paige? Put her on the phone now.”

Now Willie Pearl knew he wasn’t a nice man. Mr. Thomas was pushing her a bit too far. She began to feel a little sorry for Paige, if the child had grown up with such an ornery father. “Paige and Reed went running this morning. They’re not back yet.”

“Paige and Reed?” Mr. Lewis yelled again. “Where’s Dexter?”

“There’s no need for you to yell, Mr. Thomas,” Willie Pearl said. “I can hear. Who’s Dexter, anyway?”

“Who’s Dexter?” Mr. Thomas repeated.

Willie Pearl was about to repeat her question when she heard the door open, followed by the voices of Reed and Paige. “Hold on a minute, Mr. Thomas. Paige and Reed just got back. I’ll get her for you.”

Willie Pearl placed the receiver on the nightstand and walked out to meet Reed and Paige.

“Good morning, Grandma Lewis,” Paige said.

Reed greeted her with a kiss. “Good morning, Big Momma.”

“Good morning.” She looked at Paige. “Your father is on the phone and he’s upset about something. You’d better talk to him. He seemed to get angry, then he asked about someone named Dexter.”

Paige shot a quick glance at Reed before rushing into her bedroom. She heard Grandma Lewis ask Reed, “Who is Dexter?” before she closed the door and walked to the bed.

Taking a seat, Paige lifted the receiver, held it to her heart while she took a deep breath, and then, once she was calm, she spoke. “Good morning, Daddy,” she said, glad that the words came out smoothly.

“What the hell is going on there, Paige?” her father asked. “What is Reed’s grandmother doing in your apartment? And what is she talking about—you’ll make Reed happy? Why were you out running with Reed? I thought your friendship with Reed was over, anyway. Has Dexter gotten back from L.A. yet?”

Paige rolled her eyes to the ceiling while her father rattled off his questions. It was so like him. He always had to be in control, always had to know everything.

“Are you going to answer me, Paige?”

She released the breath she had been holding. “I’m feeling very well, Daddy. I’m glad you asked. How are you and Mom?”

“Damn it, Paige,” her father began. “I’m sorry. I’m fine and your mother’s fine. Now, what about my questions?”

“It was good seeing you two over Christmas. I know Dexter enjoyed himself.”

Her father laughed. “If you weren’t so much like me, Princess,” he said, “I don’t think we’d get along.”

Paige laughed, too. She loved her father and she knew he loved her, but sometimes she had to set boundaries with him. She found that difficult to do at times, since she cherished his approval. Still, she was able to manage it . . . most of the time. “I hope you weren’t mean to Grandma Lewis,” Paige said.

Her father cleared his throat. “I could have been a bit more cordial,” he confessed. “She caught me off-guard with her comment about you making her grandson happy.”

Her father didn’t say any more, but Paige knew he was dying to repeat his earlier questions. “If you agree to apologize to her, I’ll tell you what’s going on. But you have to agree.”

“I’m an attorney, Paige. No deal until I know the details.”

“Fine,” Paige said. “No deal.”

The older man laughed again. “You win, counselor. I’ll apologize.”

Paige smiled again. “Reed and his grandmother are staying with me because his apartment is flooded.”

He gave a “humph.” “I know public defenders don’t make much, but Lewis ought to have enough money for a hotel room. Why is he staying at your place?”

Paige explained the ruse she and Reed were playing. 

“You’re what?” her father exclaimed. “I don’t believe this. What does Dexter have to say about it?”

What does Dexter have to say about it? Paige repeated in her mind. Why did her father always think about Dexter first? “There’s nothing for him to say. Reed and his grandmother will be gone before Dexter gets back from L.A. Don’t make a big deal out of it. I’m only doing a favor for a friend.”

“I don’t know, Paige . . .”

“Well, I do,” she interrupted. “Now, put Mom on the phone so I can say hello. And don’t run away. You still have to apologize to Grandma Lewis.”

~ ~ ~

“Who’s Dexter?” Big Momma asked again.

It took all of Reed’s will to pull his gaze from Paige’s bedroom door. More than anything he wanted to know what she was telling her father. He shrugged his shoulders. He’d have to wait until she came out.

“So, who is he?” Big Momma asked for the third time. 

“Dexter? Oh, he’s a friend of Paige’s.”

Big Momma’s eyes widened in question. “Why would Mr. Thomas ask about him? Why, he seemed more interested in this Dexter than he did in you or me.”

Reed smiled like it was nothing. “You have to get to know Mr. Thomas. He’s a gruff kind of guy. He thought Dexter was better suited for Paige than me.” At least that part was true, Reed thought. “He hasn’t given up on the two of them getting together.”

“Even though Paige is engaged to you?”

Reed shrugged. Lying to his grandmother made him uncomfortable. “He’ll come around. I know he loves Paige. He has to understand that I love her, too.”

Big Momma nodded. “Is that why you haven’t had them out to meet the family? That has kind of bothered me, Reed. You’re engaged and no one in the family has met your fiancée. The two families need to meet and get to know each other.”

And they would have met if he and Paige had really been engaged. He’d love to bring her home with him so she could see where he grew up, so she could better appreciate who he was. He knew his mother and father would love her just as he’d known Big Momma would love her. And Tom. Tom would flirt outrageously, but then, that’s what little brothers did. Soon, he thought. Soon he’d be able to introduce Paige to his family and to the world as his fiancée. He knew it. “We’ll get together, Big Momma. I promise. Paige and I will have a lifetime together.”