The Taming of the Bachelor (22 page)

H
e was glad they changed the subject, and pleased when the rustic gas patio lights came on right at seven thirty, just as it was beginning to grow dark. It was a nice house. Better than nice. It had great proportions and tons of light and space. But it wasn’t a family house. It was a man’s house. A bachelor’s place. Maybe that’s why it appealed. The minimalist design and open floor plan let him breathe. There was nothing here to confine him or trap him, not the way he’d felt in the one-hundred-year-old log cabin on the Sheenan ranch, with memories of Mom and Dad everywhere. No, in this modern house with the walls of windows he could see the sky from every room, reminding him he was free.

“So,” he said, leaning back in his chair once they’d finished eating. “How did you manage this...lining up the grandparents, getting a ticket, coming out here...?”

She swallowed, shrugged. “The same way you came out here. You go online, buy a ticket, head to the airport.”

He was amused, but also a little bit troubled. “But everything is okay at home? You’re doing well? The kids are well? Diner—”

“Everything is great,” she said quickly. “Kids are great. Addison has a ballet recital coming up in a couple weeks and Tyler’s been working hard on his science fair project. Diner is operating in the black. Things couldn’t be better.”

But it wasn’t true, he thought, hearing the edge in her voice. She wasn’t great. She didn’t seem like herself. “You’re upset, though,” he said.

She sighed, pushing gleaming hair back from her face. “Not upset, no. Not the way you mean.”

“Then what?”

“I just....” Her shoulders twisted helplessly. “...missed you.”

P
aige held her breath, trying to read Dillon’s expression in the flickering light of his patio, as she waited for him to reply.

The sun had gone down an hour ago and the long lavender twilight had faded to night. Distant pinpricks of light shone from the other side of the river, almost like little stars twinkling among the oak trees, but people and society felt very remote right now. It was just them here, and so far it wasn’t going so well.

“Are
you
upset that I’m here?” she asked, trying to prod an answer from him since he was slow to reply.

“No. I’m shocked, but pleasantly so. I had no idea you had so much gumption.”

Paige rolled his answer around on her tongue, in her head, not sure if those were the words she wanted to hear. “I used to be wild. When I was younger. I was quite adventurous and daring.”

He gave her a look and she rolled her eyes. “Okay,” she corrected. “Maybe I was never wild, or daring, but I was plucky, and I had this crazy sense of humor. I would do ridiculous things just to make people laugh. Just to make me laugh.” Her expression turned wistful. “I used to love to laugh. And I guess you could say, that’s what brought me here.” She leaned towards him to whisper in a stage voice. “I flew in for a good time.”

He laughed, just as she’d intended, and it warmed her, releasing some of the tension she’d felt ever since arriving in Austin.

“You wouldn’t let things get out of control in Marietta,” she added nonchalantly. “Because you said it wouldn’t be right to take advantage of me, or hook up with me and leave me. And so I am here, in your world, and the tables have turned, Dillon. I’ve come to take advantage of you.”

“
Paige
.”

“Don’t say it like that.”

“Like how?”

“As if you are one hundred years old, or my high school guidance counselor. Really, Dillon, that’s not encouraging at all. Think of my self-esteem, please.”

The corners of his mouth twitched. “You’re impossible.”

“Personally, I think you’re the one that’s difficult. You could make this easier on me. You could have me upstairs in your bed now, instead of making uncomfortable conversation on the patio.”

“From a man’s perspective, all conversation is uncomfortable and usually unnecessary, but you women have taught us it’s considered the first step of foreplay,” he answered, taking her hand, catching her wrist, his fingers wrapping around the slender bones. He gently but firmly tugged her from her seat, propelling her towards him so that he could draw her between his knees. “Are you not enjoying yourself?”

“I am.” She gazed down into his face, fascinated by the way his brow knit, and his jaw tightened as he studied her. He was so good-looking, so rugged and male, and she was so drawn to him, so attracted and ready to put all the questions and curiosity to rest. Would making love with Dillon be worth all the sleepless nights? All the impossible fantasies and relentless craving? “And you? Are you enjoying this?”

“Yes.” He didn’t even hesitate. “I think you know I like you more than I’ve liked any woman in a very long time.”

“Good. I’m glad.” She loved looking into his eyes, loved the focus in his eyes, and the hint of fire. He was so aware of the world, and his alertness made her long to be the focus of his attention. She wanted the night he’d denied her. She wanted the heat, wanted the sparks, wanted that consuming desire. “So is there any woman who will be upset to discover I am here?”

“No. There is only you.”

Her heart turned over. She smiled faintly, and lightly clasped his face, feeling the rough bristle of his beard. “You make that sound like a problem, though.”

“It is a problem since we live 1,700 miles apart.”

She dipped her head, lightly kissing him. “We live in an era of planes, trains and automobiles. It’s not as if we can’t figure out a way to see each other.”

“I don’t want to do long distance.”

“Maybe it doesn’t always have to be long distance.”

“I’m not returning to Montana, and that’s where you and the kids and Lewis’ parents live.”

She pressed another light kiss to his lips, stopping him from saying more. “Stop being so practical,” she whispered against his mouth. “You’re ruining the mood.”

She felt his smile and he drew her down onto his lap, his arms circling her waist, holding her close. “And for your information, I did miss you. A great deal, actually.”

His voice was so deep and husky it sent shivers up and down her spine. “I hated when Tyler called you and talked to you, and I couldn’t.”

“You could have. You just didn’t.”

“You made it clear when you left that there wouldn’t be a relationship.”

“And yet here you are.”

“Yes.” She looked into his eyes. Dillon had a body—a big gorgeous male body—and his body was appealing, but there was nothing sexier than his brain. He was smart. Intense. And oh so very hot. “Here I am. So what are you going to do with me?”

P
aige couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t relax, not with her thoughts racing. Her mind shouldn’t be racing. The sex had been incredible. Dillon was incredible. And yet now that he was asleep, she couldn’t stop thinking.

What would happen now?

They’d made love and she’d come apart in his arms, and then he’d kissed her after, telling her how beautiful she was, but there had been no mention of love. No mention of anything. No mention of a future or what would happen once she returned to Marietta Sunday morning.

On one hand she knew it was too early. She’d only just gotten here. They’d only made love for the first time ever tonight. But now that they had, she was panicking.

Had it just been sex, or was it more?

She prayed it was more.

She prayed they were more than just a weekend hookup. And yet, isn’t that what she told Dillon she wanted? A weekend with him? No strings attached?

She shouldn’t have told him that. Or herself. She wasn’t someone who did sex-no-strings-attached well. Actually, she’d never had sex-no-strings-attached ever.

Shivering, Paige left bed and reached for her nightgown and pulled it over her head, and then grabbed Dillon’s shirt and drew it on, over her short nightgown before slipping from the bedroom and heading down to his kitchen to see if he had any herbal tea. Years ago, after Lewis first died, she’d sit up all night, night after night, staring out the window at nothing, with a cup of tea at her elbow. She rarely drank the tea, but making the tea, and having that cup next to her, was a ritual. It provided comfort, and gave her something to do, something to touch, something to hold when she was numb and grieving and unable to imagine a future.

Going through Dillon’s cupboards, she found they were all bare. Not a box or bag of tea anywhere. It was hard not to contrast Dillon’s world with her own.

His steel and glass corporate office. Her simple brick diner.

His sophisticated, modern light-filled home. Her tall, narrow Victorian.

His massive refrigerator, empty except for a bottle of vodka in the freezer. Her refrigerator, fully stocked, with the banged-up doors covered by kid’s art and photos and report cards.

They had nothing in common. There was no reason for them to be together. Nothing that would keep them together. Except love.

But that was the catch. He’d never once mentioned love. He cared for her. He wanted what was best for her. He’d also repeatedly insisted, he wasn’t the one for her.

Her eyes stung.

She was going to get her heart broken, wasn’t she?

D
illon was awake when Paige slipped from the bed, and put on her nightgown, and then tugged his shirt on over her nightgown. He watched her quietly open the bedroom door and step out, and listened as she quietly closed the door behind her.

He rolled onto his back once he was alone, putting an arm behind his head and staring up at the ceiling.

It shouldn’t have happened.

Sex with Paige—shouldn’t have happened. He shouldn’t have kissed her at that damn diner, or kissed her goodbye before he left Marietta. And he definitely shouldn’t have spent hours making love to her tonight.

He never lost control, at least not sexually. Even when he drank too much, he was careful about who he hooked up with, and when, and where, and how.

He was all about control.

But with Paige, his control was non-existent. She had crept under his skin and worked her way into his heart and to be honest, he liked her there. She belonged there. She belonged with him.

Except his life was in Texas and hers was in Montana and he couldn’t see moving her and the kids to him, and he couldn’t move Tutro there.

He wasn’t even sure he could handle being a father. His dad hadn’t been a great dad. Why did Dillon think he could do better?

And yet, she’d felt so good tonight. Making love to her was even better than he’d imagined. She kissed like a woman, and burned in his arms. Hot. So hot. He’d loved how she melted for him and was turned on by the way she responded. She was sweet and real and good.

So good.

And despite everything he’d done to protect her, he could already see the writing on the wall. He was going to break her heart and there was nothing he could do about it.

Paige eventually went back to bed and when she woke up, it was morning, the sun pouring through the expansive glass windows in long rays of golden light.

Dillon was gone and reaching over she touched where he’d slept, his side no longer warm. He must have gotten up quite some time ago.