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Paige actually thought the lamps were worse than a sculpture of a man going down on a woman. At least that could’ve been considered ‘art’.
There was a knock at Paige’s door, which was almost immediately opened a few inches so Andrea could stick her head in. “Your 2 p.m. appointment is here a few minutes early, so I …” she trailed off, seeing the lamps on the desk.
“Andrea, we’ve talked about knocking,” Paige scolded, quickly trying to block the lamps with her body, as if that could make Andrea un-see them, but unable to.
Seemingly with great difficulty, Andrea tore her eyes away from the lamps to turn her attention to Paige. “I did knock.”
“Okay, well, you need to give me time to say, ‘Come in,’ before you actually come in.”
Andrea’s eyes behind her glasses shifted to the abominations once again. “Those are interesting lamps,” she said slowly. “They are lamps, right?”
“Yes, they are.”
Andrea took a few steps over to the desk as if needing a closer look. “They’re very unique. With an unusual amount of detail.”
Paige inwardly groaned. Were they really having this conversation? Apparently they were. “Yes, the attention to detail is very … unusual.”
“The person who made these is obviously a talented craftsman.”
It was now clear to Paige that Andrea really liked the damn things, which shouldn’t have come as a surprise, since she was of the opinion that Ed Sheeran was hot. Struggling to come up with a response to the ‘talented craftsman’ comment, Paige ended up only managing a neutral, “Mmm hmm,” while praying for a phone to ring somewhere so Andrea would have to leave Paige’s office and answer it.
“I can see why the design caught your eye,” Andrea continued, clearly thinking Paige had bought them. Unfortunately, Andrea couldn’t be told who was really behind the purchase, because that would lead to a million questions Paige didn’t want to answer.
“They are eye-catching,” Paige agreed, being completely truthful, looking at one of the lamps and imagining the various ways David could die for this. Or at the very least, have to explain to an ER doctor why he had a mermaid lamp shoved up his ass.
“And a definite conversation starter,” Andrea mused. “Where are you going to put them?”
Paige almost snorted. Honestly, if she thought she could get away with it, the only place she’d put these lamps would be back in the box and sent back to Amazon.
Chapter 14
PAIGE: I got the lamps. I’m not sure what to say ...
PAIGE: ‘Thank you’ seems so inadequate for what I’m feeling right now.
David read the two texts from Paige and grinned as he replied back.
DAVID: I’m so glad you like them. I was a little worried you wouldn’t.
PAIGE: Why wouldn’t I like them?
DAVID: Because they’re not like the lamps you had.
PAIGE: They definitely aren’t!
DAVID: I did try to find lamps like the ones your Great-aunt Adele gave us, because I know how much they meant to you. But, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to because I didn’t have access to her basement and her treasure trove of ‘antiques’.
DAVID: But in my extensive online search for something comparable, I came across the mermaids, and I don’t know ... they just spoke to me.
PAIGE: I’ll bet they did. They spoke to me, too.
DAVID: I honestly can’t wait to see the lamps in your bedroom. I know they’re going to look right at home in there.
PAIGE: Totally. And the best part is having one on each night stand.
PAIGE: Getting me two of them was beyond thoughtful, by the way.
DAVID: I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I’d only gotten you one.
