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“Yes, but that was part of her trickery. To get me comfortable so I’d let down my guard. I thought she was just being nice, so I said, ‘I will’, and then she said, ‘Be sure to tell Paige I said hello’, and I just automatically replied, ‘I will.’ And that was that. Game over.”
“Game over?”
“Yes.”
“Jesus.”
“I know. Tell me about it.”
“No, I mean, Jesus. As in, you’re acting like your mom is this villainous mastermind out of a James Bond movie, when in reality, she bested you with very little ... trickery.”
“Says you, but you weren’t even there, so you don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re wrong about how much trickery she used. She used a lot, skillfully taking advantage of the fact that I was nervous and distracted, to weasel information out of me.”
Paige sighed. “This is bad, David.”
“No. It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine. Your mom thinks we’re dating. And knows we’re spending the night together, which means she’s probably assuming we’re having sex …” Paige trailed off and took a deep breath. “Oh, God I can’t even imagine what she’s thinking about me right now.”
“Trust me, my mom’s not thinking anything bad about you. She wasn’t horrified or outraged, or anything like that. You could kill the pope on Easter Sunday and she would still think you’re perfect,” he said, barely exaggerating.
“That might actually be worse,” Paige murmured, before asking, “What if she starts to have ... expectations?”
It was likely Valerie had already started having them, but David kept that to himself. “She won’t.”
“She won’t?”
“No, because I won’t let her.”
“You won’t let her?”
He cleared his throat. “Look, I don’t want you to worry about my mom, okay?”
“Okay,” she agreed after a long pause, even though she was inwardly scoffing.
“Paige.”
“What? I said okay.”
“I mean it. I’ll deal with my mom, all right?”
“You mean … like you dealt with her tonight?”
“That was a fluke. But now that I know her strategy, I won’t fall for it again. Trust me.”
“Okay,” she said again, this time sounding marginally convincing.
Relieved, he motioned for her to come to him. “Now, get over here. I haven’t seen you in three days.”
She moved forward until she was enveloped in the circle of his arms and as she melted into him, breathing in his laundry detergent and cologne, she forced all troubling thoughts of Valerie out of her mind for the time being.
When David finally pulled away, he kissed her again, this time with substantial heat and promise, then took her hand. “Come with me,” he said, turning and tugging her behind him. “I have a surprise for you.”
Wondering what it could be, Paige left her purse where she’d dropped it, and followed him down the hall, glad when the door to what was probably Jacob’s room was closed so she didn’t have to see inside. Just shy of the master bedroom’s threshold, David stopped. “Close your eyes.”
Like the night he’d drawn her a bath, he seemed oddly excited, so instead of rolling her eyes at his directive, she obliged him and a moment later was guided several feet into the room before being brought to a standstill. “Okay. Open your eyes.”
A single lamp was on, bathing the room in a golden glow, and David watched as Paige blinked at the sight of his bed, which he’d spent part of the afternoon basically transforming into one of those displays in a high-end department store. He’d gone all out, inflicting some serious damage to his credit card balance as he bought all new bedding to include: a waterproof mattress pad, bazillion-thread count, Egyptian cotton sheets that felt like silk, a ridiculously expensive Jacquard duvet cover with matching shams in a silvery-gray paisley pattern, and coordinating throw pillows.
