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“I’m sure you have plenty of time—”
“No. You don’t understand. I don’t have plenty of time. I’m doing most of the set-up myself and my waitstaff isn’t on the clock until three, and even then it’s a skeleton crew.”
He’d never seen her like this, in near panic mode. “Jesus. Why?”
“To cut costs for the bride and groom. They’re just a couple of kids—barely in their twenties—and they don’t have any money. Like, she got her dress in a thrift shop and the closest he’s coming to a tux is a pair of black slacks. Their parents are pretty much boycotting the marriage and my boss Linda wouldn’t let me comp the room for them, so I’m actually paying for it. And … some of the food, too.”
“Are you serious? That’s really generous.”
She waved a suds-covered hand in dismissal. “Not a big deal.”
“Not a big deal? It sounds like you’re basically paying for their wedding reception.”
“No. They’re paying for the staff.”
Which she’d just said was nothing but a skeleton crew. “What about the bar? Is that on you, too?”
“No. It’s a cash bar, not an open bar.”
Well, that was something, David thought. Kids in their early twenties could drink a lot and an open bar could end up costing more than all the food.
“Look, you might think I’m being stupid, or something,” Paige said, her words becoming muffled as she stepped under the water, this time with her whole body. “But they kind of remind me of you and me at that age, and I just want them to have as nice a reception as possible. So, if that means paying for some of the food and working a few extra hours because no one else will, then I’m going to do it.”
She turned off the water and went to grab the towel hanging over the shower door, but David stopped her and turned the water on again. “You still have shampoo in your hair,” he told her, guiding her back under the spray, to work the rest of the lather out. When he was satisfied, he shut the water off and handed her the towel.
“Thanks,” she said.
Paige then basically ignored him as she quickly toweled off while he stood and watched, uncaring that he had a massive hard-on, or that it was on full display because he hadn’t bothered to put underwear on before following her into the bathroom. He was a little disappointed, though, that she didn’t even spare him a glance, but he chalked it up to her being in such a rush, which was reinforced as she commandeered his toothbrush to brush her teeth, while finger-combing her hair. Then, after rushing back to the bedroom and throwing on her clothes from yesterday—including the Agent Provocateur lingerie—she grabbed her phone from the nightstand.
After looking at the time and giving a little shriek, she sped down the hall, grabbing her purse off the entryway table on her race to the door, only to have her departure abruptly halted by his three locks. He quickly helped her get them open and as she was racing down the stairs, he heard her mumbling to herself.
“Calm the fuck down. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Deep breath in, deep breath out. You can be there in ten minutes. In fact, if you don’t hit any red lights, you can be there in seven minutes.”
“You’re going straight to work?” he called after her in surprise. If that was the case, then hopefully she was doing all of her work tonight behind the scenes.
“Yes,” she called back. “I need to get there as soon as possible.”
He stood in the doorway and watched her get in her car and go, with wet hair, a face devoid of make-up, and wearing wrinkled clothes (not to mention slutty lingerie), on her way to work her ass off for a couple of kids that had no money, and his heart swelled.
Damn, he wanted this woman.
Chapter 27
JULES: Well?
For a moment, Paige debated not responding to Jules’s text, because time was short, but then Paige decided she could multi-task.
PAIGE: You were right. There was something else going on.
JULES: Of course there was. So, what was it?
PAIGE: He just wanted me to stop and take his cuffs off, not stop altogether. Apparently, he wanted to actually participate during our first sexual encounter.
PAIGE: I mean our second first sexual encounter, that is.
JULES: Why didn’t he just say so?
JULES: Hello? Are you there?
