“Aw, but you looked so cute sitting in the park together the other day.” Paige gave her a you have got to be kidding me look. She smiled. “Or so I heard. From about twenty different people.”
“I was reading. He was waiting for Josh to get his hair cut. We talked for a few minutes, then he left. No big deal.” Well, her imagination thought it was a big deal, especially when she was supposed to be sleeping, but she didn’t think anybody else would.
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Besides, he’s off-limits. You had a relationship with him and you’re my friend, so therefore I can’t have a relationship with him.” Plus there was that whole abstaining thing, but their friendship was a handy excuse.
Hailey laughed. “We did not have a relationship. We were young and stupid and bored, so we got drunk and had sex in the backseat. And that was a very long time ago. So long ago drinking wine coolers was the cool thing to do.”
“But still—”
“But still nothing. Trust me when I tell you there was no emotional involvement at all, for either of us, and you are clear to land, honey.”
“My runway’s closed.” Paige frowned, then shook her head. “I’m butchering this whole airplane thing. I can’t be the plane and the runway.”
“Let me make it easy. He’ll be the plane. You be the hangar.”
“For a guy who’s parked his plane all over town? He can taxi on down to another hangar.”
Hailey laughed. “You’re right. You do suck at the airplane thing. But I don’t think he’s quite as free with his plane parking as legend makes him out to be, you know. I’ve lived my whole life here, and a lot of those stories are the equivalent of my uncle’s fish stories. They just want everybody to think they landed the big one.”
“I can’t do planes and fish. You’ve gotta pick one.”
“Reel him in, keep him a few weeks, then throw him back and let him swim away.”
“You’re killing me with metaphors.
“Bang the guy, Paige. Have hot, sweaty sex until you think you’ll never walk again, then kick him to the curb.”
It sounded good in theory—hell, it sounded great in theory—but Paige couldn’t take the chance. All she needed was to fall for a guy like Mitch and lose everything she’d gained because she was busy chasing a guy who didn’t want to be caught. She’d done it before, though she’d made the decision to change her life before it got to be a habit, as it was for her mother.
In an effort to distract Hailey, Paige changed the subject to the impending library fundraiser and it worked. Time ticked away as they talked about budgets and used book sales and the pressure the Whitford library was under to ramp up the development of their digital collection, until it was almost time for the parade.
Paige was startled when Hailey put her arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, pointing with her free hand. “Tell me again you’re not interested.”
She looked across the street to where Hailey was pointing and sighed. Of course Mitch had to pick a spot directly across from theirs to watch the parade from. No doubt it was the bench that had drawn them, since a couple of teenagers gave it up so Josh could sit there, but still. Did he have to be directly in her line of sight like that?
Mitch was wearing what looked like a ragged T-shirt from his high school days—probably in honor of the occasion—and cargo shorts that drew her attention to his legs. She couldn’t really say she’d ever really paid attention to a guy’s legs before, but she liked the look of his. He sat on the bench next to his brother without taking his eyes off his phone. Paige hoped whatever had his attention, kept it. Maybe he wouldn’t even notice her in the crowd.
“If Mitch catches you looking at him like that, he might do a kamikaze dive into your hangar right here in front of everybody.”
Paige laughed and shoved Hailey away. “Will you quit with the planes? Let’s talk about something else. Have you seen the fried dough vendor yet? I want to be first in line when the parade’s over.”
If she was going to surrender to something bad for her, better junk food than a man.
*
“Are you going to play with that thing all day?”
Mitch scowled at his touch screen. “I’m not playing. We’re doing prelim work on a drop in Miami, and Scott’s supposed to double-check the calculations on the dust cloud radius. There’s a school and a health clinic close and if we need HVAC crews to cover their intakes and shit, that’s gotta be factored into the bid.”
“Did you tell Scott to do it?”
“Yes.”
“Then he probably did it. Watch the parade.”
“The parade hasn’t started yet. And I sent him a reminder email yesterday and I haven’t gotten a response.”