“You didn’t answer me,” Paige said, unwilling to let it go. “Who did that?”
“One of the idiots I was dumb enough to go out with a few weeks ago. He was waiting for me outside the diner. Wanted to start things up again. I said no. He didn’t like my answer.”
“Shit.” Her cousin was the fun-loving party girl, but she could be stubborn. Paige worried about her, that with her past she might be looking for the wrong kind of love in all the wrong places.
“Simon happened to pull in, going for a late dinner, I guess. Let me say it is extremely lucky the asshole idiot was already in his car and halfway out of the parking lot. Jeez.”
“Promise me you won’t see him again.”
“I promised Simon and I’ll promise you. Besides, I don’t think Simon is planning on letting it go. He’s itching to exercise some kind of super-secret torture.”
“Okay.” She relaxed slightly, trusting her cousin to resist any further advances from the asshole.
“What did you think of Simon? You never said.”
“He’s nice.”
Jenny scanned the inside of the refrigerator, and Paige studied her back. It wasn’t like her cousin to be so vague, but then again Simon wasn’t exactly her type. She went more for the broody, motorcycle type. Simon was much too happy.
Jenny pulled out a box of leftover pasta. “Yum.” She brought the carry-out box to the table. “You don’t mind, do you?”
“Of course not.” Not only was there enough food for ten, but next to Casey, she loved her cousin more than anyone. She thought of Jake, and chills shot through her as her mind and heart linked him with the idea of loving someone. She didn’t love many people, maybe she didn’t love or trust easily, but the idea of loving Jake rolled through her like a gentle wave.
“Do you want some more?”
“What?” Paige blinked as Jenny twirled a strand of spaghetti around and around her fork.
“You’re staring at my food.”
“Oh. No.” Paige shook her head and walked blindly to the sink.
“We already know he’s a hot man walking, but holy crap! And Casey adores him.”
“I know. He’s great with her.” And me.
“He’s crazy about you,” Jenny said around a mouthful. “You better figure out what you’re doing before some ho snatches him up.”
Paige didn’t think Jake would let anyone snatch him up, but the thought of another woman touching him made her green. Jenny was right. She needed to figure out what she was doing, and figure out what to do about the fact that she was just as crazy about him.
—
JT let himself into his house, greeting Boulder and flipping on a light to illuminate his distinctly male space. He dropped his keys on the entryway table, that and the mirror over it a house-warming gift from his parents. Lizzie had done her best on a visit last year. She’d hit up a home store in an effort to make his house a home. It was still a guy space, he’d admit that, with its dark leather furniture, wood floors, and bare windows. He’d always liked it.
After hours with Paige and Casey, what he noticed most was the silence, the emptiness. He pictured Paige here in this space, her light against the darkness. He passed his dark leather couch on his way to let Boulder out and imagined laying Paige out there. He walked through the kitchen and saw himself sitting her on the black granite countertop, stepping between her legs. Then laying outside with her, looking at the stars and listening to her voice.
Frustrated with himself, he called to Boulder, who was sniffing around the back gate, and went for that cold shower. Once in his bedroom, he unbuttoned his shirt, then his pants. Even with the highest level of technology available to him, he still had to sit down to take off his jeans because he couldn’t toe off his shoes like he used to.
He sat on the toilet seat and slid them down past his knees, then rolled the silicone liner down far enough to disengage the suction. After that the leg and pants came off together, and he grabbed the prosthesis he wore in the shower. He could wear his everyday leg, but then he’d have to dump the water out of the foot and make sure it dried completely, so when he was home and it was convenient, he used this one.
The first streams of cold water hit his skin and he sucked in a breath. This was good. Almost impossible to think about the taste of Paige, the shape of her breast in his palm, or her sexy inhale when his thumb brushed over her nipple.
Damn it. He slapped his hand against the cold tile. He wanted to be inside her, and not just to have sex, though that would be beyond-his-dreams amazing. He mostly just wanted to be as close to her as possible, to lose himself in her.