Dead Heat (10 page)

She got up and curled her hair. She put on a little make-up and some nude lip gloss. She found the short denim skirt Cole hated and put on a tight black lace tank top with a low boatneck. She dug around her closet and came out with some cute wedge sandals that added a couple inches to her five-seven height and smiled. She looked good and nothing soothed the pain of rejection better than knowing that.

Paige heard Cole in the shower as she walked downstairs to open her shop. She loved turning on the lights and turning the sign to open every morning. It reminded her of how hard she had worked to get there. Moments after opening the store, customers started to wander in. She had already made a couple of sales of her new ribbon hair ties when Cole came downstairs. She kept focused on restocking the shelves, but saw him stop and stare at her. Good. Let him suffer. They worked around each other as if they were two tigers trapped in a small cage all morning. Customers gave them odd looks as they worked very hard to ignore each other.

“I found the personalized champagne glasses for the wedding toast to be very popular. Although, you’d have to give them to her before the wedding.”

“Great idea. I’ll do that.”

Paige grabbed a box of the crystal champagne glasses and headed to the store's front. She stepped around Cole at the register and rung Edna up.

“Just tell me their names and the etcher will have them decorated by the end of the week.”

“Perfect! It’s Bella and Justin Thurmond. Thanks, Paige.” Edna looked around the store some more, “You know, don’t ring it up quite yet. I want to look at a new hat for church. Lily Rae got one last week and everyone gushed over it. I can’t have her showing me up, now can I?”

“No, Ma’am.” Paige grinned as she watched Edna walk back to the hat room. She was about to show her some of the new hats when the bell rang over the front door again.

Paige looked at the door and saw a very handsome man in a black suit and blue tie walk in. He looked uncomfortable as he looked around her shop. She knew that look. It was the same look her brothers gave whenever they walked into her shop. She smiled and was about to ask him if she could help when Cole cut in front of her.

“I’ll help him,” Cole told her as he walked from behind the counter. “Hi. Welcome to Southern Charms. Can I help you find anything?” Cole had a smile on his face, but Paige easily read the defensive stance.

“Yeah. My buddy from college is getting married this weekend. I need a wedding gift. Any ideas?” Paige tried not to laugh at the look on Cole’s face. He looked as panicked as the customer.

“Is it the Thurmond wedding?” Paige asked as she walked around the counter.

“Yes.” The man smiled at Paige and she smiled back. He was rather handsome. Not as ruggedly so as Cole, but more business handsome.

“The grandmother of the bride just picked out these crystal champagne glasses. You could always pick out a set of crystal wine glasses and I can have them engraved with a T. You could pick them up Friday.”

“That would be perfect. Thanks for your help. Are you going to the wedding?” He asked Paige as she wrapped up the glasses and wrote the instructions for the engraver.

“No. I am sure it will be fun though.”

“Well, if you want, you could...”

“Thanks for stopping by Southern Charms. I apologize for being rude, but Paige is needed in the back.” Cole cut in, glaring at them both while trying to paste on a smile.

“For what?” Paige asked.

The second the man turned to leave, Cole grabbed her hand in his and started to pull her towards the small office under the stairs.

“Cole, what are you doing? Didn’t it ever occur to you I might want to go out on a date with someone?” Paige tried to drag her feet, but Cole just pulled her along.

He was muttering something about crossing a line and his duty, but she couldn’t put it all together. He opened the door and pushed her in before him. The second the door closed, he had her up against the door. His mouth was on hers. It wasn’t like in her dreams. It was fierce, primal, and hot. He grabbed her hips and ground them against his growing erection as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She lifted her leg and he put it around his waist. He picked her up, his tongue never leaving her mouth as they tried to satisfy their thirst for each other.

Cole moaned and gave her one last slow kiss before setting her down. They were both panting and Paige could have sworn she was seeing stars. She leaned against one of the shelves and tried to slow her heart rate as Cole tucked his shirt back into his jeans.

“Maybe that will answer why you are not going out on a date with him.” Cole turned and walked out the door, leaving Paige staring after him.

What the hell just happened? Whatever it was, it left her feeling both dazed and yearning for more. She certainly hadn’t done him enough justice in her dreams. Paige stood up to straighten her outfit and fix her hair. She took a deep breath and opened the door. Edna was standing across the hall in the hat room with a sneaky smile on her face. Oh no. Edna was the one of the biggest gossips in town.

“Oh, that was so romantic. Young love is so wonderful.” Edna clasped the small white hat with blue ribbon and white daisies on it to her chest and sighed.

“That hat will be perfect for you.” Paige ignored the love talk and found a hat box for Edna.

“I remember the days when Richard and I were like that. Sneaking off to the nearest coat closet to get frisky, God rest his soul.” Edna had a faraway look in her eyes and Paige definitely didn’t want to use the words love, marriage, and frisky when talking about Cole. It was bad enough she was already thinking kissing, hands, and naked bodies.

“Here you go, Edna. Just come in on Friday to pick up the glasses.” Paige handed her the receipt and the hat box. She needed to get out of there, and fast. She needed to take a deep breath and think about just what happened.

After Edna left, she grabbed Chuck’s leash from under the counter and shouted up to Cole that she was taking Chuck for a walk. Before Cole could make his way downstairs to stop her, she bolted out the front door.

This isn’t real. This isn’t real. She kept up her mantra for the first block. The hot July sun was beating down on her, but she didn’t notice. Paige looked up and didn’t see anything, but she could have sworn she had seen someone in her peripheral vision. She shook it off and kept walking down Main Street away from town. She was just going to walk to the elementary school and then turn back.

She just didn’t understand this newfound chemistry they had together. He was a neat freak and she was kind of sloppy. He was picky and controlling, and she was too! They bickered over little things, like the fact she ate on the run as opposed to cooking a meal. But, at the same time, she had been enjoying herself with him- in more ways than one.

She stopped when she heard a footfall behind her. Chuck growled and they both turned around. It made her worry even more when no one was there. Was she going crazy? No, Chuck seemed to have heard something too. She heard some noise, now coming from the direction she had been walking. She turned back up the street and saw a couple of mothers pushing strollers and some young kids running around them. They were coming from the school playground and were walking back into town.

Something just didn’t feel right. Did the mothers scare off whoever was behind her? Chuck hadn’t moved from where he was looking. She followed his stare to the alley running along the feed store and butcher shop, less than a block from where she stood. Maybe she was jumping at ghosts, but she wasn’t about to find out. She looked at the street and when the slow moving pick-up truck towing hay passed by, she ran across. She looked around again, but didn’t see anything or anyone out of the ordinary. What really worried her was the fact she could still feel the vibrations of a low growl from Chuck. She walked as quickly as she could back towards town. She could see her shop across the street when a man stepped in front of her. She screamed and jumped back. Chuck growled and barked as he stood guard.

“That’s not usually the reception I get when I run into a hot woman like you.”

“Henry! Oh, you scared me.” She took a deep breath and looked around. She saw she was at the alley leading back to the parking lot behind the law office. She had been so intent on looking across the street that she hadn’t noticed what was right in front of her.

“Again, not the normal reception I get.”

“I am sorry. I just thought I was being followed and it freaked me out.” Paige looked back to where the moms were passing the feed store. There was no sign of the boogeyman.

Paige groaned. If Edna was the second biggest gossip, then John Wolfe was the first. Between the two of them most of the state would know by now that she got kissed, and kissed well in her office all of thirty minutes ago.

“What do you mean 'stupid enough'?”

“Hello? Did you forget who your brothers are? I mean you’re great and all, but they’re a wee bit overprotective. Why do you think I have never hit on you?”

Paige couldn’t decide whether that was a good thing or not. It was nice not being hit on by Henry, but finding a guy who wasn’t afraid of her brothers was close to impossible. Great. Her brothers were going to make her an old maid.

“Thanks, Henry. If you just watch me, then I will head back to the store and let Cole know what’s going on.” Paige waved bye and ran across the street.

Chapter Seven

Paige sat on the couch in her living room and watched Cole pace back and forth. The conversation had not gone well. Cole had first called the Sheriff’s Department and then her brothers. Red’s men were already outside looking around. Miles and Marshall were in Lexington and would get here soon. Ugh, a safety lecture from Cole, and then her brothers. As if an FBI agent wasn’t enough, her brothers' years of military intelligence were going to be even worse. It was bad enough when they were kids. But then the U.S. went and trained them to interrogate terrorists. This was really going to suck.

“Paige, did you hear what I said?”

“Hmm?” Paige snapped her focus back onto the irate Cole. 'Wait a minute' she thought. She watched him a couple seconds more as he ran his hand through his dark hair, pacing back and forth. He wasn’t irate. He was worried.

“Agent Parker! We found some shoe tracks in the mud of the flower beds under the downstairs windows out back.” Deputy Smalls reported. Smalls was around six-seven and a good three hundred and fifty pounds. So, the obvious nickname in Keeneston was Smalls. She remembered Howard Brown, also known as Smalls, from high school. He was a senior when she was a freshman. He entered the Sheriff’s Department as soon as he graduated and was a great guy living his dream.

“Are you finally going to listen to me Paige? You’re in danger. Please, just let me protect you.”

Paige nodded. Maybe she wasn’t as aware as she should be. She had shrugged last night off as just a weird feeling. But that, on top of knowing she had been followed and knowing someone had been looking in the windows, was enough to freak her out. She looked up from where she had laced her hands and saw Cole sit down next to her.

“I’m sorry about snapping at you. I came downstairs and you were gone. I was frantic. I ran outside and saw you walking back toward the shop. I came inside and watched to make sure you got here safely. I just don’t know what I would do if something happened to you.” He slid his hand over hers.

She raised her eyes to his and saw the concern there. The line between fake and real started to blur. His hand brushed against her cheek as he pulled her head slowly towards hers.

“So, the rumors are true then.”

Paige jumped back and saw that Cole was already standing in front of her with his gun drawn.

“Jesus, Miles. Haven’t you ever heard of knocking? Hey Marshall, you bring the equipment?” Cole holstered his gun, but continued to stand in front of her.

“I think we need to have a talk, Cole.”

“I agree. Your sister is in danger. The Sheriff’s Department found footprints out back. I think we need to hide cameras on the roof and on the downstairs windows in case he peeks in again.”

“That’s not the talk I was referring to,” Miles ground out.

“I know. But, I am pretty sure Paige is an adult and can decide who she wants to kiss. It’s none of your concern.” Cole placed his hands on his hips and stared Miles down.

“The point is to give her the same courtesy. She trusts your opinion enough not to question who you are with. Why don’t you extend her the same courtesy?”

“We’ll talk about this later, Parker,” Miles said.

“Anytime, Davies.”

Paige was left upstairs with Chuck as her brothers and Cole installed the security cameras around her property. She picked up the Keeneston Journal and froze at the sight of McKenna and Danielle's side-by-side obituaries. She read the articles by Marianne and had to keep telling herself it wasn’t real. Marianne really did do a great job. She had quotes from the Rose sisters, Mo, Will, Danielle’s Parents, and the Ashtons.