Dreaming With My Eyes Wide Open (Hollywood Legends #2) (21 page)

“I only want one thing.” Nate’s mouth hovered over her.

“What?”

“To hear you scream my name.”

Paige got what she wanted and so did Nate.

“Happy?”

Nate pulled the covers over them, and then gathered Paige
into his arms.

“You have no idea.”

She felt boneless. It was the best feeling in the world.
Paige savored the feeling for a few minutes. Then, when she felt ready, she
slid her hand down Nate’s stomach. Not surprisingly, she found him rock hard.

“That feels fantastic,” Nate sighed. His hips moved,
encouraging her caresses.

“Nate?”

“Hmm.”

Paige slid between his legs.

“Get ready to beg.”

“THE CLOCK. THAT can’t be right.”

Nate squinted at the glowing numbers. Groaning, he turned
onto his side, away from the glare. With little effort, he pulled Paige around
until her back was to him, his arm holding her close.

“Don’t look,” he sighed. Happily, he buried his face in her
soft, fragrant hair. “It doesn’t count if you can’t see it.”

“But we already saw it.” Paige let herself enjoy the moment.
Snuggling with Nate was something she could get used to.

“My eyes weren’t focused.”

“It’s a quarter after four.”

“Ten minutes.” Nate cupped Paige’s breast. It was more
intimate than sexual. One lover touching another. Paige sighed. Not better than
sex — but good. Damn good.

“Dad never sleeps past five.”

“I can’t move. You drained me with your insatiable woman
ways.”

“My what?”

Nate smiled, his lips moving to her neck.

“It’s a line from this crapfest of a movie I made when I was
just starting out. I don’t know why I remember it.”

“Neither do I. Come on. We have to get moving.”

“I haven’t slept that well in months.”

“When did you sleep? You were either in me or preparing to
get in me for the last five hours.” Lifting his hand, she kissed the back. “Not
that I’m complaining.”

“I know how to power nap. For me, ten minutes is like seven
solid hours for someone else.” Nate circled her nipple. Behind her, she was
amazed to feel the stirring of his penis. “I’m big on time management. Let me
show you what I can do in five minutes.”

Laughing, Paige pushed his hand away. She sat up, the chill
of the room reminding her how much better it felt wrapped up next to Nate.

“We don’t have five minutes.” Scrambling away, Paige jumped
to her feet. “Nathaniel… what is your middle name?”

“Erasmus.”

“Seriously?”

Nate stretched. It was not a bed made for a man his size.
Curled up with Paige was one thing. Full length, half of his legs hung off the
end.

“Family name.” He yawned.

Erasmus
. Interesting. Paige flipped on the overhead
light. Her clothing was strewn in every direction. Shirt on the chair. Panties
near the dresser. It didn’t help that her legs felt like limp spaghetti. Not
that she was complaining. Nate wore her out, but there was a grin on her face.

“Done. Let’s go.”

Paige whirled around. Nate stood by the door, fully dressed.
There was an energetic buzz to him.
What the hell?

“How did you do that?”

“Do what?” Nate handed Paige a sock that had somehow ended
up on Lottie’s bureau behind the bottle of
White Diamonds
that Paige
gave her last Christmas.

“Go from groggy to bushy-tailed in three seconds flat?”
Paige grumbled, hopping on one foot as she pulled on her boot.

“Seven hours sleep will do that.”

“Asshole.” Paige batted at Nate’s hands. “I’m able to zip my
own jeans.”

“But it’s so much fun to help.”

“Nate. Or should I call you Erasmus.”

“I wouldn’t.”

Paige’s face lit up.

“What?”

“Nothing.” She swung on her jacket. Taking a clip from the
pocket, she twisted her hair into a quick bun. “You’re a bit sensitive about
your middle name.”

“And that makes you happy.”

“Strangely, yes.” Paige jumped into Nate’s arms, her mouth
covering his. “It makes you human.”

Following Paige from the room, Nate frowned.

“I wasn’t human before?”

“You never put a foot wrong.” Paige waited while Nate locked
the door. “It’s nice to know you a have a foible.”

“I have dozens of flaws, Paige.”

“I’m sorry.” At the top of the porch steps, Paige stopped,
putting her arms around his waist. “I didn’t mean it as an insult.”

“I don’t want you to have the wrong idea about me. Pedestals
are difficult things to live on. The fall can be brutal — for everyone
involved.”

Paige looked him in the eye, the porch light showing the
surprise on her face. Then, she burst out laughing.

Nate closed his eyes, his head falling back.

“First she grins, then she laughs in my face. Do I dare
ask?”

“Pedestal?” Paige shook her head. “That is the last place I
would put you. I want you right here. On the ground, with me.”

“There you go. That is exactly what I wanted to hear.”

Nate gathered Paige close. His mouth was a hair’s breadth
away from hers when the world exploded.

PAIGE’S EARS WERE ringing. It felt as though someone had hit
her with a ton of bricks, and then dumped them on her chest for good measure.

Light filled the darkness. Not steady, but flickering to her
right, the shadows jumping around in front of her eyes.

Nate.
Jesus, Nate
! He had shielded her with his body.
They were sprawled on the porch. Paige tried to shift, but she couldn’t budge
his weight.
Dead
weight. Desperate, she pushed at Nate’s shoulder,
shaking it. She needed a response. Any response.

“Paige? Are you all right?”

“Are you?”

Nate rolled to the side, but he kept Paige close.

“I had the wind knocked out of me, that’s all.” He patted her
arms and legs, checking for injuries. “Do you feel any pain? Cuts? Burns?”

“I’m fine,” she assured him.

Now that she was certain Nate was in one piece, Paige’s
attention turned to the driveway.

“What the hell?” Paige surged to her feet. “Is that my truck?”

“I’m afraid so.”

Going with her first instinct, Paige tried to run to the
burning vehicle. If Nate hadn’t grabbed her arm, she would have jumped off the
porch. What she thought she would have accomplished, she couldn’t have said. It
was a goner. Fire engulfed it front to back. Shattered glass from the windows
littered the lawn; tiny shards nestled in the row of once cheery yellow
flowers.

Lottie’s sweetly groomed yard was no more. The marigolds and
green lawn nearest the truck were singed black. Thankfully, the road leading to
the house and most of the driveway had several layers of fresh gravel covering
them. It prevented the spread of the fire beyond the truck.

“That’s right. The truck exploded. No one was hurt. That’s
right.” Nate turned to Paige, his face grim. “The fire department is on the
way. Do you know if Lottie has an extinguisher?”

Paige nodded. “In the garage. I’ll get it.”

“I can find it.” Nate pulled her close.

“Nate—”

“Shh. Let me hold you. Just for a second.”

Paige was fine with that. She felt a little shaky. It was
somehow comforting to know that Nate felt the same.

“Call your dad.” Nate kissed her temple. “I’ll be right
back.”

In the distance, Paige heard the wail of a siren. Basic had
one fire truck. The noise it made was distinct — different from the two police
cars. The station was located on the opposite end of town. The vehicle speeding
down the main street, lights flashing, would bring everyone out, curious to see
where it headed. Not the best way to start your day. It wouldn’t take long for
a crowd to gather and word to spread.

Nate was right. She needed to call her father.

Paige took her phone from her pocket. She stopped and took a
deep breath. She didn’t want to sound weepy and desperate. Her father would be
worried enough without her crying.

“Hello?” Chuck’s voice had the sound of a man who had been
awakened from a sound sleep. “Paige? What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine. But I’m afraid I can’t say the same about
Grandpa’s truck.”

DEALING WITH THE aftermath of the explosion didn’t turn out to
be as complicated as Paige thought it would be.

The firemen doused the truck with water though Nate had most
of the blaze put out before they arrived.

“Here, take this. You’re shivering.”

Paige took the steaming cup of coffee from Lottie with a
smile.

“I’m sorry about your lawn.”

“Lawns can be replaced.” She placed her arm around Paige’s
waist. “Best friends can’t. Thank God you and Nate weren’t in the truck.”

The thought had occurred to Paige. Which was why she
shivered. A few more seconds and her father would be dealing with a tragedy
instead of a hollowed out pickup.

Lottie arrived with Danny Floyd. The man she had spent the
night with was also the town sheriff. Lottie was there when he received the
call. Naturally, she insisted on riding along. It was her house and her best
friend. Nothing would have kept her away.

As Paige predicted, spectators began to arrive shortly after
the fire department. Half the town seemed to be parked in the once empty field
behind the house. Some of them brought thermoses of coffee, gathering in
varying sizes of cliques.

“Pretty soon, Mavis Branch is going to show up and start
selling breakfast rolls from the trunk of her car.” Lottie frowned at the
growing crowd.

“Speak of the devil.” Paige nodded toward the dark brown
station wagon pulling to a stop across the road.

“Unbelievable.”

“Entertainment is at a premium in Basic, Lottie. Cut them
some slack.”

“I can’t believe you’re so calm. I would be quivering like a
bowl of strawberry Jell-O.”

“No, you wouldn’t. You’d be yelling for the police to find
the idiot who burned your pretty lawn.” Paige turned her head. “Why strawberry?
You hate the stuff.”

“Exactly. Remember that stuff Mom made for every church
potluck, or town get-together?” Lottie shuddered. “Foul. There was always one
spoonful missing at the end of the evening.”

Paige nodded. “Some poor soul who hadn’t tried it before.
Why did she finally stop making it?”

“One day, after twenty-five years, she finally figured out
no one liked her Strawberry Surprise.”

“Is that what she called it?” This was new to her. “What was
the surprise?”

“That it was made with Jell-O. Mom thought that nobody knew.
Bless her heart.”

Paige laid her head on Lottie’s shoulder. The silly, inconsequential
talk helped. Between that and the coffee, she felt some heat seeping back into
her bones.

“Not a great end to your night.” Lottie wrinkled her nose
when a puff of acrid smoke drifted over them. “Come on inside. The air is
better.”

Gratefully, Paige let Lottie lead her into the living room.
She took a seat on the light green sofa. She set down her cup, and then leaned
back, closing her eyes.

“I feel like I could sleep for a week. I don’t know why I’m
so worn out.”

“I hope it has something to do with the hottie in the
kitchen.”

Paige opened her eyes. Nate. His head was bent toward Danny
Floyd, nodding at whatever the police chief said.

“Oh. Right.”

“Well?”

“Hmm?” she answered absently.

“Tell me how it was? How
he
was.” Lottie joined her
on the sofa. “You look worn out, he doesn’t. Is that good or bad? Bad. It means
he made you do all the work. Damn. I would have bet the bank that he was a
giver. He has sex god written all over him.”

It was true. Nate didn’t look like a man operating on almost
no sleep. He radiated a vitality that Paige envied. All she wanted to do was
take a hot shower and go to bed. Nate looked like he could go all day without
breaking a sweat. Maybe there was something to his power naps. Or maybe Nate
Landis wasn’t human.

Remembering the hours before her truck exploded, Paige
smiled. Nate was human, all right.
Superhuman
.

“You’re smiling.” Lottie bounced with excitement. “I need
details. And lots of them.”

“No.”

Lottie fell back, her eyes wide. “That good? You always
share a little. If you want to keep it to yourself, Nate Landis must have been
spectacular.”

Paige’s grin widened.

“I need something. Anything.” Glancing around to see if
anyone was near, Lottie whispered, “At least answer this. How big is he?”

“None of your business.”

Lottie’s eyes became as big as saucers. “That big! And if
that dreaming expression you’re wearing is any indication, he knows how to use
it.”

Again, Paige only smiled.

“Paige, honey, if you weren’t my best friend, I would hate
your guts. However, as per the unwritten gal-pal code, I couldn’t be happier.
You deserve some fun. Promise me one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t fall in love with him.”

“I won’t.”

“Well, crap.” Lottie sighed, her eyes filled with concern.
“You’ve had sex before and never fallen in love. I should have known that Nate
Landis would be trouble.”

“I’m not in love with him, Lottie.”
Not yet
. “I like
him. We’re having fun — nothing more. That was established right at the
beginning.”

“Ground rules are good,” Lottie nodded. “Until they aren’t.”

“What does that mean?” She was tired and on edge. The last
thing she needed was one of Lottie’s riddles.

“Nate is different. True?”

“Nate is… a good guy.”

“That makes him different.” Lottie liked men. She dated. A
lot. She had sex when she wanted to, though not as often as people thought.
Paige grew up with Chuck Chamberlin — the original good guy — as her father.
Her friend didn’t realize that men like that didn’t grow on trees. In Basic,
any man was hard to come by, the good ones — down deep good — were almost
non-existent.

“Doesn’t not wanting to fall in love with him count?”

“If you’re worried about it, I’m afraid it’s too late.”

“Don’t say that.” Paige grabbed Lottie’s hand. “I can stop
this. I won’t be alone with him.”

“Oh, Paige,” Lottie patted her hand. “The ball is rolling
down a very steep hill.”

“Couldn’t you put that differently? Balls crash. It’s
inevitable.”

Lottie heard the panic in Paige’s voice and wanted to kick
herself. There was nothing wrong with falling in love. Most people dreamed of
finding
the one
. Maybe Nate would turn out to be that for Paige, maybe
he wouldn’t. If he broke her heart, Paige would recover. Right?

“You know what? Forget what I said. What do I know about
love?”

“You are the most loving person I know,” Paige said with
fierce certainty.

“You see me that way because you love me.” Lottie hugged
Paige. “Don’t ever stop believing. Okay?”

“Promise.”

“Paige?” Nate came into the room. “The sheriff wants to get
your statement.”

“Go on,” Lottie said. “I’m going to take a shower and get
ready for work.”

“Your dad didn’t stay long.”

“He wanted to make sure we were okay, and then he had to get
back and feed the animals.” The chores needed to be done every day. They relied
on them for their survival. The horses didn’t care about exploding trucks. “He
didn’t talk to you before he left?”

“No. Should that worry me?”

“He doesn’t blame you for this mess, Nate.”

No
, he thought,
but maybe he should
.

“I was thinking of what we were doing before your pickup was
destroyed.”

“Oh, God. Do you think he knows what we were doing?” Paige
felt her cheeks heat. “That never occurred to me.”

Nate cupped Paige’s cheek. She looked ready to drop. He
wished he could take her home, but the sheriff insisted on talking to them now.
Nate figured it was best to get it over and done with. The problem was he
didn’t think it was over. Not if his theory was correct.

“I’m sure he’s put two and two together by now.” Nate guided
her into the kitchen. “We’ll deal with that later.”

“Morning, Paige.”

“Danny.”

Paige had known Danny Floyd all of her life. They went to
school together — first through twelfth grades. He had been her first crush and
her first kiss. They had been eleven. It was awkward and a little sweet.

She later found out he did it on a dare. Paige wanted to
crawl into a hole and die. Lottie marched up to him after school and knocked
him on his ass. From that day forward, Danny was in love.

Despite the unfortunate kiss, Danny was one of the rare good
guys that Lottie had mentioned. He started out as deputy, and then elected
sheriff when old Paul Trainor retired. The man had good husband and father
written all over him. Unfortunately for Danny, Lottie refused to see him as
more than a friend and a part-time lover. He wanted more but the few times he
tried to push her, Lottie stopped seeing him.

He was tall and slender with wavy brown hair. Danny had a
nice face. Even features that most people would call handsome. He was a catch
by every definition of the word. Everyone in Basic knew how he felt — everyone
but Lottie.

“The EMT guys said you checked out fine. How are you
feeling?”

“Wrung out.”

“We’ll get this over with as quickly as possible.”

Nate pulled out a chair at the table, seating Paige. He
poured them both a cup of freshly brewed coffee, and then joined her.

“You left the house just after four.”

“That’s right. I wanted to get back to the ranch before…”
Paige’s eyes darted away from Danny’s.

“Is it necessary to discuss the whys and wherefores,
Sheriff? Paige and I spent the night here. We were on the porch when the truck
exploded.”

“Right.” Danny made a few notes. “Any idea who would do such
a thing?”

“No,” Paige shook her head, frowning. “It doesn’t make any
sense. That wasn’t a prank. We could have been killed.”

“Nate?”

“How would he know? Nate has only been here a few weeks,
Danny.”

“I don’t know who did it, but I’m pretty sure it was because
of me.”

Paige listened with growing horror while Nate told them
about what happened during his last stunt.

“You said your broken arm was the result of an accident.”
Without thought, Paige laid a hand on his cast. “Are you saying somebody tried
to kill you?”

“There’s no proof. A witness came forward. He tried to scam
me out of some money. It turned out he didn’t know anything.”

“You think this is related?” Danny stirred a spoonful of
sugar into his coffee.

Normally, Paige would have appreciated his calm,
professional attitude. Under the circumstances, she wanted to slap him upside
the head.

“I can’t think of any other explanation.”

“You don’t have a name? A lead? Anything?”

“I have some friends who are investigating.” Jack’s last
report had been like all the others. Nothing new. “I wish I could tell you
more.”