Where Forever Lies (11 page)

Tyler took
a sip of his beer and then shrugged. “Well, this place isn’t
far from my house, which is why I like to come here, and neither is
the park, where I saw you, which is why Brandon and I go shoot some
hoops on Sundays before I take him home. There’s not much to do
on this side of town, you know?” He raised his eyebrows and
said, “So, it seems to me that you’ve been hanging out on
my side of town lately.”

She hadn’t
really thought of that, but she realized he was right. She usually
stuck to places closer to her apartment because something always
seemed to be going on. Eyeing him over the top of her beer bottle she
took a drink and grumbled, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

He gave
her an odd look as he pointed at her beer. “I’m surprised
you’re drinking beer. I wouldn’t have pegged you a beer
drinking type of girl,” he remarked, the corner of his mouth
turning up slightly.

Paige
looked down at her drink and nodded, “Yeah, well, probably
because you don’t know me. What type of drink do you think I’d
be drinking, anyway?” she asked curiously.

Tyler
sucked in his bottom lip as he gave it some thought and Paige
couldn’t help but let her eyes venture towards his mouth. She
studied him as he thought about his answer and noticed he had a few
scattered freckles on his cheeks that were slightly hidden by the
light scruff that he seemed to keep there. He could probably be a
charmer if he wanted to, but she figured he rarely showed that side.
With wet lips he said, “I’d say one of those girly
drinks. You know, the fruity looking ones. You look like the prissy
type of girl, so that fits you.”

Paige gave
him an icy glare. She wasn’t the prissy type. But after she
gave it some thought she began to question herself. Was she? Compared
to him, she definitely was.

“I’m
not one of those prissy girls, thank you very much,” she said
and to prove her point she chugged half her beer at one time. She
pulled the beer away from her lips and ran the back of her hand
across her mouth.

Paige
watched as Tyler started laughing uncontrollably. He smacked the bar
with his hand as he stared at her. After he finally got himself under
control he said, “You can’t expect me to believe that
when your nails are neatly manicured, your hair is perfectly curled
and your clothes look like they’re designer.

Appalled,
Paige looked down at her clothes and then back up at him. He was
wearing Levis, a brown T-shirt and brown cowboy boots that were still
covered in dirt from whatever he had been doing earlier. “If
you haven’t noticed, my nails are not neatly manicured. See
they are chipped,” she argued as she held her nails in his
face. “And my clothes are not designer; I bought them at the
mall at Lacey’s.” She placed her hand on the bar to
steady herself. The two beers were kicking in a little and she wasn’t
used to being tipsy out in public. She didn’t usually drink
enough to let her guard down but, with the stress lately, she felt
that she needed something to take the edge off.

Tyler ran
his eyes down the length of her body and then leaned around to check
out her backside. Paige felt her cheeks flush from his intense
scrutiny. She didn’t know what he was doing and it was making
her uncomfortable.

“They
look designer to me,” he finally said, bringing his gaze back
to her face. There was hunger there she almost missed because once he
blinked it was gone.

“Paige!”

She heard
someone yell her name behind her and turned around to find Brooke and
Kyleigh dancing their way up to her.

“Where’s
my beer, girl!” Brooke called out. Once she got within arm’s
length of her, she yanked her beer out of Paige’s hand. “Thank
you, my dear,” she said as she took a big gulp. Her eyes
finally landed on Tyler and then went back to Paige, asking the
question without saying it out loud, but Paige knew she was dying to
say something.

Tyler
leaned in close and said, “Well, I’d better get going. It
was really nice to run into you again, Paige.” He met her eyes
as he walked off and Paige watched him leave, not sure why she had
felt something towards him.

“Who
was that?” Kyleigh asked, her eyes glinting with excitement.

“That
is the guy who hit me with his truck and totaled my car last week,”
Paige said, knowing that would surprise them.

Their eyes
widened and they looked at each other and then burst out laughing.
Finally, Kyleigh said, “He can total my car any day.”

Paige
started laughing too and she wrapped her arm in Kyleigh’s and
said, “Let’s go grab a table, my legs are killing me!”

They took
a seat at a table which was close to the dance floor. Paige looked
around the bar, her mind thinking about Tyler. She found herself
thinking that he looked good tonight, even with the dirty cowboy
boots with God knows what embedded on them, and with the way Brooke
and Kyleigh’s eyes lit up, she knew she wasn’t the only
one who thought so. Her eyes finally landed on him in the far corner,
sitting with two of his friends. She watched him for a moment and
wondered if this was somewhere he came on a regular basis. She felt a
nudge in her rib and pried her gaze away from his table.

“Earth
to Paige, are you there?” Kyleigh asked as she peered into her
face. Paige shoved her away and laughed.

“What?
What I’d miss?” she asked as she looked at them.

“We
were talking about that hot guy you’re staring at,”
Brooke gestured in Tyler’s direction.

“I
was not staring,” Paige mumbled. “I was just in a haze
from the beer.”

“Uh
huh, the whole two beers you’ve had,” Brooke said as she
slapped her hand. “You need another drink.”

“No,
I’m good. Two’s enough.” Paige downed the last of
her drink and set her bottle off to the side.

“Well,
look who’s here,” a deep voice said from behind them.

They all
turned around and saw David Madison coming up to their table. Paige
didn’t realize this place was so popular and she definitely
didn’t expect to run into David here. It didn’t seem like
his type of place, but then again, it didn’t seem like hers,
either.

He
squeezed in next to Kyleigh and Paige had to do a double take at what
she saw. Kyleigh’s cheeks were turning a light shade of red,
and she began to fidget nervously. Paige wondered what, if anything,
was going on between them.

“Come
on, let’s dance, Paige!” Brooke declared as she looked at
Paige with pleading eyes. “I’m bored.”

Paige’s
legs were tired from already dancing for an hour straight earlier,
but she got up anyway. “Let’s go.”

“Woohoo!”
Brooke squealed as she grabbed Paige’s arm and dragged her out
to the dance floor.

As they
danced beside each other, Paige watched Kyleigh and David and then
asked, “Do you think they have something going on?”

Brooke’s
gaze ventured towards the table where Kyleigh and David were huddled
together, their heads leaning in to each other as they talked. “It
looks like a possibility to me. They make a cute couple.”

“Yeah,
they do,” Paige said and thought David would be perfect for
Kyleigh if she didn’t do something stupid and go back to Brad.

Brooke
groaned as a slow song came on and turned to Paige, “Sorry, but
you’re not my type.”

Paige
stuck out her bottom lip as she threw on her pouty face and said,
“What? Why not, what’s wrong with me?”

“You’re
my type,” a husky voice drawled from behind her.

Paige
whirled around, wondering who was standing behind her, and then
stiffened at who she saw.

“May
I have this dance?” Tyler asked, as he held his hand out to
her, a huge grin splayed across his face.

Paige’s
eyes grew wide and she tried to swallow the dryness out of her mouth.
After a few silent seconds, she found her voice, “Uh, sure?”
It came out more of a question than a response.

“You
don’t sound sure. Let me try this again. I want to dance with
you, Paige, will you do me the honor and dance with me?” Tyler
asked, as he took a step closer.

He was
within inches of her now and Paige felt all the tension in her melt
away as she looked into his expectant brown eyes. With that, there
was no way she could say no. She would be lying to herself if she
said he didn’t turn her on or make her feel things that no man
had yet to spark within her. She straightened her shoulders and said
confidently, “Yes.” He held out his hand and without
hesitation she placed her dainty hand into his large one. She watched
as he closed his hand and pulled her along and out to the dance
floor.

He grabbed
her by the waist and eagerly pulled her to him as if it was something
he had wanted to do since he’d first met her, and was just
waiting for her approval. Paige felt heat rising in her cheeks and
then made herself relax, telling herself it had been too long since
she’d been around a man if having one dance with a guy made her
blush. She didn’t know what it was, but, every time she was
around him she felt a nervous feeling creep up on her. As she leaned
in to him, the smell of the ocean and beer hit her. She didn’t
think that combination could smell good, but somehow it did.

As their
bodies gently swayed with the song, Paige felt his grip on her waist
tighten and she found herself leaning in closer to him, her face
barely brushing against his neck. She didn’t know what was
coming over her but she found herself enjoying being in his arms and
being close to him. Something deep down told her that he was
different than the other guys she had dated; he seemed more mature,
though she realized she didn’t know him that well, either. She
felt a strange desire to see what type of guy he was, but fear of the
unknown made her leery. She’d been burned too many times in the
past.

She caught
Kyleigh’s eye as she sat at the table and saw the excitement in
her face. She knew her thoughts were going crazy. She probably
already had them married off by now. Kyleigh gave her two
enthusiastic thumbs up and Paige rolled her eyes.

She felt
his chin rest on her head, felt his body relax and melt further into
hers, pulling her even closer against him. His hand squeezed hers and
she felt his lips brush against her ear, making her skin tingle from
his light touch. She felt him dip his head down even more to her, his
lips grazing against the bare skin on her shoulder, making her shiver
ever so slightly with a rise of pleasure, and then the song suddenly
ended. They both stood there for a minute, neither one wanting to
pull away. She felt him breathing hard, his hands lightly rubbing
against her waist and she found herself not wanting him to let go.
But, after several agonizing seconds, he slowly pulled away and
looked down at her. She noticed a waver in his cockiness for a split
second; he seemed almost timid.

“Thank
you for the dance,” he finally said.

Blushing
slightly, she said, “You’re welcome,” and found
herself smiling like an idiot as she looked up into his eyes.
Flustered, she quickly looked away. She wasn’t sure what was
coming over her, but when she looked too long into his eyes, they
seemed to pull her in and threaten to never let her escape. She
suddenly felt awkward and wasn’t sure what to say.

Tyler
finally broke his stare when he looked down at his boots and then
back up at her, “Maybe we ought to do this again sometime.”

Paige
tried to keep her smile contained but his endearing manner was too
much. He was the complete opposite from the arrogant guy she’d
seen. Her smile slipped, and she said, “Maybe,” as she
turned to walk away. She knew he’d find her if he was truly
interested.

Once she
made her way up to her table she saw Kyleigh and Brooke grinning like
two idiots. She swore they acted as if they’d never seen her
dance with a guy before. Of course, by the way she was acting, it
probably looked that way. David was gone and Brooke was still
chugging down beers.

“What?”
she hissed as she took a seat.

“What
my ass!” Kyleigh said. “I can’t believe you Paige,
he’s hot, and manly looking with those cowboy boots!”

“Oh,
it was just a dance, calm down, girls.” Paige took a small sip
of her beer, not really wanting to drink anymore, just needing
something to take her mind off the way Tyler’s arms felt around
her waist. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt
anything that intense from a guy.

Paige
turned to face Kyleigh, “So? You and David? What’s going
on there?”

Kyleigh
suddenly got quiet and Paige was shocked. Kyleigh was rarely
speechless, let alone about a guy. She glanced out into the crowd,
looking as if she was lost in thought. Finally, she turned her
attention back to Paige and said, “We’re just talking...
But he’s a really nice guy and, I don’t know, we’ll
just see what, if anything, happens.”

Paige
raised her eyebrows at that, shocked that Kyleigh hadn’t
mentioned it to her earlier. Maybe she was just waiting to see if
anything became of it.

As Paige,
Brooke and Kyleigh all sat around their table talking about guys and
work and everything in between, Paige’s thoughts kept going
back to Tyler. The guy really had her thinking and that was a first.
She stared out into the crowd, trying her best to keep her eyes away
from his direction. She didn’t want to look too desperate. She
wasn’t even sure if she was ready for a relationship or not.
Paige jumped when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Hi,
ma’am, I have a drink for you,” a blonde waitress said.
Her white shirt clung tightly to her chest and her jeans looked as if
she had painted them on. She smiled down at Paige with brightly
painted red lips and red cowboy boots to match. Paige looked up at
her in confusion.

“I
didn’t order a drink,” she said.