“Do you need anything before we leave?”I ask and she hesitates, glancing up the stairs and then out the front door.“Tell me what you need and I’ll get it.”
She doesn’t have a chance to answer before the officer says, “Sorry, sir, you’re not allowed up there.One of us will go up and gather what you need if you tell us where it is.”
“My bathroom under the sink, there’s a blue toiletries bag.”She hides her face by looking down at her clothes.“I don’t have anything else to wear, but…”
She wants to get out of here, and my guess is the thought of even having to think of her bedroom and the instructions she’d have to give the police is too daunting and troublesome.
“Don’t worry about your clothes.I’ve got you covered.”My arm slides around her shoulders and I wink at her for my poorly timed double entendre.
While the officer goes upstairs, Paige leans into me and I willingly give her the support, for my sake as much as hers.We stand like that for a beat or two.
“Did you call your family or friends?”I ask, not ready to hand over the responsibility of caring for her to someone else but also knowing we are acquaintances with a business deal.
Last night’s dinner may have been a success, great even, but it doesn’t change the fact that none of this is real.
We aren’t real.
But I can still be here for her.I feel responsible for what happened tonight, and once her brother finds out, Drew will likely feel the same way.
“What?”She looks up at me, dazed as if she was somewhere else and only now realizes where she is.
“Do your parents know what happened tonight?Drew?”
“No, Mom and Sam are away, and I won’t tell Drew tonight.He’d be on the first flight to Toronto, and Dad…well, no.”
“Okay.”I nod to the officer in thanks and gently nudge her out the door.
“Why?”she asks as we near my car.
“I wondered where you were staying tonight.”
Stay with me.
“Oh.Um, I guess my mom’s.I could stay with the family friends taking care of my youngest brother but…”
“But what?”I lean forward to open the passenger door to my car for her.
“Too many people and I don’t want to worry Bas.”She nibbles on her bottom lip, glancing to her feet and back up at me.“Can you take me to a hotel?”
Uncertainty swims in her usually warm chocolate gaze and I make the decision to push beyond our fake relationship.Besides, what I’m about to ask will only help our deal.
“Stay with me.”
“I don’t think that’s…”
“Stay tonight or as long as you want.You don’t have a permanent place to live right now.”
“Thanks for reminding me.”Her attempt at levity makes me chuckle.
“My building has security and I’ve got more than enough room.”
She’s about to open her mouth to protest—it’s written all over her face—when I place one finger on her now parted lips.
“It’s getting late and I don’t want you alone.”
“Okay.”She gives in more easily than I anticipated, and her tone suggests fatigue is the culprit—she’s too tired to argue—but her relief is hard to miss.
Turning to face the Bugatti, she slides into the cockpit-designed interior and sighs, “This is some car.”
