Her outrage morphed into an adorable grin. "Not as cute as you having push-up contests with Luke at work." She poked his stomach.
Gabe tensed, fearing Mom would remember that Luke was his current assistant and pick up on the fact that Paige was a current patient, not a former one. Paige must have realized her mistake, because her eyes widened, and she went as still as a statue. Even Grace gave them a wide-eyed look.
"Are you boys still doing silly stuff like that?" Mom tsked as she attacked the dough in her bowl again. "May as well be walking around like a couple preening peacocks." Thankfully, her head was down so she didn't see the panic on their faces.
Paige grimaced then gave him a tight smile. "Do you still make that face when you rub out your patients?"
"What face?" Gabe was too surprised by her question to appreciate the save.
"You know, the one where your lips are half-pursed to the side. Sometimes you push your tongue into your cheek."
"Yes!" Grace pointed at him and laughed. "He does that all the time when he's concentrating or deep in thought."
"Concentrating, huh?" A pensive look covered Paige's face as shestared up at him with those expressive blue eyes. "What are you thinking so hard about all the time?" Her voice suddenly sounded seductive.
Or maybe it was just his imagination. Regardless, a curl of desire flickered in his stomach.
"In your case, I wastotallynot letting my mind wander in inappropriate directions while I massaged your backside." He wiggled his eyebrows at her.
When her eyes widened, he couldn't resist any longer. He brought a hand up under her chin and dipped his head until his lips met hers. Even though he desperately wanted to thoroughly explore her mouth, he kept the kiss brief and mostly chaste, which wasn't easy considering the desire that surged through him the moment Paige responded. And when her hand found its way to his chest, it was all he could do to not crush her in his arms.
After he ended the kiss, he looked pointedly down at her hand. "You really do have a fascination with my chest, don't you, mi amor?" He kept his voice quiet, but not so quiet Mom and Grace couldn't hear.
A rosy tint colored her cheeks as her eyes widened again. Then she poked him in the side. He wasn't ticklish, but the pressure was firm enough to make him squirm away.
"Okay, you love birds,” Mom said in an amused tone, "it's time to get to work."
They joined Mom and Grace around the counter and before long had dough spread across its surface. Mom monopolized Paige's attention, as she explained the art of making empanadas.
When she took Paige to the stove to show her the assortment of fillings—both sweet and savory—and to demonstrate how to fold a spoonful into the little pockets, Grace turned to him and whispered, "That was a pretty convincing show."
He didn't like the way that sounded. It made it sound like he was using Paige. Technically, he was, but that kiss had been purely for his selfish benefit. Which meant he was an even bigger heel than Grace intoned.
"It wasn't a show." The words ground out through his clenched jaw as his stomach tightened.
Grace's expression remained skeptical for a moment before her lips lifted in a grin. "Careful, Hermano, you keep that up, I'm going to think you're really in love with her." She smacked his shoulder then walked over to the stove to join Paige and Mom.
Grace had cornered him last Sunday while their mom rested and demanded to know how he'd talked Paige into going along with his ruse. He hadn't intended to tell her how attracted he'd been to Paige since he first met her, but Grace saw right through his attempts to downplay his interest. She still thought Gabe was crazy for lying to their mom, but even she admitted Mom was much happier lately.
Gabe's chest expanded to a point of being almost painful as he watched the three women he cared deeply about laugh at Paige's attempts to pinch her empanada closed without pushing out the filling.
Grace was right. He was in love with Paige.
Gripping the table, he swore under his breath. He’d tried to keep his attraction to her in check, because besides being beautiful, she had so many charming qualities that he knew he was at risk of falling for her. But the moment she agreed to be his fake girlfriend, he started losing that battle, and somewhere along the way, he'd lost his footing on a slippery slope that had him careening out of control faster than a skier with no poles on a Black Diamond run.
The problem was he didn't know what to do about it.
He couldn't handle a repeat of what happened with Harper, who felt so neglected that she'd gone elsewhere looking for love. With everything going on with his mom, he feared he'd end up doing the same thing to Paige.
He didn't want to hurt her like that. Nor could he bear to have her dump him for someone else. He couldn't handle that kind of heartbreak again. Not when he was already losing his mom.
Which meant there was only one thing he could do. Fake or not, he needed to back off and keep their relationship platonic.
No more stealing kisses.
"I'm so full."Paige leaned back from the table and put her hand to her stomach. Even her sides hurt. Probably from all the laughing they'd done while they cooked and ate.
"Me too." Gabe and Grace said in unison.
