I nodded and lifted Lily onto my shoulder. She made a small sound of protest but settled quickly.
“Paige?” His voice stopped me when I headed toward the stairs.
I turned back. He was standing by the table, hands in his pockets.
“You made the right choice,” he said, his voice dripping with his usual confidence. “Coming here and agreeing to this. All of it. I’m going to make sure you and Lily are taken care of. I promise.”
“I know you will.”
And the scary thing was that I meant it.
Despite everything that had happened that night, despite my entire life falling apart, I trusted Derek. I always had.
As I carried Lily upstairs to the guest room, I tried not to think about what I had just agreed to. Or about the way Derek had looked at me or the warmth of his hand or the fact that Jack had been jealous of him for years.
I finally climbed into bed myself, wearing Derek’s clothes and surrounded by his scent. One thought kept circling through my exhausted brain…
What the hell had I just gotten myself into?
6
DON’T CATCH FEELINGS
DEREK
What the hell was I doing?
It was past two in the morning, and I was sitting at my kitchen island with my laptop open, a tumbler of Macallan beside me, trying to draft what had to be the most insane contract I had ever written.
A fake engagement agreement.
I could have been passed out beside Alessandra, but instead I was enjoying smelling like baby-formula and grilled cheese.
I took another sip of the scotch and stared at the screen, where I had typed out four basic rules:
1. Lily is the priority.
2. No kissing unless Jack is around.
3. Wearing rings is a must (after the engagement.)
4. Stay friends. Don’t catch feelings.
That last one made me laugh. It’s not like I haven’t loved Paige Mitchell for almost twenty years. My heart was telling me to be honest with her, to tell her the truth instead of hiding behind the fake engagement bullshit.
But I couldn’t.
She was vulnerable and barely holding it together. The last thing she needed was me dumping my feelings on her like some pathetic idiot who had been pining on her for decades.
I closed the laptop and downed the rest of my scotch, then made my way upstairs. But as I passed the guest room, I saw the door was slightly ajar. I should have kept walking and gone straight to my room and given Paige the privacy she deserved.
Instead, I paused.
Through the gap, I could see the makeshift nursery we had hastily thrown together. Lily was asleep in the center of the bed, surrounded by pillows we arranged as bumpers to keep her from rolling. She looked so tiny and peaceful. Her little chest rising and falling in a perfect rhythm.
And Paige.
Fuck. Paige.
