“I love you. I use your hair products.” Young Paige shook her curls. “I’ve been following you on Instagram. You’re so beautiful in person—and on screen.”
Paige’s heart melted and she smiled. “Thank you. You’re lovely yourself.”
The girl ducked her head, a shy grin on her face. “Oh my God,” she whispered again. “I heard your TED talk. It inspired me to want to do more community work. I just started applying to colleges. I want to go to USC.”
“That’s cool. You should totally come to Cali. You’d love it there.”
“It’s my main goal in life right now.” They chatted for a few more minutes. Then the girl asked, “Can I take a picture with you?”
Paige bit her lip. This was a teenage girl. If she took a pic with her, there was no way that girl wouldn’t post it on her social media. But while Paige didn’t want to be seen, there was no way she could tell the intelligent young lady in front of her no.
Nodding, she agreed to take a pic. Andrew snapped the pics with the Young Paige’s phone and his own phone—probably because he knew she’d want a memento.
When he handed the girl her phone back, she peered at the screen and squealed again. “Thank you.”
Paige hugged the girl. “You’re welcome. It was good to meet you, Paige.”
“You too.” Then Young Paige took off, running toward her house.
She felt Andrew’s eyes on her and turned to look at him. “What?”
“You’re amazing.”
Bumping his shoulder, she said, “Oh, stop.”
“No, I’m serious. So when you start to feel hopeless, remember how much of an impact you had on that girl.” He stepped closer to her, but they didn’t touch. “You’re going to be alright.”
“I will,” she said. “Thank you for this. Thank you for getting me out of the house. And thank you for taking me on this little tour of your old neighborhood. I loved every minute of it.”
“Wait until I show you the haunted house of the neighborhood.”
Paige’s eyes widened, excited because she loved spooky stuff. “Oh, I need to see that.”
They finished the tour and returned to Connie’s house. They played cards, ate popcorn, and laughed so much her sides hurt. Sometime during the evening, Paige realized she could never go back to the way things were before with Andrew. Because the more time she spent with him, the more she knew she’d never be satisfied with less of him. She wanted more.
Chapter Thirteen
“Shit.”
“What is it?” Paige asked from behind him. “Did you forget something in Detroit?”
Andrew blinked, surprised that he’d spoken out loud. Because he’d been thinking it, thinking about how life was about to change for them. All because of a grainy snapshot.
Paige poked him. “Drew? What’s wrong?” she asked again.
His gaze fell to his phone and the text he’d received moments ago from Skye. There were three words below an image of him and Skye hugging while taking a stroll in his mother’s neighborhood: You fucked up!
Andrew wanted to choke the incognito photographer for snapping a pic of an innocent moment between them and turning it into a salacious headline. He clicked on the link and scanned the article.Shit.
PAIGE MILLS’S SECRET EXPOSED. YEARS OF
UNBRIDLED PASSION ERUPT IN HER SECRET HIDEAWAY
WITH LOVER AND AGENT
The subtitle was even worse:JULIUS REEVES SPEAKS OUT
Paige stepped in front of him, a frown on her face. “Drew? What happened?”
