Page 13 of Happily Ever After

Paige grinned. “Depends. Were you looking at practical cars or fun cars?”

“I was thinking practical,” he admitted. “But I looked at a few that were…less practical.”

“That doesn’t answer the question.”

Graham laughed as he drained the potatoes, then added good lump of butter, a splash of cream, and some salt and pepper to the pot. He went at them with a handheld masher. “Okay. I looked at a couple of sedans. Then I looked at a convertible. Just to see.”

Paige lifted her eyebrows. “A convertible.”

“Don’t make that face. It would be terribly fun.”

“I’m not making a face,” she said, which was not true.

He took a break from mashing to lean his hip against the counter. “It was red,” he said. “And it was ridiculous. I didn’t even open the door. I just stood there and thought about how much I would end up regretting it. Probably.”

Paige rested her elbows on the counter. “And?”

“And I kept walking,” he said. “But I thought about it.”

“That sounds very mature.”

“You would look spectacular in it.” Graham smiled, then went back to the potatoes, mashing away with serious intent. Steam rose, fogging his glasses. He didn’t stop, just lifted his head a bit and kept going.

Paige watched him with warmth in her heart. He wasn’t cooking to impress her. Not much, anyway. He was cooking because it was dinner and he’d decided on pork loin with mashed potatoes and peas like it was the easiest thing in the world.

“How was your day?” he asked, turning the burner under the peas down.

“Busy,” Paige said. “Productive.” She hesitated, then added, “I’m glad to have the interview behind me. And even happier that Cece gave me the chance to do it. She’s putting it out ahead of Joe’s, which means it’ll be live as soon as she finishes editing.”

Graham didn’t stop what he was doing, but his attention refocused on her. “As long as you have peace about it.”

Paige nodded. “I do. And Randi supported the decision. I think we’re both done with keeping the secret, you know?” She realized she’d never told him the whole story about her divorce.

“I can imagine.” He reached for a knife and began slicing the pork.

She cleared her throat softly and kept her voice low, her eyes focused on nothing. “The secret is that my husband was having an affair with another man. He’d been gay his entire life. Only married me for appearances.”

After a pause, Graham said, “I cannot imagine how painful that was for you and Randi to endure. I am terribly sorry you had to go through that.” He reached for her hand. “You are worth so much more than that.”

Paige smiled. “Thank you. It was very hard, but obviously, we both survived.”

“Anything new with her?”

“No,” she said, loving that he didn’t want to dwell on what she’d just shared. “She’s as curious about Darcy’s next move as I am, so we’re both waiting to see what happens after the episode goes live.”

Graham set the slices of meat on a serving dish, then drizzled some of the pan juices over the top. “Will you promote it on your TikTok?”

“I will. For one thing, I feel I owe that to Cece. For another, what’s the point of doing it if no one listens?”

“True.” He looked up. “Whatever happens, don’t let anyone convince you that you made the wrong decision. You didn’t. Taking charge of things like that is very admirable.”

“Thank you. I definitely think it was the way to go. I’m just not sure how she’ll react once she realizes I bested her.”

Graham nodded. “She won’t be happy. I’m sure about that.”

“Probably not.” Paige picked up her glass and took a sip. She wanted to ask him more about the convertible, because she didn’t believe for a second he hadn’t at least looked at the price. Her phone buzzed against the counter.

She flipped it over and saw the Queen Bees group chat notification at the top of the screen.