Right on time at one o'clock, there was a knock on her hotel door.
Paige swung the door open, holding Irie on her side. The tall hockey star, dressed in a navy Armani suit with chalky white pinstripes, greeted her with a radiant smile and a massive bouquet of red roses that he thrust forward.
“For you, Paige.”
Irie smiled and laughed at the sight of her father.
“Hi, Irie! Come here, baby girl, lemme hold you.” He reached out and took Irie into his arms.
Paige took the bouquet from him with a frown. “You shouldn't have, you know. We're only staying one night.”
His confident smile was suddenly lost. “One night?”
“Yes. We're only here so we can take your paternity test.”
He reached for her hand. “But Paige, I wanted to show you around. There's so many places I wanted to take you two—”
Paige freed her hand. “We'll take this one step at a time, Lance, so we don't rush into anything. Beforeanything elsehappens, the first thing we need to do is take your paternity test.”
He frowned. “You know, I've been thinking about that, and it's really not necessary—”
Her eyes grew. “What? Yes, it is! It's the whole reason I came out here.”
Lance paused to blow raspberries on Irie's cheek, making her howl with laughter. “But the thing is … I don't need it, Paige. I really don't. I feel like the act of getting that damned test only proves I don't trust you or something. Whichisn'tthe case. At all. Paige, you have no idea how much I want to take that day at the airport back. I'd doanythingto go back to our old plan, to have you move in—”
She sighed. “Lance. Please. The paternity isn't just for yoursake. It's for mine, too. I might need it for legal recourse if you decide you don't want to help out with Irie.”
Lance swallowed. “But trust me, that's—”
“Please, Lance.” She grabbed her coat and put it on. “Can we just go get that test over with now? For our peace of mind?”
He dropped his gaze. “Yeah, I guess so.”
Chapter 32
Lance
Shit. This is going wrong.
Lance had expected an uphill battle, like Ella had warned him, but he hadn't expected Paige to act so coldly towards him. He'd expected to be able to charm his way past her defenses, like he had back in Nashville. But whether it was a warm glance, or a gentle touch on her shoulder, or a story he thought she'd find funny? She shut him down at every turn.
On the drive to the doctor's office—which hereallydidn't want to do—she barely seemed to listen to him. She stared out her window quietly, only chiming in with an unamused,huhoroh reallyorno kiddingwhen it was appropriate.
But at least he could still makeIrielaugh. All that girl needed was a goofy face in the rear-view mirror, and she'd be rolling on the floor—if she weren't safely strapped into the top-of-the-line, snap-and-go stroller and car seat combo he'd showed up with just for their excursion.
(Heck, he thought Paige would be impressed with that purchase, but she barely gave it a second glance!)
Lance started doubting his plan. At the doctor's office, he snuck off just long enough to fire off a text at his sister.
“We're a little delayed, Honey Badger. She insisted on taking the paternity test after all. P.S. I think this might be going badly.”
“Really? Oh no!”
“What should I do?”
“Have you tried apologizing for being a huge, huge, HUGE idiot for getting on that plane when you should've stayed with her?”
“Groan. Guess I'll try harder. Do you think I should I still bring her by? She might not even want to come.”
