Paige only managed to get two hours of sleep before the alarm on her phone sounded. She dreaded getting up, but what would lying in bed all day accomplish? Her mind would only wander. Might as well distract herself with some work. Besides, a new shipment of romance books from her favorite authors was coming in today. The thought cheered her up.
She quickly put on a pair of shorts, then headed downstairs to the clubhouse kitchen to fix Gunner and herself a quick breakfast. She made toasted cheese sandwiches, along with two mugs of coffee, and headed back up.
Gunner still hadn’t woken, so she ate first, then showered. By the time she was dressed and applying makeup, a groan sounded from the bed. Gunner yawned, then stretched. Paige watched the play of morning sunlight on his muscles. Sex would be a welcomed distraction, but she would be late for work.
Gunner glanced at the tray of food, then he studied Paige.“You know, you could call in sick today. Spend the day with me.”
“Tempting, but Agatha needs help with a new shipment of books today, and I know you’re busy as well,” Paige said. “You asked someone to fill in for your delivery job yesterday.”
“Right.” Gunner groaned. “I don’t like the idea of you going to work like normal when Richard’s out there.”
“I can’t just halt my entire life because of him. He doesn’t have that power over me, not anymore,” Paige said.
“Very well, but come over here and give me a morning kiss first.” Gunner crooked a finger at her.
Paige grinned, momentarily forgetting about Richard. She slid into Gunner’s lap, and he ran his fingers over the buttons of her top. She shivered, shifting on his lap. Paige kissed him, and he placed his hand over her denim-clad thigh.
“You have some additional time, or are you running late?” Gunner asked, breaking away from the kiss. He pressed a kiss on the pulse point on her neck, and Paige’s nipples tightened in anticipation.
“Maybe I have some time,” she said.
Chapter Nine
Paige looked at the book display she made with some measure of satisfaction. After taking care of a customer’s purchases, Agatha stood next to her and gave her a nod. “Good work helping me unload all those books and creating this beautiful display.”
Paige swelled with pride. She knew it wasn’t much, but little victories like these went a long way toward her personal healing. Then Paige checked her watch and realized it was noon.
Taking out all the new books and shelving them had taken them the entire morning. Of course, a tour bus stopped in town today, and the unexpected influx of book buyers slowed down the process.
“I’ll head out for my lunch,” Agatha said, glancing at Paige’s wristwatch. “Will your man be bringing you lunch again today?”
“Yeah, he’ll be here soon,” Paige said with a nod. Gunner texted her two hours ago, telling her he’d pick something up at the diner. After the last customer exited the shop, Paige could relax for a few moments before Gunner arrived with lunch.
Paige walked away from the cash register to pick up the book a customer browsed and left on the wrong shelf. After putting it back in its original location, the bell by the door rang.
“Gunner, is that you?” Paige asked.
She froze when she saw her ex-husband standing there. Richard looked like a fish out of water, dressed in one of his hot and stuffy thousand-dollar suits.
He also wore a coat despite the hot water. He sniffed as he glanced at the store before finally settling his dark-blue gaze on her.
Richard smiled, and it reminded her of a shark circling the water. He looked her up and down, the way he always did when they were about to head out to meet his friends or business associates for dinner. He wrinkled his nose.
“Paige, you’ve looked better,” he said. “Small-town life doesn’t suit you.”
“Richard,” she whispered, finally finding her voice. She swore she would not let this man get to her. “It suits me just fine.”
“If you say so,” he said with a shrug. Richard directly stood in front of the door. There was another exit—the back door in the storage room that would lead to an alleyway. Paige couldn’t abandon the store, and besides, Richard might just be here to talk.
Remember the information Gunner got from Black, a cautious voice inside her head said. She had to be very careful. Richard then casually walked back to the door. Paige’s heart thumped when he flipped the sign toclosed, probably so they wouldn’t be disturbed.
The sound of the lock clicking made her jump.Calm down, Paige reminded herself.Don’t show him you’re scared shitless.
“What are you doing here?” she asked him.
“I’ve looked for you, you know? I had to fire the last PI I hired because he was useless,” Richard said.
“But Black found you the answers you needed,” Paige said.
