“I wanted to ask about the ad outside the door,” Paige said, slightly breathless. There, she’d gotten the words out.
“The bookstore assistant job?” Agatha asked. “Do you have your résumé with you?”
Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. How could she forget something like that? “No, but I can return later and—”
“That’s all right dear,” Agatha interrupted. “I’ll get you a form for you to fill out. You can email me your résumé later.”
“Oh, thank you, Miss Agatha,” she said, following the woman to the counter.
“Just Agatha,” she said, handing Paige a paper and pen.
It took her a few minutes to fill out the form. She handed it back to Agatha, who gave it a quick read. “So, you’ve been a housewife for the past five years?” There was no kind of malice in her voice.
“That’s right.” Paige grew embarrassed, but she pressed on. “But I’m a hard worker and I learn quickly. I love books, you see, and ever since I moved back here, I noticed your sign and thought I could be a good fit for the store.”
“What made you leave the city and move to a small town like Grace?”
Paige bit her lip, then told Agatha the truth. She didn’t want any lies between her and her potential employer, after all. “I just left a terrible marriage and wanted a fresh start. Since I grew up here, I figured I wanted to return to my roots.”
Agatha smiled kindly at her. “I know a thing or two about bad marriages. Very well, you’re hired, Miss Wilcox. I’ll see you first thing tomorrow.”
“Thank you!” Paige said. “I’ll send over my résumé by the end of the day.”
Chapter Two
“Can you believe it? Agatha gave me the job on the spot,” Paige gushed.
Gunner set down the tray with two coffees on a nearby table. It puzzled him that Paige was so happy about getting a job at the bookstore.
He still didn’t have a clear picture of the woman his childhood sweetheart had become. He figured Paige had forgotten him, so it was a pleasant surprise she recognized him on sight. He didn’t miss the way her voice had gone breathy either. That told him she still had feelings for him.
Well, Gunner had never forgotten her. Paige was the one who got away. She broke his heart years ago, when she told him she was moving to the city to attend a university there.
But Gunner kept track of her. He was aware of the day she married some rich snob, and he read every mention of Paige and her ex-husband in the society pages of the newspapers.
His Prez, King, would’ve called Gunner’s interest in one woman an unhealthy obsession. Gunner didn’t care what his MC brothers thought. His one regret was letting Paige go. Gunner should have chased her to the ends of the earth all those years ago. Convince her that she was born to be his. Back then, he’d been an angry, rash youth. He’d figured he could move on and find someone else. Things were different now.
Gunner expected Paige to be, well, he thought some of her ex-husband’s traits would rub off on her. He thought she’d become a different person, someone more concerned with her wealth and appearances.
Paige’s parents, the former mayor and his wife, were like that. Somehow, Paige had retained her sweetness, her wholesomeness. Yet, Gunner sensed a sadness in her. Her marriage to Richard Montgomery hadn’t been a happy one.
“Sorry, I kept going on and on about getting that job at the bookstore,” Paige finally said.“Did I bore you?”
“Not at all. I enjoy hearing you talk,” Gunner said.“So how long will you be staying in Grace?”
“Indefinitely, I hope. We’ll see how things go,” Paige said.
Indefinitely sounded like a good answer to Gunner. For years, he’d tried to forget about Paige. Being a member of the Ruthless Reapers MC, he always had someone to warm his sheets. None of the women he’d slept with in the past gave him what he needed. Every single time he had sex with some nameless woman, it was Paige’s body he pictured under him. Paige crying out beneath him and begging him for more.
Gunner’s phone beeped on the table, and he saw it was a message from Brick, the MC Vice President. Crap. He’d forgotten he was supposed to meet Brick at the clubhouse. They were riding out to meet another MC later in the afternoon.
“I need to leave, but let’s have dinner sometime,” Gunner said. “Continue this conversation.”
Paige hesitated, and he wondered if he’d mistaken her reaction to him earlier. It turned out Gunner had nothing to worry about because Paige asked, “Gunner, is this some kind of joke?”
“A joke?” he asked, not understanding. Paige had certainly become an enigma, a puzzle he’d like to solve.
“I felt terrible, leaving Grace without telling you. Breaking up with you over a phone call was a bitchy thing to do.” She bowed her head and began trailing her fingers up and down her empty coffee mug, a nervous gesture.
