“Always trust your instincts, Paige,” Agatha said. “Now let’s get back to work. We have books to sort out and inventory to go over.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Paige said, embarrassed to have blurted about her kiss.
As they sorted out a new delivery of books, Paige debated what to make for dinner tonight and what Gunner’s plans entailed.
****
Paige made a quick run to the grocery store before she headed home. Knowing Paige had special plans for tonight, Agatha offered to lock up the store. Paige was a decent cook, although not a particularly talented one. She picked up a basket and began browsing the shelves.
She tried thinking up a dinner menu that might impress Gunner, but her mind came up blank. Paige stuffed down the panic that began to grow inside her. She was probably just making a big deal out of this. Gunner had never been a picky eater, at least in the past he wasn’t.
Paige ended up purchasing ingredients for a simple pasta, along with a roasted chicken from the store’s rotisserie. Once she made her purchases, she took a bus home.
After her stop, her guard immediately rose. A couple of meth junkies hanging out at a street corner called out to her. Like always, Paige ignored them. In case of an emergency, she had pepper spray in her purse. Fortunately, she never had to use it.
She hurried to her apartment building, then thought about Gunner knowing her address. That should worry her, shouldn’t it? That he seemed aware of where she lived? But thinking about Gunner keeping an eye on her while she walked home made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.
Gunner had always been overprotective, even when they were teenagers. Once Paige engaged all the locks on her front door, she breathed a sigh of relief. Then she unloaded all her ingredients in the small kitchen.
She boiled the pasta and made the simple bolognese sauce. Never mind fancy. What did tonight mean? Gunner said he’d wait for her, but she couldn’t leave him hanging forever.
She’d already broken his heart once. She had a feeling if she did it again, Gunner would never forgive her. While the pasta sauce simmered, Paige re-heated the chicken in the oven. Once the food was cooked, she decided to have a quick shower.
Paige had just gotten out of the bathroom when the doorbell rang. The bathroom space was tiny, so most of the time, she changed in the bedroom. She checked the peephole first. Gunner stood in the corridor, holding what looked like a bouquet of roses and a bottle of wine.
Heart racing, she unlocked the door and opened it. Gunner stared at her, then growled. The animalistic sound scared her for a few moments, then he entered her apartment and slammed the door behind him.
“Do you greet all your guests just wearing a towel?” he finally asked her. His look turned appraising, and Paige blushed, wishing she’d put on some clothes before answering the door.
“No, I just came out of the shower when the doorbell rang. You didn’t have to growl at me.”
“Sorry. I don’t like strangers gawking at what’s mine,” Gunner said.
His words sent a shudder of anticipation down her spine. Her nipples tingled, and she hurriedly turned away from him. “Give me a few minutes to change. Can you turn around?” she asked. Her studio apartment didn’t exactly have walls or partitions separating one living area from the next.
Gunner could’ve argued that he intended to see her naked by the end of the evening, but he simply complied. Paige quickly dried herself, then put on the sleeveless midnight-blue dress she planned on wearing tonight. It only occurred to her then that she’d forgotten to put on underwear.
“Can I look now?” Gunner asked.
“Sure,” Paige said. Telling him she needed to put on her panties and bra would be embarrassing, so she let it be. If things did turn heated between them tonight, then she’d simply tell him that she wore nothing underneath as a surprise for him. Her heart thudded violently as she pictured herself on Gunner’s lap, his denim-clad thigh rubbing against her exposed pussy.
Paige blushed, then looked for her comb. She found it on the small table next to the bed and ran it through her hair. There was no time to dry it. God. Had she screwed this up already?
Instinct told her to go along with it. She faced Gunner again and held out a hand, which he took in his. Paige momentarily stared at the contrast between his heavily inked fingers and her slim, unmarred ones. He lifted her hand and kissed it, just like a gentleman, but Paige didn’t want nice.
“Are those for me?” she asked, nodding to the roses. Gunner released her hand and handed them to her. She accepted them, inhaling the sweet scent for a few moments.
“This is beautiful. Thank you, Gunner,” she said.
“Dinner smells good. Is that roasted chicken and pasta?”
“Let me place these in a vasefirst before I set the dishes,” Paige said.
“I can do that. Where are the plates and cutleries?” Gunner asked.
“Plates and mugs are in the cupboard above the stove. Cutleries are in the drawer,” she answered.
After placing the flowers in a vase and filling it with water, she displayed them on the coffee table in the living room. Paige had a small table in the kitchen. She didn’t have an official dining room, but she fancied up the space by putting a red and white checked tablecloth over the second-hand table she’d gotten at the flea market. She also put some candles in the kitchen, and she lit those before serving the food. Then she joined Gunner at the table.
