Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 100853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
“Point taken,” Hawk said with a nod, standing again.
“When Cooper gets back to you about Paul Williams,” I began.
Griffen gave a nod. “I’ll pass it on.”
Hawk left, shutting the door on his way out.
“Aren’t you going to say anything about Paige?” I asked, unable to handle the tension any longer.
“What do you want me to say?” Griffen asked, leaning back and propping his ankle on his knee, an older brother smirk playing around his mouth.
“I don’t know. Something. Maybe that I had no business getting involved with an employee of the family who happens to be your daughter’s nanny—”
“You’re both adults,” Griffen said. “She didn’t seem to have any objection to your attentions, and if she does, Hope will get it out of her. If that’s the case, we’ll have a problem.”
“We’re not going to have a problem,” I said.
“I expect we won’t,” he agreed.
I stayed quiet for a beat, debating whether I could—or should—admit the fear in my heart. I remembered Griffen’s words at the prison and decided to be honest. “I don’t have a good track record with women,” I said. “Or in general.”
“Fuck that. Your track record in general is what it is,” Griffen said, “and with women…” He raised an eyebrow. “Have you ever dated a woman like Paige before?”
“It’s been a while since I ‘dated’ anyone,” I said, making air quotes around the word. “There’ve been women—it wasn’t hard to find company. I was second-in-command of Sawyer Enterprises. But dating, spending time with a woman, getting to know her with the intention of bringing her into my life—that lost its appeal after my divorce from Vanessa. There’s never been anyone like Paige.”
“Well then, try not to fuck it up,” Griffen said and grinned at me.
“That’s the plan,” I said with a laugh of relief.
“I don’t need to warn you off Paige,” Griffen said. “I saw the way you looked at her—the way you held her hand when she was nervous. She’s a grown woman. If she wants to get rid of you, she can. And if this doesn’t work out and she quits, I seriously will kill you. But as long as you’re both happy, it’s none of my business.”
Chapter Twenty
PAIGE
Ifollowed Hope out of the office, nerves skittering down my spine. She’d been kind when I’d finally come clean about my father and the letters, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to bring the hammer down now that we were alone. Despite her empathy and compassion, Hope wasn’t a softie. She might dislike having to fire me, but it didn’t mean she wouldn’t do it.
I followed her into the suite she shared with Griffen, and farther to the small nursery she’d set up for Stella. We headed straight to the changing table, where we fell into a comfortable rhythm—Hope stripping Stella down as I grabbed a diaper and wipes.
“Are you okay with the Ford situation?” she asked, shooting me a quick look. It felt like an X-ray straight to my heart.
“I don’t know how to answer that,” I said honestly. “It feels inappropriate—”
“You said that already,” Hope said.
“Inappropriate because he’s my boss’s brother and we live in the same house, which is also my workplace.”
“I can see that,” Hope said. “But we never specifically said Sawyers were off-limits.”
“I didn’t think you needed to,” I said.
I helped corral Stella’s waving feet, smiling down at the baby as she grinned on the changing table. She was a good girl most of the time, but she liked turning her feet into moving targets when we were trying to change her. Potty training couldn’t come soon enough, but it wasn’t time yet—not even close.
“Then Ford came home,” I said, “and I went from not even tempted, to…” I wasn’t sure I could explain the attraction that had sprung up out of nowhere at my first glimpse of Ford Sawyer. “I didn’t think he’d even noticed me, but—” I shrugged. “It turned out he did.”
“But there was no coercion, no pressure from him?” Hope asked.
“No,” I said, immediately understanding what she was getting at. “Nothing like that. Whatever’s between us, it’s totally consensual on both sides.”
“Good to know,” Hope said. “I had to check. So, are you two… Is it love? Or just fun?”
All I could do was be honest at this point. And I hadn’t even figured it out for myself yet. I let out a sigh. “It’s definitely fun, but it’s not just fun. Not for me,” I said, “and I don’t think for him either. We haven’t talked about it, but—”
Hope nodded, throwing away a handful of soiled wipes and tickling Stella’s belly before she fastened the diaper.
“Are you upset?” I asked, bracing for her answer.
“No, not upset, just…” Hope bit her lower lip and drew in a breath, letting it out slowly.
I watched her for any sign of anger, but it wasn’t there.