She wanted to call Evan to tell him her news, her epiphany, her breakthrough. And she needed him to know that Whitney was going to mess with the divorce in any way she could.
Determination--and that growing lightness within her--made her hand surprisingly steady as she fished her phone out of her purse and dialed his cell phone.
"Paige." She loved the sound of her name on his lips, soft and low and full of need. "I was just thinking about you. It seems like I can't stop."
She wanted to tell him the same, to talk as lovers did. But she needed him to know, "Whitney was just here."
He cursed, four letters that crudely, and accurately, summed up the situation.
"She saw us kiss at the door and disappear inside." Her heart raced as she remembered the beauty, the passion of their connection. "She was still watching when you come back out. After." Heat infused Paige head to toes with the pleasure, the joy, and the love still tingling deep inside her. "After we made love."
Again, he swore, fury--and frustration--underlying the short word.
"She's going to use it against you in the settlement. Use me against you. She wants to destroy you."
"She won't." His tone was hard. All the warmth with which he'd said her name was gone now. "I won't let her, damn it."
Paige was suddenly holding a phone full of dead air. And wondering if, like an emotional vampire, Whitney had just sucked away everything that was good.
No. That was the past talking. No matter what Whitney said with that snap of her fingers, Evan wouldn't go back to her. How could he possibly do that?
Shoving her insecurities away--the insecurities her sister had built up simply so she could toy with Paige--she rolled her suitcase back to her bedroom and started unpacking. A simple, routine act that would help ground her back into reality.
But Evan's imprint was on each piece of clothing. The hungry look in his eyes as he'd stripped her sweater away. The reverence as he'd traced the line of lace along the top edge of her panties. The deep emotion in his voice as he'd said, I'm yours.
The doorbell rang for the second time that evening. She closed her eyes and took a bracing breath. Whitney was back for more. Maybe she'd thought of some new threat. Clearly, she hadn't accepted that Paige was done taking her crap.
When she reached the front door, she threw it open, ready to do battle.
But this time, Evan filled her doorway.
And her heart.
"I was already on my way back to you when you called." His gaze was fierce and passionate and protective. "I shouldn't have left. But I swear to you, I won't make that mistake again. And I won't let her hurt you," he vowed.
Then he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her. The purest vow of all.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Paige stole his breath right out of his chest. Just the way she'd stolen his heart. Both now and all those years ago, talking and laughing and connecting on a deeper level than he ever had with anyone else.
Evan made himself set her down, though he never wanted to let her go. "The thought of Whitney threatening you makes me crazy."
He'd already been on his way back, trying the whole way to convince himself that desire was what drove his urge to be with her again. But when Paige had called and told him about Whitney's surprise blitz attack? He'd finally realized, finally accepted, just how much he felt for Paige. How much he cared. How much he wanted her in his arms, in his bed, in his life.
And not just for one stolen weekend.
"You were the one she was threatening, Evan."
"She'll use you to get at me."
"She can try," Paige said, lifting her chin. "But it won't work."
He stroked her cheek. She was so brave. So strong. So honest. If only he'd realized nine years ago that brave, strong, and honest were traits worth fighting for. Even if you had to fight your own demons. Especially then.
"Tell me what she said."
She was silent for a moment that was heavy enough for him to what had happened between them. "She wanted my sympathy. She wanted to know where I was this weekend." Pausing, it was obvious she had to weigh whether to continue. Her chin lifted with her decision to tell him. "She wanted to know how I could possibly think you would have feelings for me when you could have her instead."
"I will crush her before I let her hurt you." He would give away all his money, all his worldly possessions if that was what it took to protect Paige. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here to protect you from her."
"Don't be sorry. It was good for me." When his eyebrow rose in disbelief, she clarified. "The things she said were horrible. But knowing I could stand up to her and defend myself? That was good. Great, in fact. Although," she added with a small laugh, "I'm not sure I'll be able to watch Sleeping Beauty again any time soon. I swear she actually looked like the wicked witch when she was yelling at me."
It was a good sign that Paige could laugh. "I've always known you were stronger than her. So has she, which is why she worked so hard to cut you down." He ran his hands over her hair, needing to touch her, to know that she was safe and unharmed.
"She didn't expect me to come back at her. Never thought I would tell her not to call me again unless she wanted to apologize to you and ask for forgiveness."
For Paige, that was huge. Family was everything to her. It was why she hadn't deserted Whitney when anyone else would have.
But then, as if some sort of dam suddenly broke inside her, she sobbed, the tears rising so quickly she couldn't stop them. He couldn't stop them.
"God, sweetheart, please." He didn't have the right words. He could only gather her against him.
"That story I told you about swinging into the creek." Her voice broke. "I wanted it to always be like that. I wanted to love her. For her to love me. I wanted us to be real sisters. I wanted that so badly that I was actually dying for her to come visit me that weekend at college when you met her. I thought we could actually be different together once we weren't living in the same house."
He closed his eyes, feeling her grief, his own, knowing what they'd both lost that weekend.
"And I wanted to do right by my mother, to keep my promise. But I never could. It was impossible. Whitney would never let me."
He held her, stroking her back. "It wasn't your fault." But she needed to let it out. He'd thought his own wounds were deep, but the scars Whitney had left on Paige might even be worse.
She breathed in, out, quickly, then sniffed. "I know I'm not to blame. I think I've known it since the day I found out what she did to you."
And he'd been caught in a vicious loop of believing how wrong it was to be with Paige because she was his sister-in-law. But the only wrong thing was Whitney. Wrong had never been finding pleasure--and peace--in Paige's arms.
He was so freaking tired of feeling shitty, of feeling guilty, of feeling foolish. Most of all, he was tired of imagining that his future could only get worse, like he was still that little kid hiding in dark corners trying to avoid the beating that was going to come anyway.
With Whitney, he had no doubt that she would fight him in as many dirty, nasty, underhanded ways as she could think of. But though he'd fight back with every ounce of his will, he'd also take the light, the joy, and the sweetness of the present with Paige. Every last moment that he could have with her--and he swore he would appreciate every single one.
He wiped the tears from her cheeks and took Paige's lips again, slowly, lingeringly, tasting every inch of her mouth. "You're so fresh, so lovely, so real. You can't know the number of people I meet who are phonies. Who just want something from me. But you've never asked for anything except my friendship. And you gave me yours without question."
She shook her head. "I've always wanted more, Evan." Yet again, her bravery astounded him as she squarely met his gaze. "I still do."
He kissed the corner of her eye, the tip of her nose, then her lips. He wanted to give her the promises she needed to hear, but he couldn't lie to her. The only thing he knew for s
ure was that he couldn't walk away.
"You're the most important person in the world to me, Paige."
Her smile warmed him, a smile that came even though he hadn't given her the word love, as she'd given it to him.
"I know I am." Her hands moved to cover his. "But I love hearing you say it out loud."
"I don't know what I'd do without you. I can't stand to even think of that."
"Then don't."
She made it sound so simple.
Was it?
Could it be?
Simple or not, he hauled her up until she could wrap her legs around his waist, locking her bare ankles behind him.
"I love it when you do that," she said. "When you act like you can't get enough of me."
"I can't." Nothing had ever been more true. And there was so much more truth she needed to know. "I love that we were friends first before lovers. That I know you so well. That you're part of my family."
She kissed him as he carried her into the bedroom, then he let her feet down until she was standing before him.
"I want you so badly, need you so much." He couldn't believe what he was about to admit. But he could be honest with Paige. Always. No matter what. "I don't know where to start to show you how much I need you."
Whatever he expected her to do or say in response, it wasn't the way she scrambled back onto the mattress and grinned up at him. "Where do you want to start?"
Sex had never been fun. It had been a minefield like all the other minefields in his life. But even after a harrowing confrontation, after tears, Paige was full of life and playfulness. Damn if he didn't need that. Badly. They both did, needed to banish the darkness once and for all. Together.
He climbed over her, straddling her body on hands and knees. "Here." He slid his hand up under her sweater and cupped her breast through the lace of her bra.
"Or," she said in a naughty voice that revved his engine hotter and faster, "you could start here." She drew his hand out of her sweater...and over the hot, damp apex of her thighs.
"You always were the smarter of the two of us." He enjoyed teasing her with his words as much as his touch. "You have too many clothes on."
She gazed up at him, her eyes hot. "Let's see who can get undressed the fastest."
He'd never seen her look quite so free before. He was proud of her for standing up to her sister, for having the courage to cut her off. But he'd tell her later, after he ravished her.
"You're on," he said, whipping his shirt over his head while he kicked off his shoes.
She simply started tearing everything off right there on the bed, throwing clothing every which way.
"I beat you." She lay dazzlingly naked in the middle of the bed, completely unabashed.
"That's only because you were barely dressed from the last time I devoured you."
Had it really been only an hour ago that they'd fallen on each other in her entryway? It seemed like a lifetime.
He started to climb back onto the bed, but she held up her hand. "Wait."
He stopped, one knee on the mattress. "What?"
"I want to look at you." Her gaze stroked him like the touch of her hand. "You're like a Greek statue. You always have been."
He worked out every day to get this way. He and Matt had been the puniest of the Mavericks when they were younger. "Back in college, I didn't have nearly enough time to work out."
She reached out, running her fingertips over his pecs, his abs, his muscles leaping beneath her touch. Wanting more. Always more when it came to Paige.
"Even in college, you were magnificent. And now I know how you feel, how you taste." She licked her lips. "Even in my dreams, it wasn't this good."
"I dreamed about you too. When we were in college."
"You did?"
"How could I not? And then this week, I couldn't stop dreaming again, couldn't stop fantasizing." He came back over her, kissing her mouth before raining kisses down over her neck, her shoulders, the swells of her breasts until she gasped. Moaned her pleasure. "You made all those hot little sounds in my dreams." He slid a hand down between them. "I touched you here." He stroked up, gliding over her aroused flesh until she arched, her breasts caressing his chest. "Then I did this." He rolled her to her stomach beneath him, brought her up to her knees.
Sliding down between her legs, he parted them and breathed her in. Her hair fell over her back, and he brushed the silky locks aside to kiss her spine, loving the way she trembled with need.
He licked and kissed and nipped, then rose up over her. "You're so ready. So hungry. For me. Only me." He rubbed his hard length along the slick folds of her sex. "Just like you were in my dreams."
He poised at her entrance, held himself there, glorying in her heat. Then he slid home inside her.
"Evan." His name fell from her lips as she took him deeper than he'd ever thought it possible to connect with another person.
"I kissed your neck just like this." His words were raw, overwhelmed with desire as he peppered her neck with kisses. He pushed deeper, and her hands fisted on the sheets. When he pulled out, he forced himself to go slow, to tease her, stroke her. "I told you how gorgeous you were." He buried his face in her hair. "I told you how you filled up every empty space inside me."
She cried out, her body shivering around him. And he almost lost it. Lost himself completely in her. But he needed her to know what she did to him. How much she meant.
"In my dreams, I told you how much I loved the sound of your voice." He groaned as she let go of the sheets and laced her fingers with his. "I told you how I loved talking with you, just sitting, just being. Loved the way you listened."
He tried to hold on, but he couldn't help spinning out of control, rocking them both across the bed, keeping her hands tightly laced in his, the spasms of her body turning him mindless.
"I told you--" Then he couldn't remember anything else.
Except that he'd made the wrong choice long ago. At long last, he'd finally made the right one.
Paige was everything he could ever want, everything he could ever need. He was the luckiest guy in the world that she could still want to be with him after all the ways he'd screwed up.
But would the heat, the joy, the power of their connection, be enough to erase the mistakes--and the darkness--of his past?
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Whitney's lawyer was a shark, complete with big white teeth and fleshy lips large enough to hold them all. Randall P. Craig smiled with evil glee as he pushed duplicate copies of Whitney's new demands to Evan and his lawyer across the wide expanse of the conference table.
She was dressed for performance in a couture suit, her lips painted a deep red that would leave marks on a man's skin. Just the way her nails would. And her lies.
She dabbed at the corner of her eye with a small silk handkerchief that Evan was sure Randall P. Craig had provided for just this purpose. He also noticed a lipstick stain on her teeth. She'd be horrified, so he didn't tell her. It was petty but liberating.
"Due to Mrs. Collins' emotional distress after learning of her husband's perfidy--" Evan could barely hold back an eye roll at Randall's description. "--my client is asking for damages in addition to her rightful fifty percent. We believe one hundred percent would be just recompense. After all, Mr. Collins has been sleeping with her sister." Randall infused as much shock and horror as he could into the word. "Probably for years."
Evan's lawyer, Henry Gerhardt, was the best of the best in divorce court. Miles better than Whitney's lawyer would ever be. Henry hadn't been thrilled to find out that Evan and Paige had begun a relationship, even if it hadn't started until New Year's Eve, long after the divorce papers had already been filed. Knowing his lawyer would need to be armed with all the information, Evan had explained everything, from the wedding weekend at Susan and Bob's, to Whitney spying on them at Paige's condo.
Evan knew what Henry would have said if he'd asked for advice. That Evan should leave Paige alone until the divorce was
final. That it was the only way to keep her safe from the ugliness.
Evan hadn't asked, and Henry hadn't offered. Likely because even the lawyer could see it was way too late for that. Evan couldn't stay away.
Paige made him feel too good. And not just because of their incredible lovemaking, but simply being with her.
Yes, he'd had wickedly sexy dreams about Paige. But he never would have acted on those dreams, not in a million years. Not until Whitney blew up their marriage.
He'd be damned if he'd let her mess with his life or his happiness again. He'd already given her too many years. Now he wanted to be with Paige. And if their relationship fell apart, it for damn sure wouldn't be because of Whitney.
It would be because Evan screwed it up.
God help him, he didn't want to mess up. Not with Paige. Not this time.
At least where Whitney was concerned, Evan would--finally--make all the right moves. Last night, he'd gone through his inventory of artwork and valuables and determined everything she'd taken. If Whitney wanted a fight--and she obviously did--she was on.
"Do not bring your sister into this." His words and demeanor were calm, despite the fury burning in his gut over the way Whitney dared to hurt Paige.
"You brought her into this," Whitney snapped. "I saw you kissing her. You disappeared into her condo and came back out with that look you get after sex."
They both knew he'd never had that look with her when they were married. What he shared with Paige was miles beyond simple physical release. "Long before I ever kissed Paige, I found out you'd lied about three miscarriages and a tubal ligation you never even bothered to discuss with me."
Whitney would never get one hundred percent of his holdings. She wouldn't even get fifty. He'd meant it when he told Paige that he'd hand over every penny just to protect her--but he knew Whitney, and even if he gave her everything he had, she would still stop at nothing to destroy her sister.
Whitney sniffed, affecting the injured party again, just as her lawyer said, "We could argue about this all day, but there is an alternative. Mrs. Collins will forgive everything you have done and you will agree to forget all your alleged claims against her--if you reconcile." He spread his hands. "Problem solved."