Trace walks over and spins my stool around. As he stands between my spread knees, I want to pinch myself to make sure I’m really awake. He takes my chin and raises my eyes up to his, and I see the seriousness shining from his intense brown eyes. “I know this is fast and probably insane. I’ll give you however much time you need to catch up with me, but I won’t walk away.” When he leans down and kisses the tip of my nose, sparks zip through my body, and I melt into the chair. I already realized I’m falling for him, too. “Now, let’s get ready and go get your things so you can make yourself at home until you can go back to your house. I’ll work on getting you to move in permanently next week.” He leans back and winks, and my heart does the funny little jump again.
Trace has no idea how easily he could talk me into just about anything at this point.
Chapter Four
Paige
I attempt to take my car, but Trace insists we ride together. When we arrive, there’s a dark blue truck parked in my driveway. We walk through the house, and Trace signals for me to follow him to the kitchen. On the kitchen door, there’s a beautiful stained-glass window replacing the plain window that was shattered yesterday, and I gasp. “Oh my goodness. That’s beautiful.” I calculate in my head how hard it’s going to hit my savings.
Trace leans over and kisses my ear then whispers, “I hope you like it. We can change it out if you’d prefer a different pattern. I thought the stained glass would be pretty and give you some privacy.”
“It’s beautiful. I just doubt my insurance is going to think it’s necessary.”
He waves off my concern and takes my hand. “I didn’t want to wait for those slow pokes to get around to it. A friend of mine makes the windows, and Rory’s friend installed it as a favor.” Then he pulls me out the back door. We find two men on the back deck, installing a wooden wall around the railing.
The tall, blond-headed man turns around and smiles. “Hi, I’m Rory, the good-looking Remington brother.” I almost succeed in holding in my laughter, but Trace growls, and Rory rolls his eyes, causing the giggles to escape.
Holding out my hand, I smile at him. “I’m Paige.”
He winks, and I know for sure I’m in big trouble. Even though he’s equally as handsome as Trace, I feel no physical reaction at all to his gesture. Rory turns and points at the other man on the deck. “This is Adam.” The third man smiles but doesn’t really say much when I shake his hand.
I offer the men lemonade and a snack, but they refuse. Trace suggests that I pack my things while he goes over the deck project with the two men. After thanking them for all their hard work, I walk away. I’m still trying to calculate in my head how I’m going to pay for all this work out of my meager savings.
I’m walking through my room, trying to think of anything I might’ve forgotten, when I hear Trace call my name. I drag my suitcase and overnight bag out into the living room and set them by the front door. “Hey you should have called me. I would have carried that for you.” Turning, I find Trace standing behind me.
“I’m a big girl. I can carry my own bags.”
He walks over and pushes a strand of hair behind my ear, causing me to shiver. “You can, but I’m here now to do it for you.”
I swallow, trying to pull myself out of my Trace fog. I’m attempting to remember everything else I need to do before we head back to his home. After I pull myself together, I point to my home office. “I just need to pack up my computer and a few things so I can work from your house.” There’s no way I can go several days without working. I have several projects going, and those clients will be breathing down my back soon if I just disappear off the face of the earth. After I pack everything up, I walk back out and find Trace has loaded my suitcase and overnight bag into the truck.
I feel a little guilty when he gives me another guestroom to use as an office, but Trace waves me off. “I never even use this room. Rearrange it any way you want and make yourself at home.”
As I’m setting up my computer, I feel eyes on me and turn to find Roger sitting in the doorway staring at me. I try to pet him, but the slinky animal arches his back and flees before I can touch his back. “That cat is jealous of sharing his house. Just ignore him.” Trace is standing at the top of the stairs, and I try to fight my body’s reaction to him, but it’s a losing battle. His masculine scent surrounds me, and I can feel my face blushing as he walks over and pushes a stray piece of hair behind my ears. “I was coming up to see if you’re ready for a lunch break yet.” I stare at the little lines around his brown eyes and forget what he just asked me.
Shaking my head for a second, I try to pull myself together. I’m a pitiful mess. As I attempt to smile and look normal, I hope my voice sounds normal. “Sure. Lunch sounds great.” God, I hope he doesn’t hear the desperation in my voice. I’m not sure what it is about Trace, but he’s turned me into a gooey mess.
Trace feeds Roger a snack then orders the cat to go watch TV. Roger looks over his shoulder and glares at me as he’s walking away, and I make a mental note to order kitty treats and a couple of cat toys online after lunch. Trace and I spend the entire lunch discussing our jobs. Trace seems interested in my career designing websites, and I attempt to explain it without putting my handsome host to sleep with the boring details.
The music is blaring through my noise-canceling headphones when a hand touches my shoulder. Trace barely manages to duck as the headphones sail over his head. “My God. You can’t do that. You nearly scared me to death,” I screech as my heart runs away in my chest.
Trace laughs the entire way into the hall to retrieve my headphones and returns them to me. “I had no idea you couldn’t hear me coming. I sound like a herd of elephants on the wooden stairs.”
When he leans down and kisses my lips, I forget what I’m about to say for a second, then I smile. “Those would drown out World War III happening in my front yard. Please find a way to signal you’re coming, or I may end up having a heart attack.”
Trace runs his fingers over his lip for a second, then walks over to the light switch and slowly lowers the dial. The light gets dimmer until it finally turns off, and a big smile crosses his face. “I’ll dim the light to warn you.” He winks, and my heart squeezes tight in my chest.
Chapter Five
Trace
After we decide on a way for me to warn Paige when I’m in the room, I head downstairs to watch a game. When I see a missed call from the sheriff on my phone, I run my hand down my face. Part of me is dreading his news; I can’t imagine Paige leaving my home. Terry answers on the first ring and tells me to sit down. I know this news is going to anger me. “Just get it over with.”
“Hello to you, too. Can you bring Ms. Reilly to my office this afternoon to discuss her house?” I attempt to get him to tell me what’s going on, but he refuses, and I finally agree to bring Paige into the station.
When we arrive at the station, I push the glass door open and wait for Paige to walk through. Burton rushes around the desk to grab her hand. “Why don’t you come with me? I’ll take you back to see Sheriff Donaldson.”