“Then I hope you will respect her, and me, and keep your distance.”
“Respect isn’t an issue.” He chugged the last of his soda. “But I won’t be keeping any kind of space between me and Paget, or her father. If you have a problem with that, I suggest you take it up with Paget, not me.”
Steven held his palms up toward the sky. “Look, man, I’m just trying to be a stand-up guy and tell you how things are before you go and get your heart broken or make an ass of yourself. Paget is a sweet girl, and she tends not to draw lines very well.”
Boone nearly choked on his own breath. This cop didn’t know Paget at all if that’s what he really thought about her because the Paget he knew had the ability to let anyone know when they’ve overstepped their bounds. “I appreciate you looking out for me, but I’m a big boy. I’ll take care of myself, and you can do the same for yourself.”
“Just stay out of my way when it comes to Paget.”
Boone stood, letting out a long breath. “She’s not a thing or a possession for you and me to go to battle over and then the winner gets to take her home, and I’m not going to play that game with you. Or anyone for that matter. We’re not in middle school, and right now Paget doesn’t need two men trying to outdo each other. She just needs friends.”
Steven waggled his finger. “You sound like a master player, but I’m wise to you, and I’m going to make sure Paget is too.”
“You’re a smart man, and I don’t think you need me pointing out that it’s up to Paget who she chooses to be with, and right now, it’s not either one of us.” This conversation was getting old and going nowhere fast. “There is only one thing you need to know and that’s whatever Paget wants or needs from me, that’s what she’ll get. And that includes her father, who is a close personal friend of mine. However, if she tells me she’s in a relationship with you, I’ll stop flirting and asking her out, but only if she’s the one who puts the brakes on. Not you.”
“I guess it comes down to may the best man win,” Steven said.
Boone shook his head. There was no point continuing to try to show Steven the errors of his thinking that Paget was some kind of a prize or trophy to be won and displayed when he felt like showing her off.
The conversation did give him some insight into her dating psyche simply because Steven had been the last relationship she’d had, and he must have been an overbearing control freak with a jealous streak.
He’d seen firsthand what happened when you came on too strong too quick with Paget. She was like an animal backed into a corner, waiting to attack. She needed to control her own destiny, something he could understand, and he wouldn’t be making that mistake a second time.
5
Paget stood in the middle of her living room with her hands on her hips. She let out a long breath.
“Are you going to be okay?” Annette plopped herself down on the sofa next to a stack of boxes.
Paget couldn’t decide if she was pleased at how few things she had accumulated in the short amount of time she’d lived in the cabin, or depressed at how easily someone else was willing to buy all her furnishings.
“It’s all surreal.” Paget sat in her favorite lounge chair and put her feet up one last time. She still had a little over two weeks before she had to be out, but since her father had been moved to the short-term facility and they told her he’d be coming home in at least three weeks, if not sooner, she figured the quicker she took care of this, the better off she’d be. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine.” Annette patted her belly. “I don’t feel sick and haven’t gained a pound yet.”
“It will catch up to you if you keep boasting like that.” Cheyenne came down the stairs from the loft carrying two boxes.
“I don’t know about that,” Annette said. “With Tony, I never had morning sickness and I didn’t start showing until I was close to six months.”
“You’re lucky.” Cheyenne set the boxes next to the rest of them. “I was as big as a house and looked like I was ready to pop at six months. And you should see my stomach. It looks like a map to all the local streams.”
Paget covered her mouth. “I’m sorry. But that’s really funny.”
Cheyenne took her braid and fiddled with the end. “You laugh now, but someday, you might end up with a bun in the oven.”
“I’d have to have, at the very least, a prospect for a husband,” Paget said.
“Oh, and Steven isn’t your knight in shining armor?” Annette’s question was said tongue in cheek.
“He’s not the only man sniffing around the lady.” Cheyenne leaned against the railing. “Boone’s been showing some serious interest.”
Paget’s face heated. While they hadn’t had sex but that one night, there had been some heavy petting sessions, and he had taken tonight off, other than checking in on the place as he did overnight. Otherwise, he made it clear, he was all hers for the entire night, and he hinted he planned on having a repeat of their last encounter.
It had been all he could talk about for the last twenty-four hours, and it made her body tingle.
“Boone is just a friend. A good one at that,” Paget said.
“Come on. You have the hots for him and don’t lie.” Cheyenne twirled the stray ends from her long braid. “He’s at your dad’s house every night or visiting your dad. Everyone in town is talking about how they think the two of you are dating. Are you going to tell us you haven’t even kissed him?”
“I’ve got five bucks that says they’ve done more than kiss,” Annette said.
“You two are horrible.” Paget inhaled sharply, hoping the heat shooting through her body didn’t show up in red blotchy patches on her skin. But she knew it was the slight smirk tugging at her lips that gave it all away.
“You slept with him, didn’t you?” Cheyenne waved her hand. “Well, I’ll be damned. You dirty little devil. You go, girl.”
“It’s not what you think. Hell, I don’t even know what the hell it was or wasn’t, but it’s not going anywhere.”
“You don’t know that,” Annette said.
“Actually, I do.” Paget didn’t want to get into the nitty-gritty of it all, but she did want to get them off her back. “Neither one of us is built for a long-term relationship.”
“Maybe you’re not, but you don’t know until you take him out for a test drive. And let me tell you that Boone is one seriously handsome man with the long wavy hair, sexy swagger, and smoldering dark eyes,” Annette said, smacking her lips to her fingers. “Even JD has a crush on him.”
“JB said he wouldn’t kick the man out of bed,” Cheyenne said with a slight giggle. “I asked him if I should invite Boone for a threesome, and he got all pissy and jealous so I told him to take his pick in women and we can invite a sexy filly into our bed. That didn’t go over too well either.”
“The Whiskey men are a complicated breed.” Annette rolled her hand over her stomach. “I know it’s too early to feel anything, but I swear this little bugger is an active one.”