Divided Interests (Southern Bride 3)

“I thought you were gone. These are my normal pajamas. If I’d known you were still here, I’d have changed or worn my robe.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “The ones you had on last night. Those were normal.”

She let out a careless laugh. “My yoga pants? I’m not wearing my yoga pants to bed, Lucas. Sorry.”

I pointed to her again, waving my hands in the air indicating her body. “Well, you can’t wear that.”

She smiled. “So you really think I’m sexy? I’ve got about seven, maybe a bit more, extra pounds on me.” She looked down and frowned. “I guess I need to start running again to lose them.”

“No!” I shouted, then closed my eyes. Holy fuck. I was losing my mind. I opened them and took a deep breath as I tried to focus on her face. Even that was hard to do. Why did her look scream, I want you to bend me over the counter right now and fuck me hard, Lucas?

“You look fine, Paige. You don’t need to lose anything.”

Chewing on her lip, she looked away, her cheeks pink with embarrassment. Then she spoke and I couldn’t believe what she said. It stunned me into an even deeper stupor.

“Well, fine is a lot different than sexy. Maybe it was just a slip of your tongue. I’m sure your super model ex-girlfriend had a much better body than mine, and I doubt she ever ate blueberry muffins.” She shook her head as if she hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Then she shrugged. “Help yourself, by the way, or I’ll end up eating them all.”

My gut ached as she walked by me. I wanted to reach out and stop her. Tell her that wasn’t what I meant, and that her body was ten times sexier than Bianca’s. But I didn’t. I let her walk by, eyes filled with something that looked a little like sadness and a lot like unshed tears.

Holy hell. I’d managed to hurt her once again.

“Fuck,” I mumbled as I rubbed my hand over my chin stubble.

After I stood there for far too long trying to decide if I should go up to her room and tell her I didn’t mean fine as in just okay, or if I needed to let her think I wasn’t attracted to her… Damnit, I was! When I saw her and Milo yesterday, jealousy ripped through my body like an old, familiar friend. It was the same feeling I had when she said she wanted to go to a different school and I told her that guys would be all over her if I wasn’t around. When her eyes met mine a few moments ago, I had a hard time catching my breath. I did everything in my damn power to act like seeing her wasn’t playing havoc on my body and my heart.

I walked over and poured a cup of coffee and stared at the blueberry muffins.

Reaching across the table, I used the knife Paige had used to take one out. The moment I bit into it, an explosion of flavor assaulted my senses.

“Oh Jesus, this is amazing. Damn.”

Bianca never allowed food like this in the house. I couldn’t remember the last time I had a muffin, or anything sweet, for that matter. I needed to find out the brand and buy some for the future.

Just then, I heard Paige walk down the steps and out the front door. I quickly made my way through the house and caught her as she was getting into her car.

“Paige, where are you going?”

She looked back at me. “Home Depot, if you must know.”

“Can I come? I need to grab some stuff.”

The look on her face said I was the last person she wanted to be in a car with. I wanted to think that was a good thing, that my plan was working, but all it did was make the middle of my chest ache.

“Please?” I said with a half-smile, half-pout.

“Yeah, that doesn’t work on me, Lucas. You of all people should know that.”

Her voice was cold and distant, and I deserved every ounce of her condescension.

“Okay, I’ll see if Dad can swing by and pick me up to get what I need.”

She let out a frustrated sigh, then shook her head. “Fine. I’m leaving now though.”

“Great! Let me run and get my wallet and the house key. Don’t leave.”

After rushing around and nearly tripping and breaking my ankle, I finally climbed into her SUV, winded.

“What are you getting at Home Depot?” I asked when she pulled out onto the highway.

“Blinds.”

“For your room?”

“Yes.”

I looked out the window. Clearly she wasn’t in the mood for small talk. We drove in silence the entire way to Dripping Springs. It was a long twenty-five minutes. Once Paige parked her car, she walked into the store as fast as she could. The only problem was, I could walk just as fast, even faster. She was trying to lose me and that tickled me for some reason.