Before the car had completely stopped, the valet was running to the driver’s side door while his counterpart stepped up to Paige’s door. Her whole world was going to change the minute she got out of the car.
“Paige.” She looked at Edward and found him frowning at her. Could he read her thoughts? “It’s just you and me, okay?”
“I know.” She shrugged. With a self-conscious smile, she told him, “Just keep reminding me, and I’ll be fine.”
She was relieved when his dour frown turned cheeky. “To borrow on a Mom-ism,” he drawled with a dramatic clearing of his throat, “thread the needle, don’t jam it in your finger.”
Her door was opening, and so was his, ending the amusing moment. Feeling the need to rub his nose in their situation, she mockingly chirped, “Come on, Mr. Sexiest Man, get a move on. I have a date with some seaweed.”
Still smiling when her feet hit the pavement, Paige pulled it together at the side of the valet stand, trying not to smirk openly as she watched the ballet of groveling going on about the man and his car.
Do not sigh. Do not roll your eyes. Do not, I repeat, Do NOT lead with a snarky comment. A bullet list of How-to-Behave-in-Public was all she could recite to herself. Good grief, this celebrity thing was going to be hard.
“Oh gurl, you’re working those shoes. Ankle straps and an L-B-D. Nicely done.”
She turned at the comment and found the valet beaming at her with approval.
Looking down at the shoes, she twisted one foot this way and that, flashing the uniformed attendant a cheeky grin.
“They really do insist on themselves, don’t they?”
They laughed together before the guy murmured approvingly, “Honey, you’re gonna do just fine.”
Next thing she knew, Edward was right on top of them, and his expression was not friendly. Arrogantly moving between Paige and the restaurant staff, he put an arm around her waist and all but crushed her to his side.
Dammit. What the hell was wrong with him? Biting back a frustrated groan was like torture. Plus, she couldn’t even pry his damn fingers off because it was all she could do to keep the fucking bag on her arm from dragging on the ground.
“Let’s get you inside before …” He didn’t finish, which left her to fill in the blank with wildly differing possibilities.
Let’s get you inside before …
The zombies attacked.
It started to rain.
I punched this guy out.
I tongue fucked you … oh, shit. No, no, no, no, no. Delete, delete, delete.
“Edwa … I mean, Gideon. Slow down, for heaven’s sake.”
He stopped on a dime before reaching the entrance. “What?” There was confused and then there was befuddled. The man was completely befuddled. “Oh. Sorry, babe,” he muttered. The once-over he gave her was all sorts of cute. "It’s just…” He shrugged. “I don’t know.” She watched as he looked back at the valet stand with a dark, troubled frown on his face.
Ohhhhh. Now she got it, and it took an entire bottom lip chomp to stop from laughing her ass off. Was he … what? Jealous? Possessive? Out of his ever-loving mind for thinking a twenty-something twig in sneakers and khaki shorts was even in the running? Oh, lord. Epic.
“Mr. Shaw,” she gurgled with barely suppressed laughter. “Your gaydar sucks.”
“My what?”
Paige leaned in close so no one else could hear. “Sweetie, he’s gay, so stop scowling at him before he thinks you want some hot, angry butt time.”
Edward’s eyes darted to the valet stand. “How can he be gay? He was all over you like a rash.”
She laughed and tugged on his tie. “Oh, my god! Really? The guy was gushing over my shoes. Get it?” she joked. “My shoes.”
Next, his eyes went to her feet with an expression on his face that cracked her up. Men were so thick at times.
“You, on the other hand,” she drawled, “have barely noticed this command performance get-up Shirls and Moira forced on me.”
He reacted to the mild censure with a mocking sneer. “Instant rewind to being under me on the sofa. Babe, for real. This dress and those bang-me-standing-up shoes almost shot our dinner date in the damn foot.”
Well, he certainly had a way with words.
“All right, Shaw. Feed me immediately if you want that standing up fornication jibe to pass without comment.”
Stepping through the door of the fantastic restaurant, Paige immediately drank in the ambiance, noticing every detail with a keen eye that saw past the surface.
After a bit of fawning that got her jaw grinding, they made their way through the crowd and were seated on the edge of the patio with nothing between them and the ocean but air and sand. She was mildly surprised when her date sat next to her on the cushioned loveseat instead of across the table. It was going to take her a little bit to adjust to the change in their relationship. Edward was making it abundantly clear that, in his mind at least, they were a couple.
Edward let Gideon off the leash for the sake of what they were doing but didn’t allow the atmosphere to drift into the business side of things. If she hadn’t understood before that this was an honest-to-god date, she did now.
Everything about their meal was top notch and fantastic. Knowing her companion hated sushi wasn’t uncomfortable at all. In fact, she used his kvetching to her advantage, making a huge deal out of every bite and nibble just to drive him nuts. It was fun as shit too, watching him pick apart a baby artichoke salad after nearly throwing up at the mere mention of squid pasta.
When his bloody rib eye steak arrived, she eyed him with mocking disdain and shook her head. “Only you would order steak, and a bloody one at that, in seafood heaven.”
His arched eyebrow made the waiter laugh when he replied, “The steak is on the menu, my dear, for all the poor guys who have to sit through this fishy bullshit because of a woman.”
“Oh, my god, and then she took an entire tray of steaming hot biscuits that were as light and fluffy as bricks and flung it across the room. One of ‘em flew off the baking sheet and hit the celebrity chef in the middle of his forehead. I haven’t looked at biscuits the same way ever since.”
How was it possible that he was having the best time he’d ever had on a date—while in a restaurant he loathed and out where everyone could watch? And with a woman who gave zero fucks about his celebrity status and happily dominated the conversation?
This must be what contentment feels like.
Relaxing against the low back of the sea-weathered rattan, his body angled in her direction, Edward listened to Paige prattle on. They already had a close relationship, which was what made this date a singular event. There was no first-date awkwardness. He wasn’t sizing her up for dessert … well, okay maybe he was. But not in a wham-bam way.
With all that weirdness out of the picture, he was free to enjoy the sound of her voice and get lost in sharing her un-self-conscious exuberance. His Paige was one of a kind. He was a lucky bastard.
She’d been going on for the last ten minutes, regaling him with humorous tales of her college exploits, when he’d paused to consider all she’d shared. Since their business association had always been about his career, Paige’s aspirations had taken a backseat. Had he benefitted from her impressive talents and wide range of skills? Hell, yeah. A sobering thought. Had she given up on her dreams to help him reach his? The notion did not sit well with him. Not one damn bit.
“What’s your professional take on this place?” His question came out of left field, but he was genuinely interested in her opinion.
Resting an arm on the sofa back, she fiddled with an earring, crossed her legs, and casually glanced around. It was no hardship to wait while she made her assessment because, from his vantage point, a stunning summer sunset and the blue Pacific framed her beautifully.