Hard Limits(30)

She had a text message from a number she didn't recall adding. It was under the name of Escobar.

Sleep tight, Goth girl.





Chapter Eight


Paige parked her car in front of Annie and Max Bowen's house and, carrying a big bowl of potato salad, walked up the driveway. Wilma, their lovely octogenarian neighbor, waved from her pink truck, dressed in a bowling shirt, probably on her way to pick up the rest of the team, Greta and Rebecca.

Paige loved Alden. She'd been working at Sweets and Tweets, Annie's candy shop, for only a few months, but she knew the whole town already. No wonder Annie preferred to live here than at the Vaughan's estate.




 

 

The whole Bowen gang was in the backyard, on the covered patio. Cole and Max were manning the barbecue and bickering. The rest sat around, laughing.

"You look different," Max Bowen said to Paige the second he saw her.

She adored being with the Bowens, but maybe she should have skipped this gathering.

"It's the hair. I changed colors since the last time we met," she answered, leaving the bowl on the table. "What's cooking?"

He stared at her, his gaze inquisitive. "Nah, I don't think it's that."

It had been easier with her dad the other day. She'd given him the same line, and he'd just nodded and mumbled, "Nice."

One glance at her and Annie asked, "What's his name?"

"Whose? My hairdresser's?"

Annie rolled her eyes. "The name of the guy responsible for putting that extremely satisfied smile on your face."

Paige kept her mouth shut. Telling this overprotective crowd that she was involved with a covert operative posing as an international criminal, who broke into her house to fuck her when he was in town, was probably not a smart move.

"Come on, come on. Spill your guts," Tate said. "I've also noticed it."

"What have you noticed, princess?" James asked, sitting down and placing his wife on his lap.

"She's getting laid," Tate and Elle both answered.

"Every time her cell beeps with a message, she jumps and giggles," Elle explained.

Jeez, was Paige being so obvious? "It's nothing. Just a fling."

"You seeing somebody? When do we get to meet him?" James asked.

"Yeah, bring him over," Max said.

Sure. Like that would go so well.

"We'll run a background check," Jack added. "Then he'll be good to go."

"I don't think you'll need to do that."

One glance at Nico and Jack would hit the roof. Not to mention the only thing she and Nico did together was have sex. More times than not, he left before she woke up. Social events-that is, anything that included leaving Paige's apartment-were out of the scope of their arrangement. Bring him to meet her buddies? Not happening anytime soon.

"Besides," she continued, "he's out of town."

"Is he coming to the wedding?" Elle asked.

Paige didn't even have to think twice about her answer. "No."

"I recommend you come with a date. Those seniors at the Eternal Sun love to play at matchmaking. A wedding there is like throwing fuel on a blazing fire." James turned to Jack. "Are you sure you want to marry there? I love them, but they can be a lot to take, especially for someone as socially challenged as you." 

Jack grimaced. "Am I sure? Fuck no."

Elle kissed him. "He'll be fine. They're scared of him."

Jack didn't do well with old people. Well, with people, period. But he would marry Elle anywhere, under any circumstances. Paige was positive about that.

"They fear no one, believe me," James interjected, laughing.

Jack nodded. "You should have seen how they intimidated the hell out of the police officers when Elle was arrested."

"Rita and Violet," Elle clarified. "Lovely ladies. A bit sleep-deprived at the time."

Paige was intrigued. She'd never been down there, but she'd heard hilarious stories from Elle about those seniors. And as a bonus, the Eternal Sun was in Florida, close to someone she should not be thinking about. Not if she didn't want that extremely satisfied smile to come back to her face and her friends to realize the conversation had deviated from their third degree.

"Mojitos, anyone?" Hopefully, when Paige came back from the house, they would all have forgotten about her smile or lack thereof.

She went to get more drinks when Sean, one of James Bowen's associates, approached her. "I'm without a date for the wedding too."

Paige looked at him. "You don't say. How come?"

Sean, Zack, and James ran a security firm. Of all of them, Sean was the most serious. Always dressed to kill, GQ style. The women Paige had seen him with looked like Barbie dolls: long legs, gravity-defying boobs. Perfect asses. Yvette, his latest girlfriend, was all that and more.