One Real Man (Entangled Bliss)(11)

He continued to frown at her. “Have you got the champagne ready? Nate and Ally should be here any minute. I want everyone with a glass before they arrive.”

“Everything’s set.” She gestured to the two trays of crystal champagne flutes on the counter before walking to the refrigerator and extracting two magnums of champagne. “Do you want to do the honors?”

He wrestled with the bottle, eventually opening it with brute force. “I usually drink beer,” he said as he handed it to her and reached for the second magnum. “I’m not used to opening champagne bottles.”

He wasn’t telling Paige anything new, but there was somethingendearing about watching Owen manhandle the expensive French champagne. They filled the glasses and each lifted a tray.

“Okay there?” Owen asked as the glasses on her tray clinked together.

“Sure.” She nodded, firming her grip on the tray. It wasn’t the weight concerning her, but the crowd in the other room. They were waiting for her, it felt. She followed Owen down the hall, falling behind as he entered the living room.

Guests gathered around him, each taking a glass. “There’s more champagne coming,” he said before twisting his head toward him. “Paige?”

Sucking in her stomach muscles, she moved into the room, shoulders back, spine straight, tray held perfectly still in her hands. It seemed every head in the room swiveled in her direction as the hubbub died down for a few seconds.

Owen was looking at her, his face expressionless. “This is Paige, my housekeeper,” Owen said to everyone.

Someone at the back of the room coughed. Paige glanced around, bracing herself against recognition. None of these people seemed familiar, but there was no way of knowing if she’d inadvertently snubbed any of them, and maybe they just resented her because of who she was. The bones of her fingers ached as she gripped the tray tighter.

“Hello, Paige.” A red-haired woman in tight purple jeans stepped up and lifted a champagne flute from the tray. “You remember me—I’m Tyler?”

Paige’s heart sank a little. Tyler was the jewelry maker whom her mother had treated shabbily, commissioning a necklace from her and then reneging on the arrangement. Paige had offered Tyler some compensation, but the fiery redhead had refused and stormed off. She wouldn’t be too friendly toward the Kerrigan family again.

“Hello,” Paige replied, maintaining her calm facade while she waited for a scornful glare at the very least.

But Tyler gave her a friendly nod and pointed to the tall, casually dressed man next to her. “This is my husband, Luke Maguire.”

The name plus the obvious pride in Tyler’s voice prompted Paige’s memory, and she recalled that Luke Maguire was a famous author who’d even more famously walked away from his agent and a lucrative publishing deal because of artistic differences. He and Tyler made a good match. The author eyed Paige curiously as he, too, took a glass of champagne before other guests moved forward for their flutes. Paige had to endure a barrage of inquisitive stares, but just as the silent interrogation began to wear on her nerves, Owen told everyone to pipe down as Nate and Ally had pulled up outside the house.

The room fell silent, and a moment later the doorbell rang. Owen disappeared to open the door, and seconds later footsteps sounded in the hallway. When Nate and Ally appeared at the doorway, the entire room erupted. “Surprise!”

Nate started. Flabbergasted, he swung to Ally, who grinned broadly at him. “Happy birthday, sweetheart.” His face melted and he folded her into a bear hug as the guests surged forward.

While everyone was wishing Nate well, Paige surreptitiously moved to the back of the room, still clutching her tray. She was the odd one out. She didn’t belong here. Her childhood home was now turned over to Owen and his friends, people who in the past had never come to this house as invited guests. People who weren’t rich like her parents, people more like most of Burronga. Everyone here was outside her social circle. Like Tyler, looking so bright and effervescent with her husband. Tyler was friends with Ally, she recalled, and the two were partners in Ally’s gift store. And over there was Ally’s sister, Jess, who had made the floral arrangements for Paige’s wedding. God, she didn’t need a reminder of that.

And here was Owen with Nate and Ally walking up to her. “Paige? Do we have champagne for Nate and Ally?”

Paige lifted the forgotten tray, her face feeling tight as the three approached her. With the memories of her wedding still choking her, she couldn’t think of anything to say.

Nate nodded at her, his expression speculative. “Hello, Paige.”

“Hello.” She tensed, waiting for him to mention Seth. Surely he would; they were cousins. Nate had helped Seth settle in Sydney, had gotten him started in stockbroking. Heavens, Nate had even persuaded Seth not to marry his first fiancée, Ally, who was standing between Nate and Owen. And then Nate had ended up falling in love with Ally, which must have caused him a few difficulties. Hopefully Ally hadn’t made it easy for him.

Paige turned reluctantly to Ally. This was an awkward situation, meeting her ex-husband’s ex-fiancée. Did that make them members of the same group? The group of Seth-haters? Only, Paige doubted she’d have much in common with her. Ally had curly brown hair framing a fresh-scrubbed face. Like Nate, she wore denim jeans and a plain shirt, her only jewelry the wedding band and diamond on her left hand. She looked like an ad for wholesome country living, and suddenly Paige felt horribly overdressed in her swanky black clothes.

“Hello, Ally,” she said, keeping her tone cool so she wouldn’t start squirming.

Nate immediately put his arm around Ally’s waist, pulling her closer as if to protect her. Paige compressed her lips. Did he think she was such a cold snob his wife needed safeguarding?

Ally grinned faintly. “Hi, Paige.” She seemed friendly enough.

Nate gazed at Paige. “We’re sorry to hear about you and Seth splitting up.”

Uh-oh, here we go. To show him and everyone else her divorce hadn’t broken her down, Paige lifted her shoulders and said, “We all learn from our mistakes.”

Oh, the mistakes she’d made to end up here serving champagne to strangers in her own home. She caught Owen’s intense gaze fixed on her, as if he could read her thoughts.

Ally cleared her throat. “Well, you look nice tonight.”

Paige kept her lips thinned, searching Ally’s words for a hint of sarcasm but not finding any. “I like to maintain my standards.”

Ally gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Yeah, it’s nice of Owen to host Nate’s party. We’re putting this beautiful house to shame.” She gestured at the walls covered in timber paneling and silk fabric and the chandeliers above them.

Owen snorted. “Course not. This is who we are, and we wanted a casual get-together, not some fancy affair where we’re too uncomfortable to enjoy ourselves.” He shot another pointed glance at Paige’s elegant attire.

Already sensitized by the awkward situation, Paige felt the blood thumping in her head. Did Owen expect her to be so humiliated by her change in fortunes that she’d dissolve into a bundle of meekness? She might have made plenty of mistakes, but she hadn’t fallen that far.

She unceremoniously plunked the tray on a nearby table and aimed a frosty glare at him. “This is your house now. You can be as casual as you like. But in my opinion, elegance is never out of place.” Without pausing, she flounced out of the room, wondering if she’d just erred yet again.



Owen’s temples pounded as he watched Paige sweep out of the room like an indignant snow queen. It didn’t help that she looked gorgeous from behind, with her upswept hair revealing the long, smooth column of her neck. The urge to caress her silky nape crashed headlong into his desire to growl at her. How could she rile him and tempt him so much simultaneously?

Behind him, Nate spoke up. “Mate, that was a bit rough, don’t you think?”

Owen turned to Ally. “And you? Do you think the same?”

Ally shrugged and lifted her hands placatingly. “It must be a difficult situation for her.”

“I’m not responsible for that.”

Cocking her head, Ally smiled gently. “Aren’t you?”

His friends didn’t get it. Paige had purposely dressed up, to show him that even though she was now the servant and he the master, in reality their roles would never be reversed. As if to say, “Don’t get too full of yourself. Just because you’re the legal tenant in my house doesn’t mean you belong here.”

Damn her and her superior ways. And damn how fine she looked in that black outfit. She had no business being snotty and sexy at the same time.

Ally picked up two glasses of champagne and handed one to Nate. “Many happy returns, darling.”

Owen tried to set aside his silent frustration as Ally and Nate exchanged loving kisses. Ally was such a sweetheart, Owen mused. He got why Nate was so crazy for her. In fact, Ally was just the type of girl Owen usually went for—sporty, down-to-earth, natural. No caked-on makeup or flashy clothing, no attitude. So why couldn’t he stop obsessing about the creamy deliciousness of Paige’s neck?

Nate squeezed his wife around the waist. “I’ve got to hand it to you. I never suspected a thing.”