Then There Was You Page 15

  “Oh, my gosh.” She swiped both hands across her cheeks. “I must have looked ridiculous.”

  “You’re . . . laughing?”

  She pulled herself upright. “Of course I’m laughing! How are you not?”

  He stood. His smile came more from relief than anything else. “Well, you know, I thought you might be upset. You were pretty mad.”

  “Because I’ve spent months craning my neck at weird angles looking for nasty little bears that don’t even exist.” The nearest lamp cast a glow over her upturned face, giving her a halo and revealing a wide grin.

  His breath stalled. When had everything about her stopped being annoying and become beguiling? He met plenty of pretty girls, including ones with cute accents like hers. What made her different from them? But there was something about her that captured him and refused to let go.

  She ran a hand through her hair. “Ow!” She pulled a twig out.

  “Hold on. There’s a few more.” He untangled one from her ponytail, then another.

  “Thanks.” Her whispered words caused him to still, and she caught his gaze. She has a boyfriend. She has a boyfriend. Seriously Tyler, she has a boyfriend.

  “No worries.” He tried to tell his feet to step back but they stayed. “Hold on, just a couple more.”

  His fingers betrayed him as they took their sweet time brushing across her hair to find a couple more leaves, their eyes locked the entire time.

  It was Paige who broke the spell, pulling her gaze away to turn and point. “That’s my car just in the second row. Thanks for walking me.”

  “No worries.” Hadn’t he just said that?

  She took a few steps away, then turned around and paused for a second. “Thanks, Josh.”

  “See you soon.” He gestured down the row. “My car’s just down there. I’ll follow you.”

  It was only as she unlocked her car and he walked toward his that he remembered the other revelation of the night. She hadn’t been drunk on the plane. He’d been an arrogant tosspot for no reason.

  He reached his car and leaned his head against the cool driver’s side window. She didn’t have a drinking problem. Half of him was thrilled he was wrong, but the other half wished he’d been right. He was already in enough trouble. She wasn’t available, and he had a sense Paige McAllister could cause him a lot of heartache if he let her any closer.

  In his car, he revved the engine and pulled behind Paige to follow her back to his house. She drove incredibly slowly, hesitating at every corner, and he could’ve boiled an egg in the time she took navigating roundabouts. Admittedly, it took some getting used to driving on the other side of the road on the other side of the car, but he hated to think what time she must leave home to make it to work on time. Hopefully before all those prone to road rage got moving. Sydney drivers were not known for their loving embrace of unconfident drivers.

  Finally, taking half an hour to complete what would ordinarily be a twelve-minute drive, she indicated and parked along the curb by his driveway.

  Josh hit the garage door opener and pulled his SUV into his space beside his mother’s hatchback. His father’s slot was empty, but his sister’s car sat at the curb in front of Paige’s.

  He hadn’t thought this through. Mum and Sarah would leap to all sorts of wrong conclusions if he didn’t explain before they saw Paige. He strode inside to find the two women of the house with bowls of ice cream in the family room.

  Now he had about ten seconds before Paige was at the door.

  His mother raised her head. “Hey—”

  “I’ve brought Paige home for a few hours. Don’t go reading anything into it. I’ll explain later.” He headed toward the front door, but not before he caught the beginnings of a grin climbing his mother’s face.

  He strode down the hall and threw open the front door just as Paige stepped onto the doormat. “Come on in.”

  Where was his mother? She was the quintessential hostess. Like his thoughts had conjured her, she appeared. “Well, isn’t this a nice surprise.”

  Paige stepped over the threshold, then hesitated. “I don’t want to intrude. Josh didn’t think there would be anyone home.”

  His mother shot him a sideways look.

  Paige caught the glance and flushed to her hairline. Her ponytail was smooth again. She must have taken a few seconds in the car to redo it. “I mean. Kat and her boyfriend . . .” She floundered there.

  Man, she was cute, bright pink and stuck for words. Stop it, Tyler.

  His mum just looked between them, bemused.

  “Paige’s cousin is breaking up with her boyfriend tonight, so she suggested Paige might want to work late. And I know you would have tarred and feathered me if I’d left Paige alone at work so I said she was welcome to borrow a couch here until it was safe to go home.”

  Understanding crossed his mum’s face. Finally.

  Josh glanced at his watch. “And on that note, I’m starving and am due to meet the guys at eight-thirty. I’m going to grab a sandwich. You want one?”

  Paige smiled at him. The kind of smile that could make a guy believe he could conquer mountains. “That would be great.”

  Thank goodness he did have something on tonight, otherwise it would have been tempting to make up an excuse, any excuse, to get back out of the house.

  Twenty-Two

  “Oh, that was so good.” Paige stretched out her legs in front of her and rubbed her stomach, the grateful recipient of one amazing chicken salad sandwich.

  She placed the empty plate on the wide arm of the couch beside her and reached for the tall glass of juice that she’d placed on an end table. Taking a long sip, she relaxed into the cushions.

  Sarah sat curled up at the other end of the couch in an oversized sweater and yoga pants, a dessert bowl cradled in her hands. Janine had disappeared somewhere after telling Paige to make herself at home, and Josh had left as soon as he’d wolfed down his own skyscraper-sized creation.

  “Do you fancy my brother?”

  Juice went everywhere—up her nose, down her airway, dribbling out her mouth. Paige hacked and spluttered, seeking oxygen. “I’m sorry.” The words wheezed out of her as she grabbed a napkin and dabbed at the orange stain on her shirt.

  “Here.” Sarah handed her another napkin, a grin on her face. She was a feminine version of her father and brother, with her dark hair and gray eyes. “So was that a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’?” The girl was merciless.

  “Um . . . no.”

  “You bought him at the ball.” Sarah plunged her spoon into her bowl of ice cream.

  “With his own money. It’s not like we’re going on a date.” Paige dabbed at the stain but just managed to get little pieces of napkin stuck to it.

  “Why not? He’s a great catch. Do you already have a boyfriend?”

  No, but saying that might only encourage her. “It’s kind of complicated.” She still caught up with Nate most weeks. Part of her sometimes wondering if maybe she’d get back home at the end of the year and realize he was exactly what she wanted.

  “Hmm.” Sarah didn’t look convinced. “I know Josh can be a bit of a prat sometimes, but deep down he’s a good guy. He’s been burned in the past and doesn’t meet many girls who are interested in him for him, if you know what I mean.” She leaned forward, batting her dark eyelashes. “They’re all like, ‘Oooh Josh. You’re sooo amazing. Your songs just touch me like, in places I’ve never been touched before. Let me just wave my left hand around so you can see how bare it is.’”

  The girl did a perfect imitation of what Paige had mocked herself when she’d seen Josh surrounded by a gaggle of groupies. “How do you know I’m not like that? I could be reining it in in front of your mom and you.”

  Sarah blew out a breath of air and pointed at Paige’s shirt. “Well, for a start, you’d have at least another two buttons undone. And you probably would have found a way to pour an entire jug of water down your front while making your sandwich. Not to mention you actually manag
ed to make your sandwich without finding some reason to drape yourself all over him.” She started batting her eyelashes again. “Oh Josh, can you swirl the mayonnaise on my sandwich like that? That’s so amaaaaazing. And oh, I can’t get the lid off the pickles. Can you do it with your strong, manly arms?”

  Paige snorted. “C’mon, they’re not that bad.”

  “They’re shameless!” Sarah widened her eyes. “Go watch them at a potluck sometime. It’s incredible how many girls manage to drop cutlery in front of my brother and take so long picking it up you wonder if they’ve been snap-frozen down there.”

  “Now, Sarah, that’s not very gracious.” Janine walked back into the room, but her attempt to smother her smile betrayed her.

  “You know it’s true, Mum.”

  “Well, for better or worse, they’re your sisters in Christ. And between your defensive tackles and your brother’s paranoia, it’s far more likely you’ll never have a sister-in-law than that it will be one of them.” Janine handed Paige a sweatshirt and a pair of athletic pants. “I thought you might want something more comfortable and you look about the same size as Little Miss Over Protective. And I’ve made up the guest room for you.”

  Guest room? “No, really, I . . .” For the third time in the evening, her vocabulary failed her. Not to mention that the idea of sleeping in the same house as Josh had turned her insides into a tumble dryer. Bad idea. Bad, bad idea.

  “I insist. Greg is away for a few days and Josh crashes at Brad’s place when they do a late-night songwriting session. We can have a nice girls’ night and I’m sure we can find a shirt or top of Sarah’s that will work fine with your suit for tomorrow. Besides . . .” She sighed. “From the little I’ve seen, Dan has got it bad for Kat. I suspect whatever they need to work through is going to take awhile.”

  That was true. Paige ignored the feeling of disappointment that seeped through her when she heard she wouldn’t be seeing Josh again tonight. What was wrong with her? She saw him almost every day. “If you’re sure it’s not any trouble.”

  “Guest room is upstairs and third door on the right if you want to get changed. Bathroom is just beside it.”

  Paige looked at the sweats in her hands, then back up at Sarah and Janine.

  Sarah smiled. “Do you happen to be a Bachelor fan? Mum and I were about to settle in for the latest episode.”

  “Only if you never tell anyone!” Janine said.

  Paige hadn’t felt like she’d belonged in this country since she’d set foot in it. Now, for the first time in months, she felt maybe she was going to be okay.

  “I’m in.” It was exactly what she needed to distract her from a real-life bachelor who had her mind wandering down foolish paths it had no business going.

  Josh pulled his car back into the driveway. The songwriting session had lasted all of forty minutes with no progress before his cowriter confessed he was planning to propose to his girlfriend on the weekend and so was good for nothing more than sappy lyrics and talking through the proposal plan. From every possible angle.

  At least now Josh knew to avoid the Botanic Gardens on Saturday afternoon. Though he couldn’t figure out why Brad didn’t pick somewhere inside when the late-winter weather was so unpredictable. Still, no doubt it wouldn’t matter once Brad got down on one knee with his grandmother’s ring—one of the ugliest things Josh had ever seen, something he couldn’t imagine Gretchen wearing. That was love for you.

  Paige’s car still sat by the curb. His stomach did a strange flip. Must be indigestion from his massive sandwich and the two glasses of Coke.

  Muffled sounds reached him as he stepped into the house.

  Oh, don’t tell me. Crossing the hallway, he peered into the formal lounge where three familiar heads lined up along the main couch, all entranced as they watched some wreck of a reality TV show.

  A brown-haired guy with a sad yet resigned expression was spouting an awful line about life being a journey and he didn’t think they were the right life companions. Across from him, a blonde girl struggled to keep herself in her dress as she leaned across the table and pleaded for more time.

  “It’s about time. He should’ve cut her loose, like, two episodes ago.” His sister was never one to hold back. “I don’t get it. He loves the great outdoors, and her idea of roughing it is four-star. How can she not see they’d be a disaster?”

  “Sometimes people are so caught up in what they want to see, they can’t accept reality when it’s right in front of them.” Paige spoke. “People convince themselves they can make all sorts of things work because they’re blinded by physical attraction and refuse to see all the other things that make them completely incompatible.”

  Huh. The American made a lot of sense.

  And that was exactly what he needed to remember. The fact that she was cute and her smile unwound him like a clock was irrelevant. The reality was that even if she didn’t have a guy back home, they’d still be all wrong for each other.

  He stepped back from the doorway, leaving the women to their trashy TV. He lived in reality, where things were a lot more complicated than spewing platitudes about being on a “journey” and working out which TV camera was best to stare mournfully into while supposedly agonizing over the final rose.

  Twenty-Three

  “Seriously, Sarah. You have been in there forever. Get out!” Josh hammered against the upstairs bathroom door. He’d overslept and would be late if his sister didn’t get moving.

  He had no idea what she did in there every morning, but as far as he could tell, it made no difference at all. She went in looking like Sarah, and came out a cleaner version. That should only require five minutes, not fifty.

  The hairdryer switched off. Thank goodness. Then the water started. What was she doing? He gave the door another pounding. “If you are not out here in thirty seconds, I’m coming in. I kid you not. I can’t be late this morning.”

  The tap kept running.

  “Ten, nine, eight, sev—” The door flew open. “Fina—”

  His words jammed in his throat at the sight of Paige, in glossy-haired glory, guest bathrobe on, hands on her hips, and one monster glare on her face.

  “First, it’s not your sister’s fault if you slept in. Second, I have a killer right hook, and if you so much as set a toe in this bathroom, you’ll be meeting it.” Slam. The doorframe rocked on impact, then the hairdryer blasted back on.

  A low whistle came from behind him. “That was awesome. Can you please marry her?”

  Great. Sarah stood behind him, leaning against the railing at the top of the stairs, a half-eaten piece of toast in her hand. Fully dressed, she had the bright, chipper look of someone who had been up for hours.

  “She hates megachurches.” Josh forced the words out, mind still stuck on the image of Paige in a bathrobe.

  “So says the guy who had a full-on conniption when Mum and Dad talked about opening the satellite in Yarra because he didn’t want to be that church.” Sarah threw air quotes around the word.

  “She’s terrified of flying.” While he could probably circumnavigate the globe on his air miles.

  “And yet here she is, on the other side of the world. I’m assuming she didn’t paddle a canoe.” Sarah took another bite of her toast.

  “She thinks I’m a jerk.”

  “And clearly you’ve just shown her the error of your ways.” In the bathroom, the hairdryer ratcheted up another notch as if to underscore her words. “Is that it? Is that all you’ve got?”

  Fine. “She has a boyfriend.”

  His sister paused, the last bite of toast halfway to her mouth. “You sure about that?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, when I asked her last night, she didn’t say she had one. She said it was complicated.”

  “Sarah.” He imbued the word with warning and quashed the hope that welled within him for a split-second. “What do we say about going near someone who explains their relationship with it’s complicated?”
/>
  “Don’t.” Sarah mumbled, staring at the floor. No doubt reminded that the last time a guy had used that line with her, it had translated into I have three kids with two women and the tax office are after me for dodging paying child support.

  “Exactly.”

  The bathroom door opened behind him, and he turned to see Paige emerge fully dressed.

  She gestured to the bathroom with a slight bow. “All yours.” Then she grinned, causing the air to dance in his chest. “See you at the planning meeting?”

  “Um, yeah. See you then.” He strode past her, pushing the door closed behind him. He rested his forehead against the cool bathroom wall. A whiff of apples hit him. Blasted apples. What did she do? Carry perfume and spray every room she entered? Wherever he went, the fruit haunted him.

  The image of her in a bathrobe in his bathroom returned, trying to lure his mind to places it had no business going. Whether he wanted it to or not, everything became more complicated the moment she opened his bathroom door.

  Paige stared at the wall of her office. It was lined with project plans, so if anyone looked in they’d have no reason to suspect she wasn’t meditating on her Gantt chart.

  She had to get a grip. It was almost lunchtime and she had achieved nothing. Well, nothing beyond trying to get the searing image of rumpled, just-got-out-of-bed Josh Tyler out of her head. All tousled hair, with an old gray T-shirt, and baggy shorts that only highlighted a pair of well-toned legs. He looked like he’d rolled out of a Calvin Klein ad.

  Thank goodness his yelling had surprised her. She’d smacked herself in the face with the hairdryer, which had her react like an angry fire ant. If she hadn’t done that, she probably would have drooled. Or worse.

  Retreating into the bathroom to regather her tumbling emotions had been the only option. Plus, she’d seen Sarah over his shoulder, watching the whole exchange with glee. The last thing she wanted to do was fan any ideas.

  Paige blew out a breath of air. This was pointless. Since she wasn’t getting anything done on Grace, she had might as well try to get some tour stuff sorted. She looked for the folder on her desk. Not there. Of course. She’d left it in Josh’s office last night.