The Gideon Affair

Unf. The desire was near to overwhelming. When he couldn’t take anymore and stay standing, he gentled the kiss until their mouths reluctantly separated. Putting his lips close to her ear, he husked, "I’ll take care of you, Paige. That’s a promise. You can trust me to put what’s best for you first.”

In a voice he’d never heard before, she murmured, “If I end up regretting this, Edward … it’ll kill me.”

For some reason, that was just what he’d wanted to hear.

Getting from WeHo to Malibu took a dog’s age in the never-ending traffic. Paige was surprised when Edward said they were going to Nobu and not any of the conspicuous see-and-be-seen eateries in town, which would have been easier to get to.

She was flabbergasted because the guy hated sushi. HATED. Surf and Turf, yeah. Steamer pot on the beach? He’d be all in. But sushi? That was a big fat NO.

They chatted about nothing on the drive. She pulled out her mental soapbox and went off on a political rant. He bitched about some sports scandal, and they debated a thousand ways to magically make the traffic better.

Creeping along Pacific Coast Highway, he put the blinker on right before the driveway to the restaurant and turned to her. “You ready?”

They’d been out to di

The first sighting when they arrived would set up what came after. By the time they had exited the place, a dozen photogs would be hovering and it’d be showtime. Within hours, pictures of the two of them would appear on social media sites.

Well, crap on a stale cracker. Edward was right. She’d have to call home and give her family the heads-up before they saw anything. Her mom loved attention, but she would so not enjoy being blindsided and made an ignorant fool.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she muttered tersely. Unsteady fingers checked out her hair and fiddled with an earring. Taking a deep, slow breath, she willed the square dancers in her belly to settle the hell down.

Before the car had completely stopped, the valet was ru

“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 go

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 ru

“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 di

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.