Page 2 of The Hideout

As Paige joined Juliet behind the bar, she squeezed past her. Juliet wasn’t sure why her body reacted again, she was having sex more often than not lately, but then Paige cleared her throat and said, “Maybe you should take a seat on the other side of the bar. Then you can see exactly what I have to offer.”

Oh. Okay. Paige was one of those women. A flirt. Perfect. Juliet had always liked to have a little fun whenever the chance presented itself. “Oh, I see exactly what you offer already, Miss Harrison.”

But Paige stalked towards Juliet, encouraging her back and out from behind the bar. She wore a smirk, one Juliet noted immediately. “Trust me. You have no idea.”

Juliet chose to take that seat Paige had suggested, shedding her suit jacket and throwing it over the back of an empty chair. When Paige looked up at her, Juliet’s bare arms exposed in her royal blue sleeveless blouse, the younger woman swallowed.

“Also, you should know that if I hire you, you’ll be handling the bar alone. We have a select clientele, and it won’t be likely that you’d be run off your feet.”

“And where will you be?” Paige asked as she took a cocktail shaker from beneath the bar, her body bent forward but her eyes firmly on Juliet’s.

Juliet’s eyes drifted lower to Paige’s cleavage. “Sitting back while I enjoy the view.”

* * *

“I got it!”

Paige smacked a hand to her mouth as she landed outside The Hideout. She didn’t know why she was yelling down the phone to her best friend, but Paige hadn’t expected a new job today. It couldn’t have come at a better time. When she needed to stay away from her hometown for an extended break, Juliet had come calling. Or emailing. But it really didn’t matter how. It was the fact that Juliet Saunders had just offered her a job in a place that was far superior to anywhere she’d worked before. And that woman…God, she was hot. But she’d known that when she Googled ‘Juliet Saunders.’ Still, in person, she was off-the-scale gorgeous. It hadn’t been her finest moment when Paige decided to flirt her way through the cocktail-making process, but Juliet seemed easy-going enough to humour her. She’d appreciated that. It made this morning far less daunting.

“Can you believe I got it?”

“I can. Because you’re brilliant like that!” Harriet squealed. “Bloody fantastic!”

“It’s a really cool place, too.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to come and see you working there. When do you start?”

“Tonight. But it’s not the sort of bar you can just show up to. It’s private, you know?” Paige hated being so secretive. She wasn’t sure she could always trust Harriet. Paige was probably being overly paranoid, but Harriet adored the ground James walked on.

“Where the hell are you working, Paige? It’s not some swingers club thing, is it?”

“Not that I know of. It’s just…different. I love it. And the owner is really nice, too.”

Really nice. Paige’s stomach flipped at the mere thought of Juliet. But that’s all it could be. A stomach flip. A thought.

“Well, look. I’m really happy for you. How does James feel about you moving to Liverpool? Can he change offices so he can be there with you?”

“Oh, sure. I’m sure we’ll figure it out.” Just the mention of James had Paige’s stomach turning, but not in the way it did for Juliet. Life wasn’t good at home, hence Paige’s desire to travel for work if she could. “I should go. I’d better call him and tell him the good news.”

Ha! Good news? Paige knew he was going to have an aneurysm about this. At first, she’d explained how there was a lack of opportunities where they lived down south. It was a small village with a local pub. Nobody was looking for mixologists there. It was no use travelling into London. That place was overrun with people making fancy cocktails. So, she’d slowly started to find work that little bit further away each time.

Truth be told, Paige hadn’t even told James she was in Liverpool. As far as he knew, she was only an hour or so from home. Not the 240 miles away where she currently resided.

“Give me a ring through the week. And I want pictures of the new digs you have! You haven’t said much about it.” Harriet sighed. “God, I’m so jealous that you can just live your life in a new city whenever you like. James is so good for you.”

“Yeah. Catch up with you soon. Bye.”

Paige looked down at her phone, the idea of calling James leaving a heavy dread in her stomach. There was going to be a huge fallout from this. But at least Paige wasn’t at home to deal with it this time. When she’d foolishly gone back six weeks ago, her welcome home had resulted in her being locked in the house for the following eight days. Still, being locked in was far less harrowing than the time before that. And…the time before that. Paige had lost count of the number of times James had raised his hand to her.

She shuddered, her hand shaking as she continued to stare at the dim screen of her phone. She didn’t know how she’d convinced James to let her look for a job, but the moment he’d agreed—believing she was working somewhere local this time—Paige had booked a train ticket. Using cash only, hoping he didn’t follow her, she took a trip up north. So now, she was basically running from the man she’d married five years ago. And he was entirely unaware. Though, Paige didn’t know how. James had to know he treated Paige terribly. She scoffed. He thrived off it.

She scrolled her contact list—leaving the street The Hideout was situated on—and called his number.

“Paige! Where the hell are you?”

“H-hi, James. How are things?”

“What kind of question is that? Where are you, Paige? You’ve been gone for five weeks!”

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