Page 36 of The Hideout

“I should go. I have somewhere to be.” Juliet tried to step past Paige, but Paige blocked her from leaving. “Please, Paige. I need to go.”

“Why?” It took everything Paige possessed not to lean in and kiss Juliet. She was saying all the things Paige had ever dreamed of hearing, but this could never possibly work between them. Paige had far too much going on, and she feared for Juliet’s safety if she dared to entertain this for a second.

“Because…” Juliet swallowed when she studied Paige’s eyes. Then she lifted a hand and placed it on Paige’s cheek. That softness had Paige leaning into Juliet’s touch without a second thought. Her lips parted, and for every second Juliet’s hand remained, James’ beatings evaporated once and for all. “I can’t be alone with you anymore. Thursday has only complicated things for me. This…it’s too hard for me. To want you…knowing I can’t have you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s okay. I shouldn’t have been there.” Juliet leaned in, kissing Paige on the cheek. “See how that migraine goes. If it’s no better in a couple of hours, take the weekend off. I can manage.”

“Juliet—”

“Bye, Paige. Take it easy.”

Paige’s forehead creased when she watched Juliet walk away, loneliness setting back in again. She didn’t know where to begin with making sense of anything Juliet had just said, but she would consider that offer of taking the weekend off.

* * *

Juliet turned her watch towards herself, puffing out her cheeks when she realised Paige was not only taking the night off but not planning to tell her either. She should have been here an hour ago, but Juliet should have expected a no-show. She was beginning to wish she hadn’t offered her place in the northeast to Paige; it was only encouraging her to leave. Juliet didn’t want that; she never wanted that. What she wanted was to sit down and talk this through with Paige, to understand her reasons for leaving so suddenly. Still, she couldn’t force it from Paige’s mouth.

God, that mouth.

Juliet really needed to get that night out of her head. It was interfering with her sleep, her ability to eat, and it was even discouraging Juliet from being the social butterfly she was. All she wanted to do was curl up under a blanket and wish the days away.

Her phone started to ring on the desk, Paige’s name surprising Juliet.

“Hello?”

“Shit, Juliet, I’m so sorry. I went to bed for a few hours to shift this migraine, and I must have slept through my alarm.” She could hear Paige rummaging around. “I’ll be there as soon as I can be.”

“Paige, take the weekend off. Get your head straight and come back on Monday…if you plan to still be here then.”

“I will be. I haven’t decided what I’m doing yet.”

Juliet’s heart fluttered at that admission. Was it possible that Paige would stay? Juliet knew better than to hope for that, but it was still a thought she’d allow to float into her mind occasionally. “Well, whatever you want to do, okay?”

“Juliet?” Paige spoke just above a whisper, her voice soft and soothing.

Juliet closed her eyes, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. If she could listen to Paige talk to her all night, this weekend without her wouldn’t be so bad. “Yes?”

“Those things you said earlier. Did you mean them?”

“Of course I meant them. Everything I said was true.”

Paige cleared her throat. “Even how you couldn’t be alone with me anymore?”

Being alone with Paige was only going to lead to something she couldn’t control. That kiss had ignited everything inside Juliet. “Y-yes. I’m sorry.”

“It meant something to you, didn’t it? The kiss.”

Juliet took her bottom lip between her teeth, holding back tears. She couldn’t keep crying for something she couldn’t have. It was ridiculous. “It meant everything.”

“It…meant everything to me, too.”

No. Paige couldn’t say that. She couldn’t admit to feeling something for Juliet, only to leave. She couldn’t say these things and walk away. “If that was true, we wouldn’t be in the position we’re in now.”

Paige sighed. “I think I will take the weekend off. I need some time to think. Some space away from anything that could influence me, you know?”

“Whatever you need. Bye, Paige.”

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