Page 37 of The Bourbon Bargain

I let out a surprised laugh. “Now, that’s a picture I won’t be able to get out of my head anytime soon. I may have some new dinner plans.”

It’s Payton’s turn to laugh. “Glad I could be of service.”

I try to stop thinking about Paige’s ass, and the delectable things I could do to it, and return to the reason for my call. “We’re getting married, for real. New Year’s Eve in Savannah. I want you to be my best man, so cancel whatever plans you may have had and get your ass down here by Friday.”

“So, you’re doing this right, after all?”

“Paige’s parents—her mom, really—are insistent. She seems to think a big-ass wedding will solve our problems, both for me and Paige personally as well as helping with Olympus’s rep right now.”

“She’s not wrong,” he says, repeating my exact thoughts when it was brought to the table. “A wedding, especially a big one, with lots of media coverage, could be good for everyone. The mine stuff is working its way out of the headlines and the holidays have given media outlets more to talk about than just what we are or aren’t doing for our workers overseas. I have a contact at Blush Magazine who would pay big bucks for an exclusive after the wedding.”

I bristle. “There is no way I am going to sell myself, or our story, to a magazine.”

“Not like that. What I’m talking about would cement your status as America’s sexiest couple, and theIt Couple‘s wedding would mean your story would be in the hands of housewives and horny fans all over the country who would be talking about it with husbands, business partners, and more. Where popular opinion goes, so does the news coverage. It’s good press, and exactly what we need.”

“I’ll take your word for it, but I don’t like it. Paige is incredibly private. She won’t be interested in a magazine feature, even if I sell it the way you just did.”

“And thank God for that. Can you imagine if Paige was live streaming your entire relationship for the world to see? Every interaction would be even more dissected than it already is. If she was posting cutesy photos and videos of everything nice you did, or vague posting about every fight, how much more fire would that feed?”

I shake my head, wondering at the social media-averse woman I fell in love with and how it could have been so different. I’m a lucky sonofabitch.

“So, you’ll be my best man?” I ask, not liking where my brain goes when it imagines the other possibilities for my life, and how easily I could fuck up the best thing I’ve ever had if I’m not careful.

“Of course I will. Did you tell Zand already or does he think he’s planning some God-awful last-minute bachelor party for you?”

I chuckle. “I told him he was a groomsman and could have a party after the rehearsal dinner if he wanted, but it wouldn’t be a bachelor party for me. I don’t want one.”

“Of course you don’t,” Payton says with finality. “There’s nothing that could compare to spending another night with Paige, even if her mama is gonna do everything in her power to keep you separated the night before the wedding and you’ll have nothing better to do.”

An icy chill goes down my spine. Would Caroline insist on just that, despite us being legally married already? Yes, she absolutely would. “Fuck.”

“So we’ll do something small and classy, just a few guys from Olympus. You’re inviting at least senior leadership, right?”

“I will now. Caroline has been pretty closed fist on all things wedding planning. I had to put my foot down to get her to loosen up her chokehold so Paige could ask for the one thing she actually wanted out of a big wedding, and that wasn’t a pretty fight. We could use someone like Caroline Thackery Fairchild on our negotiating team. No one would stand a chance against that titan.”

“She sounds fierce. I can see where Paige gets it from.”

A smile turns up the corner of my mouth. “Paige is something else entirely. She doesn’t have to be fierce to be a great leader. She has everyone under her spell without having to crack a whip.”

“Okay, that’s enough swooning for now, save it for the Blush feature. I’ll get you connected with Jenyssa, my contact and she will reach out for an interview and photos once the wedding is over. Text me the itinerary and what to wear. I’ll see you later.”

With that call ended, I’m finally able to go back to work. It doesn’t take long to be so engrossed in everything that the door opening to the office startles me.

“Hayes? It’s after six.” I look up and catch Paige’s worried face. Despite that, she looks incredible, wearing a soft-looking camel-colored sweater dress and knee-high boots that make her legs look so goddamn good. She turns to shut the door and her ass is a sight in the tight dress. Payton’s quip about Christmas cookies comes back to me, and I’m growing uncomfortably hard at an alarming rate.

“I’m sorry, angel, I didn’t mean to stay so long.” I hold out my arms and she comes over, draping her soft body into my lap with relief. “How was your day?”

She wiggles her ass into my crotch as she adjusts, and I throb against her. Either she doesn’t notice, or it was that bad of a day to not get a response from her.

“Mama is insane, but that’s not news. What she’s planning and has in mind is way over the top. I would never in a million years want half of what she’s insisting on. There are going to be aerial performers, Hayes. She’s ordered eighty-thousand dollars’ worth of flowers, in December, when everything is out of season. She’s even rigging the ballroom to look like a forest and has giant trees she’s going to put silks in so she can make aerialists dangle all over the room the entire night. It’s going to be a spectacle.”

I smooth Paige’s hair and press her head into my shoulder, soothing her as best I can to bring down the tone of hysteria a notch.

The way Paige defers to her mother in all matters is troubling. She reduces herself to a meek and obedient child when faced with confrontation.

It’s one thing to compromise, but Caroline is a steamroller and I hate how easily she squashes Paige in all things. I want to build up Paige’s confidence and ability to ask for what she wants, but it’s two decades of learned behavior to change. For Paige, it might not be worth it.

If I had my way, I would punish Caroline for every instance she has belittled Paige or made her feel less than perfect. But that’s not my place and I continue to bite my tongue and let Paige lead the interactions with her mother.

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