Page 22 of Beyond Question

I bark out a bitter laugh. “Wish I knew, brother.”

Cabot shakes his head. “Of all the women in this city, why her?”

The answer is instant, but I keep it to myself because it sounds so trite. She’s just not like all the other women in this city. She’s different. And I don’t mean that in a way that positions heragainstthe others or that makes herbetter thanthe others. I don’t give women that line of bullshit that they’re somehow different from other girls, and I wouldn’t give that line of bullshit to Cabot.

It’s not a competition; every woman is unique in her own way. It’s what makes them all so damn special and causes the men of our species to fall at their feet. Look at Cabot and the way he worships Rylan, for a prime example.

But Paigeisdifferent because of how she makesmedifferent. Because of how much I want her. Can’t stop thinking about her. Can’t focus. Can’t function. She’s different becauseI’ve never felt this need to be near someone. It’s a physical pull, tangible. I thought it would go away once she did, but it hasn’t.

In fact, it’s only grown stronger.

It’s damn annoying, but being annoyed with it doesn’t make it cease.

I’ve dated gorgeous, brilliant women. I’ve been awed by beauty and stunned stupid by intellect. I’ve slept with countless knockouts, from models and entrepreneurs to engineers and baristas.

None of them, and I meannone of them, have ever made me feel something this strongly.

Not even the woman I was once engaged to, and I loved her with every beat of my heart for ten great years.

After a particularly long stretch of silence, I realize Cabot is still waiting for an answer he’s not going to get. At least, not in detail. So I shrug and summarize: “There’s just something about her.”

He snorts. “So you’ve said.” After another long pause, Cabot sighs, then rises to his feet. “Well, it’s Friday.”

“Yes…” The calendar on the wall tells me as much.

Cabot’s nostrils flare as his patience thins. “I’m heading out to pick up lunch for Rylan.”

“Okay.” I nod, then lift my brows when he doesn’t say anything else but remains standing in my doorway.

“For such a smart man, Travis, you can be pretty dense.” He chuckles dryly. “Do you want to come with me?” He raises his eyebrows and it finally clicks.

I jump to my feet and grab my coat. “Yeah, definitely. Of course.” I close my mouth because I sound too eager even to my own ears.

My best friend shakes his head as I stride toward him. “She’s not worth all this, man.”

She definitely is.“Yeah, well, let me be the judge of that. Besides”—I clap him hard on the back—“I distinctly recall you damn near losing your entire kingdom for a certain brown-eyed beauty not too long ago.”

Cabot grunts, but I’ve made my point.

If anyone can understand me, it’s him.

By the time we’ve picked up lunch for Rylan and Cabot, and stopped at an additional place for Paige’s surprise, I’m second-guessing just showing up at her business uninvited and, if her dismissal of me last week is any indication, unwanted.

But when we reach Turn the Paige, I realize I can’t just sit in the car for the next hour and I don’t want this food to go to waste, so with my heart lodged in my throat, I follow Cabot inside.

“Hi,” Rylan says excitedly, rising to her feet to circle her desk and go straight into Cabot’s arms. He kisses her forehead, then drops into a squat to say hello to the undeveloped ball of cells in her body.

When Rylan looks at me, then spies the bag of food in my hands, a hint of mischief sparks in her eyes. She nods to the right and whispers, “It’s the door at the end of the hall.”

I leave her grinning like a banshee as I make my way down the hall, hearing Cabot murmur something to Rylan once I’m out of sight. She giggles in response, and says, “I think he’s cute.”

Cute?

Jesus. Who have I become?

Up ahead, Paige is on a phone call, and her voice stops me in my tracks as relief fills my chest at the sound.

Relief?

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