Page 19 of We Were Something
Which was for the best.
I’m fresh off a divorce and incredibly dedicated to my job. Someone like Paige, who is probably just looking for a little fun, isn’t what I need or want in my life right now. As beautiful as I think she is, beauty has never been enough for me. I need substance and a connection. What could the two of uspossiblyhave in common?
Instead of listening to the tiny voice that’s rewinding my interactions with Paige and trying to point out the kind of buzzing electricity I felt between us, I click off the TV and head to bed, resigning myself to the same fate I’ve faced for the past few nights since the last time I saw her.
Scolding myself for being unable to get Paige off my mind. Reminding myself that my divorce is too fresh to pursue anything with anyone. And convincing myself that tomorrow, I’ll move on from this ridiculous, childish infatuation.
If only that last one were true.
CHAPTER4
LOGAN
Logan. Hey. It’s Jen.
I saw your mom last night. We bumped into each other at the market…you know that little grocery on the corner in Medina where we used to grab those awesome ice cream sandwiches? God, I hadn’t been there in forever and then, for some reason I was just…starving for an ice cream sandwich. Must be the pregnancy hormones, you know?
Anyway, we went out to dinner to catch up and, I don’t know…it made me think of you. Being there, spending time with your mom, and I thought…I don’t know. I just wanted to call. Say hi.I miss you.Call me back sometime, yeah? Okay. Bye.
*message deleted*
CHAPTER5
LOGAN
“I had to estimate the size, but I’m pretty sure I got it right.”
An elegant bag is set gracefully on the table in front of me, and my eyes fly up to find Paige Andrews standing on the opposite side of my table with a radiant smile on her face.
I assumed I would see her again, but I thought it would be in the safety of Ivy’s hospital room. Not tucked away in a shaded corner outside the hospital as I try to fit in a quick lunch before heading back up to complete some work that has been piling up on the desk I rarely have time to sit at.
Though I can’t help the thrill of happiness that surges through me at her decision to track me down.
“What’s this?” I ask, pushing my small to-go box filled with rice, chicken, and veg to the side and tugging the bag closer.
“A very much owed replacement,” she responds.
Reaching inside, I pull out a long gray box with a white label andTom Fordwritten in gold letters along the top.
When I flick my eyes back up to connect with hers, I find her once radiant smile has become a slightly pursed look, one that exudes a bit of unease.
“You didn’t have to do this,” I say, though I can’t help but lift the lid from the box to examine the contents.
“Yes I did. I do.” She clears her throat. “Saturday was a…weird night for me. I had a lot on my mind and let things get a little out of hand with the drinks, and that shouldn’t have been to the detriment of your brogues.”
I pull one of the shoes out and tug it from the protective bag it comes in then rotate the expensive leather form in my hands, admiring the handywork and fine craftsmanship.
“Did I get it right?”
My eyes slide up to hers, and I find them boring into me, the earnest desire to have fixed her previous mistake written desperately across her face.
“Perfectly,” I answer, surprised at her attention to detail. “How did you know what I was wearing?”
Her lips quirk up at the side, clearly pleased with herself, before she shrugs a single shoulder. “Fords are easy to spot.”
I chuckle, returning the shoe to its bag and the bag to the box, then the box to the larger bag. Overkill, if you ask me, but that’s how most ‘top-shelf quality’ items come—in fancy bags and boxes, with additional accoutrements and special somethings. It’s part of the experience, I guess, and definitely a part of the price.
My own Fords came in at a whopping eighteen hundred dollars when I bought them last year. These are the same version I bought “off the rack”—as my mother called it—in Seattle, right down to the width and length, so if Paige purchased this pair straight from the Tom Ford at the Galleria, I’m sure it was significantly more expensive.
