Page 56 of The Girl He Crowned

It was obviouslyher mother’s way of asking if Paige had made up her mind about her suggestion.

“I had a thoughtabout that, Mom,” Paige said. “Look, my work means that I can’t just move outto Virginia…” and honestly, she didn’t want to go back there when there were somany bad memories for her “…but maybe we could look at, I don’t know, finding away for you to move to D.C. if you want to be closer to me?”

“That’s…”

“If you don’tthink it’s a good idea, I’ll understand,” Paige said.

“No, I think it’sa wonderful idea,” her mother replied. “There’s nothing for me out here. Therehasn’t been for years. At least in the big city, I’ll get to see more of mydaughter, maybe even make a few new friends.”

The ease withwhich her mother jumped at the chance caught Paige a little by surprise. She’dbeen expecting resistance, to have to talk her mother around over days, if notweeks. It occurred to her that perhaps her mother had been looking for anopportunity to make bigger changes in her life, and that reconnecting more withPaige had been only the first step.

“We’ll sort outthe details when I get back,” Paige promised.

They hung up, andPaige breathed a sigh of relief.

“Everything ok?”Christopher asked. “I’ve been looking for you all over the sheriff’s station.”

“I’m fine,” Paigeassured him. “Sauer called to congratulate us but to say the performance reviewis still happening. I called my mom to suggest she move closer to me in D.C.Oh, and Councilor Vert is giving most of the credit to Sheriff May in the pressconference.”

“That sounds likea lot,” Christopher said.

“What about you?How are you doing now that there isn’t a murder to focus on to take your mindoff things?”

“I’m ok,”Christopher said.

“Are you sure?”Paige put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“I’m fine. I’mjust gladyou’reok. I was so worried when I saw you dangling over theedge of the building. I thought… I thought I might lose you.”

There wassomething unexpected in Christopher’s tone in that moment, a note of emotionthat Paige had thought they’d both agreed to bury. Yet it was obvious that theycouldn’t just ignore it, because in that moment felt her own feelings forChristopher rushing back to the surface. She was all too aware then of just howclose to him she was, the contact between them seeming electric. Paige knewthat she ought to pull back, ought to give Christopher some space…

She didn’t.Instead, she found herself drifting closer to him, drawn as if by gravity. Thatlast gap was there between them…

They closed it.Paige wasn’t sure which of them moved first or if they both did it together,but in that moment, they were kissing, pressed tight against one another, theirmouths moving against one another with surprising hunger. It was everythingPaige had imagined it would be, sending a sudden thrill running through her.She wanted to sink into this moment, to lose herself in it forever. She wantedto go further.

Instead, sheforced herself to pull back.

“That was…” Shedidn’t have the words.

“Yes,” Christopheragreed.

Now they were apartfrom one another again, though, Paige could feel a wash of embarrassment atwhat she’d just done. Christopher might have broken up from his wife, but thiswasn’t the moment for something like this. It wasn’t right, so soon aftereverything, when Christopher’s emotions were still probably completelyconfused.

“Christopher,”Paige began.

“I’m sorry, Paige,I shouldn’t have done that,” Christopher said. “Not now, not like this.”

“Then when?” Paigeasked.

“I don’t know. I…look, we should grab our things, right? Sauer will be expecting us back inQuantico.”

It was a clumsydeflection, but right then, that was better than trying to deal with thecomplex situation they found themselves in head on. They would head back toQuantico, they would get on with their jobs, Christopher would deal with thingswith his divorce, and maybe, just maybe then they could think about all of thisagain.

Before that,though, Paige had plenty of things she needed to do back in D.C. One thing inparticular simply couldn’t wait.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

For the secondtime in less than a week, Paige found herself walking through the St. JustInstitute. There was a time when it would have felt normal to be there, whenshehadbeen there every day. Now though, it felt uncomfortable to beback, especially in the wake of everything that had happened with Adam.

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