“It’s a long story.”
Ashley slung an arm over Paige’s shoulder and hugged her close. “The good ones always are. ‘Once upon a time—’ Now you fill in the rest.”
Paige took a deep breath. “It all started when David dumped me.”
“The rat bastard,” Sammie chimed in.
Paige smiled at her baby sister. “Hey, I just realized this is the first time I’ve been drinking with you. You weren’t old enough last time I was home.”
Sammie swirled her straw. “Nope. I’m finally twenty-one and of legal drinking age now. But don’t change the subject.”
Busted. Paige grimaced. “I couldn’t face the whispers. Every time I came home to visit I saw curtains twitching and fingers pointing. So…I ran. The Vegas job gave me the perfect way to leave South Carolina without losing face.”
“We know that part. Get to the good stuff,” Jessie prodded.
Paige stalled by sipping her fresh drink. “I wanted to start over in Vegas as…someone besides Good ol’ Paige, the girl next door. That’s why I borrowed Jessie’s hairdresser and had the makeover right before I left. When I arrived here I added sexier clothing, satin sheets and a bunch of other stuff that I wouldn’t want to be caught buying at home.”
She toyed with the fruit clinging to the side of her glass. “But the Vegas singles scene isn’t like home, and I didn’t have you all along as backup. Two months after I started my job at the Lagoon I met a hotel guest who said his name was Trent Hightower. He was good-looking, friendly, easy to be with. But…there was no chemistry.”
“Are you kidding me? That guy oozed sexy from his pores,” Jessie said.
“It wasn’t that guy. He has an identical twin. I decided to try to have my first one-night stand with him because he wasn’t threatening or scary. He was fun, and I wanted—needed—to get over David. Anyway the night was a disaster.” Sharing had never been her thing.
“Don’t you dare start editing this story in your head. Spill it. All of it,” Kelly ordered in her bossiest oldest sister tone.
Paige shrugged her stiff shoulders. “He couldn’t…And I wasn’t…So we didn’t. Last Sunday I bumped into him—or at least I thought it was him—again. Only this year he was drop-dead sexy and we had a chemistry like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I decided to try again.”
“You go girl.” Jessie punched a fist in the air. “But…?”
“He pretended to be the same guy I’d met last year. He didn’t tell me he’d never met me.”
“That’s weird. Why would he do that?” Ashley asked the question of the hour.
“Maybe because his brother—last year’s guy—is married.”
“Another rat bastard. The world is full of them.” Sammie viciously stabbed the cherry in her glass with her cocktail skewer.
“How do you know this?” Kelly asked.
“I met him and his very pregnant wife in the lobby this morning on the way to the front desk. They’re in town celebrating their twelfth anniversary.”
Jessie sat back against the semicircular banquette. “And all this time I’ve been thinking you were bored out of your mind and lonely here in Vegas and too proud to admit it. Your life is more exciting than mine. Twins, for crying out loud.”
Embarrassed that they’d pegged her life so accurately, Paige stiffened. “Hey, I only slept with one of them.”
“The hot one,” Jessie added and lifted her glass in a toast. “He looks like he’d be amazing in bed.”
Heat seeped through Paige’s pores. “He is.”
Time for full disclosure. “My life isn’t nearly as exciting as I’ve led you to believe. I mean, I love my job, but you’re right, Jessie. I’ve been sitting at home alone most nights because I was too intimidated by the singles’ scene.” She took a deep breath. “So all those places I talked or wrote about…well, I haven’t exactly been inside them. I’ve only driven past.”
Ashley tightened her arm, hugging Paige close. “We know that, honey, but we also know you needed time to get over the butthead, so we let you do it your way.”
“You knew?”
Four heads nodded in unison.
“And you don’t hate me for lying?”
Jessie reached across the table and grabbed Paige’s hand. “We knew you were trying to keep us from worrying about you. That’s the thing about you, Paige. You’re always there for everyone else, but you won’t let anyone be there for you. But we are, y’know? We’d do anything for you.”
“Including castrate the rat bastard.” Sammie’s bitter comment yanked a laugh from Paige’s throat.
Kelly brushed back Paige’s hair. “You tell us what you want from us and we’ll do it. We’re the McCauley girls and nobody messes with us.”
Paige’s eyes stung as she scanned the faces around her and found unconditional love. She realized she wasn’t the only strong McCauley girl. Her sisters would always be there for her and for each other. They were a team, each other’s sounding boards and their anchors in stormy seas.
“Thank you. How long are you in town?”
“Until Wednesday evening,” Ashley answered. “But maybe we shouldn’t use the rat bastard’s plane or let him pay for our hotel rooms.”
Jessie shook her head vehemently. “Are you out of your mind? Let the man pay for his sins. So…do you really have to work over Christmas or was that you saving face again?”
Paige grimaced. “I have a week’s vacation starting today, and I think we need to see everything Vegas has to offer.”
“I’m in,” Sammie chimed without hesitation.
“We’re all in,” Ashley added. “Ladies, let’s tear this town up.” She laid her hand in the middle of the table. The other McCauley girls did the same. Paige covered them all with both of hers.
Maybe by the time her sisters left her heart would be healed. Maybe not. But one thing was certain. She wasn’t going to avoid going home anymore. She had her sisters in her corner to keep her strong. Even if she failed to handle the encounters with David and the gossips with grace and dignity, her sisters would still love and support her.
She didn’t have to try to be Perfect Paige anymore.
Eleven
T rent stared at his brother across his hotel suite Monday evening. “How can five women completely disappear?”He’d spent the day futilely searching for Paige. She hadn’t been to her apartment and the suites Nicole had reserved for her sisters at the Bellagio were empty although the staff assured him the women hadn’t checked out.
“Vegas isn’t exactly a small town, bro.” Brent rocked back on two legs of the dining-table chair. “You need to pack if you’re going to make the board meeting tomorrow. Your crew’s been on standby for hours.”
Trent didn’t want to leave. He had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that if he walked away without settling this he’d never see Paige again. That same gut feeling had kept him alive during some of his more asinine adrenaline junkie stunts.
“Screw the board meeting.”
Brent’s arms windmilled as he almost tipped over in the chair. “What did you say?”
“I’ll cancel it.”
Brent shot to his feet. “Are you out of your mind? What about your expansion plans? You’ve yammered about striking while the iron is hot and the economy is cold for months. It’s the perfect time to take advantage of our floundering competition’s losses and obtain their assets at rock bottom prices.”
“I’m not leaving until I’ve talked to Paige.”
“Trent, come on. HAMC is your baby. Don’t drop her now.”
Paige’s words echoed in his head. She’d walked away so that her sisters could learn to handle their own issues. She’d trusted them to make the right decisions or, worst case scenario, learn from their mistakes. His siblings had accused him of being a control freak and always looking over their shoulders more than once. Maybe it was time to loosen up and trust them to do what was right for the company.
The decision lifted a weight off his shoulders. “You go.”
Brent gaped. “Excuse me?”
“I’ll call the airport and have them ready your jet. If you leave tonight you can be back tomorrow night. You’ll be gone twenty-four hours tops. Luanne can spend that much time in the spa. She’s always nagged you to ask for more responsibility—”
“You knew that?”
“Of course. Now’s your chance. You present the expansion plan to the board.”
“But…but…but…what if I screw up?”
“You’re a born salesman, Brent. There’s nobody better. Sell the idea. I’ll sign my proxy over to you, and instead of me voting your shares the way we’d planned, you’ll vote mine.”
“And if I can’t convince the board?”
“Then we’ve lost nothing.” Except a goal Trent had worked toward for years.
His brother’s expression filled with empathy. “You really have it bad for Paige.”
“Yeah, I do. I know it’s too soon to know if this will last, but being with her feels right. I’ve never—Nothing has ever felt this right. I don’t want to live with regrets for the rest of my life because I didn’t give us a shot.”
Brent hesitated so long Trent thought he’d refuse. And then his brother straightened with heel-clicking military precision. A new respect entered his eyes. “I’m in. Do you have your presentation with you?”
“On my laptop. I was going to work on it while I was here, but…I spent time with Paige instead. It might need a little polishing. I’ll e-mail the files to you and give you my handwritten notes.”
Brent nodded. “I’ll read them on the flight and be ready to present them by the time we land. Trent, thank you for trusting me. I won’t let you down.”
“I know you won’t.”
Home sweet home.
Paige stared at the family tree Christmas Eve morning. The branches sagged under the weight of the heirloom decorations either made or collected by various family members over the decades. How could she have ever thought them less than perfect?
Her sisters had convinced her to fly home with them on Trent’s plane yesterday. The crew had been surprised by having an extra passenger, but they hadn’t objected.
She had one more item on her checklist to clear up, and then her slate would truly be clean. The only difference was, she knew she didn’t have to try to be more like Jessie. She could be herself—plain ol’ dependable Paige, assistant hotel event manager and future world traveler.
The doorbell rang and her nerves tightened like guitar strings. David. She’d wanted their first encounter to be a private one.
She crossed the living room, took a bracing breath and opened the door. David’s familiar face filled her with warmth, yet seeing him didn’t make her pulse jump, but neither did it hurt to look at him the way it had hurt to look at Trent after she’d discovered his deception.