Page 28 of And Everything In Between (Love By Any Means #3)

Paige checked her watch for the third time in fifteen minutes, convinced the second hand was moving backward to spite her.

Each customer who smiled across her desk received her professional attention, but inside, she was counting down the hours.

Giovanni would be back tomorrow. The thought alone sent electricity through her fingertips.

She’d already prepped for his return, fresh wax, nails, and toes done to perfection.

The anticipation was both delicious and maddening.

Who was this woman who missed someone so much it physically ached?

Certainly not the Paige Bishop who valued her independence above all else.

Yet here she was, checking her phone between appointments, smiling at his morning text for the fourth time.

She liked her space, had always guarded it fiercely, but his absence had hollowed out corners of her day she hadn't known could feel empty.

“Paige, it’s doing it again. The printer is possessed, I swear.” Carol’s voice broke through her thoughts, the woman’s face pinched with the particular brand of irritation only office equipment could inspire.

Paige drew in a trembling breath. “Carol, unplug it. I’ll call them and put in a work order when I get a minute. For now, we use the old printer in the supply room. Apologize to the customers for the delay and-” she glanced at the clock again “call it a day. We’re almost done anyway.”

She’d already rescheduled two calls, skimmed a half-finished report without absorbing a word, and closed her office door twice to breathe without someone needing a piece of her.

That printer wasn’t getting a single additional neuron of her attention today.

It could go to hell with everything else she didn’t give a damn about.

She wasn’t for it today, not when her mind was already halfway to tomorrow, already imagining Giovanni’s arms wrapped around her, his cologne filling her lungs, his voice rumbling low in her ear.

“Fuck that printer,” she mumbled to herself.

A familiar knock pulled her from her daydream. The door opened before she could answer, and Paige realized she’d been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed Ashton approaching her office.

“Ashton!” Paige stood, practically jogging across the office. “Girl, what are you doing here?”

“I needed to get out of the house. Figured y’all were missing me.” Ashton grinned and bounced a sleepy baby girl on her hip. “Plus, I’ve heard good things, and I wanted to tell you that in person.”

They hugged, careful around the baby. She smelled like lotion and Dreft, signs of motherhood in its softest, simplest form.

“She’s so tiny,” Paige said, eyes wide.

Ashton laughed. “Don’t let miss things size fool you, she’s loud as hell at night. Shake the whole house, girl.”

Paige gestured to the chair in front of her desk. “Sit down. How are you feeling?”

“Still healing, still tired, but I’m good. Really good.”

Ashton’s gaze shifted, assessing her with that quiet, knowing look. “And you? You look... good as hell. Girl, you are radiating something, and I like it.”

“Am I?”

Ashton said, adjusting the baby in her lap, “Yes. And I’m so happy for you.”

Paige smiled, pressing her fingers together in her lap. “It’s a combination of things. I’ve run this bank for almost a month and killed it. I’m seeing someone, and I don’t know… I’ve found balance.”

“You trust it?”

“I want to,” Paige admitted. “It’s a choice I have to keep making every day, but he reminds me why I should each day.”

“Then keep making it,” Ashton said simply. “Don’t forget that you deserve soft things too, Paige. You always did. You got good at surviving without them.”

That landed.

Right then, her phone buzzed on the desk.

Giovanni: Go to the house when you get off. Same code. I need a favor.

Paige’s brows lifted slightly, but she smiled.

“That must be one of the things. I’m glad you are making time for yourself. Don’t let me hold you up.”

After work, Paige made a stop she never skipped: her dad’s house. She was either showing up before work or after. But she hadn’t gone a day without seeing him and checking in on him.

Perry was in his recliner, game show on low, a cup of applesauce half-eaten on the tray next to him when she walked in.

“You good, Daddy? You didn’t like that applesauce?” she asked, walking in with her usual bag of groceries, mail, and vitamins.

“Always,” he said, not even looking away from the screen. “You the one got that sugar-free organic crap. It got a bite to it. Hell, it’s just plain ole nasty.”

She choked back a laugh because he was probably right. “Well, it’s this or no applesauce. You can’t have a bunch of sugar, health is wealth.”

“Ain’t that a bitch? I’m the parent and being bossed around. Told what I can and can’t have. Where that boy at to get you out of my hair?” He turned to her then, eyes sharp, clear.

Paige kept her gaze down, not daring to meet her father’s eyes, she knew he’d see the grin she couldn’t hide.

Just thinking about Giovanni had her smiling like a fool.

He’d gotten under her skin in the best way, turning idle moments into daydreams and making her body respond with a heat she wasn’t used to.

He was her favorite kind of distraction, the kind she didn’t want to end.

“Imagine trying to get rid of the only person who takes care of you. But he’s in Los Angeles finalizing his TV show. You’re stuck with me,” she said snapping out of it.

“He told me about that. I like him. Are you happy?”

Her smile softened. “Getting there.”

Perry leaned back, reclining in his seat. Paige came around to pass him his meds and he asked, “The boy make you laugh?”

“Yes, Daddy. That man makes me smile, laugh, and feel... it was like a miracle, wasn't it?,” Paige replied, recalling her father's words from that day. Her heart fluttered thinking of how Giovanni never missed a chance to show her she mattered.

“Then stop coming over here every day. I’m fine, Paige. You need to focus on yourself. I got a phone. I got what I need. Just call me to check in.”

She snapped out of her reminiscence and bent down to kiss her dad on the forehead; a lump formed in her throat.

Each day spent with him wove another thread of forgiveness into the frayed DNA of their relationship.

The man who’d once been a stranger with her father’s face was becoming someone she genuinely cared for, and that transformation scared her as much as it healed her.

Eventually she would lose him and that weighed on her. Time wasn’t on their side.

“Okay,” was all she could manage with her voice cracking slightly. Paige hugged her father and headed out with goodbyes and promises of talking tomorrow.

When she reached her car, the emotions she’d held in check spilled over. Tears ran hot down her cheeks, part joy at the second chance they’d been given, part fear that it might still slip away. She gripped the steering wheel, letting herself feel it all.

She’d gotten lucky in ways she never expected. With her father. With Giovanni. None of it had been planned, none of it was sought after. She’d built her life around independence, around needing no one, and now here she was, vulnerable, connected, sought out and showing up.

The hardest realization was that she’d been complicit in her own isolation all this time.

Building walls so high that even she couldn’t climb them.

Making herself so strong that she couldn’t remember how to bend.

The weight of that understanding felt like an elephant on her chest, but she drew in a deep breath and released it slowly.

By the time she turned into Giovanni’s driveway, she’d wiped away the tears and reapplied her lip gloss.

He never said what the favor was and that made her nerves prickly as she approached his home.

He was still something of a mystery, layers she was only beginning to uncover, but she trusted him.

Not blindly, not foolishly, but deliberately, again a choice she was making.

Like normal, she kicked her shoes off. And proceeded into the house. She loved his place, it was spacious, elegantly designed, and off the beaten path. Haven Springs wasn’t cheap to live in. The whole community had a gate, and then the houses had gates. It was insane.

The house smelled like lemon, cedar, and fresh polish. His housekeeper had been through. She went into the kitchen and found a note. That looked like the one he left her before.

Downstairs. Second door.

She grabbed the piece of paper and headed down. She didn't know what to expect, but when she made it into his man cave, she stopped dead in her tracks. On the far wall was a brand-new, floor-to-ceiling bookshelf, deep mahogany wood, built into the wall full of books.

Her hand flew to her chest as she took a step closer, then another. Urban fiction, Black romance, classics she’d loved and dog-eared, newer titles still on her Tbr list. Every row was carefully stacked, curated with intention.

He did this. For me.

Tears pricked her eyes as she ran her fingers along the spines.

This wasn't just thoughtful - this was honoring her.

Really seeing who she was beneath all the armor she wore.

No one had ever paid attention to what she loved like this.

No one had ever cared enough to build her a sanctuary in their sanctuary.

On the middle shelf was a handwritten note, propped up like a title card:

Me and your fictional men want you to ourselves this weekend.

A giggle escaped her lips through her watering eyes. She was going to learn not to leave shit around him. She’d left her Kindle by accident, and it had turned out to be the best thing ever.

Behind her, she heard the door open. She whipped around, tears still in her eyes, to find Giovanni standing in a plain white tee and black joggers. “What we starting with first?”