Page 44 of And Everything In Between

Inside, the bank was cool, clean, and professional.

And then there washer.

Behind the glass wall that framed her office, Paige was on the phone, nodding, jotting notes, flipping tabs on her screen. Handling shit and looking amazing doing it. She wore a powder blue silk pants set. Her hair was straight today with a part down the middle.

Giovanni slowed his steps, for a moment, and watched. She was breathtaking.

This was different. This wasn’t Sienna with her fake networking and forced laughter, swinging from man to man, hoping one of them was gullible enough to lift her. This was a woman whoran her world.

She didn’t need a seat at the table. She built the damn thing.

She looked up and caught his eye through the glass, her expression shifted. Shock. But soon something in her facebrightened, and her cheeks rose. Her lips parted slightly, like she was processing the fact that he did what he said he would.

He gave her a nod and tossed his hands up.

A second later, she buzzed him in.

“I can’t believe you pulled up on me at work,” Paige said, standing as he stepped in.

“I said the second I touched down.” Giovanni closed the door behind him. “And I meant that.”

Paige looked him over, and she didn’t try to hide it. Giovanni looked good in his purple Polo shirt, his arms bulged and flexed against the fabric. But the limp in the creased up jeans, made her bite her lip. “You look tired, but you look good. How was your flight? Trip?”

“Iamtired, baby real shit.” He cracked a small smile. “But not enough to skip laying eyes on you again. Tell me something good.”

Paige attempted to look unimpressed but couldn’t deny the way her cheeks pulled into a smile. She stepped around her desk and folded her arms. Like that might keep her from melting too fast. He came closer and wrapped his arms around her, he was happy to see her. She hugged him back, enjoying the feel of his arms around her. She exhaled while he inhaled.

“Ashton left for maternity leave early,” she explained. “So, I’ve been here solo for the past week.”

“And how did you do?”

“Good, no meltdowns so far. Printer getting on my damn nerves but forget that.” Paige leaned back against the edge of her desk. “Why are you here?”

“I told you. I wanted to see you.” Giovanni stepped closer. “I didn’t wanna wait. And I wanted to see you in your element, too. I needed to see if you earned your spot in the paper.”

“Boy, please, I most certainly did. I can’t believe you saw that,” she said blushing. Her jaws were hurting trying to keep her smiles at bay.

He stepped in closer, and that familiar scent wrapped around him, vanilla, shea, and something floral. He looked around. At the tidy desk, the framed photo of her and Perry, the post-it notes lining the edge of her monitor. All the little signs that this spacebelongedto her.

“You run this.”

“I do.” She shrugged, but there was pride in her voice.

“You look good doing it. I like work Paige, all dressed up and in charge.”

“You’re just saying that ‘cause you’re tired and delirious.”

“I’m saying it ‘cause it’s true.”

There was a beat of silence between them. Her aura filled the room. Paige was larger than life in his eyes, and he wanted her to take up as much space as she wanted. Take up as much of his time as physically possible. The call was coming from inside the house. He’d do whatever it took to make Paige his woman.

“Have you eaten?” he asked, finally checking his watch. It was about one in the afternoon, and he spotted two empty Red Bulls on her desk.

“Not yet.”

“Come with me. Let me feed you.”

Paige arched an eyebrow. “I can’t dip out. Lunch will have to be at my desk until Ashton is back. But I wish.”

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