Page 16 of Mr. Fixer Upper
Paige blinked.
“See? That right there,” he said, pointing his finger in her face. “I’d be asking questions and trying to dig into that statement, maybe argue. But you? You just wait to see what happens next.”
She wanted to interrupt, to say something, anything, but she was dying to know where he was going with this.
“I’m the opposite. I want to dive in and make things happen, but you’re wired to sit back and watch things unfold naturally. You’re not disinterested. You’re calm.”
“And patient,” she added.
He grinned, and that world-famous dimple winked into existence next to his mouth. Dear lord, he’d never smiled at her like that before. No wonder Instagram freaked every time Cat posted a picture of him. Paige fought the urge to fan herself with her book. The proximity was getting to her, and there was no way she could escape without climbing over his lap. The plane began to taxi down the runway picking up speed.
Her whole life Paige had been—for the most part—unfairly judged as stuck up or disinterested. Gannon was the last man on earth she’d have expected to actually get her. “So you have me all figured out then?”
“Not even close. But I’m enjoying my research,” he said, his voice husky as the wheels left the ground. “Makes filming more bearable.”
The lift of the plane resonated in her body. She wanted to look away from Gannon, to stare out the window as Texas vanished beneath them. But she didn’t. She held his gaze, searching those warm hazel eyes for what he wasn’t saying. He was interested, but she didn’t understand why.
“Gannon.” Her voice held a light hint of warning.
“Paige.”
“I didn’t think you knew my name,” she told him dryly.
“I know a lot more than your name, Paige St. James. Why don’t you ask me what you really want to ask? We’ve got a long flight ahead of us.”
“That’s precisely why I don’t want to ask you what I want to ask you. Four hours of verbal sparring with you would be exhausting.”
“How about we keep it to an hour? And then you can read your book or plot ploys to raise ratings or whatever you do on planes.” He was being playful, and it was a side of him that was very hard to say no to.
“Fine.Whyare you on TV?” It had bugged her since day one. There was nothing about Gannon King that screamed fame whore. He abhorred being on camera, hated his one-on-ones with her and the camera, and had no tolerance for delays in the work schedule that were caused by filming.
“Oh, you mean besides my brutally sexy good looks?” he asked. His tone was flippant, but he cruised a hand over his head, a nervous tic.
Paige gave him a level look.
“You’re insinuating this isn’t my dream job. And you’re right. I’ve got bigger plans than TV. And you do, too.”
Paige opened her mouth and closed it again. Everyone around them had plugged into the seat back screens or were enjoying a bit of shut-eye. It almost felt like they were all alone.
He leaned in, taking over her armrest. “Go ahead and deny it, but I know.”
“What gives you that idea? Maybe this is my dream job.”
“If you go with that, I’m gonna call bullshit. It took me a while to see it, but you can get just as riled as I do about it all. You do this thing when you’re pissed where you clench your jaw for five seconds. I think you dig your nails into your hands, too. Five seconds and then you answer in this pleasant, benign tone that’s a complete load of crap. But you look so sincere everyone buys it. Just once, I’d love to hear what runs through your head in those five seconds. See the real you.”
She’d underestimated Gannon. He saw far more than she’d ever given him credit for. Paige wet her lips.
“See? There you go again. What’s that internal dialogue saying?” Gannon demanded quietly.
“It’s saying that maybe I’ve misjudged you. Slightly. A lot is hinging on your answer to the question that you’re avoiding.”
Gannon studied her carefully for a moment and then pulled his phone out of the pocket of his jeans. “This is the reason I’m on TV.” He held it out to her. The picture on the screen was Gannon smiling down at the round little woman under his arm. She had a head full of silvery curls and a smile that matched his.
“Your grandmother?”
“My nonni.” He said it with such affection and in perfect Italian that Paige felt her heart flutter.
“Your nonni’s lifelong wish was to see you and Cat on TV?”
