A Touch of Heaven (15 page)

"First off, I'm
not
your darling," Paige
began, "And how about... oh, I don't know, why you forgot to
mention that you were Colin Gregory! And don't even get me started
on that rude-ass comment in there."

Simon shoved his hands deep inside his
jacket pockets and leaned against the wall. "The comment was a
cheap shot and I don't exactly remember you telling me `your' name
at the time."

"You
knew
who I was! The fact that you
knew should have...."

"Should have what!" Simon said loudly,
pushing off the wall and taking a step towards her. "Should have
made me crawl at your feet, whining like some pathetic fool to try
and get your attention? Sorry gorgeous, but I don't play that game
anymore."

"What game is that,
Colin
? Your attempts to
woo me with your useless poetry or following me around like some
lost puppy trying to find a home," she ranted before she started to
pace the floor.

"You know, my mother told me! She said,
`Paige, don't go sleeping around, it'll only get you into trouble.'
Why did I not believe her?" she asked no one as she continued to
make short laps up and down the hall. "I know people have casual
sex all the time... but not me! Not Paige Foster!" she yelled, half
laughing as she stopped to look at Simon before returning to her
one sided conversation.

"What was I thinking?" she
yelled to herself, "I mean, sure you looked good and all, and the
dancing was… but, I had sex with you! A complete stranger!
Unprotected I might add!" She yelled as she shot daggers at Simon.
"
Twice
!"

Simon watched her pace the hall in front of
him yelling and flinging her arms around. She looked like she was
talking more to herself than to him. He knew she would be upset,
but he didn’t expect this. She was furious.

"I should have just stayed at home! I didn't
even want to go to that stupid club," Paige said, sparing a glance
over at Simon. "I should have just listened to myself for once and
done exactly that!"

Simon snorted at her comment. "That's always
been your problem."

"What?" Paige yelled, stopping to turn
around.

He looked completely calm lounging against
the wall and when he turned his head to look at her, she could see
his disposition change in a matter of seconds.

"I said, that's always been your problem,"
Simon repeated.

"And what is that, oh wise one?" Paige
asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Simon shook his head, laughing lightly
before pushing off the wall and taking a few steps closer to her.
"You, following that little herd of hyena's around and doing
exactly what `they' want you to, that's what."

"I do what I want."

"Since when?" Simon asked, laughing. "You've
always done exactly what your friends thought you should. You did
it then, and ten years later, you're still doing it."

"For your information, this is the first
time I've seen any of them in years."

"Yeah, and the minute you do, you fall right
back into the pack, following orders like some confused
groupie."

"I do not."

"Then tell me… why are you
so upset?" Simon asked her. "Is it because of who I am, or is it
because of who
they
think I am?"

Paige stared up at him,
completely lost for words. She'd always done exactly what
they
told her she should,
even when she'd felt she should do differently. Her friends were
all she had, what they thought mattered… at least she thought it
did.

Simon sighed. "Paige, I'm
not going to lie to you and tell you that the minute I saw you at
the club that I didn't rejoice in the prospects that you'd finally
be able to see me.
Me
, not who they thought I was," he told her calmly, closing the
distance between them. "I have done nothing since the first day I
saw you but hope that maybe, someday, you'd be able to see. To see
past what everyone else thought. To see me for who I really
am."

Paige looked up at him and the quiet shy boy
she remembered once again came shining through. The small voice and
scared, almost terrified look in his eyes made her look away. She
remembered all the things that had been done and said to him,
things she didn't like, but stood by and let them happen… all
because she felt powerless to stop them.

"Paige."

Paige closed her eyes briefly before she
slowly opened them, looking up into the same blue depths that made
her skin tingle and pull her into a world where nothing seemed to
matter but her.

"You don't have to listen to them anymore,"
Simon said, quietly. "You can make your own choices."

"Simon, I don't—"

"No. I know what you're going to say Paige
and it shouldn't matter what your friends think. You can't tell me
you didn't feel anything. I know you did. I could see it in your
eyes."

Paige glanced down the hall when she heard
footsteps, seeing her friends finally emerge from the dining hall
and she felt every ounce of breath leave her lungs when Simon
reached out and turned her face back to him.

"They won't be here to run your life after
tomorrow," he said, "Do what you want, Paige. For once, make your
own decision. Come with me."

Paige swallowed hard, the lump forming in
her throat making it difficult to swallow as her mouth went
completely dry. She looked at him when he held his hand out to her
and the fear in his eyes made her wish for the first time in her
life that she'd had the strength to do what she'd wanted to ten
years ago.

"Paige?"

Paige turned her head, looking back down the
hall when Heather said her name. Her mind was cluttered with rights
and wrongs and the line between the two was rapidly becoming
confused.

She looked between her friends and Simon.
She knew they all had their own reasons for wanting her to go with
them and she was sure they would all be legitimate… right or
wrong.

The question was… did she do
what
she
wanted to
do or what her friends thought was best.

* * * *

Chapter 14

Paige stretched out her limbs, the morning
sun shining through the room and bathing her in bright light before
she looked out the window.

The sounds from the open window of the
rolling ocean waves tossing along the surf were calming. She
smiled, snuggling down into the blankets, the warmth a comfort
against the cool breeze carrying through the window.

Her eyes closed, blocking
out the sights as a contented sigh escaped her. For the first time
in her life, she made decisions for
her
and she was happy in her
choices.

"Paige?"

Paige looked at her
friends standing at the end of the hall before they slowly made
their
way to her. She knew she had to
choose. She turned her head, looking back at Simon
and the questioning look still in his eyes. He
stared down at her and her heart leapt
with the possibilities.

"Paige, they're serving;
we need to get back inside," Heather said as the group came
to
a stop.

Paige looked back over at
them, their gazes flickering between her and Simon and she
had never felt more alone than at that
moment.
She was torn. Would her friends
hate her if she left with him? Would she ever see him again if she
didn't?

She took too long to decide.

One minute, she was
staring up into clear blue
eyes that held
so much promise, the next she was watching him walk away. A man,
that
in two days made her feel alive. A
man that made her body burn and beg for more. A man who she knew
would never purposely hurt
her.

She watched him leave, the scene almost
playing in slow motion as the door closed behind him… the voices of
her friends a dull thud in her head. She was frozen in place, her
mind going in ten different directions at once.

"Come on Paige, our dinner
is getting cold," Amy said, smiling as she turned and
started down the hall.

The roar of his motorcycle
echoed in her head when a light touch on her arm finally snapped
her attention back to her friends. Megan was
still there and the reassuring smile she always got from her
best friend calmed her
slightly.

"So, what's it going to be?" Megan asked,
"It's your choice you know."

Paige glanced at the
others as they slowly trickled back down the hall towards
the
dining hall before she looked out the
windows. "What if it goes bad?"

"What if it doesn't?"

Paige looked back at
Megan, a tiny smile forming on her lips. "I really love you Meg,
you
know that, right?"

"I know, Paige."

Paige's eyes opened when the alarm on the
clock began to play. She reached over, switching it off before her
attention fell back to the view outside. She sighed, closing her
eyes briefly before throwing the covers back and crawling from the
bed. She walked to the window and shut it, cutting off the chilling
air blowing through. She stared out at the ocean, the blue water
bringing another smile to her face when it reminded her of him.

Turning, her smile lingered as she walked
back to the bed, crawled under the covers and snuggled in.

"Whose turn is it?"

Paige pulled the blankets up higher around
her neck before her eyes snapped opened when they were jerked away.
"Yours," she giggled.

Her heart pounded in her
chest as she
ran through the parking lot.
The loud roar of his motorcycle drowning out her voice as
she called his name.

"Okay. Let's see. How about… your biggest
regret."

"Now or then?" she asked.

"Then."

The loud blaring sound of
a car horn startled her as she ran out between the parked
cars, the driver slamming on his breaks just as
she stopped and looked at him. Her
already
pounding heart quickening its pace when she realized what had
nearly just
happened.

She turned quickly, once
again running toward the street, watching Simon
pull away without even glancing back. She felt like her world
was crumbling right
before her
eyes.

Paige turned, lying on her back before
closing her eyes and thinking. A slow smile played across her lips
before she opened them. "Probably me listening to your brother when
he told me to never call back."

"My brother?"

"Yeah," Paige said closing her eyes. "He
wasn't very nice about it either."

Paige screamed his name
when she finally stopped running and made it to the road. She
watched him drive out of sight, her heart sinking in her chest. Her
eyes closed briefly before she
finally
turned, walking slowly back toward the building where her friends
were all
waiting.

"When was this?"

"You know that's very distracting," Paige
said as slow wet kisses were placed on her neck.

"Your point?"

A light giggle escaped her as the kisses
began to rain over her collarbone, the light sweep of his tongue
darting out and tasting her skin. "My point is, I can't think
clearly when you're doing that." She moaned when he found his way
to her breast.

"Too bad," he said smiling, his tongue
flicking out, teasing her nipple before his eyes lifted to her
face. "Now, what's this about my brother?"

Paige took a deep breath,
her hand on the door handle, trying to compose herself
before facing everyone in that room
again.

She pulled the door open;
her friends were
all whispering and
waiting just down the hall as she looked at them. She sighed
heavily,
pulling a fake smile onto her
face before her body went numb.

Walking in, the door
slowly
closed behind her and her eyes
widened when she heard it.

"Well, I called and he told me to not ever
call back."

"You called my house?" he asked surprised,
lifting his head.

"Yeah."

Turning slowly, Paige
looked out the windows on the door, the fake smile on her
face
turning into a true smile, as the
roar of his motorcycle echoed off the building.

She looked back at her
friends, smiling at them before turning back to the door and
opening it and walking back outside.

"I made it three blocks before I realized
what I had done."

"And what was that?" Paige asked, walking
over to him.

"I walked away without a fight. I haven't
done that in years," he told her grinning.

Paige smiled as she stopped beside him. "Do
you always win?"

"Yes." Simon said looking up at her.

"Really?" she asked, raising her arm and
touching his cheek with her hand.

"Yeah, I'm kind of used to
getting my way," he told her, leaning into her hand as it
cupped his cheek. "I get a little cranky when I
don't."

"And what do you want now?"

"The same thing I've always wanted, Paige.
You."

"I don't ever remember you calling my
house."

"It was two nights before prom," Paige told
him smiling slightly.