Dreaming With My Eyes Wide Open (Hollywood Legends #2) (17 page)

Chuck listened. It didn’t take long because there wasn’t
much to say.

“I’m sorry, Chuck. Dad’s right. Keeping this from you, no
matter how good my intentions, was wrong.”

Chuck shook his head, his eyes troubled. “The timing doesn’t
matter, Nate. I’m worried about the break-in. In all the years I’ve lived here,
I can’t recall more than a handful of similar incidents. And most of them
involved drunks blowing off steam on a Saturday night.”

“Security is a possibility. I can have some there first
thing in the morning.”

Rubbing his face, Chuck sighed. “I don’t know, Caleb. If I
thought anyone was in physical danger, I would shut the movie down.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

Nate understood Chuck’s concern. However, there was no need
to go to extremes.

“Nate is right, Chuck. If it
is
local kids making
mischief, engaging a security guard will scare them off.”

“And if it’s something more?”

“Better to find out right away,” Nate said. “We’re only five
days in, Chuck. Let’s wait and see. Chances are nothing else will happen.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Do you have a problem with me replacing the camera? Or
hiring some security?” Caleb grinned. “Call it an influx of capital from an
enthusiastic investor.”

“I’ll call it what it is. A good friend lending a welcome
hand.” Chuck said with a slight catch in his voice. He cleared his throat.
“You’ve already given me your son. How could I turn down this offer?”

“
Loaned
you my son,” Caleb corrected with a wink.
“I’m going to want him back. His mother will insist.”

“Hmm. About that.” Chuck looked at Nate, his smile a little
too
innocent. “Nate, would you go and check on Paige? We’re having one more for
dinner and I want to make sure she’s on top of it.”

“Sure. I’ll call soon, Dad. Give Mom my love.”

“Take care, son.” There was a pause. “Nate?”

Nate leaned over the desk until he had a good view of his
father.

“Yes?”

“Watch yourself. Okay?”

Nate saw the concern and smiled.

“This has nothing to do with my accident, Dad. It’s a
smashed camera.”

“Make sure
you
don’t get smashed. What would I tell
your—”

“Mother. I know. You can let Mom know that I’m watching my
back,” Nate finished. His father always used Callie when his overprotective
instincts kicked in.

“Good. I love you, son. Now go on. Chuck and I have some
reminiscing to do.”

“I love you, too.”

Leaving the office, Nate felt he was missing something. He
gave Chuck one last look before closing the door.

“Is he gone?” Caleb asked.

“Yes.”

“Then tell me what you couldn’t say when Nate was in the
room.”

“How do you feel about playing matchmaker?”

“Nate and Paige?” Caleb sat up in his chair, an interested
glint in his eyes. “You’ve seen a spark?”

“That would be putting it mildly. The interest was there
right off. I gave Nate the concerned father speech.”

“Nice.” Caleb used to think it would be nice to have a
daughter. However, when he thought about someone like Nate sniffing around, he
decided he was better off with boys. Men were dogs. He should know. Until
Callie, he was the worst of the lot.

“Did you scare him?”

Chuck shrugged. “Hell if I know. Something happened. The
first night he was here, they made googly eyes. Nate chased off an unwanted
suitor. I think that impressed her. Though I can never tell with Paige.
Sometimes her feelings shine out of her. Sometimes she hides them behind a wall
no one can penetrate. Nate, on the other hand…”

Caleb let out a delighted bark of laughter. “My boy is an
open book. Tell me about your neighbor.” Caleb leaned closer to the screen.
“That sounds like a story worth hearing.”

Caleb listened, nodding now and then or grinning, his blue
eyes sharp with interest. A look Chuck recognized from his Hollywood days.

“You think there is something going on?”

“Mmm,” Caleb rubbed his chin. “We can’t push, Chuck. Nate is
too smart for that. If he suspected you wanted to hear wedding bells, he’d jump
back like a scalded cat.”

“I didn’t say anything about wedding bells.”

“You didn’t,” Caleb asked, surprise in his voice. “What did
you mean by
matchmaking
?”

Chuck sighed, his lips tilted to one side with a wry smile.
“Am I coming off as a father desperate to marry off his daughter? Paige would
kill me if she heard this conversation.” His eyes widened. “She can never know
about this, Caleb.”

“Calm down,” Caleb said in a calming voice. “Why should she?”

“She knows things.”

“You mean she’s psychic?”

“No. That isn’t the right word. She knows when I’m up to
something,” Chuck frowned.

“She didn’t know about the movie,” Caleb pointed out.

“True.”

“If Nate does his part, Paige will be too distracted to notice
anything but him. He has a way with women.”

“From what I read, all your boys do.” That gave Chuck pause.
“Will he break her heart, Caleb? She’s never cared enough for that to happen.”

“There are no guarantees, Chuck. Maybe Paige will be the
heartbreaker.”

“Oh, I don’t think—”

“You start messing with human emotions and you never know
what might happen.”

Caleb unconsciously placed a hand over his heart. He had
been lucky. The woman he gave his heart to had kept it safe for over thirty
years. Not everyone found someone like his Callie. Or Chuck’s Erin.

“We know what it is to love the perfect woman. Or at least,
perfect for us.”

“Yes.” Chuck’s smile was bittersweet.

“If Nate and Paige are the right fit, they’ll figure it out.
I wish I could be there to watch the bumps along the way.”

“So you think I should orchestrate this?”

“Gently, my friend. With baby steps. Kid gloves. Plus, any
other metaphor you can think of that fits the situation.”

“I want Paige to be happy, Caleb. She deserves to have what
I had with Erin.”

“Everyone does.”

Caleb thought of his oldest son. Wyatt’s marriage had been a
disaster from the beginning. Sometimes doing what you thought was the right
thing, blows up in your face. Almost three years after its tragic end, Wyatt
still dealt with the fallout.

“Paige goes through life pretending she’s happy alone. I
know the truth, Caleb. She wants love.”

“Nate is tough as nails — on the outside. My boy has insides
like a marshmallow. Women. Kids. That puppy he adopted.” Caleb shook his head.
“He can’t walk away when someone is in trouble. Paige’s neighbor stirred his
protective instincts. If, as you say, the attraction is already there, Nate
won’t be able to resist her for long.”

“I can’t say the same for Paige. She’s good at digging her
heels in.”

Caleb smiled. He had faith in his son. “Give her a little
shove. Nate will take care of the rest.”

“DO I SMELL chocolate?”

Paige felt her heartbeat flutter then kick into high gear.
Nate had a way of causing her body to react in odd and interesting ways. None
of which were unpleasant.

Planning a sexual encounter added a new layer of awareness.
This would happen. Tonight. Paige wanted it. Oh, boy, did she want it. Being
positive didn’t stop her nerves from rearing their annoying heads.

Swallowing, she moved her lips into what she hoped resembled
a natural smile and turned.

“My grandmother’s famous chocolate cake.”

Paige wiped her damp palms on the towel she always kept on
her shoulder when she baked.

“Homemade?” Nate breathed in the heavenly aroma. “I’m
impressed.”

“Mom liked to cook, but she wasn’t much of a baker.” Paige
shrugged. “When I was around eleven years old, I found these old, handwritten
cookbooks in the attic. They were like a time machine into the past. Most of
them came with notes and comments. After I had read a few, I had to make
something. Turned out, I had the knack.”

“No one in the Landis family bakes.” Nate poured himself a
cup of coffee before taking a seat at the kitchen table. “I take that back.
Lorena does. She’s been our cook since before Wyatt was born. We think of her
as part of our family.”

“That’s nice.”

“Your dad says you’re expecting company.” Nate winked.
“Other than me.”

Damn. Paige felt a mass influx of butterflies. He was so
adorable. And sexy. And Gorgeous from top to bottom. No man in history filled
out a pair of jeans like Nate Landis. And his arms? And chest? A t-shirt never
looked better.

“Paige?”

“Hmm? Did you say something? I wondered if it was time to
take out the cake.”

Nice cover
, Paige thought sarcastically. It was
difficult not to let her mind wander. Lottie was right. She needed to get laid.

“Nothing important. I wondered if I should put Beauty in the
mudroom during dinner.” He smiled at the puppy who was nodding off at his feet.
“She’s a doll, but her manners are still a little sketchy.”

“Irene won’t mind.”

“The vet?” Nate watched with appreciation as Paige leaned
over the open oven door. “You have a nice ass.”

Surprised by the matter-of-fact comment, Paige almost
dropped one of the pans.

“Watch it, fella.” Paige carefully put the cake on the
cooling racks. “Throwing around remarks like that could result in ruined
dessert.
And
burned hands.”

“Are you hurt?”

Nate was in front of her before she could blink. Taking her
hand, he turned it over, looking for a burn.

“I’m fine,” Paige laughed. “I was kidding.”

“It would be a shame to mar your skin.” Nate raised her palm
to his mouth. His lips gave it a warm caress. “You work hard on the ranch. How
do you manage to have such smooth, soft skin?”

Paige’s eyes met his. The blue was so deep she felt like she
was drowning. She could feel his smile curve, followed by the light touch of
his tongue. Mesmerized, she swayed toward him. She wanted to feel his touch on
the rest of her body.

“Gloves,” she finally answered. “And lotion. A lot of
lotion.”

“Just on your hands?” Nate’s gaze slowly traveled the length
of her body before returning. Heat radiated from him. She felt her temperature
rise.

“
All
over. There are spots I have the hardest time
reaching.”

“If you ever need a hand…” Nate brought her other palm to
his lips. “Or two? All you have to do is ask.”

Paige licked her lips, the movement catching Nate’s avid
attention.

“You could tempt a saint.”

“I don’t want to tempt anyone, but you.”

Nate slowly closed his eyes, the breath rushing from his
lungs.

“You aren’t mad at me anymore?”

“Nope.” She moved closer. The heat she had felt before
wrapped around her like a big, soft blanket she couldn’t wait to cuddle under.
“There’s the slightest chance that I may have overreacted.”

“There’s the slightest chance that I didn’t do a very good
job explaining myself.”

They exchanged smiles.

“Having my face splashed across the tabloids doesn’t worry
me, Nate. In Basic, it would make me a celebrity. Free coffee at the diner for
life.”

“They can say some vicious things.” Nate rested his forehead
on hers. If her hormones hadn’t been raging like a wildfire, Paige would have
found the gesture sweet.

“Dad and Lottie won’t care. Will you?”

“No. Of course not.”

“There isn’t anyone else in my life that matters.”

“I matter?”

Nate whispered the words, his breath washing over her face.
Clean. Coffee and mint. One more thing to like about him. The list grew by the
day.

Paige chose her words carefully. She cared. Too much. Too
fast. When Nate left, she had a feeling he would take a piece of her heart. She
could live with that. Having Nate, if only for a short time, would be worth the
risk.

For her sake, she couldn’t let him know the way her feelings
shifted. Nate would step back rather than engage a fraction of her heart. That
was the last thing Paige wanted.

“Do you matter?” Paige reached for a light tone. “Certainly.
What would Dad do without you? Stepping in as director saved the day.”

“Director. Right.”

Nate pulled back, though not away. His eyes held hers for a
second. Paige didn’t know what he saw but when he started to move, she put a
hand on his arm.

“I need you, too.”

“Why? For sex?”

“Yes,” Paige nodded. “That was the deal. We have some fun
until you leave in a few weeks.”

“Paige—”

“I hope we can be friends, Nate.” Paige interrupted him. She
didn’t want to know what he was about to say. If he changed his mind, too bad.
While he was in Montana, he was stuck with her. “I know it sounds trite.”

“It sounds lovely.”

Paige sighed with relief. This time, she was the one to take
his hand. Kissing the back, she rubbed her thumb along his. So strong. So
gentle. It was a heady mix.

“Would you like to go for a drive after dinner?”

“The two of us? Alone?” Nate grinned. “Seeing a woman who
lives with her father makes intimacy a challenge.”

“I know.” Paige smiled back. “Since I’ve been back home, the
men I’ve dated lived alone. You staying here makes for a unique problem.”

“The last time I had sex in a car was…” Nate thought hard.
“Never! Damn. How did I miss out on that rite of passage?”

“You and me both, fella. I had something else in mind for
tonight, but if you’d rather use my truck, we can do that.”

“Does your option have a mattress?”

Paige nodded.

“I want to see you. All of you.” Nate ran a finger down the
side of her face, stopping at her mouth. Slowly, he traced the curve of her
bottom lip. “We have weeks to take advantage of that truck. We’ll lose our
virginity together.”