Secret Mercy Read Free Page B

noticed. Of course, he had. She was practically panting.
    Paige forced her gaze up to the ceiling, and discreetly cleared her throat. When that didn’t work, she tried again, louder.
    The couple reluctantly pulled apart. Robert looked over Selena’s shoulder and gave Page a sly smile. “You must be Selena’s mysterious friend,” he said.
    “Hardly mysterious. I’m just Paige.”
    “I’m glad you could come.” Robert’s brows rose as he noticed that she wasn’t alone. “It appears that you’ve already met Alan.”
    “He was nice enough to invite her inside when the doorman refused to come find you,” Selena said.
    “Nice?” Robert asked, humor lighting up his dark eyes. “That’s not a word that’s often used to describe Alan.”
    Paige stiffened. “Actually, he’s been nothing but kind since the moment we met.”
    “Is that so?”
    Paige nodded, albeit weakly. She was sure the man wasn’t a saint—just look where he worked, for heaven’s sake. But he had saved her from breaking her ass on the pavement, and then from the humiliation of being turned away at the door. That had to be worth something.
    “Don’t you have somewhere to be, Robert?” Alan asked. He didn’t sound half as amused as his friend.
    “Yes, I suppose I do.” Robert’s smile was distinctly predatory as he looked Selena up and down. “I hope you enjoy your evening with us, Paige. Though I have no doubt that Alan will see to that.”
    Paige blinked as Robert led Selena out of the lounge. His suggestive words made her pussy come alive.
    As soon as the couple was gone, Alan sat, pulling her down next to him. It was strange, being treated so forcefully. Stranger still that it felt almost right.
    Still, she settled herself a few inches away from him. Sure, the sight of him had spawned more wicked thoughts in the last ten minutes than she’d had in the last decade, but that didn’t mean that she was going to act on them. That wouldn’t be like Prudent Paige at all.
    Alan raised his brows. The move had not gone unnoticed obviously.
    “You know I’m no white knight,” he said.
    “Yeah, I’m starting to get that.”
    “So why defend me?”
    “Because white knights are overrated. Trust me, I know. They’ll tell you what they think you want to hear, even if it’s a lie. At least you’re honest.”
    “Ah,” he said, as if now he understood everything about her. “So that’s why you’re here. A breakup.”
    No. She was here because her best friend was a stubborn do-gooder. But he didn’t need to know that. “Something like that.”
    “How long were you together?”
    “Five years.”
    “That’s a long time.”
    “Not really. I know people who have broken up after much longer.”
    “I meant it’s a long time to pretend to be happy.”
    There was honesty, and then there was being a presumptuous ass. So, why was she still sitting here with him? And why was she leaning closer to argue the point?
    “I never said I wasn’t happy. I was fine.”
    “No, you weren’t.”
    “And how could you possibly know that?”
    He leaned back against the wall, propping both arms up on the ledge behind him.
    “You didn’t want to come here tonight. But here you are in another woman’s clothes.”
    Paige shrugged, feeling defensive. “So?”
    “Someone doesn’t pretend to be someone else unless they’re unhappy with who they are.” There was understanding in his voice, but no sympathy. Just a statement of fact.
    What was worse, he was right. She was unhappy. Desperately so. And she had been for a very long time. She’d made so many changes to make everyone else happy that she hadn’t realized that she was slowly making herself miserable.
    Paige’s mouth hung open. No words came out. No witty retorts. No self-deprecating jokes, just a long silence after being slapped in the face by the truth. This crushing melancholy hadn’t been caused by Zach leaving her. She’d been this way for a while now.
    She kicked off Selena’s