The Ashtons: Paige, Grant & Trace: The Highest Bidder / Savour the Seduction / Name Your Price

Matt knew women. And he knew for a fact that this one most definitely had something on her mind other than a time line or a budget.

But he’d made his promise. To himself. And, more important, to his friend.

Chapter Five

Paige had to give him credit. Matt was doing everything humanly possible to keep their interaction strictly business. Or at least not personal.

And hadn’t she planned to do the same thing on their first date just a few nights ago? She’d failed miserably…and he would, too.

For one thing, their “meeting” had started at ten, then continued on through a two-hour lunch, and showed no sign of ending now that they were strolling through Ghirardelli Square like a couple of tourists.

Like a couple. Period.

It was unspoken that they didn’t want the “meeting” to end. He’d suggested they drive over to the square after lunch to soak in the incredible autumn California day, and she hadn’t argued. The sun warmed the golden brick pavement of the sprawling park, and their easy conversation and comfortable silences warmed her heart. Nothing intimate, nothing personal. But not exactly business, either.

“I haven’t been here for years,” Paige said as they passed the historic chocolate factory. “I forgot how quaint and inviting this place is.”

“It’s touristy,” he noted. “But there’s a reason the tourists like it.”

They entered a tree-lined plaza, pausing at a storefront to admire the hand-blown glass in the window.

“We can’t leave the square without making a wish,” Matt said suddenly, taking her hand. “Let’s visit Andrea.”

Her fingers curled around his much stronger ones. Oh, yes. This was feeling more like a date and less like a meeting every minute. “Andrea?”

“The mermaid of the fountain.” He tugged her toward the massive sculpture of two mermaids nursing their babies and surrounded by a pool of sun-drenched water. “Gotta make a wish.”

He dug into his pants pocket and pulled out a handful of change. “Pick a lucky one,” he told her.

She plucked a shiny penny from the group, and he took another. As they approached the gray slate steps that surrounded the pool, he dipped his head close to her.

“Andrea listens, you know. So be sure you wish for something good.”

She grinned and flipped the penny toward the water. “I know what I want.” I wish Matt would kiss me. It hit with a tiny splash.

“Wow. You sure do know what you want,” Matt noted. “I generally have to think about it for a minute.”

“This wish didn’t take any thought at all,” she said, squinting in the sun as she looked up at him. “I know exactly what I want.”

“You know what they say.”

“What do they say?”

“Be careful what you wish for.” With that, he arced his penny in a perfect curve shot.

The water rippled as his coin drifted to meet the coppery cluster at the bottom.

“What did you wish for?” she asked.

He gave her a lopsided grin that made her insides ripple just like the pool. “You tell me first,” he said.

“Doesn’t that mean my wish won’t come true?”

He considered that as they found an empty bench tucked under the branches of a gnarly shade tree, the leaves already beginning to take on the golden hue of October. “I’m not sure how strict Andrea is about revealing your wishes,” he said as they sat.

“Then I don’t want to risk it,” Paige laughed. “I really want this wish to come true.”

He crossed his long legs and draped an arm across the back of the bench. Not exactly touching her but not strictly professional, either.

“Why don’t I guess?” he suggested. “Then technically you really haven’t told me.”

She smiled, feeling coy and flirtatious. Not a sensation Paige Ashton was used to, but one that sure sent a few lovely tingles through her. “Okay. You get three guesses.”

He laughed. “Oh, there are rules, now. Hmm. Okay. Let me guess.” He studied the fountain in front of them, then said, “You wished for a flawlessly executed, well-attended, completely successful launch party for VoiceBox.”

She just stared at him. Was he that unromantic? “I don’t have to wish for that. I’ll make that happen without the help of any mermaids or wishes.”

“Touché.” He thought for a moment. “I know. You covered all your bases. You wished for happiness and a lifetime of contentment.”

She shook her head. “I wouldn’t want to strain Andrea’s powers with anything that monumental. My wish was simple. And it was nothing I could control. Someone else has to make it happen.”

“You want all your family problems to go away.”

Oh, God. That’s what she should have wished for, she thought guiltily. He wasn’t even thinking about a kiss, and she shouldn’t have wasted her penny on something so frivolous when there were real problems in her life.

She managed to nod. “Yes, that’s it. My family.”

“Is there anything I can do?” he asked.

That he could do? “Not unless you want to step into a beehive of distrust, accusation, blackmail and infidelity.”

“That sounds like my family,” he said with a quick laugh. “On a much smaller scale and without the blackmail, of course.”

Something twisted in her heart at the lack of judgment in his tone. “I guess everyone has their skeletons,” she admitted.

“Yeah, in the closet. Your family has them on the front page of the business section and weekly tabloids.”

Wasn’t that the ugly truth? “Are you sure you still want to hold your event at the Winery?”

“I most certainly do,” he assured her. “And my offer of help stands. Not that I can do anything to relieve the situation other than listen and offer sympathy.”

A sigh escaped her lips when he said that. “You better watch it, Matt,” she warned. “That’s pretty sensitive talk for a tough, competitive entrepreneur like you.”

He winked at her. “Just trying to make your wish come true.”

Then kiss me.

For a dizzying second, he looked as though he might. His lips were parted, the pupils dilated against his steel-gray eyes. Then he looked back at the fountain.