Page 34 of Fierce Storm
I reluctantly shift my gaze, armed with excuses as to why I need to keep my hair exactly how it’s always been, but when I see the image, I’m intrigued.
Maybe if I change this part of my life, it will be easier to consider changing other areas. If anything, it’s worth a shot.
Chapter Ten
SALVATORE
Idodge a few kids running around the lobby as I step out of the elevator, the sound of their laughter reminding me of Isaac, and a smile lights up my face. In the past I would have scowled at their parents, silently telling them to control their children, but now, you could say Isaac’s softened me. A little. And I don’t completely hate it.
It wasn’t that I didn’t like kids. Because I always have. In small doses. It’s the chaos that I find difficult to handle. The unpredictability.
All things I’ve been working on since moving to San Francisco and reconnecting with Paige.
Speaking of my darling daughter… For the first time in as long as I can remember, she’s waiting for me in the restaurant at our building, faking annoyance as I walk through the door a minute later than planned.
“What time do you call this?” She taps the simple gold Rolex I bought her for her birthday, and I chuckle under my breath.
“I’m terribly sorry, Paige. I know how much you love punctuality.”
“I’ll forgive you this time. Don’t let it happen again.”
“Noted. Why areyouearly?”
“Because I thought we were meeting at nine.” She shrugs and I wince.
“Shit. You’ve been waiting for thirty minutes?”
“No. I just sat down.”
“Of course you did.” Another chuckle rumbles out of me, this one a little louder than before and Paige shrugs again. I can always count on Paige for consistency. Her lateness never fails.
“The usual?” I ask, scanning the room for a server.
“Yep. You know me.”
Since the restaurant’s busier than usual, I jump up to order our breakfast at the bar, hoping to bypass some of the patrons waiting for servers to arrive. When I sit back down, Paige is laughing at her phone.
“Sorry.” She briefly glances up as I place a glass of water in front of her. “I promise you’ll have my full attention in a second.”
“What’s so funny?” I take a sip of my water as I sit, enjoying the lightness to her expression.
“Apparently Luke wanted to set Keeley up with Coach Pierce.”
“What?” I cough, choking on my drink, inhaling the liquid instead of swallowing it down. “Pierce?” I rasp.
“Yep.”
A weight presses down on me at her nonchalant response but I ignore it.
“Well, there you go.” I laugh softly, trying to cover my shock, and it hurts as though the water burned the back of my throat. “Interesting pairing. Is she going out with him?”
I cough again.Why the fuck would I ask that?Since when do I gossip with my daughter?
Paige laughs out loud, waving me off. “Of course not. He’s like twenty years older than she is.”
“Of course.” I fight to stop the frown I feel forming because it has no business in this conversation. Paige isnotwrong.
I force a smile and Paige eyes me curiously before her lips curl into a grin. “She’s humored Luke a few times, going out with the guys he set her up with, but it was a hard no for Pierce.”
