before saying a quick hello and then directing her attention right back at Spence.
“So, drinks?” she said, and it was clear the invitation was for Spence only. “My parents are over at the restaurant. You must join us.”
“I would love to, but Sage works tonight, so after we warm up, we’re leaving,” he said. There was clear disappointment in his tone.
“Are you working?” she asked.
“Not tonight, but I need to take Sage in.”
“Our driver can take her,” Becky said quickly. “I insist that you join us. I want to hear all about what you’ve been up to lately—it’s been months since we spoke last. I’m sure Sage wouldn’t mind.” She turned and gave a look that suggested that Sage would be an awful person if she protested.
Though steam was practically coming out of Sage’s ears at this point, she pasted on the brightest smile she could manage before responding. “Of course you should join your friend, Spence. I should head back now so I can shower before going to work.”
“I don’t know,” Spence said, but Sage could clearly see he would like to visit with his old friend.
“As long as I have a ride home, I’m all good,” Sage told him.
“Great! Then it’s all settled,” Becky said, and slid her arm through Spence’s. “I’ll let Daddy know. He’s going to be so excited.”
Sage walked beside the two of them as Becky chatted away, making Spence laugh at some of her stories. Sage was clearly the odd man out and was more than relieved when they stepped outside and Becky took them to her car.
“I’ll stop by tonight,” Spence told her before bending down and giving her a quick kiss on the mouth.
“It was great to meet you, Page,” Becky said, and Sage had no doubt the woman had gotten her name wrong on purpose. She didn’t bother correcting her.
“You too, Becky.”
Sage stepped into the car and soon was traveling away from the ski resort. Tears filled her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. What had begun as a flawless day had not ended the same way.
She really didn’t even know what had just happened. Had Spence been ashamed of her? Did she not stack up to his more worldly friends? Was Becky an ex-girlfriend?
When she got to work and began her shift, the hospital too quiet, Sage had plenty of time to think about their day. She was grateful she hadn’t told him how she’d been feeling, because right now she was thoroughly confused.
When the night went on and Spence didn’t stop by as promised, her mood turned even more sour. Was their euphoric time together already coming to an end? By the time her shift ended and she managed to drag herself home and into bed, she had no answers. She’d just have to wait and see what Spence would do next.
“Move in with me.”
Spence was standing outside her open front door, letting the cold in with her wearing nothing but a nightshirt. Mouth open, Sage stared at him and tried to clear her head. The night before he’d taken off with another woman, hadn’t stopped in to see her, though he’d said he would, and then he just shows up at her door and those are the first words out of his mouth?
“What?” Maybe she’d just heard him wrong. She had to have heard him wrong.
“I said move in with me.”
Sage wanted to throw something at him. She hadn’t slept well even after a long day’s skiing and a longer night shift at the hospital, was less than pleased with him right now, and he was asking her to live with him. They hadn’t even spoken of the future. They hadn’t even said anything about love. Yes, she’d spent a lot of nights at his place over the past couple of weeks, but she also knew she could come back home at any time. She couldn’t just move in with him. Her grandmother would be disappointed in her. She’d be disappointed in herself.
“This is not a wake-up kind of conversation,” she said, her forehead creased with a frown.
He stepped inside her door, shut it, and then wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck. “You’re never very talkative when you wake up, are you?” He was acting as if everything was perfectly all right. Maybe in his mind it was.
“No,” was all she replied. She was busy trying to gather her thoughts, to figure out what she wanted to say. She pulled away and tugged