Free The Gideon Affair by Suzanne Halliday Page A

exactly what his dick wanted to hear.
    Dick … you’re being a dick. Down, Dick, down.
    Almost worked too until the naughty Jane to his single-minded Dick tried to act as if she were above such things.
    Ha!
    Her unplanned confession told him two crucial things. One—that the lady slept alone, and two—that she wasn’t adverse to …
    STOP! his mind shouted. Stop that thought right fucking now.
    All of a sudden, she turned and shoved him with both hands. Hard. Man, she had some power behind the motion.
    “Don’t make fun of me.”
    Aww, her embarrassed pout was all sorts of cute.
    “Sorry. My bad.”
    He was going to let her have this one. Taking it any further was only going to expose things he should leave alone.
    She fished a small shell from the sand and tossed it toward the surf before drawing her knees up and wrapping her arms loosely around them.
    “I’m putting the sunglasses back on if you don’t start talking.”
    Snorting amusement, he saluted with a mocking grin. “Yes, ma’am.”
    “Edward Gideon Banning,” she croaked, “unless you immediately cut to the chase, I’m getting your mother on the phone to tell her you’re disgracing the Shaw name.”
    Aargh. A harmless taunt, one she frequently used at the insistence of his mom, but today it hit a bit too close to home.
    When he, Paige, and Mickey had brainstormed for a professional name for Edward, his middle name won out with no problem, but finding a memorable last name had stumped them.
    Gideon, in all its three-syllable glory, needed something simple after. Something distinguished for a theater marquee. Banning was out—he wouldn’t even consider it; he’d been adamant that his personal life and family stay separate from the acting.
    Paige had asked what his mom’s maiden name was. When he’d said it was Shaw, the girl he’d just met and the agent who’d swooped in and shook up his life jumped up and high-fived with a chorus of enthusiastic approval.
    So, Gideon Shaw, it was.
    As his and Paige’s relationship grew and deepened, he’d let her into his private life, and well … she and his parents hit it off like vodka and ginger ale. Before he knew it, when she wanted to act all tough and business-like, it wasn’t unusual for her to break out the full name zinger, just as his mom would. The one that made every kid cringe and stop dead in their tracks. All that was missing was the ‘wait till your father gets home’ threat.
    “All right, all right,” he grumbled. Words left him in the lurch. All of a sudden, he didn’t know what to say. Where was the beginning, and what was the end? What a fucking mess.
    When he stayed silent way too long, she touched him on the back, rubbing little circles between his shoulder blades with her hand.
    “It’s okay, Edward. I’m always here for you.”
    “I hope you mean that,” he answered hastily. Eesh. He sounded more than a bit desperate.
    When her hand moved up to his shoulder, she gave him a side hug that felt incredibly good. He was thrilled when she didn’t withdraw after that—keeping her arm around him and that soft hand of hers resting on the side of his neck.
    “Sweetie,” she murmured. “It can’t be that bad.”

    Oh, my god. He was scaring her with this bewildered, sullen silence and hesitation. This wasn’t like him at all. Whatever was going on wasn’t superficial noise—not judging by the way that he was acting. Something was eating away at him, and she’d be damned if that was okay.
    When he finally looked at her, she had to fight the urge to fall headfirst into his captivating eyes. The shocking blue and those thick black lashes called to her in ways that made her squirm.
    She wasn’t prepared when he asked, “Why do you put up with me, Paige? With all this?”
    Without pause, her heart answered. “I …”
    No. No! NO!
    NO!
    Ho-ly shitballz. Hearing the real concern in his voice, she had almost said ‘I love you’ to explain just why she, in fact, put up with