Page 35 of Any Kind of Life
Caz laughed and sipped her wine. “Me too. But apparently not, since Hannah kept reminding me.”
“I just want the best for her, Caz. If she truly doesn’t see a career in music, then okay. But I need her to be sure of that. This could change her life.”
“You’ve already changed her life, Juliet. Maybe she doesn’t want any other changes.”
Juliet smiled. Paige was forever telling Juliet she had changed her life, and to this day, she couldn’t fathom how. Could love really be that life-changing?
You know it can. She changed your life!
“You’re right. And I think pushing her to continue could drive us apart, so I’m not going to do that. Paige is a grown woman who can make her own decisions. If she believes this is where she wants to be, then I’m thrilled with that. And who knows? Maybe down the line, she will decide she wants to give it another go. Whatever choices she makes, I’ll always be behind her one hundred percent.”
“And Paige knows that. We all know it.” Caz shifted forward and squeezed Juliet’s hand. “You have a good thing going here with her. Paige isn’t going to change that. No matter what you think is the right thing to do, Paige knows in her heart what she wants.”
Caz was right. Absolutely.
“Did you ever have doubts when you met Hannah?”
Caz’s brows lifted at that. “Oh, yes. Being the older woman can sometimes bring up a few insecurities. Add in the fact I’d previously been in a coercive marriage, and at times, it felt as though it was a disaster waiting to happen.”
“Can I ask how you dealt with it?” Juliet ran a hand through her hair, relaxing a little more. “Tell me to mind my own business, of course.”
“I didn’t like her working for you,” Caz said matter-of-factly. “You were her client, and then you became her boss. I didn’t like it.”
“We…never once spent the night together, Caz. I wouldn’t lie to you.”
“I know. But back then, we’d only just met.” Caz shook her head. “It’s ridiculous when I think about it now, but I didn’t like any of it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Because when she became your employee, it gave us the chance to try again. I’d told her I couldn’t be with her while she was escorting. I know she didn’t sleep with clients, but it just didn’t feel right to me. Maybe that makes me a terrible person, but it was how I felt, and I can’t change that.”
“I’m glad you figured it out. It’s so nice to see you both happy.”
“The first night we spent together…well, the following morning when she tried to leave without waking me, she was meeting you. You’d booked her, and she tried to slip out of the house. I had a meltdown about it and told her I didn’t want to see her anymore.”
“I remember that day, I think. Hannah was very quiet. She didn’t want to be there, and she said as much. That was when I offered her a trial in my office. I didn’t like knowing she was only having lunch with me because she had to. Because she had bills to pay. I know a lot of escorts enjoy what they do, but Hannah didn’t. I’m not sure there was ever a time when she enjoyed it.”
“No. I don’t think she enjoyed it at all. But I can’t complain. It’s how we met.”
“Isn’t life a funny thing, hey. We meet people when we least expect it, and everything changes.” Juliet smiled, but then the thought of Paige meeting someone else suddenly dawned on her. “Let’s just hope that Paige meeting me was the end of that stage of her life.”
“I’m sorry?” Caz’s brows drew together.
“Nothing. Never mind.”
“No. I want to know what you mean by that. It came from somewhere, Juliet.”
Juliet sighed. She shouldn’t be saying this stuff to anyone. If she had reservations about anything, she should speak directly to Paige. Still, Caz was here for her. “Last week, when I travelled to her show…I fucked up a bit.”
“In what way?”
“I kind of gave Paige the impression I’d gone there to catch her out. I’d spent that morning losing my mind over social media posts I’d come across from the night before. Paige and Soraya at a club. A little close. The fans were eating it up and implying that they were together.”
Caz winced. “Please tell me you didn’t ask if she was cheating on you.”
“God, no. And I hadn’t gone there with that idea in mind, either. But I did want to make her aware of the things people were saying. It didn’t help that Soraya rubbed me the wrong way from the moment we met. I don’t trust her, even though she’s apologised to Paige.”
“I do understand how you’re feeling.” Caz offered Juliet a sympathetic smile, but Juliet didn’t want that. She had made a mess of that conversation with Paige in the hotel room. She fully accepted that.