Paige glanced around at her surroundings with a deep sigh. Was it strange that she was actually nervous? Probably not. She was new to the business and she hadn't been invited to many personal gatherings . . . plus it was Nick and that was definitely not helping her nerves. She'd be lying if she said she didn't think he was handsome.
He'd invited her to his annual barbecue, when he'd walked her to her car the night they'd found out they were each other's dates to the Teen Choice Awards. He'd said that if she came to the barbecue it would give them a chance to get to know each other better, therefore they'd have more fun on awards night. She'd agreed and accepted the invitation on the spot.
Paige unlocked the backdoors and reached inside to unbuckle Natalia from her car seat. "Gosh, you're gettin' big, girl," she grunted as she lifted her from the car.
"You need any help?"
Paige jumped at the voice. "My gosh, you scared me," she gasped as she turned around, her hand over her heart. She smiled sheepishly as her eyes met Nick's.
"Sorry," Nick smiled, "didn't mean to." He grinned at her baby, reaching his hand out and letting Natalia grasp his fingers. "You need me to carry anything inside for you?"
"You wanna get the diaper bag? It's just back there." She cocked her head towards the back-seat and smiled as Nick walked around her and grabbed the bag easily, slinging it over his shoulder. "Sorry that I'm late. The barbecue already in full swing?"
"As full swing as a Carter barbecue gets," he smiled with a shrug. "We boys are pretty calm these days."
"We boys?"
"Zack and me."
"Oh," she nodded, "of course."
"Well, c'mmon, you can drop her stuff off in the house and then we can head out to the backyard."
Paige nodded and they made their way up the driveway and through the front door. He had a beautiful house. She wondered if Zack's mother had decorated or if Nick had done it himself. Of course, she wondered where Zack's mother was, who she was, why she wasn't there, and everything else that came with the subject . . . but it was none of her business. Nick wasn't being nosey about Natalia's father, so she definitely had no right to be nosey herself.
The afternoon was interesting, to say the least. She found that she enjoyed Nick's friends . . . they were younger than her, as Nick was, but they were all very fresh and exciting and she had fun with them. And she and Nick, whenever they got the chance to talk, in-between his playing host, hit it off quite nicely. The best part was Natalia and Zack, who had so much fun playing together Nick had suggested setting up some play dates for the two.
In Paige's opinion, the idea wasn't all that bad. A play date . . . for the benefit of the kids only, of course . . .
