[hider=Untitled Cheesy Romance Story Starter]By this point in Paige’s life, she was done with the romanticized dreams that she would meet Mister Right and they would get married and have kids and the storybook ending she always dreamed of as a girl. In fact, last week she finally broke it off with yet another Mister Wrong who had started cheating on her with one of the people she thought was her friend. She wasn’t going to let that kill her spirits, but it made her realize that there were more important things in life than love. Focusing on school so she could finish her masters was one of them. She was still young, not finding someone before she graduated wouldn’t end the world. 

Her girlfriends begged to differ. Kerry kept telling her she needed to get out and live a bit rather than dive into her books and school work. Amanda insisted getting back out into the dating scene was the right move. But what did they know? They were still with their high school boyfriends whereas Paige had four boyfriends since junior year and every one of them was more disappointing than the last: Kevin broke up with her because she didn’t want to have sex so young, Nick only dated her because she had a car, Mitch was done with her as soon as he finally got her in bed, then there was Sam who cheated on her with Rose because she wouldn’t have sex with him a month into the relationship. One big mess.

Still, she didn’t put up too much of a fight when Chelsea and the others dragged her out to the bar that Friday. A good old girl’s night out was just what she needed with finals rearing their ugly head. Paige sat at the bar, nursing her Cosmopolitan. Kerry and Amanda talked her ear off about something that happened to them at work. Chelsea and Melissa wandered off a few minutes ago, leaving Paige helplessly stuck with the conversation. It wouldn’t have been bad, but Paige was never much for girl talk, not the snide way those two did it.

She thought she would get a reprieve when she got tapped on her shoulder and turned to see Chelsea. Then she saw the two guys standing with her friend. What a surprise, she thought sarcastically. “Chels-”

“Paige, this is Vincent. He does acquisitions,” Chelsea said quickly. She turned back to the dark haired, brown eyed man that looked more a punk skater than a businessman, thanks to the eyebrow ring, earring in his left ear, and so many piercings in his right it looked like he should be leaning his head that way. “Vince, this is Paige, the girl I was telling you about.”

“Hi,” Vince said with a smile.

Paige let out a soft sigh and forced a smile to her face. “Hi,” she said as she turned her gaze to Vincent. She turned her attention back to her friend. “Chels, I -”

“You two have fun.” Chelsea’s smile was undeterred. She leaned into Paige. “And for god sakes, loosen up. Bed the man. Sex doesn’t have to mean relationship, and it’s one hell of a stress reliever.” With that typical Chelsea level of classy advice, she hooked her arm around the other guy and was off.

Vincent slid into the seat next to Paige. “Chelsea’s something else, huh?” He chuckled softly. After taking a sip of his drink, he put the glass down and looked at Paige. “She mentioned you just got out of a relationship, so if you want I can just sit here and drink and keep other guys from coming over and hitting on you.”

His offer threw her off enough that Paige just gawked at him for a few minutes. She managed to strike the surprise from her face with a blink. “That’s probably the worst pick-up line I’ve ever heard.” A fluttering smile crept onto her face in an attempt to soften the blow of her words.

Vincent chuckled and offered her a one shouldered shrug. “To be honest, and no offense, but I’m only here ‘cause my buddy Scott is hoping to score with your friend, and she wouldn't give him alone time if I didn’t come look like I was chatting you up.” He took another gulp of his drink before turning his gaze back to her. “If it would make you feel better, I could lay out some smooth lines, but I’m not going to lie - I’m not really interested in being a rebound.”

Paige smiled a bit more, letting out a breath like she had been holding it. “Well, thanks for that then. I’m not looking for anything right now anyways. So we’re in agreement. We’re just doing this to make our friends happy.”

That oddly charming smile spread over Vincent’s face again. “Wanna unload relationship woes on me or talk about something else? Topic is lady’s choice.”

“Something else,” Paige said. She waved a hand like that dismissed the memories. “I don’t want to think about that asshole. Tonight is to keep me from thinking about him.”

“Alright. Then what do you want to talk about?”

“Tell me about yourself.” Paige took a sip of her drink and returned her gaze to him. “Chels will ask me later and I’m not creative like that.”

Vincent smiled more and fully faced Paige. “I don’t know. You look like the kind of girl that’s better off at stuff than she gives herself credit for.” When she felt heat flooded her cheeks, he chuckled softly. The laughter made his eyes look like pools of melted chocolate, and that thought brought more heat to her cheeks. “I’m not trying to flirt, but I’m not taking it back. Come on, prove me wrong.”

Paige took a gulp of her drink then sat up straighter. She never backed down from a challenge. Her gaze traveled over him, studying how he slouched with one arm on the counter so his hand kept hold of his drink and one stayed free, and kept one leg dangling like he might have to pounce from his chair at any given moment. When her gaze got back to his face, she let out a steadying breath. “You’re on edge about something, but don’t want people to know it. You’re nice, and thoughtful -” two things she learned from the conversation thus far, mostly from his offer - “but my guess is you got in a few too many fights in high school to not be wary about crowds. And if I had to guess, I’d say you lied to Chelsea about what you do for a living. You really don’t look like the business type.”

A chuckle preceded the toothy grin that spread onto Vincent’s face. “Not everyone dresses the same for going to a bar as they do for work.” It wasn’t agreeing or denying. A neutral statement that did nothing to help Paige know if she was right or not. “I think you’ll do fine making up stuff to tell Chelsea for her quiz on me later.” He paused and pulled out his wallet. “What are you drinking? I’ll buy you another one.”

“A Cosmo. But it’s getting late and I should really be heading home. I’ve got work in the morning,” Paige said with a sigh.

“Work on a Saturday? What do you do?” Vincent seemed both genuinely surprised and impressed, like the answer might be interesting. 
She hated to disappoint him, but she didn’t find her job terribly interesting. It was just normal for her. “My family raises horses that are trained and used to help in therapy for mentally handicapped people - like individuals with down syndrome and autism and stuff. Tomorrow is mainly a grooming and shoeing day. So, up bright and early to start shoeing then on to sudsing them up. Takes most of the day since we have about twelve horses used for the sessions.”

Vincent’s brows raised and he nodded. “I haven’t heard that before. Is it something you like doing? Working with animals and helping the handicapped?” 

Paige had to think on it a bit. Maybe a few years ago she would have had an automatic yes come flying out of her mouth. More recently it would have been an automatic no. Now, with just the right amount of alcohol in her system to tell her she should probably think about calling a cab but would be just fine driving, she wasn’t so sure. She loved working with the horses, but sometimes found herself a bit on edge around the clients. When she realized it had been a few minutes of him looking at her for the answer, she looked at him. “Yeah,” she said with a nod and a smile slowly spreading on her face. “Yeah, I do like it.”
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