Mike was sitting on the couch waiting for Paige to get home with a shy smile on his face and twinkling eyes.

Paige didn't even make it halfway through the living room when he caught her wrist and she somehow ended up sitting in his lap - his hands massaging her shoulders and his lips glued to her neck.

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever met." He purred in her ear, making her grin widely. Paige held back the urge of pinching his cheeks at his corniness and let out a laugh.

"Kiss ass." She blinked her eyes a few times and sighed. "You're forgiven, but next time it'll take a lot more than just this to make it okay if I catch you checking out somebody while you're with me."

Mike smiled on her skin and clutched her to his chest.

"Noted." He kissed her temple, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I just love trying to piss you off."

"You don't have to try, really."

When he repeatedly dug his finger in her side and she erupted in loud squeals, Mike could finally breathe a sigh of relief: for a moment there he thought he'd gone too far but things were fine, after all.

"Stop poking me!"

"I wasn't checking Jess out." He murmured against her neck and her eyes fluttered closed. "I can barely notice any other woman when you're around. I just wanted to get a reaction from you."

"From me?" Her voice was weak and soft and Mike could clearly feel all of her insecurities she had learnt to mask so well.

Paige ran her fingers through his hair and got lost into his touch, letting his words wash every doubt away.

She knew Mike wasn't deceitful. But that was until he'd left to go to DC and come back as somebody completely different than before. What if he had changed for real and this was all an act? She still needed to figure him out - to figure them out. It would be fine for her to just let go if he were just another notch on his bedpost. But he wasn't. Even though it would be great to pretend this was all fun between them, she knew it was her heart on the line now and if she exposed herself too much, she could easily get burnt.

"I needed to make sure it was okay for me to be exclusively focused on you. 'Cause that's what you want too, right?"

Paige ignored his question and turned her head to kiss him deeply. Her mouth seeking his had to be enough for him, because there was no way she'd say it out loud. Not now, at least. It was too soon.

Admitting she was jealous would be like signing her death sentence. She was falling for Mike and she was falling hard, really hard.