Everything is fine. It was a dream. I’m at Max’s and he’ll be walking in through the doorway in a minute and my world will be right. Breathe, Kari. Breathe.
I remembered Max on stage the night before, singing about trucks and telling me to pack my stuff. I held onto those thoughts and summoned the happiness I had felt as he walked off the stage. As he whisked me out of the bar. As he brought me to his house and made me forget everything but him for hours on end.
But is he going to hold me to that little deal we struck? Do I want him to? I needed to stake a claim in front of Samantha, but could it work if I moved here? What would be the point?
I looked around the room.
Could this be home?
It already felt like home in so many ways and it had absolutely nothing to do with possessions or belongings or locations.
The door to the bedroom burst open. Max walked through, giving me a brilliant smile while Titus licked his cheek.
That’s home.
I rolled over onto my side to face him and he sat the puppy down.
“Mornin,’ sweetheart.”
“Good morning. Where have you been?”
“I took him outside and then he got to chasin’ the neighbor’s dog around.” Max shrugged. “She’s a cute little poodle, I’ll give him that.”
I laughed. “Did he learn that from you? Chasing the neighborhood ladies?”
He sat beside me. “Nah, he learned that shit from Cane.” He bent down and kissed my forehead. “What do you want to do today?” He gave me a curious look and I knew what he was getting at—he wanted to see what I’d say. But I didn’t know. Hell, I wasn’t even sure how I got in this quandary.
Damn Samantha.
“I need some exercise. Maybe we can go hiking today?” I suggested, figuring that getting him to agree on an activity would put off the conversation to another day.
He smirked. “Exercise sounds right up my alley.”
“You mean the dancing on stage last night wasn’t enough for you?”
“It was a means to an end,” he winked. “Speaking of last night, did ya have fun? I know Brielle kinda gave you the cold shoulder. I don’t know what her deal is.”
“I don’t know why she doesn’t like me, but it’s probably just because I’m with her big brother.”
Max watched me hesitantly. “What did you think of Sam?”
“I don’t know. She didn’t say much to me because she was too busy watching you.”
He blew out a breath. “I need to talk to you about something.”
“Okay.”
I watched him figure out how to say whatever was on his mind. I got the distinct impression that I wasn’t going to be a huge fan of whatever it was.
“Lucy asked for some time off and Cane let her have it. Neither of us are fans of temps,” he said warily.
“Yeah, so?”
“Sam asked me for a job last night.”
I gave him a look. Whatever I thought he was going to say—this. Was. Not. It.
“I didn’t say yes or no, just that I would think about it.”
“She wants you,” I said matter-of-factly, cutting to the chase.
“And I,” he said, kissing me on the lips, “want you.” I tried to pull him to me for more, but he chuckled and backed away. “If you say that this will bother you, I’ll tell her no. You come first, Kari. But,” he took his hat off and ran his hand through his hair before looking at me again, “I would like to do this for her.”
“Why?”
He looked to the ceiling and then back to me again. His Adam’s apple bobbed. “I just do.”
I remembered what Cane had alluded to the night before and a sick feeling rolled through my stomach.
Maybe it’s time to get to the bottom of this . . .
I quirked an eyebrow. “You just do?”
He blew out a breath. “Yeah. Will you accept that?”
“You know, Cane said something last night and it made me curious. He said you feel obligated to her ‘considering the circumstances.’ What does that mean?”
He ran his hands up and down his thighs. “It’s a long story.”
I wasn’t used to seeing Max look nervous and it wasn’t like him to not just be forthright with me. It only increased my curiosity and left me feeling unsettled. “I have time,” I said softly.
He bowed his head, his shoulders slumped. He stayed that way for a minute before clearing his throat and turning towards me, his gaze staying on a picture on the wall.
“If I tell you this, you have to promise me something, alright?”
I nodded, feeling more unsure about the whole thing as each second passed.
He turned to face me, his eyes filled with something I couldn’t pin point. Sorrow? Fear? Anger? It all seemed to be there, floating and mixing together and it caused those same feelings to rise inside me.
“You know that look you give me,” he said, his voice soft, “when it’s just the two of us? I’ve never had someone look at me the way you do. It’s like . . . It’s like you think I could do anything. Like I could hang the damn moon.”
“You could,” I whispered.