“’Night, Neenee Bean, see you in the morning,” Mom waved, bouncing on her sandals and then she turned to Max and declared, “I expect to be carried to the car by my daughter’s mountain man hunk, seeing as I might break a heel in this snow.”
“Mom,” I snapped, “none of it has actually stuck yet.”
“Don’t spoil my fun!” she snapped back and then she screeched with delight when Max obliged her demands.
Steve grinned at me and shook his head. Cotton stared at Mom and Max and also shook his head, though for different reasons than Steve.
I watched through the windowed door for awhile then I wandered to the armchair, plopped into it and stared at the roaring fire, thinking Max was good at building fires.
Then again, he seemed good at everything.
I waved through the window when I heard the honking car drive by and then watched Max walk through the door.
“Max, you shouldn’t give into her nuttiness, trust me, it only makes her more nutty,” I called.
“Your Mom wants to be carried to her car, I can carry her to her car, I’ll carry her to her car. Not a big deal,” Max replied, bending and pulling off his boots.
“Whatever,” I muttered and turned back to the fire.
I felt him come to me rather than heard him and then I scrunched to the side as he sat in the chair beside me and propped his feet up on the ottoman.
I was about to open my mouth to say something, what I had no idea, when Max slid an arm around my shoulders and spoke.
“Two miracles occurred today. My woman saved the girl I think of as a sister’s life and it’s eight o’clock, we’re alone and you’re not sick, drunk or asleep.”
“Max,” I whispered and he turned from gazing at the fire to look at me.
“Never, Nina, never in my fuckin’ life will I forget you racin’ down that incline, jumpin’ in the goddamned river and bent over, breathin’ life into Mindy.”
I closed my eyes but opened them again when Max’s hand came to my face and his mouth touched mine.
He pulled back an inch and murmured, “Thank you, baby.”
“Max –” I started softly and he cut me off.
“But, you ever even think of jumpin’ into a river again, I’ll tan your ass.”
I felt my brows snap together just as I felt my body jerk. “I’m sorry?”
Max’s arm dropped across my lap, his hand at my hip and he stated, “You scared the fuckin’ shit outta me.”
“Max –”
“Seriously, Nina, swear to God, I watched you go into that river, you didn’t fuckin’ hesitate, and my goddamned stomach dropped. I thought you’d both go.”
“Max –”
“There’d be nothin’ I could do, that river took you, it wanted you, it’d have you and I’d lose you both.”
“That didn’t happen,” I reminded him, trying to keep my patience.
“No, thank fuck, it didn’t. Coulda, but it didn’t.”
“I had to get to her.”
“I know you did.”
“So I got to her.”
“Yeah, you did, nearly lost your life doin’ it.”
“That isn’t true.”
“A river’s unpredictable, babe, you don’t know that but I do. Especially in spring. You shoulda waited for me.”
“Waiting wasn’t an option.”
“Not worth talkin’ about now, it’s done and thankfully everyone’s all right.”
“You brought it up.”
“I brought it up in case you get a wild hair which you seem to do a lot.”
I pulled back as far as I could which wasn’t very far and glared at him. “I’m not going to jump into rivers willy nilly, Max, I didn’t even jump in today. I just, kind of, walked in.” His brows went up and I gave an inch. “Okay, ran in.”
He shook his head then declared, “We’re done talkin’ about this.”
I continued to glare. Then I started to push up from the chair but his arms tightened around me and he pulled me back down to him.
“Max, I’m going to go read or something.”
“You’re pissed I laid it out and you’re gonna go nurse your snit.”
Seriously, he was so annoying.
“Okay, so I’m going to go nurse my snit.”
“No, you aren’t. You’re gonna sit here and we’re gonna enjoy the fact that we’re breathin’, alive and alone.”
“Has anyone told you you’re domineering?”
“Nope.”
“Well, let me be the first. You’re domineering.”
He turned more fully to me and ran his forearm down the backs of both my legs, hooking them at the knee and pulling them over his legs on the ottoman. If I hadn’t been in a snit I might have noticed, firstly, that he did this gently so as not to hurt my scraped up leg and, secondly, that I was far more comfortable in this position.
But I was in a snit and he was talking so I didn’t notice.
“First, babe, seriously?”
“Seriously what?” I asked.
“If I got somethin’ on my mind, you want me to keep it to myself?”
Well, it didn’t sound very good when he said it like that.
“No, but ??”
“Especially if it’s important?”
“Of course not.”
“Second, you get pissed at what I say, you want to go off in a huff rather than talkin’ shit out?”
That didn’t sound very good either.
“Well –”
“Yes or no.”
“Maybe, yes,” I snapped and his face grew dark.