Grace shook her head, the image of his orgasm all over her still fresh and still sexy as all get-out. “Nothing’s going on. We’re friends.”
Ruby’s mile widened. “You like him, don’t you?”
Grace cleared her throat and avoided Ruby’s smiling eyes by pretending to stretch. “Who are we talking about?”
Ruby snorted. “My cousin. Max. You know, the guy you’re always with, the guy you can’t stop looking at, the guy who lights up every time you walk into the room.”
Grace’s head snapped up. “He does not.”
“Ah!” Ruby retorted with a grin and a pointing finger. “But you’d like him to.”
Grace exhaled, not knowing whether to be relieved or hurt that Ruby was playing with her. She rubbed a palm down her face and kicked at a nearby stone, confusion drying her throat. Over the weeks, and with all the time she’d spent with him, it had slowly become apparent that her investment in the agreement she had with Max was tilting toward something less friends-only and more dangerous, something scary and new.
“Yeah,” she murmured toward the ground. “I like him.” The confession should have been freeing—it was the truth, after all—yet the words made Grace hollow. She looked up.
Ruby was standing closer, no longer moving. She smiled gently. “Max is a decent guy. He’s messed up, which isn’t surprising given what he’s been through, but he has a good heart.”
Grace nodded in agreement. “He does.”
Ruby crossed her arms. “You could be good for him.”
“I don’t know.” Grace sighed.
He’d told her, in no uncertain terms, that he couldn’t give her anything but his body. A few weeks ago, Grace had been fine with that—and she still was. Sometimes. Other times, when his hands were on her . . . She gave her head a shake and breathed. She knew she was being ridiculous. It wasn’t anything other than excitement she was feeling. Excitement about the progress she was making with intimacy, at the leaps she’d made being with a man. Besides, she knew, deep down, she wasn’t ready for anything serious, either. It was just . . . Max made her feel ready.
“Look, come to the cabin,” Ruby said quietly. “See what happens. Max is always chill when he’s at the lake. You two can maybe have some fun.” She cocked an eyebrow. “If you get my meaning.”
Grace laughed, shielding her heated cheeks with her hands. Yeah, she got Ruby’s meaning and, she had to admit, if going to the cabin meant she and Max could be alone to have some more “fun,” then she was all for it. She could brush aside her confusion and treacherous emotions for now.
Hiding her feelings, good or bad, was not a new thing for her or her heart.
The drive up to the cabin was as long and hot as it always was. Max was grateful he wasn’t the one behind the wheel for once. He was sitting in the back of his uncle’s pickup, alongside Ruby and Josh, admiring the views and looking forward to a few days of rest and relaxation. He couldn’t wait to get in the lake. It was amazing this time of year, and the treks into the mountains were great for walks or runs. He’d have to show Grace. She’d appreciate it for the photography potential.
When Max had learned that Grace would be joining them all at the cabin, he’d been pleased. He was genuinely happy that she’d made friends with Ruby and that everyone had welcomed her so thoroughly. But that was just his family. They were cool like that. He liked that they liked her and that she was becoming less and less timid, becoming braver, more inclined to take on new challenges. He was proud of her when he heard her sass the way she did when it was just the two of them.
He just didn’t like it when she did it with Deputy Asswipe.
Max hadn’t peeked at the truck following theirs. He’d managed to ignore the urge for at least thirty minutes already and he wasn’t backing down now. Nope. He didn’t give a flying shit that Grace was in Deputy Asshole’s ride with Buck and two random women. Not at all.
He fidgeted, checking his cell. No signal. Damn mountains.
He glanced back.
Buck waved back wildly between the front seats, nudging Grace, who laughed and waved, too.
Fucker.
Max noted the deputy’s sly expression and clenched his fist. He understood that Uncle Vince had known the deputy for a long time, but did the prick really have to join them at the lake? The answer was apparently yes, since, as Ruby explained, he’d been doing so for the past four summers. Whatever. Max only just managed to resist the urge to flip the bird or write out a text message to show the jerk later, describing in detail how Grace’s tits tasted and felt on his tongue, or what his orgasm looked like all over her skin, or the smell of her body after she’d come. But that might have been a tad overzealous.