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“The same person.” He came to a stop at the red light and looked over at me again, his mouth in a sexy grin.
“Are you laughing at me?” I asked, not caring if he was.
“I’menjoyingyou,” he replied, and his grin set butterflies loose in my stomach. “You seem very relaxed.”
“That’s the German dessert wine,” I lied, because the truth was that I barely felt the wine. No, I felt relaxed because I was having more fun with him—had been since he’d picked me up—than I’d had in a very long time. For some reason it was just easy to be myself around him and not get caught up in my own head.
It felt like warm sunshine after a dreary, endless winter, and Iwas disappointed when he pulled up in front of my building a few minutes later. I wasn’t ready to go back to the usual, and I felt a knot of melancholy as I looked at my lobby doors.
“Hey,” I said, stepping out and closing the door. “Take a picture with me before I go in?”
“What is this, prom night?” he teased as he came around the car.
“No, this is the first night since my wedding that I haven’t cried about Stuart. The first night I haven’t felt broken and alone.” I shrugged and knew I shouldn’t be sharing this with anyone, especially not a man I sort of barely knew, but in the dark of the spring night with a tiny wine buzz, I admitted, “I guess I just want to remember the night I reconnected with happy for a few hours.”
twelve
Max
“Come here,” Isaid, unsure why my voice sounded so serious. “Are you good at selfies?”
“Am I good at selfies,” she muttered, stepping close and holding out her phone. “You insult me with your doubt.”
She looked gorgeous in the camera display, her lips still red and her blond hair tousled as we leaned against my truck. The pink in her cheeks was cute as hell, and I wasn’t sure if it was the pout of her mouth or the smell of her perfume that had me feeling so unbalanced.
“Smile, Max,” she said, and I leaned a little closer for the picture. I felt her soft cheek rest against mine as she grinned for the selfie, and then she pulled back and looked at the display. “Aww, look at us.”
She held it up to me, but I couldn’t look away from her face.
How was it possible thatStuartmade her cry every night? That the girl who’d put a hick in a headlock felt so broken and alone?
Her smile simmered down into a curve more subtle. “Max?”
“I’m sorry he made you cry,” I said, putting my hands in my pockets so I didn’t do something stupid like touch her. “I don’t know you well, but I know that Sophie Steinbeck should only ever be laughing.”
“Thanks,” she said, her voice breathy as her long lashes moved on a blink. “I reallyamalmost over it.”
“Good,” I said, feeling like there was an invisible string pulling me toward her. My eyes wouldn’t stay away from her lips, and her eyes wouldn’t stay away from my eyes.
Was it hot out here? Fuck, I was burning up all of a sudden as I looked at those red lips.
“Yeah. Good,” she said, her voice almost a whisper, her breath mingling with mine between our very close faces.
Did she just sway toward me?
Shit.
“I better go,” I said, curling my hands into fists in my pockets. “Before...”
“Yeah,” she agreed, nodding slowly. “Definitely better go... before.”
I swallowed and nodded, too.
“I actually should go inside. Now.” She blinked fast and tucked her hair behind her ears, looking nervous. “Yeah. Um, good night, Max.”
I swallowed, but my throat was dry and scratchy. “Good night, Soph.”
thirteen
