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Avoiding my gaze, he places his hands in his pockets and looks down to the floor. Taking in a deep breath, he responds on an exhale, “You don’t want me. Don’t worry; I’m not judging. I get it. You miss it.” He puffs out a long breath. “I do too.” Looking pained, he closes his eyes. “And looking like you do, smelling like you do, with my cock aching just from you standing a foot away from me, it’s hard to turn you down.” He steps away from me, adding, “But you deserve better.” He turns and walks away from me.
Oh, hell no.
I might have put up with this once, but I am not putting up with it again. I stand so hard that my stool wobbles as I stomp after him. Gaining on him, I reach his side and grab hold of his arm. He looks down at me in confusion, but I cut him off, pissed as hell. “Don’t you do that. Don’t you tell me you think you know what’s best for me.” Going out on a limb here, I pause, and then ask cautiously, “Do you want me?”
He shakes his head. “That’s not the point.”
My heart aches. “That is exactly the point. Tell me. Do you want me or not?” Because if he doesn’t, I’ll walk away and pretend none of this ever happened. I’ll do what I can to maintain a relationship with Ceecee and help her whenever she needs. Max and I will go back to being friends.
He steps closer to me, his hand cupping my waist. “I want you. I want you more than anyone I’ve ever wanted in my life.”
I can’t believe this. Did he really just say that? Oh lawdy lawd, he did. What am I meant to do with this? Slowly, so as not to spook him, I wrap my arms around his neck and pull his face down to mine. A hair’s breadth away from his lips, I utter, “Then take me home.”
Reaching up, he takes my hands and lowers them. “I can’t give you anything. I don’t want a relationship, Lena.”
And angels sing in my ear. I smile from ear to ear, and then chuckle. “Me either.”
His brows furrow. “What? I’m not kidding, cupcake. I don’t want a relationship.”
My hands clap together in front of my chest, and I murmur, “Dear God, you’re perfect.” Grinning, I tell him, “Same here. I don’t want a relationship. I worked my ass off to get where I am. I don’t need a man to make my life complete. I just want to have some fun.”
He straightens, thinking about what I’ve just said. He points to me. “Then what exactly would this be?”
I shrug. “No strings. Friendship. Sex. Affection. Whatever.”
His eyes widen marginally. “That sounds pretty good, actually.” But his face falls. “What about Ceecee?”
“I love Ceecee. I’ll continue to work out with her, and I’ll make sure she doesn’t know about us.”
He scratches at the back of his head. “I don’t keep things from my daughter. I’d have to tell her.”
Huh? “Tell her what, Max?” I lean forward and whisper loudly, “That we’re fucking?”
His face turns serious. “No, but I’d have to tell her I like you and that we’re more than friends. I’d tell her you’re my girlfriend, for as long as we want to do this. Then, when you get sick of me, I’ll just tell her we broke up.”
His girlfriend? My heart starts to palpitate. I swallow hard. “But we’d just be friends that are bumping uglies, right? I wouldn’t actually be your girlfriend. Right?”
“I don’t share you. If you want to sleep with someone else, this all stops, yeah?”
My nose bunches. “I wasn’t planning on sleeping with anyone else, Max.”
A small smirk appears on his face. “Friends that share affection and sleep together. I think that would make you my girlfriend, baby.”
My stomach and heart flutter in unison. I like that he called me baby. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he called me his girlfriend. Even though I know this term is a fabrication of what would really be happening. “What would we tell everyone else?” I ask quietly.
He wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me into his torso. “Exactly what we tell Ceecee.” He leans down to peck at my lips. “I won’t keep you a secret, Lena.”
I look off into the distance, mind working a mile a minute. “I’d have to tell James then. He might tell me I can’t work with Ceecee anymore. Now it’s a definite conflict of interest.”
“Let me talk to him. I’ll take you home tonight, sleep at yours, and then we’ll tell Ceecee tomorrow over breakfast, yeah?”
Oh my God. This is really happening.
“Okay.” I smile up at him. “Yeah, okay. So we’re really doing this?”
His nose touches the tip of mine then captures my lips in a sweet but firm kiss, leaving me breathless. He pulls away and my eyelids flutter as he utters through a smile, “Fuck yeah. We’re doing this.”
The kissing started as soon as we got out of the car. I threw my door open, stepped out, and went to rush up the stairs to my apartment, but Max showed me he had other plans. As soon as my feet hit the sidewalk, arms circle my waist from behind, holding my body still. I turn in his arms, and as soon as I see his smiling eyes, I melt. It’s not fair for someone to be that good looking. It just isn’t.
