Page 48 of Maximus

I kissed Eli’s hair and breathed in the smell of his shampoo. Something so small, but I’d never fail to appreciate. The small things mean everything. Something I knew as fact, considering they’d been taken away from me.

“What are we doing today?” Liam asked, sitting up. “Is Max still here?”

“Yeah, sweetheart, he is. And I’m not sure what we’re doing.”

“Can we have pancakes for breakfast?” Eli asked.

“If there’s stuff in the kitchen to make them, sure.”

“Can we check?”

“Absolutely.”

The boys started to get out of bed, and my thoughts wandered to coffee, or more specifically if the house was stocked with the brew of the gods, and alternately if it wasn’t, what my chances were of talking Max into going out and getting me some.

Thankfully, I got my answer after I opened the bedroom door and hit the hall. The smell wafted from the kitchen through the living room and filled my nostrils, lifting my spirits.

Max stood in the kitchen, his ass against the countertop, one ankle crossed over the other, feet bare, yesterday’s wrinkled clothes on, looking so damn good I rocked to a halt so I could stare.

Unfortunately for me, he was looking directly my way, therefore he saw my reaction. The sexy smirk on his face annoyed me. But when he caught sight of Liam and Elijah, it turned into a smile. That was irritating as well—he had a great smile.

Actually, he had a great everything, and since I’d seen every inch of him, I knew that to be absolute fact. There was no part of Max that wasn’t muscled to perfection. Great body, beautiful eyes, soft hair, square jaw, handsome face, nice, thick, long—

Gah! I shook the thought from my head, needing to concentrate on feeding my kids, not the size of his package.

“Morning,” Max rumbled and I shivered.

I knew what the deep, gruff voice felt like against my skin.

Liam skipped off toward the kitchen but Eli hung back with me, still shy and leery of Max. I was more than a little surprised that Liam was as comfortable around Max as he was. Liam had taken the brunt of Jay’s abuse and he’d protected his little brother the best he could, making my son at the tender age of six distrusting and watchful.

But for some unexplainable reason, Liam relaxed around Max.

I heard my son happily jabbering in the kitchen so I bent down and swung Elijah up. His little legs wrapped around me and I hugged him close.

“You okay?” I asked into his neck.

Eli nodded and snuggled in closer.

“Are you scared of Max?” I whispered.

Again, Eli nodded.

Damn.

“It’s okay to be scared,” I told him. “You take your time. We’ll make pancakes together.”

Elijah didn’t agree or disagree and he didn’t take his head off my shoulder as I walked into the kitchen.

Max watched as I made my way to the coffee pot, Eli wrapped around me like a monkey. Something was working behind those blue eyes of his but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Not with only two hours’ worth of sleep and no caffeine. Maybe later I’d think about it, maybe I wouldn’t, maybe I just needed to stop trying to figure out Max and all of his mercurial expressions and concentrate on the perilous situation at hand.

“Eli wants pancakes. Mom makes the best pancakes,” Liam told Max.

“Better than her grilled cheese?”

“Yeah. Way better.”

“Well, then, I can’t wait to try them.”