Page 75 of Maximus

“I was hoping to meet Eva and the boys.”

“Anaya.”

“What? Jeez, Max, don’t get all alpha-protective. I just wanted to welcome them to Maryland and ask Eva if she needed anything else. I kinda know a thing or two about being locked in a house under guard. I got a lot for the boys but not much for her.”

Anaya knew what it was like to be under guard?

“You weren’t locked in the house,” Max argued.

“You’re right. I was kept in the basement,” she corrected.

“Whatever.” Max chuckled. “I think you mean you were kept in Kyle’s underground love cave.”

“Call it whatever you want,” Anaya said, not sounding the least bit upset about being locked away in a ‘love cave’. “But you can’t deny that I know how difficult it is to suddenly find yourself around a bunch of strangers. The sooner we pull her and the boys into the tribe, the better. She has to know there are women around her who will offer support.”

“Eva’s different,” Max retorted. “Her situation is not the same as yours. And she has kids. I don’t think—”

“Max, you and the guys are great at what you do. How about you handle the protection and mission planning and you trust that I know better what Eva and her kids need emotionally right now? She’s not alone and she needs to know she has more than just you to lean on.”

“And what if I don’t want her to lean on anyone but me?”

Whoa, there, Nelly, what did that mean?

“Momma, is someone here?” I jerked back when I heard Liam’s question, feeling slightly guilty for eavesdropping. Probably not as guilty as I should—I was justifying it as payback for Max listening to me sing to the boys.

“Yeah, honey, it sounds like one of Max’s friends is here.”

“Can we go say hi?”

“Um. Maybe we should wait in here,” I told him and shoved the t-shirts I’d been folding in one of the drawers.

“But—”

“Hey.” Max poked his head into the room, cutting off Liam. “My friend Anaya’s here. She’d like to meet you three.”

“Cool,” Liam muttered and climbed off the bed.

Elijah was much slower to crawl to the edge. My sweet, shy boy had had enough of meeting people for one day.

“C’mon, baby boy.” I lifted Eli into my arms. His small frame still easily fit on my hip, but it wouldn’t be too much longer before he outgrew me holding him.

That was something I wasn’t looking forward to.

We followed Max into the living room. I didn’t know what I was expecting but a tall, beautiful woman with shiny brown hair was not it. And when the woman smiled, dimples formed in each cheek, making her look like the sexy girl next door.

“Hey! I’m Anaya.”

Great. Not only was she beautiful, stylishly dressed—when I was in sweats and a t-shirt—but she was friendly, too.

What an awesome way to finish my evening—not.

“Hi, Anaya,” I greeted. “I’m Eva and these are my boys, Liam and Elijah.”

Liam gave her a wave and said his hello and Eli lowered his head to my shoulder without acknowledging Anaya.

“Elijah’s shy,” Max explained.

“Ah.” Anaya’s smile grew, making her dimples pop. “I get it. I’m shy, too.”