Page 78 of Maximus

Eva’s eyes went round and she stood straight before she stumbled back and rested her ass against the cabinet behind her.

“I… what?”

“Confuse the hell out of me. That’s what you do. And I can’t figure out why, even though I know better, I can’t stop myself from wanting to get close.”

“That’s crazy.”

“Tell me about it,” I mumbled. “But it’s the damn truth. And I’ll tell you something else, I’m done trying to fight it.”

“Trying to fight what?”

“Are you fuckin’ serious?”

I was done with the distance between us and Eva’s eyes widened as I moved to her and bracketed her with my chest inches from hers and my hands on the countertop near her hips.

“Do not lie to me and tell me you don’t feel it, too.”

Her breath was coming out in choppy puffs, fanning across my neck, conjuring up all sorts of illicit memories of her panting while I was pumping inside of her. An activity we would be doing again—and soon.

“I don’t know what I feel.”

“Don’t try to bullshit me, Eva. You felt it back in Georgia when I was sittin’ across from you havin’ lunch. I know you did. I know you felt it when I kissed you. I know you felt it when I took you to my bed and fucked you. You feel it the same as me. The question is, why the hell are we fightin’ it?”

“Because it’s not smart to explore it,” she huffed. “Me being here is temporary.”

“What if it wasn’t?”

“And what if pigs—”

“I’m being serious, don’t be a smartass.”

Eva’s mouth clamped closed, then some of the sass drained out and sadness crept in.

“This is hard, Max. Please don’t make it harder.”

“What’s hard?”

“All of this. Taking my kids on the run. Everything coming back up. Tex having to help me. Mark Wright getting involved.”

“Us asking Bubba for help was the right thing to do and it got us one step closer to making you safe.”

“But it wasn’t fair.”

“Straight up, babe, get over it. It’s time to move on. Everyone else has, but you.”

“How do I just get over it?” Eva’s voice pitched higher and she was back to angry.

“You put it out of your head and move on. You’ve apologized, they’ve forgiven you, it’s way fucking over for everyone. Time to get the fuck on with your life.”

“I cannot believe you’re saying this to me.”

“You can’t? Because since you’ve known me, I’ve been pretty damn straightforward and to the point. I don’t know what would’ve given you any indication I’d pussyfoot around something.”

“You know, that’s rich coming from you. You’re always so quick to give it to me straight when you admit you’re a man with more than a few issues. You hide behind a mask of emotional indifference and call it honesty.”

“A few issues? Babe, I’m totally fucked up. Something I’ve admitted to you. I also explained it wasn’t something I’ve ever shared with anyone else. I am who I am and I know exactly why I’m that way and I know exactly who made me into this person. But you know what I didn’t know until just yesterday when we walked into this house? I didn’t know that I didn’t like that person. I didn’t know everything I was missing out on, because yes, I was hiding. Though I call it protecting myself from being used and thrown away. Protecting myself from feeling anything that could remotely hurt me. Is that enough honesty for you or do you need more?”

“You’re still making it harder,” she whispered. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”