Page 86 of Downforce

“Something like that,” he answers, evasively. “Conversation went well, I hope.”

I cock my head sideways. “He didn’t follow up with you afterwards?” The first thing I did after getting off the call with Liam and Norm was call Travis to explain the new updated terms of the contract they want to sign.

I start to tell Max about everything Liam and his partner proposed for the sponsorship deal but stop myself. My mind starts yelling at me that I’m disloyal for wanting to share something with Max that involves a business deal for my brother.

If I continue to go down this line of thinking it’s only a matter of time before the thoughts about my failure to secure the Luca Taylor deal come spiraling back. So, instead, I divert my attention to the bag in Max’s hand.

“Anyway, I’m sure Edwin will follow up with you.” I gesture toward the bag. “What’s that?”

He holds up the groceries where I can see the edges of a red and green pepper sticking out over the top.

“I figured you weren’t ready to go out for dinner, so I brought dinner to you.”

I narrow my eyes, allowing my brain to register what on Earth he’s talking about. Max tips his head toward the short hallway.

“Kitchen is that way, right?”

I’m still trying to make sense of all of this before he heads in that direction.

“Wait, you’re planning on cooking in my apartment?”

CHAPTER 25

Max

“How do you know I have everything you need to make everything you’ve brought?” Annalise asks while lifting on her tiptoes to peer over the edge of the tote bag I’ve placed on one of the wooden dining room chairs.

“What did you bring?” she asks, looking in the bag a curious pinch between her brows. “What are you cooking? I hope there’s not any raw meat in there leaking onto my chair cushions. And you didn’t cross contaminate the meat with the vegetables, did you?”

“Which one of those would you like me to answer first?”

She glares up at me.

“There she is.” I smirk.

“Who?”

“My princess,” is all I say before I begin pulling out the ingredients I plan to use for tonight’s dinner.

“Not going to dignify that with a response.”

My smile widens as she hovers behind me while I place the wrapped peeled and deveined shrimp into the white ivory sink and the vegetables onto one side of the butcher block countertop.

I do a sweep of the kitchen with my gaze admiring the light colored, wooden cabinets and cupboards, the orderly way she mixed the practical kitchenware—knife storage block, spoon holder by the gas stove—with the decor for aesthetics, a porcelain vase that held a large bouquet of hydrangea, along with other smaller plants that when I lean over and take a whiff it confirms my suspicion that they are indeed fresh herbs.

“You grow your own herbs.” I point at one of the pots in front of the window, presumably to get direct sunlight. “If I had known I wouldn’t have bought the basil.” I hold up a bunch of basil I’d purchased earlier in the day.

“If you had called, you would’ve known not to come,” she throws at me, arms folded across her chest. She holds up a booklet that I’d placed at the bottom of the bag.

“You do sudoku?”

“Those flights are kind of long,” I answer. “Need to do something besides sleep.”

I thumb through the half-finished booklet. I had some time between picking up the groceries and coming over to her flat, so I worked on a few of the puzzles to distract me.

“This one is wrong.”

I peek over at the last puzzle I’d been working on. It’s half-finished. “It’s incomplete,” I correct.