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‘And you helped her to turn it all around?’ Max asked.
‘Yes, but only because she wanted to do it herself. She just needed the support. There’s obviously a lot more to it than that, but ultimately she managed to get back into uni and graduate well. She could get a good job, too, if only health-assessment boards would look beyond the scars of her past to see what she’s like now.’
‘I could do something with them.’
‘Sorry?’
‘I could help her with the scars,’ he repeated quietly.
‘How? There are too many of them over too large an area, and they’re deep into the subcutaneous level. How would you eradicate them?’
‘I’m not saying I can eradicate them,’ Max replied. ‘But I could abrade the cicatrised area and then use a split thickness skin graft to over-graft. She’ll still have a scar, but it won’t look like those lined scars from cutting any more.’
‘So people won’t stigmatise her?’ Evie’s voice caught. ‘That would be incredible, but she can’t afford it.’
‘I know that.’ He blew out a breath. ‘Call it my charitable act.’
‘You would do that for her?’
‘I’d do that for you,’ he responded quietly. And part of him felt the need to do it for himself, as well. It was incredible but after his unexpected confession he wasn’t dwelling on the past; in truth he felt lighter than he had ever felt before. Telling his secrets to Evie had been cathartic, not because it was her job but because he felt as though he was sharing a part of himself with Evie that no one else even knew existed. Right at this moment, Max knew he’d never felt as close a connection to another human being as he felt to Evie.
But he knew his confession had startled her, even though she was doing her best to conceal it. So right now he needed them to get back to the fun of earlier that day, and forget everything else but the fact that they’d both realised how much they still wanted each other.
‘Oh, and one last thing.’ He shot her a wicked smile. ‘So there are no further misunderstandings, let me make it perfectly clear. I still want you. Whenever you’re ready. You’re sexy, exceptionally desirable and, for what it’s worth, you’re also someone I want to be with.’
And Evie could take from that whatever she wanted.
* * *
‘Our daughter’s out for the count and she looks perfectly angelic.’ Evie managed a shaky smile a few hours later as she descended the stairs from checking on the baby. ‘You want to see her?’
She was stalling; she couldn’t help it. The need for Max, intimately and completely, had been gnawing at her ever since their easy exchange in the nephrologist’s office. She’d spent so long feeling bad about herself since her illness, but Max was the one person who made her feel like a whole woman again.
The whole day had been one of revelations. The fact that he hadn’t abandoned her the other night but that he’d been uncertain as to how much she wanted him, had always wanted him. His acceptance that her job meant so much to her, and his offer of helping Sally. But, most incredibly, Max’s confession about his childhood, which had made her feel simultaneously closer to him, yet all the more disconnected.
She needed to tell him. But the closer she got to him, the more scared she was of him turning against her. So she would first need to convince him that they could be more, so much more, than just co-parents of a beautiful daughter. They could be a proper family.
And even though she wanted to prove to Max that the two of them could be so much more than just incredible sex, right now it still seemed like the best place to start.
So, when he took her hand and drew her up the hallway, Evie silenced the last voice of doubt.
‘Tonight I’ll take your word for
how angelic our daughter is. But right now, Evangeline,’ he uttered, his voice gravelly with desire, ‘I don’t want to wait any longer for you.’
In spite of her fears Evie actually giggled as she raced him up the hall, tumbling to her bedroom together and stopping still by the door.
She could feel Max’s breath on her skin. Her heart picked up speed as her own breathing came shallow and fast and when she dared a glance at Max, he was watching the rapid rise and fall of her chest. Then his mouth crashed onto hers with exquisite need.
She responded without hesitation, drinking in his taste, his touch. He dipped his head to kiss a scorching trail from her lips, down her throat and to the sensitive hollow. Arching towards him as he dropped his hand to lazily skim the exposed skin of her chest then cup her breast, his thumb drawing slow whorls over her hard nipple through her top, the fabric proving a frustrating barrier for her. But Max didn’t seem to be in any great hurry. He seemed happy teasing her, exploring, nibbling.
She slid her fingers up his thigh, making for his crotch, a thrill coursing through her as she felt him hard beneath the rough material, but his other hand reached down to still any further movements.
‘Slow down, Evie.’
His voice was thick with longing and he practically growled, but it only turned her on even more. She pushed his hand off hers and propelled them both towards the bed, pushing him gently down and moving across him so that she was sitting on his lap, her legs wrapped around him, ignoring the stab of pain at her incision site. She was determined not to wince; she didn’t want to give Max any reason to insist they take things slowly.
She shifted, wondering if he could feel the heat from her body, when he sucked in a sharp breath, and she gave a wicked gurgle of triumph. That would be a yes, then.
