“I can’t remember the last time I felt this tired.” Sadie shifted closer to Max. He lifted one arm so she could get into the crook, and she lay her head against his chest. Could she feel his heart racing?
“You’ve earned a good night’s rest, sweetheart,” Max said, pulling her a touch closer. “Just settle in.”
But she shifted onto her elbow, so they were face-to-face. “Max... I’m really sorry. About those texts.” She paused for a moment, and he heard her breath hitch. Then she cleared her throat, which still sounded sore as heck. “I wasn’t at my best. I was angry and spoke out of turn to Cruz. You didn’t deserve that. And for what it’s worth, I don’t believe it. You are incredibly talented, all on your own.”
His mind whirled in a dozen different directions, and he tried to focus on slowing his hammering heart. He smiled at her, then nodded. “No harm done, Sadie.”
She returned the smile, a look of relief coming across her face. “You’re one of the good ones, Max Brody,” she murmured, snuggling back into the crook of his arm. She yawned again.
“Ah, that’s a high compliment coming from you,” Max replied, certain now there was no way she wouldn’t feel his heart beating practically through his chest.
Sadie was still for a moment, and he wondered if she’dfallen asleep. But then she spoke, and her voice was sleep-heavy and soft.
“Max, at the cabin, there was something I wanted to tell you...”
He waited, but when her breathing evened out Max knew she was asleep. Whatever she’d been about to say would have to wait until morning. He turned on the TV and flipped through the channels, finding the show he was looking for, watching the silent images of the two of them flash across the television screen as he held her.
18
Sadie
Nashville, Tennessee
December 20
Sadie could hear the shower running in the next room, and the rumble of Max’s voice as he sang in the shower. She turned and saw a little tray on the bedside table. There was a French press filled with coffee, orange juice in a champagne glass, a basket of muffins, and a note:Didn’t want you to get hangry while I was in the shower. : ) Hope you slept well.—Max.
Sadie smiled back at the note, then reached for the orange juice. She winced as she swallowed, in anticipation of the pain her sore throat would likely still cause—but there was no pain at all. The chicken soup and night of rest had done the trick. Sadie listened to the water continue to run in the other room, and Max’s singing voice growing louder. She felt happy—but nervous, too. Things had chilled so quickly between them in Banff. She had apologized for the texts Max had seen fromCruz—but that didn’t change the fact that any smooth sailing between her and Max always ended up spectacularly derailed. And she still hadn’t managed to tell him about Gran, after falling asleep the night before because of the soothing effects of the chicken soup and cold meds.
Max came out of the bathroom, hair wet, wrapped in a robe. “Hey,” he said. “You don’t look like you’ve tried a blueberry muffin yet. Otherwise, you’d be smiling.” He picked one up and handed it to her.
Sadie bit into the muffin and let out an involuntary moan.
“Aren’t they good?” he said. “We used to come here when I was a kid. I’d start begging for the homemade muffins the second we arrived. Blueberry was always my favorite.”
“Soooo good,” Sadie said.
“How are you feeling?” Max asked.
“A lot better this morning,” she said, smiling. And she was. It felt like the most natural thing in the world to be eating breakfast in bed in a hotel room with Max Brody. When they had arrived back in Nashville, Banff felt like another world. But now, she felt safe and comfortable again. Like that magical week reallyhadhappened.
They sat still, seemingly unsure of what to say or do next. Suddenly, Sadie became aware of the fact that she wasn’t wearing anything under her robe—and neither was he.
Max seemed to be reading her thoughts. He got up from the bed and stood beside it awkwardly. She smelled the shampoo from his freshly washed hair, and the heady scent of aftershave.
“I should really shower now, too,” she said as Max reached forward and brushed some blueberry muffin crumbs from herrobe. As he did, the edges of her too-big robe fell away. He looked down at the exposed skin, then up into her eyes again. She saw color immediately jump to his clean-shaven cheeks. Instead of covering herself, she held his gaze.
“What you are is perfect,” Max said in a husky voice.
Sadie did feel that way. Perfectlyherself, when they were alone together and he was acting like the person she felt she had really gotten to know, finally, when it was just the two of them in the middle of nowhere.
“Max...” she began, reaching up and tracing his lips with one of her fingers, unable to stop herself from touching him. She tried to think of some way to put into words everything she was feeling as she felt his breath catch at her touch. But now that he was so close to her, her mind was clear of all words. All she could grasp was one simple thing: she wanted him. She took her hand away from his face, untied the sash of her robe, and let it drop to the floor.
“Sadie...” He groaned at the sight of her naked body, then reached for her and pulled her against him. “I’ve missed this so much.I need you...”
“I need you, too, Max,” she admitted, not quite believing she had said these words to him, forgetting all about what she did or did not believe as she and Max fell into the cloudlike pillows and soft sheets together and lost themselves.
—
