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There was nothing between me and Ellie. Not like that. No matter how many times he insisted this was a date.
I stepped under the flow of hot water and closed my eyes, letting it wash away all my worries. Perhaps this was a bad idea. I wouldn’t know until we’d gone through with it, and even then, it was a bit too late.
It didn’t matter.
I finished up in the shower and turned off the water, then wrapped a towel around my waist and trudged back across the hall to my bedroom. My phone lit up with a notification, and I walked over to the bed where I’d left it and picked it up.
A spam email.
Waste of time.
The other notification was a text from Fred.
FRED: Romance isn’t the end of the world, Max. You’re not your dad, you know.
I clenched my jaw and threw my phone back down, turning away. I knew that, but it didn’t make it easier. I didn’t want to think about that man either—he was where he belonged.
Six feet underground.
Preferably several lower so he was somewhere in Hell that Dante hadn’t yet discovered.
It didn’t matter.
I wasn’t going to dwell on thoughts of my father. It would do nothing but make me miserable, and I wasn’t the best person to be around when I was miserable.
So no.
Fuck that.
I would think about something else.
•••
I pulled up outside Greygarth Lodge at six-twenty-eight on the dot, a whole two minutes early, and looked over at the house.
What the fuck was I doing?
Taking Ellie out for dinner?
I shook my head to clear it of any wayward thoughts that might just end up proving Fred right and got out of the car. I was tempted to just beep the horn, but if my grandmother found out I’d done that, I’d never hear the end of it.
Instead, I’d be a gentleman.
I walked up to the door and raised my fist to knock when it swung open. Ellie stood on the other side with her bag clutched to her stomach, and her eyes slowly widened when she saw me on the other side of the door.
But I could barely pay attention to that.
She wore a black dress that hugged her upper body before flaring out at her waist into a full skirt. There was a cut-out on her chest that gave a hint of her cleavage, and she wore the kind of heels that you didn’t take off in the bedroom.
They were the ultimate fuck-me heels.
They were even pink.
Shit.
She cleared her throat. “I thought you’d wait in the car.”
I dragged my gaze up from her body to meet her eyes. She was just as beautiful up there—her fiery hair fell to her shoulders in loose curls, and her makeup perfectly accentuated her pretty dark blue eyes.
