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“That’s very exciting,” I say genuinely. I’ve always wanted children, and I was relieved to be told I shouldn’t have any trouble conceiving due to my temporary injuries. “I have a niece. She’s seven months, and absolutely gorgeous.”
Kate smiles. “It’s a great age. Our first is coming up to a year. We wanted them close together.”
Opposite us, the last couple are laughing hard at something. The guy is dark-haired, wearing his black tux irreverently. He smiles indulgently at his partner as they share an intimate conversation. When he looks across at me he lifts his chin.
“Mal,” he introduces. “Good to meet you. This is my wife, Millie.” He throws an arm around the back of her chair, his dark eyes lingering on the huge ring on my finger before skipping to Max.
He aims a smirk at Max, my gaze pinging between them.
When I look at Millie, she’s grinning excitedly at me. “We’ve heard all about you,” she says loudly across the table as Will pours champagne into my glass. “When we next get together, you must join us.”
“I’d love to,” I say, knowing that they must be Max’s closest friends if they’re sharing a table with him. But what doesheard all about youmean?
“New Year’s Eve,” Kate says leaning in, her hand resting on her baby bump. “We’re at Millie and Mal’s this year,” she explains. “They’ve just built their own house, right next to a vineyard they own. It’s fabulous—you’ll love it.”
Millie’s eyes drop to my hand that’s picking up my champagne flute ready to toast to the evening. “Hello! Look at that gorgeous ring. Max is spoiling you,” she teases, smiling kindly.
I look down at the brilliant yellow colour. “I feel very spoilt.”
“Love the choker too,” she remarks, playful eyes spinning towards Max.
Max’s hand wraps around my nape, delicious shivers racing through me. For a split second, my mind glitches, flashes of light interspersed with the black, but it’s gone before I can determine anything.
“Alright, everyone. You can stop with the glances and the pointed comments.”
His friends laugh, leaving me clueless, so I lift my eyes to Max and he just eye-fucks the hell out of me. “Silver-bright or mercury-dark, those eyes fucking kill me,” he murmurs into my ear. “And they’re not laughing at you, but me, because I don’t ever give my dates aMaximilian, nor do I dress them up in my private collection.”
“Oh,” I say breathlessly.
“Oh,” he echoes, his eyes warm and happy. “But you’re my girlfriend, though that doesn’t sound important enough. Soon, we’ll fix that. And now they know that too.”
Feeling smug, adored and loved, I stop wondering why I felt unable to keep up with this man and his lifestyle. Not once has he made me doubt how important I am to him. About how beautiful I am. In comparison, it’s me who’s not making my feelings about him clear.
The dinner and evening fly by. I like Max’s friends, and I relax in their easy company, the wine flowing. When I make a quick stop in the ladies’ room, Kate and Millie accompanying me, I wonder if Max has asked them to keep an eye on me tonight. I don’t ask, and when we return to the tables, the auction is announced.
Max removes our bidder number from the underside of his chair.
“Did Lindsey know I was coming?”
“Of course.”
“Who was going to come if I didn’t?”
“My mother.”
“Oh, was she disappointed I took her place?”
Max smiles warmly, shaking his head. “I need to talk to you about something on the way home,” he says.
“Okay,” I say, picking up the auction catalogue and looking through it. Many of the listings have photographs next to the items, and they all look amazing.
“I was serious,” Max says. “What catches your eye? Let’s go away somewhere.”
There are several stays in luxury resorts around the world which I’m really enthusiastic about. There’s even the loan of a yacht in Monaco for a week. With a crew. But it’s the ski holiday in Canada that I’m most keen on.
“This one,” I say pointing to the beautiful A frame house in a well-known resort. The list of local amenities is extensive, the pictures of the house making me wish I was there right now. “As I said, I want to live where there’s snow, so this will do until then.”
“Still? Does that mean New York is winning right now? It gets bitterly cold—the enthusiasm might wear off.”
