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He glanced at the door, which was narrow, and realized that she had been right. Max also knew he’d been an ass in front of Freddy, so Max decided to pick the one thing he could defend.
“I don’t see what is wrong with me driving your car.”
She threw up her hands in disgust and wiggled away from him. Looking back over her shoulder as she walked through the door, she said, “Leave the gorilla act outside. I’m not in the mood to deal with the questions.”
Her body vibrated with feminine indignation. He followed, knowing she was right, but not feeling any better as she turned the head of almost every man in the room. Max had never had this need, this amazingly overwhelming desire, to just smack every single one of them. Even old Mr. Phillips, a retired schoolteacher who Max knew was a flaming homosexual.
But, for Anna, he would calm the beast until they got out of there. Even if he felt like removing Freddy’s arms and stuffing them down the bastard’s throat. He would act civilized and professional. As he watched Freddy’s gaze roam down Anna’s back to her ass, accentuated in the short red skirt, Max bit back the growl—barely—and reminded himself that ripping the man’s face off would be bad for his image, although the idea appealed to him greatly. Almost enough to make him forget good sense.
* * *
Anna thoughtthat she’d done her best to keep her anger from boiling over into work, which this dinner was, but every five minutes or so, Max did something that pissed her off. He was pushing all those buttons that she’d worked years to put out of commission. But for some damn reason, he picked tonight to become a pig.
“You know, dear, you should really just let the boy have his say.”
She looked at Mrs. Walfren, the owner of a small dress shop in the same strip mall where Anna’s restaurant was located. Anna knew that people were speculating, especially since Max was stomping around mad at the world. But she didn’t want people to think they were going to be an item forever.
“Boy?”
The older woman smiled at her and glanced over her shoulder. She followed her gaze and found Max standing off to the side of the cash bar with a couple other men, watching her. She huffed then rolled her eyes, turning to face Mrs. Walfren again.
“So nice to finally see you two together.”
Horrified she’d been right that people would speculate on the change in their relationship, she tried to deny it, but even when she spoke, she wasn’t convinced. “We’re not together.”
“If not, Maxwell has designs on it. A man doesn’t look at a woman like that and not at least want more.”
Anna sighed, thoroughly irritated with Max for his behavior and herself for being somewhat aroused by it. It was nice to have a man show a little possessiveness.
“Well, we’re not. We’ve always been friends, nothing more.”
The older woman leaned forward and said in a confidential voice, “Truthfully, I was happy to hear Cynthia Myers had broken off the engagement. Those two weren’t right. Now, you two, I think you’d be perfect.”
“Mrs. Walfren, that’s very nice of you, but we’re too different.”
Her pale blue eyes studied Anna for a moment or two, long enough to make Anna uncomfortable. “I’ve been in the business of making dresses for brides for over thirty years, dear. I was married for twenty-five of those years, and I have never in my life seen a man who wanted a woman more than that one over on the other side of the room.”
“Wanting is different from being perfect for each other.” As soon as she said the words, she winced, wishing she hadn’t voiced her thoughts out loud.
“Anna, believe me, there is a lot more than wanting behind that look of his. If my own Harold had looked at me that way, we would have had more than our eight kids.”
Anna had just taken a drink and promptly choked. Trying to hold onto her dignity, she blotted her lips with her napkin and cleared her throat.
“There is so much you two have in common. Why, you practically grew up together. And just look how well you have always gotten along.”
Not knowing what to say to dislodge the older woman’s ideas, Anna thanked her and wandered outside to the patio that looked over the manmade lake behind the convention center.
She walked to the stone railing and closed her eyes, enjoying the warm, moist breeze. Thinking about Max, about their relationship, wouldn’t do any good. Hopefully, they would get through the evening without embarrassing themselves too much. She’d just make sure before going out with him again that they had a discussion. With that decision made, her nerves a little more settled, she turned to go back into the dining room and came face-to-face with Freddy Swanson.
He offered her that damn cocky smile that used to make her sigh, but now just irritated her.
“Evening, Anna. Been a while, huh?”
ten
Anna lookedat the boy she’d once thought was king and tried not to laugh. He was still attractive enough, she supposed. Tall, with the lean build of a swimmer, he’d always had a ready smile that hid his nasty behavior. With those sharp blue eyes, he’d seen more than she’d understood at the time of their…relationship. He’d known her vulnerabilities and how to use them to his advantage. For years after the entire mess, she’d felt the heat of embarrassment each time she saw him, or heard his name mentioned. But there was something missing now. The charm was there, but the luster of high-school prince was gone. When she’d heard he’d returned to Park City, she’d been a bit disappointed. Reminders of that time in her life weren’t what she’d been looking for.
“Evening, Freddy.”
