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Angelica woke tothe sound of her alarm and a splitting headache. She vaguely remembered Max helping her into bed, giving her two ibuprofen and a large glass of water. She also remembered falling asleep in his arms and feeling the warmth of his body against her all night. She fumbled for her alarm, sort of opened her eyes to see which button to push on her phone, then threw her arm over her head.
“That bad, eh? There’s two more ibuprofen on the bedside table and a large glass of water. I texted Cosima and told her you’d be in late. She said she’d cover the morning,” Max said.
“Thank you,” she said, actually opening her eyes and noting that he was dressed in a suit and held a cup of coffee in one hand.
“I have a Zoom meeting in ten minutes. Do you want coffee or would you rather wait until later?” he asked.
“Later. I’m going to get up—”
“Only if you want to. You’ve got the day off according to Cosima. My office is on the first floor in the back. If the door is closed, please don’t disturb me. Mrs. Humphries, my housekeeper, is here today so just use the intercom if you want breakfast in bed. Or you can find her off the kitchen in her office area.”
“Thanks,” she said again.
He gave her a faint smile and then turned and walked out of his bedroom closing the door behind him. She reached for her phone to text Cosima and make sure she was cool with her taking the day off.
Cosima called her back.
“Everyone’s hung over this morning. Guess I should have gone to the family party. Sounds like I missed a good one.”
“You definitely did,” Angelica said. “But if you had come, we wouldn’t have been able to open the boutique today.”
“That’s true. So…”
“It was just a celebration of our success and everyone being together. Pops had already been celebrating when Max and I got there,” Angelica said.
“Really? Did anything happen?” Cosima asked.
“Honestly, I think my parents are just happy that everyone is home for Christmas. Dad kept saying how proud he was of me and stuff like that. It was fun but I do have a headache and if you’re sure you can manage without me I’d love to take the day off.”
Cosima gave a small laugh. “I can manage without you and I guess Max didn’t tell you but he sent over three temporary workers to help out. So we’re covered.”
“No he didn’t mention that,” Angelica said. That might be one of the nicest gifts she’d ever received. She chatted with Cosima for a few more minutes before saying their goodbyes.
She lay back on the pillows and realized that she wanted to do something for Max. Something to repay the kindness he’d given her. She recalled her impassioned speech to him last night about how his one kind act had changed everything. Part of that had been drunk-Angelica, but it had also been the truth. If he’d had them thrown out, Angelica had a feeling she’d have continued on her downward spiral.
She wanted to do something nice for him. But what? He was a man who could buy anything he wanted. And she wasn’t exaggerating there. So it had to be something he couldn’t buy.
Maybe…maybe a plate with the design of his tattoo on it. So he’d look at it and think of Cal when he saw it. She mulled it over in her mind as she got out of bed.
She needed to get showered and then she could think more. Her mouth tasted gross as well so the first thing she did was go and get herself ready for the day. She went to the kitchen to find Mrs. Humphries and ate a light breakfast and had some coffee. Still no closer to figuring out something to do for him than she’d been earlier.
Mrs. Humphries had to go to town for groceries and errands and Angelica reassured her she’d take care of Mr. Parrish’s lunch.
But Max’s door was still closed and just wandering around the mansion didn’t sound like something she wanted to do. So she took her tablet and went out on the heated patio and sketched some designs for a more masculine line of pottery. The idea had been in the back of her mind since…well since she’d met Max.
Thinking of Max she created a new sheet in her digital sketch pad and started drawing him. She wasn’t on the same level of artist as Ollie whose paintings fetched five figures regularly, but she was still pretty good. She kept fiddling with the sketch, realizing as she worked something she’d missed in everyday life.
There was a sadness around Max’s eyes that she never really noticed. What was that from? His brother? He’d mentioned the loss of his brother a few times so obviously he felt that loss but he said it was years ago.
Did he miss the bond of brothers? She had said it to him but she couldn’t imagine losing one of her brothers. Was there some way she could give him something of his brother? Maybe a sketch or a sculpture? She’d done a few sculptures in the past but they didn’t sell well and they took a lot of work. Maybe, though, it would be the perfect thing for Max.
She needed to find an image of him, maybe a photo in the house, but so far the parts of the mansion she’d explored didn’t have any family photos. She went back to the bedroom and opened his drawers but found nothing. No trace of his family anywhere.
Which did strike her as odd. Max was a man who was very good at making other people feel connected but he had no connections. Like none that she could see in his home.
What did that mean for a future together? She was starting to fall for him, hard. She knew that she’d never have drunk as much as she had last night if Max wasn’t a man she trusted.
*
