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Max shoved the dresser in place, then turned to her. “Do you really not want to get back together?”
She couldn’t lie. “I never said that.”
“Then stop pushing me away when we both know this is what you want as much as I do. That kiss... it told the story. And that story was all of one word. Yes.”
“There is literally someone out there right now who wants to kill me.”
“We don’t know if this is someone lost or the guy who killed Marcus. The cops are being cautious.That’s a good thing.” He came to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “I know you’re scared. I am, too. Because if something happens to you... I don’t want to live in a world where you’re not in it. And if I’ve learned anything the last three years apart, it’s that my life isn’t the same without you with me. So will you please do me a favor and sit in the corner by the window and let me protect you, so that I can convince you that maybe the timing sucks, but I’m not wasting any more of it alone and wanting you.”
“Max.” His words touched her so deeply, she didn’t know what to say.
“As much as I’d like to kill your brother right now, I should probably thank him first. Because if this hadn’t happened, and you weren’t here right now, I don’t know if we’d have ever created the opportunity to clear the air on our own. And I’m a little pissed you knew all this for the past two years and never came to me. But that’s on me. I didn’t make it easy for you. And I admit, I’m ashamed of the way I used those other women to try to get over you. It never worked, by the way.”
She appreciated his candor, but now wasn’t the time. “Can we talk about this later?”
Max shrugged. “We’ve got all the time in the world now.”
Except if she got killed. “I’m going to open this.” She took the box over to the corner and sat on the floor with her back to the wall like he’d asked to make Max happy.
He went to the side table by his bed, set the lamp on the floor, along with some other items, including the change jar she’d returned to him, then picked up theheavy wood piece and set it in front of her to block her from anyone coming in through the door. “Just in case.” He sat on it, watching the door, pulled the gun from where he’d tucked it at the small of his back, and held it in his lap. “So, what did you get?” He glanced over his shoulder as she pulled the packing paper free.
She stared at the contents and shook her head. “An origami fortune teller and a lockbox.”
Max raised a brow. “A what?”
She held up the folded paper on her fingers and moved the four corners showing him the different options of colors, numbers, and when unfolded, the fortunes told. In this case, her brother had written more numbers instead of cute little sayings like, “You’ll be rich. You’ll be famous.” Whatever clever things grade-schoolers thought up for the silly but fun game.
Max grinned. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen one of those.”
“I’m getting tired of the games.”
“What is this game? The code to the lockbox?”
She held up the note and read it out loud. “Help Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, and Fred solve the mystery.”
“I guess that makes you Scooby.”
She was not as amused as Max about all this.
He notched his chin toward the paper game in her hand. “So, how do you play?”
“You pick a color and then a number.”
“That’s too random,” Max pointed out.
“I’m guessing the message is a clue.” She pulled out her phone and brought up a picture of the whole MysteryMachine gang. “Since we have white, purple, green, and orange corners on the game, I’ll assume that’s based on the color of their clothes.”
“Shaggy is named first, so we go with green for his shirt.”
She put the fortune teller on her fingers and opened it up. “Green with it open this way has the number 5.” She opened the flap to reveal the fortune. “Number 1.”
“Velma is next, so orange.”
“Orange has a 6 with a 4 as the fortune.”
“Easy enough.” Max looked like he was enjoying himself. “Now purple for Daphne’s dress.”
She caught his grin. “You had a thing for her.”
