To the Max (19 page)

Max was lying on the bed, awake, the light from the TV flickering on his face. He looked at her but said nothing.

He’d stopped asking about the dates, and she’d stopped telling him about them. It felt wrong.

She stood at the door, feeling insecure. Then he lifted his hand and, still without a word, held it out to her.

She didn’t have to think twice. She walked to him, took his hand, and got into the bed. She always lay on her side, her back to him, but this time, as he was covering them, she turned toward him, resting her head on his chest. Max froze for a second but then hugged her.

This felt real. Right. His smell, his touch. This is where she was meant to be.

Chapter Eleven

While his kickboxing students warmed up, Max went to the room where Kyra had her lessons, in search of stragglers. Between Mike’s and Cole’s threats of death and dismemberment, the crowd of peeping Toms had diminished, but with so many women in and out of the gym, some of Max’s guys were having trouble finding their way to classes, especially on the days exotic aerobics ended as kickboxing started.

Among the audience, there were only two of his students, so after signaling for them to get moving, he caught the last minutes of exotic aerobics. And he almost fell on his ass. There, beside Christy, was Annie. Her legs were open, her hands flat on the seat of the chair. Her hips swaying to the rhythm of the music.

No fucking wonder Cole had had that meltdown the other day.

He watched, spellbound. Annie was so damn beautiful she was glowing. She was wearing some sort of shirt that showcased her boobs to perfection. Then it floated down, concealing her growing belly. The exercise had her flushed and sweaty and short of breath. Probably that was what she looked like while having sex.

Fuck. Wrong turn. His pants were already tight enough. If he went back to kickboxing with a huge boner, he would never hear the end of it.

His first impulse was to whisk her out of there as Cole had done with Christy, but smothering it down, he forced himself to walk away. Christy was Cole’s fiancée. His woman. Max, on the other hand, had no claim on Annie, but fuck if he didn’t want to. It was getting so difficult to have her close and not reach for her and kiss her. To sleep by her side without making her his. There was something about her that called out to him. She wasn’t just beautiful; she was a down-to-earth woman, witty and funny and sarcastic. He loved talking to her. Spending time with her.

As he was leaving, he noticed a small crowd had gathered a bit farther out.

“I’m so getting lucky tonight,” he heard one guy say.

Somebody made a comment Max didn’t catch, and the rest assented.

The class had just finished, and while the girls were packing their chairs, several of the guys who had been watching from afar came closer. The one who had bragged about getting lucky went straight to Annie.

Max didn’t know what he said to her, but she smiled. He took her folded chair and brushed a strand of hair from her face.

That did it. He didn’t recall telling his legs to move, but suddenly he was barreling toward the guy, ready to break his hand and then some for touching Annie.

A big chest got in his way and strong arms grabbed him, dragging him away.

“Max,” said the low voice of his older brother. “What the fuck are you doing?”

Going to crack that asshole’s head?
“Let me go.”

“Not a fucking chance,” Cole growled, pushing Max backward until they hit the locker room. There were two guys there, but Cole and Max must have looked scary, because lifting their hands, they mumbled, “Leaving,” and hurried away.

“What the hell?” Max heard coming from the door. James.

“Max was about to kill someone.”

“Still am,” he spat, trying to make it past his tank of a brother. “That fucking asshole had his hands on her.”

“Who?” James asked. “What hands? What’s the emergency?”

“Some guy was coming on to Annie,” Cole explained. Max narrowed his eyes and Cole shrugged. “I keep tabs on Christy at all times, and Christy was with Annie when he came to talk to her.”

“He was hitting on Annie. Trying to grope her.”

James lifted his brows.

“Brushed a hair off her face,” Cole translated.

“Ah,” James let out. “Now I understand why we should run out there to lynch the guy. Let’s get the torches. And the rope to hang him.”

With Cole and James blocking the door, there was nothing Max could do, so he began pacing.

“What is this all about?” James asked.

Luigi. This was about Luigi.

“She’s been in my bed for weeks now. I won’t let any son of a bitch out for a fuck touch her.” Actually, he didn’t want anyone touching her, period. Regardless of his intentions.

His two brothers looked totally stunned.

“Fuck,” Cole swore.

“You’ve been sleeping with Annie? For weeks?”

“Just sleeping,” he clarified, sitting down on a bench. “I haven’t touched her.”

“But? I sense a
but
here,” James said.

Max hated to give in to his brother, but he did. “But I want to. Badly.” So fucking badly he could taste it.

“I’m so ending up in the doghouse,” Cole muttered to the ceiling. “You have your pick of women. Left and right. Do you have to screw with Christy’s best friend?”

“I don’t want to screw with Annie.” Max gathered the strength and said something he had barely admitted to himself: “I have feelings for her.”

James and Cole glanced at each other. Then they moved from the door and sat on the bench.

“Max, do you understand what you’re saying? Annie is pregnant,” Cole said in a low voice.

James’s surprised gaze zeroed in on Max.

Max frowned at Cole. “I know she’s pregnant, but how do you?”

“I’ve picked up Christy plenty of times from your place. There is a tower of pregnancy books in the bathroom. And spread over the house. I confronted Christy, so she told me. She said she couldn’t reveal who the father was but that we didn’t know him.”

“He was out of the picture, but he’s changed his mind. Annie has gone out with him several times.”

“You can’t get between them.”

“I know. You think I don’t? But I can’t stop thinking about her. She isn’t sure about this guy, I can tell. She doesn’t love him. What would you have me do?”

“For starters, you should stop sleeping with her,” Cole stated, his demeanor severe.

He couldn’t do that. He hadn’t been able to do it when he’d been actively bringing her to his bed. No way in hell could he turn her down now that she was the one initiating it.

“What about your motto? ‘No men, no moms, no virgins’?” James asked with a smirk. “Because you do understand that pregnant women become moms, right?”

“Fuck off.”

“Just saying, man.”

“Are you sure this isn’t testosterone overload?” Cole asked. “When was the last time you got laid?”

“I know what you’re thinking but this has nothing to do with testosterone overload.” If it had, any woman would do, but none did. The thought of having sex with someone else made his dick retreat so far inside him, he had trouble finding it.

Cole ran his hand through his buzz hair. “Annie is older than you.”

“What the hell do you mean by that?”

“Don’t be so fucking touchy. I’m just saying she isn’t your average girl du jour. Not to mention she’s having a baby. You ready for a baby? Because she’s going to need stability. Commitment.”

“You lecturing me on commitment?” Max asked, irritated. “You, of all people?”

“No. I know I had more issues than you with that. Just answer a question for me. How many women have you dated these past six months?”

“Many. Your point?” Because Max never cheated on anyone; he was very clear about his intentions, and before it got too serious, he always broke it off. More times than not, there was nothing to break off.

“How many made it to a second date?”

Max ignored the question.

“And to a third date?”

Again Max didn’t answer. He didn’t keep track, but very few. “Annie is different.” He wanted things with her he hadn’t wanted with anyone else. “And there would have to be changes to my life, sure, but she’s worth it.”

He didn’t want to wait a decade to settle down. Hell, he didn’t want to wait a day.

“You don’t have to convince us,” James said. “You have to convince her. And given your track record, that’s going to be difficult.”

Max rubbed his neck. “I know.”

* * * *

“Do you have plans for tonight? I have tickets for the opera.”

“That sounds like fun, but I have to decline,” Annie told Luigi over the phone as she tried to scrape the sticky rice off her hands. “I’m about to lose my virginity.”

Luigi was silent for a long second. “You’re pregnant. And I’m pretty sure we had sex to get you there.”

She let out a laugh. “There’s this show I’ve had on my to-watch list for ages. I’m starting it today.” She’d been working a lot, and she needed to take her mind off things. The puzzle would do the trick too, but Max refused to help, and she liked having him around. Doing stuff they both enjoyed, which was pretty much everything except puzzles. Hell, he’d even taught her to throw darts the other day. He claimed it was to save his poor walls, but whatever the reason, they’d had a great time too. “And I’m preparing sushi to celebrate the event.”

“I love sushi. Sea urchin. Fat tuna. Hamachi.”

She was pregnant, so she couldn’t eat any of those sea delicacies. Luigi didn’t seem to know. “I’m making sushi rolls with bacon.”

His enthusiasm dwindled very fast. “Oh. Do you need company? I could always cancel my prior engagement,” he offered, not sounding that keen.

She hurried to put him at ease. “Don’t worry; there’s no need.” She wanted to spend the evening with Max, not with Luigi. Max would understand her excitement, and he would appreciate her sushi.

Not to mention after the exotic aerobics, she was exhausted. Who could have guessed dancing on and around a chair could be so tiring.

Luigi didn’t insist, probably relieved he didn’t have to try her concoction and soon enough they ended their phone conversation, her getting back to her cooking, him to his opera.

When she heard the front door, Annie was in the kitchen preparing a plate of veggies, which was for Tango and Cash because she wasn’t big on salads. Neither was Max. How he kept his physique, she had no idea.

She offered him a smile. “Yo, Boob Enhancer, what’s up?”

“Yo, Pregnant Lady,” he answered, dropping his gym bag on the chair. “Not much. And you?”

“Here feeding your girls.” She went to Tango and Cash and petted the guinea pigs, giving them some pieces by hand before leaving the plate inside. Long gone were the days when she’d been scared of them. “They are so damn funny. I found a phone app that tells you what their different squeaks mean.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “
You
found an app?”

Damn he knew her. “Actually, Christy did.”

“That’s more like it. So what are Tango and Cash saying?”

She took her cell and pointed at the animals, recording the sounds. “Okay, they’re excited. Probably because you came home. And they’re a bit displeased, probably because of the greens.”

He laughed, not looking very impressed. “I could have told you that, Ace.”

“You’re too partial. You hungry?”

“I’m always hungry. I’ll just nuke something from the freezer.”

Over her dead body. “No, you won’t. I cooked. I made sushi rolls.”

“You can’t eat raw fish, baby.”

Her stomach somersaulted at his words. At the meaning behind them. “I made them with avocado, mayo, and crispy bacon. They’re fantastic.”

She should know. She’d eaten almost as much as she’d left on the plate.

“You can make sushi?”

“There’s this little place near my work with a great sushi cook. I helped him with his books several times, as he’s a terrible investor, and he told me the secret to great sushi. Rice. When I have time, I do it. When I don’t, like today, I buy it ready-made from him and roll my own rolls.” She took him by the hand and dragged him to the kitchen. “They aren’t pretty, but try this.” Praying it wouldn’t fall apart in the process, she brought a piece of a rather shaky-looking, inside-out sushi roll to his mouth and fed it to him. Some sticky rice was left on her finger, and she licked it. “Good, huh?”

He nodded, his intense gaze never leaving her lips.

She tried to ignore the shivers raking her body at his stare and concentrated on the sushi. “Do you like it?”

“It’s perfect.“

She was smiling so big, her cheeks hurt. He didn’t mind the shakiness of the rolls or that they weren’t made of fancy ingredients.

“If you agree, and taking into consideration I made dinner, maybe we could start a new TV-show. There’s a certain series that is next on my list.”

“Ah, so there’s the catch. It depends. What do you want to watch?
I Love Lucy
?”

“Of course not. You might have seen it already. Ever heard of
The Sopranos
?”

He gaped at her. “You haven’t seen
The Sopranos
?”

“Not yet. I’m planning on starting. You game?”

He took the platter of sushi. “Lead the way, baby. Although you would have had a better bargaining chip if you’d offered to serve the sushi on you, like those fancy restaurants where the girls are naked and lying on the tables.”

Right. She snorted, grabbing a beer and a bottle of water from the fridge. “How the hell would I be able to follow
The Sopranos
then? Besides, you’re the one with the eight-pack.” She could never balance sushi pieces on her stomach and boobs. They would be on a rollercoaster ride.

They made it to the man cave, where she had everything ready for the first episode to start.

“Cocky, were we?” he asked as he saw the setup.

She shrugged, gathering the work-related papers she had on the sofa. “I have faith in you.”

“What’s with the papers?”

“Remember I told you about auditing Franke Enterprises?”

Max nodded. “Found anything interesting?”

That was one way to put it. “There’s something weird with several of their nonprofit organizations, but I’m still not sure what.” Nothing good, though; weirdness in her line of business never was. All sorts of alarms were going off, but she hadn’t pinpointed the source yet.