His Best Friend's sister: The Cohan Billionaire Brothers Book Six

by Layla Holt

  “Yes, I do sweetheart,” Max said.

  She went on tip-toe and planted another kiss on his lips. “I’ll see you later.”

  He watched her until she disappeared through the glass doors. Max had a smile all the way to his office. He loved starting off his Mondays with a meeting which charted the way for the rest of the week.

  He only had time for a quick cup of coffee in his office before he had to go to the conference room.

  “Morning everyone,” Max said cheerfully, as he took his place at the head of the table.

  Fifteen voices echoed back his greeting accompanied with the usual groans of protest. Max stifled a grin. Monday mornings were not a favorite amongst his people.

  For the next hour, they discussed the new jobs they had coming up and continuing jobs. He hoped to have phased out all physical guarding and to have all of his security agents working in the control room in the next couple of years.

  After the meeting, Max headed to his office.

  “There’s someone waiting to see you,” Liz said as he walked past her desk. “It’s Dean.”

  “Oh cool,” Max said and pushed the door to his office.

  Dean stood up and they hugged and exchanged pleasantries.

  “A little early for a social call,” Max said as he settled in his chair.

  Dean scraped a hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck. Max leaned forward, his curiosity growing. Max had known his best friend for close to two decades and he had never seen him as uncomfortable as he looked now.

  “What’s going on?”

  Dean met his gaze. “This is tough for me but I have to ask you. You’re my brother Max and I trust you implicitly, but I really need confirmation that you’re not playing with my sister’s heart.”

  All air left Max’s lungs. He had known that at some point in the distant future, he was going to have to speak to Dean and his brothers. He hadn’t expected it to be this soon, when he himself, didn’t have an idea where he and Megan were headed.

  Sure, she had assured him that she was not on the rebound but who ever admitted they were. What if she decided to go back to that jerk…there were so many what ifs at present?

  He inhaled deeply and faced Dean. He owed him the absolute truth. He could imagine how he would have reacted if roles had been reversed and Dean was dating his sister. Max didn’t think he would have been so civilized about it. There was something disloyal about your best friend hitting on your sister.

  What Dean needed was honesty and reassurance. But first, he needed to know what Dean knew.

  “Start at the beginning,” Max said.

  “Ruby saw you kissing this girl at the coffee shop and this morning, I saw you with my sister exchanging what would be deemed as a romantic kiss,” Dean said, a vein across his forehead.

  Max cursed internally. He had completely forgotten that Ruby had seen him with Nancy. “All that is correct but it’s not what it seems.” Max told him everything from the moment that Nancy had asked him to pretend to be her boyfriend.

  The most difficult bit was telling Dean how he felt about his sister. How he had always felt about Megan.

  “You must take me for an idiot if you think I didn’t know,” Dean said. “We were a bunch of miserable fools at Megan’s wedding. For different reasons of course.”

  Max chuckled as he recalled the misery of that day. It ranked up there amongst the worst days of his life. He had sat and watched as the woman he loved exchanged vows with another man.

  “Hey, I wish you all the best,” Dean said. “And thanks for being honest with me.”

  “You’d have wiped the floor with my face if I hadn’t,” Max said and then grew serious. “You guys are my family. I would never mess with Megan.”

  “I know,” Dean said. “But you’d better sort out that Nancy issue before Megan finds out.”

  “I will,” Max said. “I have a favor to ask though.”

  “Shoot.”

  “Can you keep it quiet for a while? It’ll give us a chance to know each other without the whole of the Cohan clan getting involved.”

  Dean grinned. “You have my word. I won’t tell Ruby either. I love my wife but she can’t keep a secret to save her life.”

  Relief surged through Max. “Thanks man.”

  After Dean left, the first thing that Max did was to text Nancy. They agreed to meet at The Aroma in the afternoon, when the coffee house was not so busy.

  Max whistled as he strolled to the coffee house. His feet barely touched the ground, and he felt as if he was walking on air. Colors seemed sharper and every moment was enjoyable. If love did this to a person, he couldn’t wait to go all in.

  In the coffee house, Max found a table and ordered coffee when Nancy came over. She returned with her own coffee and sat down.

  “Something’s different about you,” she said, staring at him over the rim of her cup.

  Max stared at her blankly.

  “You seem softer, more approachable.” She shook her head. “Maybe it’s just me.”

  Everything about him was different but he wasn’t going to tell her that. “You look different too. Excited.” Not that it was a big deal, not with Nancy anyway. She was always bobbing with happiness except when her love life went south as it often did.

  “Before you tell me what you wanted to see me about, I have some news to share,” Nancy said and bounced in her chair. “Michael wants us to get back together. He begged me Max, can you believe that? And it’s literally thanks to you. You’re the awesomest friend a girl can ask for.” She dabbed at the sides of her eyes.

  Max frowned. He had seriously hoped that Nancy would take time out from dating and just focus on herself. Plus, he wasn’t sure about Michael.

  “Are you sure that’s what you want?” He didn’t have to ask what her answer had been.

  She nodded several times. “I won’t text and call him a million times.”

  Chapter 14

  Megan smiled and waved when she saw Max leaning against the side of his car in the parking lot. Her heart pounded hard as she approached him, hardly daring to believe that the hunk of a man was hers. Almost.

  They hadn’t had a conversation over what was going on but it was obvious. Plus she was kind of enjoying the excitement of starting over with someone else and not just anybody. Max. The guy she’d always had a crush on.

  She reached him and slipped her hands around his waist and lifted her face for a kiss. She couldn’t resist deepening the kiss and intense pleasure flooded her. After a minute or so, she drew back and pushed his sunglasses up to his forehead.

  “I hate not being able to see your eyes,” she said.

  His gray eyes were like a window into his soul and what she saw was love shining back at her.

  “Is this real?” Megan asked him softly.

  “You bet your pretty face that it is,” Max growled, his voice gruff with emotion. “I’ve waited for you all my life.”

  Megan stared at him skeptically but kept her thoughts to herself. Max had always treated her like a little sister. There’s no way he had waited for her all his life. it was probably the kind of thing that guys said to women all the time without thinking about it.

  She brushed her lips against his and stepped back. “Let’s go home.”

  He opened the door and she entered the cool exterior. She fanned her face as heat whipped through her. It wasn’t the weather making her hot. It was everything. It was one person.

  “How was work?” she said when the object of her heat entered the car.

  “It was good. Got a lot done,” he said. “What about you?”

  “Good. I start working with Maisie tomorrow,” Megan said. Maisie was her brother Sean’s wife and the daughter of Mr. Jacobs, her mother’s long-time chauffeur, though now he was retired. She and Maisie had never hit it off despite their closeness in age.

  “Why would that scare you?” Max said. “Maisie is awesome.”

  “We’ve never been friends
and there was always this weird vibe when we met. Like she didn’t like me or something,” Megan said. “She probably thought I was spoiled and whatever.”

  “You were,” Max said and she punched his shoulder playfully. “Seriously though, Maisie is funny and crazy. Just your kind of person. Pretend you’re meeting her for the first time.”

  “You should tell that to Maisie. She’s the one who used to have a problem with me.” Megan had to admit that in the times they’d met at Candin Inc recently, her sister-in-law had been okay.

  “It’ll be fine. No one can resist you Megan,” Max said.

  She looked at him in amusement. “I doubt that Maisie wants to kiss me Max.”

  He laughed. “You’re great as a person, and when you include the kissing bit…” he whistled.

  “Do you want to come in for dinner?” Megan said.

  “I’d love to but I’m meeting some potential clients later. I have plans for us for tomorrow after work,” Max said.

  “I can’t wait,” Megan said.

  Max killed the engine and opened his door. She drank in his appearance as he strolled around to open the door for her. She felt so blessed. As if she was on the edge of something great.

  He opened the car and offered her his hand. She took it and his large hand enveloped hers. Instead of letting her go once she was out of the car, Max pulled her gently against him and kissed her.

  “I can’t get enough of you Megan Cohan,” he murmured and trailed kisses along her jaw and down her neck.

  A shudder ran through her as she clung to him. How had they not found each other before she went to Italy? They had wasted so much time. Years they could have been together.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” Max said.

  “See you tomorrow,” Megan said. She went to her door and turned around to watch Max drive off.

  He blew her a kiss before he drove off. Megan entered the cottage, shut the door and let out a loud squeal, confident that no one could hear her. It was really happening. Her and Max.

  She had fantasized about Max for almost a decade, never imagining that one day, he would be hers. He had always seemed bigger than life but under his massive frame, he was pure gold. He was everything that a woman would ever want in a man.

  Feeling at loose ends, Megan dug into her closet for her running shoes. She hadn’t run in weeks. In Italy, she had been physically active, working in the vineyard and running on the beach to let off steam. She had missed that.

  Five minutes later, Megan left the cottage clad in joggers, a t-shirt and a cap hanging low over her forehead. A rush of energy came over her as she settled into a nice easy pace.

  A happy bubble surrounded her as her thoughts meandered to Max. What was happening between them was so exciting and so unexpected. She had Jaime to thank for that. A laugh escaped her mouth when she recalled the hard time she had given him for hiring Max as her bodyguard.

  Megan jogged out of her family home and turned to the left. Half an hour later, she found herself jogging past her brother Dean and Ruby’s home. Making an impromptu decision, she retraced her steps and jogged towards their home.

  It was a long, uphill drive but the view was worthwhile. There were gently rolling hills on one side of the property and a wooded area behind the house. The woods were not visible from the drive as the rustic house was built atop a hill, so that anyone in the house had a three sixty degree of their surroundings.

  Megan was panting by the time she got to the front door and she took a moment to catch her breath before ringing the bell.

  Voices sounded on the other side of the door before it swung open. Ruby’s eyes widened then her face crumpled into a smile.

  “Megan,” she yelled in a completely Ruby way. Megan laughed, recalling just how full of energy and joy Ruby had always been.

  The years away from the modelling scene and giving birth had not taken away any of her beauty.

  Ruby drew her into a hug and then ushered her in. “Dean is giving Kayden his bath but that’s cool so we can have a little girl time. I planned on coming to see you at the cottage tomorrow or the day after.”

  That pleased Megan but also made her curious. It pleased her to think that Ruby wanted to take a step forward to heal their relationship. Megan plopped down on the couch and Ruby sat and then changed positions to sit by Megan. Ruby was obviously nervous to be around her.

  They had been so close for so many years. A flash of sadness shot through her. She tried to think if there was anything she could have done differently. At the time of Ruby and Dean’s wedding, she had not been mature enough to see things from Ruby’s point of view.

  The two of them had been in love with each other for years and something momentous had to have made Ruby run away to New York. Instead of being a friend to Ruby as she was to Dean, Megan had held a grudge against her for years, even after they rekindled their romance and got married.

  “You look sad,” Ruby said, pulling Megan from her thoughts.

  “Just taking a walk down memory lane,” Megan said and smiled at her sister-in-law to show that she was okay.

  Ruby nodded. “I do that a lot too when I see you.” She stared at her hands on her lap before looking up again. “I’ve always wanted to apologize to you Megan and I suppose this is as good a time as any.” She smiled but her eyes were wet with tears.

  “You don’t need to,” Megan interjected.

  “I do. We were more than friends Megan. We were sisters and I left you hanging without an explanation in the same way I left Dean at the altar. I’m sorry, I was just messed up inside and I didn’t know what I wanted. Forgive me,” Ruby said.

  Megan’s chest expanded with emotion and tears filled her eyes. Without knowing it, she had wanted to hear something from Ruby. Anything to show that she regretted how their friendship had ended.

  “I’m sorry too,” Megan said. “I wasn’t much of a friend or sister. I put you on the stand, judged you and sentenced you.”

  Ruby shook her head. “Dean is your brother and you had every right to be upset.” She inched closer and took Megan’s hands. “I hope we can be friends again.”

  Megan smiled through her tears. “I hope so too. I want that very badly. I’ve missed you.”

  “I’ve missed you too Megs.”

  “I hate that name,” Megan said.

  “I know,” Ruby said with an unapologetic laugh. “So, how are you liking living in Lockwood and working at Candin Inc?”

  “I’m loving it,” Megan said, her face heating up as she thought of Max. He had made her return home so easy and exciting. He’d been there for her from the very first week, as if he had been waiting for her to come back home all those years.

  Ruby shifted in her seat and a conflicted expression came over her face. She met Megan’s gaze. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure,” Megan said.

  “Is there anything going on between you and Max?” Ruby said.

  Megan was taken aback by the question and she didn’t know how to answer. It was too early in their relationship to talk about it with other people. Plus, news spread in their family like wild fire. If she admitted to something between her and Max, Ruby would tell Dean, who would tell her brothers, until everyone was in her business.

  “I hope not,” Ruby said seconds later. “I’ve been wrestling with myself on whether to tell you this or not, then I realized that I have to. Friends don’t watch each other walking down a path of heartbreak and keep quiet about it.”

  Unease rolled through Megan like a chilled, dark wave. Max and heartbreak did not belong in the same sentence but Ruby would not say something like that without a good reason.

  “Why is that?” she asked, trying to keep her voice unaffected.

  “I saw him with this woman who is a new waitress at The Aroma,” Ruby said.

  That didn’t sound like much and Megan was about to exhale with relief when Ruby continued speaking.

  “They held hands throughout and kissed. Li
ke lovers,” Ruby said.

  Megan slapped a hand over her mouth to refrain the cry working up her throat. Were they talking about the same person? Max with another woman? Kissing her, the same way he had been kissing her?

  “I’m so sorry honey,” Ruby said, her eyes full of sympathy.

  Megan could not stand the pity. She shot to her feet. “I have to go,” she said and before Ruby could answer, she strode towards the front door.

  “Megan, wait!” Ruby said, following her to the door. “What about Dean and Kayden? I’m sure they want to say hello to you.”

  Megan grabbed the door knob and flung the door open. “Please.” She shook her head again. “Don’t tell Dean that I was here.” It was bad enough that Ruby knew how much Max had humiliated her. She really was a walking disaster when it came to love.

  Ruby touched her arm. “Are you going to be okay?”

  “I’ll be fine,” Megan said, hanging on to her self-control by a thread. She tried to smile and then left, resuming her jog. The wind whipped past her, drying her tears as they fell from her eyes.

  She tried to empty her mind as she jogged home and failed. She let out a howl that sounded eerily similar to a wounded animal. Max. He didn’t seem the type to cheat. Did his girlfriend know that he was cheating on her? Megan had no doubt that she was the other woman.

  Pain rumbled through her as images of Max holding another woman in the arms she had started thinking of as hers. He knew the kind of pain and humiliation and hurt she had gone through. How could he do the same thing to her?

  And for what purpose? She had wrestled with the same question when she was married to Lucas. What was wrong with her that attracted flawed men? Seeing her brothers happily married and faithful to their wives had reinforced her belief that she wasn’t the problem. Luca was and now, so was Max.

  Pain funneled into her heart before Megan caught it. Not again. She was not going to cry again over a man. She had wasted enough years crying over Luca. Max had been the last chance for her.

  What she needed was action and by the time she reached the cottage, she had a plan on what steps to take.