by Lori Ryan
His mother shoved Aaron into the car like a policeman with a prisoner, then shot around the back and jumped inside before Max could question her. Max stared in disbelief. His mother was all kinds of messed up.
Max turned his gaze to Devlin. She wore jeans with a loose top. Her long, dark hair hung over her shoulders. She was beautiful and didn’t look pregnant at all.
“Hi,” she said again, sticking out her hand. “I’m Devlin Darby.”
“Is that wine? You’re not supposed to drink wine.”
“You must be Max,” she said, completely ignoring his question. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“What’s going on, Devlin?”
“Well,” she said, her voice wavering. “It occurred to me that you don’t really know me, and I don’t really know you. Not in the ways that matter. I thought, maybe we could start over. From the beginning. Like a couple is supposed to. This is sparkling water by the way, not wine.”
They stood, staring at each other, bathed in the light of the front porch.
“I’m Devlin,” she repeated, sticking her hand further out.
Max studied her face, her honey-colored eyes holding his as a spark of something more than desire flickered between them.
He smiled and took her hand in his, the spark of arousal that was always there hitting him hard. There was something else that struck him even harder, though. The way she was holding her ground against him, sticking up for what she wanted. Making sure they didn’t rush into something she wasn’t ready for.
He liked that. A lot.
He also liked the idea of getting to know her better, outside the bedroom. It wasn’t something he’d ever desired in another woman before. There was a buzz in the air around them, a churning pulse of excitement, knowing something amazing was coming. Something that was going to change his life forever. Something that had the power to transform him. Transform them both.
He squeezed her hand lightly. “It’s nice to meet you, Devlin. I’m Max Sumner.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“Come in,” Max said with his deep voice that always hit Devlin in spots better left alone for the time being. They needed to get to know each other on a deeper level this time around. A level that had nothing to do with the crazed sexual chemistry that arced between them.
He took the bottle of sparkling water from her hand as she walked through the door of his mother’s house, more scared than she’d ever been in her life.
She’d hunted down wild animals in Africa to capture the perfect picture, clung to small dinghies on huge ocean waves to get the perfect angle for a photo, and put in exhausting hours to earn her stripes in her chosen field. But this kind of fear, being near to Max Sumner and opening herself up completely, felt wholly different.
Making herself vulnerable to a man was the scariest thing she’d ever done. And there was no doubt about it, her heart was defenseless when it came to this man.
“Are you hungry?” Max asked, setting the bottle on the counter.
As if on cue, her stomach rumbled. “Actually, I’m starving.”
He laughed. “Your stomach sounds like me after a game. I’m a football player, by the way.”
Devlin smiled. She liked this getting-to-you-know time. “Yes, I think I’d heard something about that.”
Max took her arm and led her into the kitchen. “How’s your ankle?”
“It’s good. The doctor said it’s a clean break.” It still hurt like hell sometimes but she wasn’t going to mention that.
The smell of fresh baked lasagna accosted her as she stepped further into the house. She feared she might be nauseous given her recent history with strong aromas, but her mouth watered and her stomach grumbled louder. Apparently, she was over the stage where food was going to be a problem.
“Oh look, my innocent mother left us bread, with directions.” Max rolled his eyes but there was humor in them.
“Bread sounds good too.” She watched as Max made his way around the kitchen. He was comfortable here, in his childhood home.
“Have a seat.” He motioned toward the kitchen bar. “Or do you need to put your foot up?”
“It’s fine, for now. I should probably put it up after we eat, though.” Her pain had decreased marginally since taking pain reliever earlier. But more so because she’d been too nervous about seeing Max again to concentrate on the pain.
“Why don’t we go to the living room,” he said. “I can make a spot for you on the couch and prop up your leg.”
“I’ll be okay here for a bit.”
“You’ll tell me if it hurts too much?”
She smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll tell you.”
Max grinned and something deep in Devlin’s belly caught fire. And it wasn’t the baby. How could he have such a visceral effect on her?
“So, Devlin,” Max said, cutting into the lasagna with a large spoon, “what brings you to Canyon Creek?”
She twisted a napkin, shredding it to pieces. Her original plan of getting to know him better had sounded better in theory than it did right now. Why was she so nervous? Probably because she’d never been on a real date, if she were honest. The men she met were superficial.
“Devlin?” Max prompted.
“Oh, uh, sorry. My best friend got married.”
“Maggie Lawrence?” he asked, turning and sliding a plate filled with lasagna on the counter in front of her.
Devlin looked down at the plate. Steam rose from the messy goo of noodles and cheese. “Yes.” Her gaze lifted and her eyes caught Max’s.
“Devlin,” he tried again.
She shook her head. “Sorry. What did you ask?”
He smirked, and that devilish grin that had won the hearts of woman everywhere, including hers, spread across his face. “I asked if you would like some salad.”
“Sure.”
Max turned and rummaged through the refrigerator. “So how long are you planning to stay in Canyon Creek?”
“I’m not sure,” she said softly. “For a while. Maybe. It depends.”
He straightened, holding the refrigerator door, but didn’t turn around. She could tell by the stillness in his body that he was holding himself rigid, as though the answer mattered a great deal to him.
“Depends on what?” he asked, finally turning, the bowl of salad in his hand.
“Well,” she stammered. How could she say this? Admit that she needed him? “I guess, the thing you should know from the start is that…I’m pregnant.”
He set down the salad and looked at her with a look of mock horror. “He’s a lucky guy.”
Devlin cocked her head, genuinely confused. “Who?”
“Your baby daddy.”
Devlin laughed. “I’m not so sure he would agree with you.”
Max’s face lost all playfulness and his eyes turned somber. “He would agree with me. He would one hundred percent agree with me, Devlin.”
She swallowed down the rock of nerves threatening to choke her. “I’ve been kind of mean to him recently. Told him things that weren’t exactly true.”
He spooned out salad on her plate. “Like what?”
“Honest answer?”
“Always.”
Devlin couldn’t stand the space between them. She wanted to touch him, to feel his warm skin under her fingertips. But that’s what had gotten her here in the first place. She’d replaced emotional intimacy with physical too many times in her life. It had never been important to avoid the two. Until now.
“You should also know I’m an independent person,” she said.
Max stepped back and leaned on the counter opposite her, crossing his arms over his broad chest. “Okay. And you should know I’m all right with that. I don’t like mousey women.” He paused and she could see there was more.
“And?” she asked.
“But a man also wants to be needed sometimes.”
“So does a woman.”
They held each other’s gazes for a long moment, Devlin will
ing her words to break free. She needed to find a way to say what needed to be said.
“I need you, Max.”
His face remained passive. She deserved that.
He didn’t trust her. She’d given him no reason to.
“I grew up with a very dominating father who controlled everything,” she said, knowing he already knew this. “When I grew up, I vowed never to be controlled by a man. Ever.”
Max remained motionless.
“I’ve only just recently realized there’s a difference between control and need. It’s going to take me some time to really incorporate that lesson into my life.”
“I don’t want to control you, Devlin.”
She nodded. “I know. I know you would never do that. I was just scared. I am scared.”
He pushed off the counter and walked around the bar toward her until he was standing just in front of her stool. “You think I’m not scared?”
She shrugged.
“I’m really scared, Devlin.”
“Of what?” she whispered.
“Of fucking up this baby. Of making the wrong choices. Of hurting you, losing you.”
“What do you want to do, Max?”
He shook his head, his eyes wandering past her to a spot over her shoulder, as though the answers might be written on the wall for him.
Oh, shit, had she pushed him too far?
“What if we took it one day at a time,” Devlin said. “Build up our trust, figure out what we want, from each other and from life. Do it together.”
Max’s eyes came back to meet hers and she tried to bite back her desire. They needed to focus on their relationship. But she couldn’t stand not touching him. She reached out a hand and placed it on his broad chest.
“You’ve changed me, Max. I never dreamed of starting a life, having a family. But with you…”
He stepped forward.
Her hand fell away but he caught it.
“But with me, what?” he asked quietly.
The timer for the bread rang through the room. “Great,” Max growled, releasing her hand and making his way into the kitchen. He opened the oven door and the delicious smell of fresh baked bread and butter enveloped her in the kind of cozy comfort that only that kind of food could bring.
Devlin was thankful for the temporary distance from Max as he slid the bread to a cooling rack. She was falling into the sexual vortex of Max Sumner. Their conversation had gotten heavy, and she was so afraid he’d tell her he couldn’t do this with her. That she was too damned screwed up for this to go forward.
“I haven’t seen you in a few days,” she said.
“I’ve got some things I’m working on.”
She could tell he was holding back, but it was her own fault. Why would he share everything with her when she’d taken so long to let him in? “I hope everything is okay.”
“It’s good. Or at least, I think it will be.” He sliced the bread, putting two pieces on her plate. “Eat,” he encouraged.
Unable to speak, she slipped a bite of lasagna in her mouth. “God, this is so good,” she moaned around a mouthful.
Max slid into the chair beside her and began to eat. “My mom makes the best lasagna.”
“Maybe she can teach me how. I’m a horrible cook.”
He gazed down at her with a questioning stare. “How long are you staying in town?”
“I’m not sure. For a while, I hope. I have some things to work out with my baby daddy.”
“So, is your baby daddy going to be a part of your life?” He shoved in another bite of food and she got the sense he was as glad for the distraction of the meal as she was.
Devlin glanced up at him, skimming her gaze over his strong jaw and the way his eyelashes fanned out, framing gorgeous eyes. “Yes,” she whispered. “Or at least, I hope he is. If he’s willing to be patient with me while I figure stuff out.”
Max remained quiet.
“I realized something while you were gone.”
“What’s that?” He was still focused on his plate, but he’d stopped eating.
“I’d miss you if you weren’t in my life, Max.”
“I was only gone a few days.”
She didn’t answer. Those few days had told her a lot about what Max meant to her.
“So, absence really does make the heart grow fonder?” He quirked a teasing brow.
“I don’t know about that. But for me, it made me realize how important you are to me.”
He sat still.
“I don’t want to change you either, Max.”
“You’re not changing me,” he said.
“If you leave your life for me and the baby, leave Canyon Creek, I’d be changing you.”
“It would be my choice, Devlin. You’re not asking me to leave. I’d choose to leave to be with you and the baby. You’re more important to me than this.”
Warm tears broke past her lashes and rolled down her face. “I’m scared, Max. I, I want to stay here. I…” she stuttered but Max made no move to comfort her. She straightened, knowing what she had to tell him, what was in her heart. “This place feels like home to me.”
“It does to me, too, Devlin. I’m not asking for forever.”
“I love you.” She blurted out.
And there it was. The three words that had been pressing at her, trying to break free. The three words she’d never said to any man before, because she’d never felt it, never allowed a man close enough to see how scared she was.
Max sat motionless. His eyes darted between hers, his face expressionless.
Seconds felt like hours, but she sat stoically.
“How do you know that?” he asked. “You barely know me.”
“I know the most important things about you.”
“Like what?” His eyes were glued to hers.
“That you care enough about me and the baby to change your life just to be a part of ours.”
He nodded.
“That you care enough about me to let me go if that’s what I want.”
He sat quietly.
“That you’re not my father. You want me to be happy and you’ll do what it takes to give me that.”
“I would, Devlin.”
“That you love your family and would do anything they need to help them.”
“Yes.”
“And now, I’m part of your family. It might not have been on purpose. We might not have chosen each other.”
“Who says I didn’t choose you,” he smiled.
Before she could answer, Max leaned toward her, his lips just inches away from hers.
“Wait.” She pressed her hand to his chest. She felt more than heard his growl. “We started off with a physical relationship.”
“Yes.”
“I think maybe we should put the physical on hold, for a while, until we really get to know each another, emotionally.”
Max’s brows knit together and he sat back on the chair, silent for a moment. “Yeah,” he finally said, “you’re probably right.”
“Wait? What did you say?” She’d never dreamed he’d go along with her idea. Sure, Devlin had thought it a good idea to put off their physical relationship for a while, but sitting here so close to Max, smelling his intoxicating scent, touching his muscled body, she knew she couldn’t wait.
“I said, you’re right,” he answered. “We should probably wait on being physical until we know each other better.”
Devlin slumped back with a disappointed sigh.
“You thought I was going to argue?” He smiled, shoving a piece of lasagna in his mouth as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
Lust was coursing through her veins like hot lava, pooling between her legs. She could feel her body pulsing with need. These damned pregnancy hormones were killing her. They hadn’t slept together in almost two weeks.
“Devlin?” He cocked a brow.
“I guess, I just thought, maybe you would argue with me.”
“Arguing with you is like
standing in quick sand. It’s best just to agree and stay still.”
She swatted at him. “But you always argue back. That’s one of the things I love about you. You’re not intimated by me.”
He caught her hand in mid-motion. “Maybe this argument is too important to me. I don’t want to lose you.” He brought her palm to his lips and pressed a soft kiss against her skin.
Good, Lord, she nearly came in the middle of his mother’s kitchen just from his touch.
“Max,” she moaned.
“This was your idea, Devlin.” He kissed each fingertip then gently set her hand back into her lap.
“Uggh,” she growled.
“Eat,” he motioned toward the plate. “My baby is hungry.”
“He’s not the only one,” she said under her breath.
Max laughed but made no move for her.
They sat in comfortable silence, finishing their meal. Every few moments Devlin would cut her eyes to glance at Max. His profile was perfection.
“You done?” he asked, reaching for her now empty plate.
“I can’t believe I ate all of that.”
He rounded the kitchen island and set both dishes in the sink. “Well, you are carrying my child, and I do tend to eat a lot.”
“Here,” she said, slipping off the stool. “I’ll help clean.”
He covered the lasagna dish and placed the leftovers in the refrigerator. They felt like a couple, domestic and partnered. And she loved it. In that moment she knew Max would always be there for her, helping her, supporting her, never controlling her.
She scrubbed the last plate and turned off the water, grabbing a dish towel and drying her hands. “What’s for dessert?” she asked.
Max came up behind her, slipping his arms around her soon-to-be-expanding waist, his lips nuzzling the soft skin next to her ear. “You,” he whispered.
Devlin’s heart raced with desire as his hot breath fanned against her neck. It was foolish to think she and Max wouldn’t connect on a physical level. The chemistry between them was why they’d come together that first night.
“Are you sure?” she asked, tilting her neck to give him better access. “Two minutes ago, you were pushing the abstinence route.”