“Max,” I warned through gritted teeth, the stimulation preventing me from saying much more. I tugged at his hair again, the soft locks slipping through my fingers.
He licked harder, my legs shaking faster, and before I knew what was happening, I toppled over the edge. Multi-colored glitter flashed through my vision, my body exploding from the work of Max’s tongue.
I moaned his name, trying to pull his face away from my body, the contact now suddenly more than I could bear. He groaned against my body, objecting to being tugged away. He slowed his onslaught, licking more gently, the strokes of his tongue softer.
My legs felt completely dead. My heart and breath both struggled to achieve some rhythm. My eyes were heavy but I forced them open anyway, wanting to see the grin I knew was staring at me.
His dimple was set deeply in his cheek as he wiped his face with the back of his hand. “Good?”
“Magical.”
KARI
The cafe on Mill Avenue was bustling. Patrons were going in and others leaving, waiters and waitresses buzzing around tables. The sounds of laughter and silverware clamoring from the kitchen filled the air.
I sipped my water and waited on Sam to show up. I had called her that morning and agreed to meet her for lunch at a cafe close to Alexander Industries so she could swing by on her lunch break. It wasn’t the best way to spend the afternoon, but it seemed to mean a lot to Max that I tried to be friends with her.
I swiped the Arizona Republic from a nearby table and paged through it until the seat across from me was pulled out. “Hey, Kari!”
I looked up to see Sam’s pretty smile. “Hi, Sam.”
She sat down next to me and shrugged off her sweater. “I’m sorry I’m late. I got stuck in construction traffic.” She took off her sunglasses, a teal color with a fancy gold emblem on the side that was vaguely familiar.
The waitress came by and Sam ordered a Diet Pepsi. “So, thank you for meeting me for lunch. I only see you when everyone is around and it’s hard to really talk, you know?”
“Yeah, thanks for inviting me.”
Samantha rested her hands on the table. “I just wanted to get to know you. I mean, if we’re going to be family now, we may as well be friends, right?”
“Family?” I asked, my eyebrows arching.
She laughed. “I was just kidding. You know, the whole engagement thing from yesterday. I’m sorry about Brielle’s outburst, by the way. I don’t know what she was even doing. John ripped her apart when you left.”
I sipped my drink and tried to figure out how to navigate the conversation. “Well, he didn’t have to do that on my behalf. It just sort of caught me off guard.”
“So, you and Max aren’t engaged? Has he even asked?”
I felt like a loaded question. “We’ve discussed it,” I replied, trying to mask my uneasiness with the topic. “It’s just one of those things, you know?”
“I can only imagine. Max has always been such a family guy. He told me once he wanted to have five kids,” she laughed. “I hope you’re ready for a houseful.”
Thankfully, the waitress showed up and saved me from coming up with a reply. We placed our orders and the waitress picked her way through the tables back to the kitchen.
Sam swirled her straw around her drink, watching one of the televisions overhead.
“It’s been such a long day already,” she sighed. “We had one of the places we’re working for call in first thing. The guy demanded to talk to Cane. Something about getting a tip that the asphalt we put down on a job wasn’t the correct thickness or something. I could hear Cane and Max yelling in the conference room and then they tore out of the office.” She laughed. “Not that that’s weird behavior from Cane, but I normally don’t see Max that upset about anything.”
“Max stays pretty level-headed,” I agreed, slightly annoyed about her presumption that she knew my man’s habits. “I hope things are alright. I know he’s been worried about the bid he’s working on and then about Dan.”
“That Dan guy is crazy! He called in again today, shouting at me and demanding to talk to Cane. He’s a lunatic.”
“Max said he seems to have gone off the deep end a little,” I shrugged. “I’m sure it’ll work out. Max has a way with people.”
She smiled. “He does. Everyone loves Max.” She swirled the straw around in her drink again. “And he loves you.”
“Well,” I said, not sure how to respond. “I hope so. I think a lot of him.”
“How could you not?” she asked, eyebrows raised. “He’s pretty perfect.”
I gauged her closely, trying to determine if I should mark my territory. “He is. That’s why I decided to move in with him.”
“You know I was kidding the other night about moving in with him, right? I didn’t think anything of it until Brielle pointed it out when we left the bar.”
“No worries. But, speaking of Brielle, any ideas as to why she doesn’t seem to like me very much?”
“Don’t worry about Bri. She’s just really overprotective when it comes to Max. She’ll come around.”
“I hope. The closer Max and I get, the more she seems to dislike me.”
The waitress sat our plates in front of us and asked if we needed anything else. The food looked great and smelled even better. She dropped the check off on the end of our table and dashed off to wait on someone else.
“Bri’s just a lot to handle sometimes.” Sam picked up a french fry and popped it in her mouth. “She wants to rent a house together, but I don’t think I want to do that.”
“Did you ever find anything?” I asked, spearing some lettuce with my fork.
“Nope. It’s hard finding something that doesn’t cost a fortune.”
I took a deep breath and considered that I should talk to Max before I said what I was thinking. After mulling it over for a whole two seconds, I decided to go for it. It was a very nice olive branch, not to mention that it would help me out financially. “Since I’m living with Max now, I don’t need my house. Would you want to rent it?”
Sam’s eyes grew wide and a smile formed to match. “Really? If you could work with my budget—damn, how I despise that word!—I’d love to.”
“It’s a good sized place with three bedrooms and two baths. There’s a pool out back, too.”
“It’ll be perfect,” she squealed, her eyes lighting up. “The downstairs bedroom will be a perfect workout room!”
I paused and tilted my head to the side. “How did you know there was a bedroom downstairs?”
She laughed and looked down at her place, swallowing. “Oh, Max must have mentioned it at some point. Most homes have one downstairs in the newer homes. It’s just a trademark of the tract house.”
That was true, so I let it slide.
“I’ll have my stuff out of there this weekend and then you can have at it.”
She sat her fork down and smiled. “Thank you so much, Kari,” she gushed. “This is so sweet of you.”
It made me feel good to have made her so happy. Maybe Max was right—maybe she wasn’t bad.
“My insurance just adjusted a little, so I’ll double check the exact amount and shoot you a text later.”
She nodded, pulling her phone from her pocket. “That would be fantastic.” She looked at the screen and giggled. “I just got a text from the guy I went out with last night.”
“How’d it go?” I asked, feeling a sense of camaraderie with her.
“Good, I think. He wants to see me again tomorrow night. He’s really, really good looking and super sweet. He seems a little hung up on an ex, though, so I don’t know if it’ll work out. But I intend on enjoying it while I can, if you know what I mean.”
I laughed, getting exactly what she meant. “You never know when the right one will just waltz into your life.”
“That’s true. You never know who is going to walk in that door.”
KARI
It had been a long and busy week, but I had managed. Max
had been working a lot at Alexander Industries. I missed him but loved that he took his job so seriously. He felt such a responsibility to Cane and the company. Losing the job because of Dan’s error had really thrown him; he was determined to get another one right away. His absence gave me plenty of time to clear out most of my personal belongings from my house. I left my furniture for Sam to use since I really had no place else to put it.
When I told Max about my offer to Samantha to rent it, he was thrilled. His shy smile and dimple made up for any reservations I had. She was happy to pay the rent I asked and made plans to move in as soon as I had my stuff out. I still wasn’t her biggest fan, but she was growing on me. And if she was important to Max, then I would try to forge some sort of friendship, however lukewarm it might be.
I had just gotten home from an overnight shift at the hospital. I sat my bag down and looked around the living room. My things were sprinkled through the room, mixed with Max’s. On the mantle above the fireplace hung a painting of an abstract building. Max said he bought it at an art exhibit right after he graduated from college. Beneath it sat a framed picture of his grandparents and a clay sculpture Max had picked up in Mexico. Mixed in with his things were a picture of Jada and me, a few coconut-scented candles wrapped with a turquoise ribbon that I loved, and a tall vase filled with fake orchids that looked absolutely real.
Seeing our things coexisting like that, mixing and melding together, made a warmth erupt through my core despite being scared as hell.
Am I doing the right thing? This feels right, it looks right, but am I setting myself up for an inevitable heartbreak?
I shook my head.
Of course I am.
But Max would never leave me like ‘he’ did. He’s the antithesis of him. Just take it a day at a time. I still have my house and I can always go back there. This isn’t permanent.
I whirled around when I heard footsteps behind me.
“Did you just get home?” he asked. He was wearing a pair of jeans with a white button-up shirt. His cuffs were undone and hanging open, the top button of his shirt unfastened. His hair was still wet from the shower and he smelled absolutely divine.
“I did. Are you leaving?”
“Yeah,” he rubbed his forehead. “I have a shit ton of stuff to do today. I’m running out of time to get this bid together. I’m going to meet with another subcontractor today. If all goes right, they’ll cut me a good deal on the earthmoving. If it works, it could be our golden ticket to getting the job.”
I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “You’ll nail it. I know you will. You’re irresistible.”
He smiled a crooked grin. “I hope they find me a charming as you do.”
“They will. You’ll see.”
“What are your plans for the day?”
I shrugged. “I’m going to take a nap if I can and then I am going to head to the grocery store. I’ve been so busy moving my stuff here that we’re out of food.”
“I’m out of red cups. I saw a commercial for these new 180 cups—there’s a shot glass on the bottom. Think you could find those?”
I rolled my eyes, earning me a swat to the backside.
“Keep it up and you’ll miss your meeting.”
He bent down and kissed me lazily. He nibbled on my bottom lip, tugging slightly before releasing it. “I’d love to stay in bed with you today, but we need this job. As soon as I get one nailed down, I’m taking you away for the weekend.”
“Deal.”
MAX
I hit the freeway and bounced in and out of cars. My mind was going a mile a minute. We had to get the job. All the big contractors in the Valley were going to be going after it, but I needed to make sure it was ours. I had worked on it as best I could, but there had been so many distractions.
I growled into the air.
The City of Mesa received a tip that we had manipulated the numbers on asphalt on a job we were already working on. The tipster said that we laid less asphalt than required, which was untrue. I had spent time I didn’t have dealing with that over the last week. Even though we were found to have done everything by the book, I was out a little money and a lot of time.
My phone rang beside me and I saw Cane’s name. “Yeah?” I asked, not in the mood for pleasantries.
“Good morning to you, too, asshole.”
“What’s up?”
“I just left the house for the office and Hilah called. Lucy left a voice message late yesterday that she would be back to work today. Hilah doesn’t know what to do with Sam.”
I heaved a breath.
“Well, I didn’t know Lucy was coming back either, so I don’t really have an answer.”
“I’ll just tell her to cut Sam’s last check then,” Cane said simply. “Works for me.”
“No. You know what? Just stick her in Dan’s old cubicle across from my office. She’s good at data entry and shit. I could use the help right now.”
Cane chuckled. “You sure about this?”
“Yeah. I’m pretty sure Norm would make a solid case to move her to Accounting anyway.”
“It’s your call, man. I’ll let Hilah know.”
MAX
“Hilah said you wanted to see me?” I looked up to see Sam batting her blue eyes at me. “I saw the girl at the front desk, so I bet I know what’s coming.”
“Nah, I told Cane you could help me out back here for a while. But you probably do need to start looking for another job. As soon as we get another bid, estimating will slow down and I won’t be able to justify having a secretary.”
She grinned. “So I’m your personal secretary now?”
“I guess,” I shrugged. “Whatever you want to call it. I can use your help, but I’m trying to give you time to find something else. Especially since you just moved in Kari’s house.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Just put your things in the cubicle across the hallway. I think Hilah had the rest of your stuff moved there already.”
Sam smiled triumphantly and left. I reclined back in my chair and closed my eyes, trying to ward off the massive headache that was beginning to lodge itself behind my forehead.
“Done! Now what, boss?” Sam asked, having reappeared back in the doorway.
“Did you do any entering in the estimating program for Norm?”
“The Adiplex Program? Yeah, a little.”
“Good. I’m going to give you a spec book and I need you to go in and add all of the quantities for the job we’re bidding tomorrow in there.” I looked around for the book, but it was nowhere to be found. “Let me see if it’s in my truck.”
I ran outside but the book wasn’t there, either. I racked my brain until I remembered it sitting on my office chair at the house.
Damn it!
I went back inside. Sam was sitting in the chair across from my desk, one leg crossed over the other.
“I forgot it at home. I’ll have to run over there and get it.” I shook my head. I didn’t have an extra minute to eat lunch, let alone drive all the way home.
“I can do it,” she offered. “I’ll go grab it for you. You seem to have a lot to do in here.”
“Mr. Quinn?” Lucy’s voice came through the speakers. “It’s Jillian Simmons on the line for you from Grady Enterprises.”
“Hang on, Lucy.” I looked to Sam. “Yeah, can you go get it? Kari will be home. Just tell her it’s on the chair in my office. She’ll grab it for you. I gotta take this call about the bid tomorrow.”
“See how much easier things are when you have a personal assistant?” she laughed.
I smiled back at her. “Thanks, Sam.” Once she was out the door, I turned back to the phone. “Go ahead, Lucy.”
My phone lit up. “Max Quinn.”
“Hey, Max. It’s Jillian at Grady.”
Jillian’s husband, Wade, had been friends with Cane’s dad back in the day. They specialized in moving large quantities of soil. Since taking over Alexander Industries, Cane and I had worked with them a couple of ti
mes successfully. We just didn’t move that much dirt on our normal jobs. As soon as I saw the number on this one, I called them.
“How are you?” I asked, picking up a pen to make some notes.
“I’m good, thank you. I hope this bid is treating you well.”
I whistled through my teeth. “It’s going alright, but I need a good number to move this dirt. There’s probably 100,000 CY of earth to move around on this one.”
“That’s a lot. Any chance of the quantities running over?”
“There is, actually. If things go the way I think they will, there’ll be a large overrun in the third phase. It’ll have to be negotiated in a change order and they’ll have to agree to a number because the last phase won’t be able to be done without the third being complete. It could be very profitable for you,” I pointed out.
“They aren’t releasing anymore plans and specs. You don’t happen to have an extra set, do you?”
I smiled. “I can have a set made for you. Want me to have them delivered this afternoon?”
“I’m actually heading that way in a little bit. I’ll drop by in a few hours and pick them up, if that’s okay? It’ll just make things easier because Wade is out on a jobsite today. But just letting you know, if it looks good, he might want to meet with you tonight and just go over a few things.”
“Sounds good, Jillian. I appreciate it.”
“See you in a bit, Max.”
KARI
The sun was shining through the windows and my spirits were high. As soon as Max left for the office, I got a surge of energy. Knowing I wouldn’t be able to sleep, I jumped in the shower and then into some yoga pants and a sweatshirt. I slipped on my running shoes and headed into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and my keys. As I started to open the door to the refrigerator, I saw a new sticky note on the front, covering the ‘unsure’ one I had posted there.
I giggled and scribbled on a new note and posted it.
I jumped in the car and went to Target. I put my earbuds in and bopped around the store. I grabbed the essentials, but also made sure to pick up Max’s favorites: Solo cups, Dove dark chocolate pieces, sugar for his tea, and Cheddar Sour Cream potato chips.
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