by Sonya Weiss
“If you don’t know how to duck, stay off the battlefield.”
That smug look…he thought he’d won. “In the future, let me know if Dad invites you over, and I’ll make myself scarce.”
“That would entail me making a special effort to seek you out. Is this your way of saying you want me to call you?”
“Hardly. I don’t want to be on the Max Gallagher roster.” She fluttered her eyelashes and mimicked the snippets of conversation she’d heard over the years. “Max called me. We’re going on a date.” She stretched out the word “date” and fanned herself. “Yes, I mean Max Gallagher. The Max Gallagher. I feel sooo lucky. He’s sooo handsome. So sweet. Oh, I could just die. D-I-E, for sure.”
Max stared at her. “You’re making that up.”
“Seriously. Word-for-word conversations.” Haley fluttered her eyelashes again. She didn’t utter the laugh bubbling up inside, because Max’s gaze had dropped to her lips. How…weird. She glanced away and finished eating in silence.
She was acutely aware of his breathing, his cologne, the blue of his shirt bringing out the blue in his eyes. OMG, I’m noticing these things because I’m having rebound thoughts. Max as a rebound. Could I sink any lower? It was a relief when her father rejoined them.
He returned to his chair with a heavy sigh. “I forgot to take a sleigh over to Straus Nursery in Bethel Heights. It’s supposed to be there for a morning order.”
Haley immediately shook her head. “That’s a good hour’s drive at least, and you barely slept last night. I can’t let you go alone. I’ll go.”
“Honey, I can’t let you go alone either. Take Max with you.”
She’d meant she’d go with her father, not for him. The last thing she wanted was to be stuck in close quarters for two hours with Max.
Her father rubbed his shoulder and winced. “That’d be a real help if you two would do that for me. I guess I am more tired than I thought.”
And now there was no way to get out of this. “Dad…I don’t need Max.” Understatement of the year. “I used to drive to Straus all the time when I lived here, remember?”
“I know that, but you can’t load the sleigh and tie it down by yourself, and you know it.”
“Dad…”
“Not a problem, Craig. I’ll go start the truck and wait outside.” Max pushed back his chair, rose, and caught with one hand the keys her father tossed in his direction. After a smug look at Haley, he strode out the door.
Haley tried again to reason with her dad. “Max and I…we can hardly stand to be in the same room, much less cooped up in the cab of the delivery truck. You taught me to never hate anyone, but with Max, it could never be anything except that.”
“Aww, honey, never say never. The people in our lives who we don’t get along with teach us patience.”
“I’m serious.”
He motioned toward the door. “Go on. Max is waiting.”
“Fine,” she grumbled, tossing aside her napkin. “I’m going. Mortgage the house to pay my bail.”
He laughed. “Be kind. Maybe he’ll grow on you.”
“Like mold.” She retrieved her boots and put them on. “At my trial, don’t forget I warned you.” She closed the screen door on his laughter and crossed the red brick path she and her father had put in the summer before she’d moved away.
Max was nowhere in sight. It was a full moon, though. He was probably somewhere in the woods, in agony, bones cracking as he changed into his werewolf shape. Fangs glistening. Eyes dark, unable to reason—just like in his human form. Driven by the desire to…
She shrieked when a hand touched the small of her back.
“You scared me half to death!”
“I called your name. You had that lost-in-Jane Austen look on your face again.” He opened the passenger door for her and leaned in to push a pile of her dad’s paperwork out of the way.
“That look means that I’m deep in thought. Which I am capable of and you’re not.” She climbed into the truck and slammed the door, bracing for the rebuttal he launched into the minute he was behind the wheel.
“I’m capable of deep thoughts. Like how in the world did Haley Bowman, book nerd extraordinaire, end up not following her dreams? Or how did she go from being the most annoying girl in the world to being the most maddening, most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen?”
“Not following my dreams? I’ll have you know—wait. You…you think I’m beautiful?”
…
He’d always tended to speak before he thought, and that trait had landed him in a lot of trouble from the time he was a kid until now. His father had always said honesty was the best policy, but his mother would frown and say, “But maybe not with such enthusiasm.”
“Yes, I think you’re beautiful.” Just his luck the woman who got under his skin in all the wrong ways had to look as good as Haley did. He knew she’d always been pretty, but since she’d returned to town, his brain kept driving the point home.
“But?”
“But nothing.”
“No, no.” She held up a finger. “With you, there’s always a but, a pause, a little break in the conversation that lets me know you’re waiting to unleash more insults.”
He drove past a dozen residential streets before hitting the road that led to her family’s business. He looked at her under the passing streetlights. “You know why you don’t like me?”
“Yes. Because you’re you.”
He pulled up outside the gate across the entrance to the tree farm. “And you’re you.”
Haley crossed her arms. “I’m proud to be me. I like my curves. My don’t-quit attitude. I’m an optimist. I’m a hopeless romantic, and I’m not ashamed of that.”
He let the engine idle while he swung his door open. “You’re pretty soft for a woman who just got out of prison.”
She made a noise halfway been a groan and a growl. “Jail, and it was your fault.”
“You don’t like me because I uncovered your secret.” He slammed the door on her sputter. As he’d expected, she was out of the truck fast enough to give herself whiplash.
“What secret?”
Max took the time to remove and hang the lock on the side of the gate and push it wide enough to let the truck clear before he answered. “You want me,” he said slowly, wanting to distract her from what he’d just said. He couldn’t believe he’d let that “beautiful” line slip. “You’ve always wanted me.”
Her mouth opened and closed rapidly. He could almost see the air building inside her, waiting to explode like a popped balloon.
He gave an exaggerated sigh. “Desire has rendered you speechless. I’ll give you a moment to collect your thoughts.”
“The absurdity of your comment doesn’t deserve an answer,” she said when she’d finished gaping at him.
She marched back to the truck, a petite bundle of fury and loathing, he surmised from the daggers her eyes sent his way.
“Haley Bowman at a loss for words? It’s the Eighth Wonder of the World.”
She gave him one final fuming look before climbing into the truck.
He whistled a tune as he joined her. Three…two…one…
“What on earth would make you believe I could ever think that way about you?”
And there it is…
The truck lurched forward as he navigated the winding road. “Because I finally realized what made you run away from home and go all the way to California. You needed to flee to keep from throwing yourself at my feet. Those long hours of us working together at your family’s business made you begin to wonder what it would be like if you and I were a couple.” He wagged his eyebrows for good measure.
She laughed. “What it would be like? I’d really be in prison then.”
He continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “Guess I can’t blame you for running. You
were filled with despair at the knowledge that you’d never have me, and so you had no choice but to leave.”
“You want to know what I’m filled with right now?”
He parked the truck outside her dad’s office. “You’re cute when you’re wearing that murderous expression.” He got out, unlocked the front door, and hid a grin when he heard her counting slowly.
She barreled into the building after him, right on his heels, as he flicked the lights on. “Doesn’t it bother your tiny conscience that you owe me and you’re not going to try to repay your moral obligation?”
He glanced at her. “Sure, it bothers me.”
Pleased, she straightened. “Then—”
“But I’ll drown out the voice under the sound of a sports show, and eventually, it’ll go away.” He moved from the office into the warehouse where wooden decorations in varying stages of completion were strewn across tables.
Behind the building, stretching out across acres as far as the eye could see, were trees in different stages of growth. Though most of the profits came from the Christmas tree lots Bowman’s had all over the state, the handcrafted goods—the sleighs, Santa Clauses, snowmen, and reindeer—made up the rest.
Haley touched the face of a half-finished Rudolph and smiled. When she caught Max observing her, she scowled. “The sleigh needs to be tied down for transport. I’ll get the ropes.”
He put out an arm to block her path. “I want a better answer as to why you can’t handle your kiss list without me.”
She exhaled an exasperated huff of air. “I can’t ask an ex to kiss me out of the blue.”
“Why not?”
“Because it won’t work. It’s weird.”
“How do you know?”
“Max, kiss me.”
He blinked. “Good point—if I were an ex.” He rubbed his chin. “It’s better to date the guys and let it progress naturally from there.”
“Which is exactly why I told you I need you to set up the casual run-ins or dates. C’mon, Max. You’ve seen it. That video paints me as a wacky wronged girlfriend, and don’t you dare snicker.”
“I wasn’t going to.” He didn’t think seeing anyone humiliated was laugh material.
“Max…” She toyed with the ends of her hair, obviously trying to think of the best way to persuade him to help.
He’d seen that look on her face before, and so he waited.
“I want to be in a relationship. I want someone to come home to.” Her blue eyes implored him. “Don’t you ever get lonely? Well, probably not you, but I do, and I need you to set things in motion with the guys. If I do it, I’ll come across as on the rebound or desperate after that video.”
“Are you sure you’re not?”
“Wha—? No! What’s wrong with wanting to be with someone?”
He sighed. “Nothing.”
“Then you’ll help me?”
Set another guy up with Haley knowing how impossible she is to deal with? “No.” He brushed past her. “If we don’t want to be out all night, I’d better get the ropes myself.” A table in the warehouse held an array of rope, and Max selected the pieces that held the sleighs during delivery.
Haley didn’t bother to hide her disappointment over his answer. “I’ll back the truck up to the dock.” She held her hand out for the keys.
He passed them to her. “Watch the dip to the left. Your father had to cut down that tree around back because the roots kept growing into the sewer line, and it left a ground depression.”
“I’ve driven the I-405 to LAX. I think I can handle a little dip here.”
“It’s a big muddy dip,” he elaborated, but she walked away without responding. Seconds later, the truck roared to life, then the sound faded as she drove around the building. He walked to the rear where the unloading and loading took place, raised the dock door, and motioned her back until she drew close to the edge of the concrete. He held up his hand. “Stop.”
Max used a forklift to load the five-foot-tall pinewood sleigh, careful not to scrape the truck as he drove in, then backed out. As soon as the sleigh was settled in place, Haley secured the ropes to the brass loops anchored on the walls of the truck.
“What’s that look for?” she demanded when she turned and caught him staring at her.
No way was he going to tell her he’d been admiring her curves. He came up with, “You tie securely.”
“Yeah, it’s a real art.”
Max didn’t know what came over him, eyeballing Haley and noticing all the womanly things about her. Maybe the flash of heat running through his veins was the bad blood brewing between them and that tightening in his chest was indigestion. “I’ll drive,” he said after they left the building and he locked the warehouse. He wanted something to occupy his mind besides her.
Back inside the truck, Haley turned the radio on and stared out the window despite not being able to see much of their passing surroundings in the dark. She was probably thinking about his refusal to help. Knowing her the way he did, there was no way she was letting go of the idea, no matter how preposterous. She was going to keep after him, hoping to wear him down.
The only way to put an end to it was to give her a counteroffer that she’d refuse. Then she’d go about her merry way, and life would resume the peaceful before-Haley mellowness. The only thing he truly wanted and desperately needed, in order to get away from being around Hugh at the coffee shop, was a partnership in Bowman’s.
That’s it. She’ll never go for that.
He reached over and switched off the radio. “How badly do you want my help with your list?”
She swiveled to face him. “On a scale of one to D for ‘desperately,’ I’d go with D.”
“All right, then. I’m willing to help.”
She gasped. “You are?”
“On one condition.” The condition that would get him out of this whole mess. He was looking forward to that. He’d eventually have to figure something else out to deal with his family drama, but in the meantime: goodbye, Haley. “I give you my word that if you promise to accept this condition, I’ll help you all the way.”
“What’s the condition?” She stared at him, lips slightly parted, eager to hear.
“I want a partnership in your family business.”
As he’d imagined, she shrank back against her side of the truck, her face a mixture of no, he didn’t say that and I’m gonna vomit. “Partners?”
“Your dad has talked to me about becoming a partner. Since the business will transfer to you when he retires, he said that you would have to vote yes to that. So that’s what I want. For you to vote ‘yes.’ We’ll make all the decisions you would normally make, together.” He grinned.
She kept staring at him.
He wanted the partnership, but since she’d never go for that, he was off the hook helping with her bizarre plan and life was Haley-free again. He grinned. Ball’s in your court, sweetheart, and we both know you can’t outscore me. His grin quickly faded when he saw her narrow her eyes. Crap. Should have waited to gloat.
She smiled. Evil. Holding out her hand. “You want to shake on it? Or would you rather kiss and seal the deal?”
Chapter Four
Haley held his gaze, delighting in the panicked thoughts no doubt running through his brain, squawking like frightened chickens. He frowned, and it was all she could do not to yell out, “How do you like me now?”
“Well…” Max tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, straightened up, and then coughed.
The play of emotion on his face was priceless. She wanted to dance in her seat. “It’s killing you, right? You never expected me to agree.”
He gave her a look. Irritated and resigned. “Kiss and seal the deal. You want to kiss me?”
“Or shake.” She mimed a handshake. “I want to kiss you as much as I want to lick a metal
pole in subzero temperatures. But to find my soul mate, I’d kiss Bessie McCovey’s cow if I had to.”
“Huh. The cow. I should have thought of adding that condition too. All right. I guess I’m on board.”
She couldn’t help herself. She clapped in delight. For years, she’d already thought that Max deserved a partnership in the business. He wasn’t her favorite person, but there was no doubt that he’d worked hard for her dad and had been there when she couldn’t. This was perfect. He’d get what he wanted; she’d get what she wanted. Everything was going to fall into place. The love and family she wanted were right around the corner—she just knew it. “It’s going to be amazing,” she sang deliberately off key, throwing in a nasal twang for good measure.
“If you could pause the celebration?”
Haley sat still and let her smug grin say what she was thinking.
His irritation deepened. “What exactly do I need to do to become partner? Spell it out for me.”
“You’re my…kiss broker. What you have to do is simple. Three little tasks. One: downplay that stupid video to the men on my list. Two: make spending time with me sound appealing to them—”
“I’m not a miracle worker.”
Haley paused and clicked her tongue in a shame, shame sound. “Max, Max, Max. You are such a sore loser. Suck it up, buttercup. You focus on the partnership while you’re helping me, and it’ll make this easier for you to digest.”
She had nothing to lose by making the partnership arrangement with Max. Someday when her father retired, she’d maintain majority control, and Max would have to follow her leadership. He would hate that.
“Want to back out?” she picked at him.
“No.” A muscle worked in his jaw. “Continue.”
“Three: you and I have to spend long hours together, gazing into each other’s eyes and talking about the men on the list, brainstorming what I should and shouldn’t do.”
“Get real.”
She laughed. “Three—well, three isn’t really a task. More like a ‘what will happen.’”
He pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Three is once I kiss my soul mate and he’s on board with a relationship, that’s it. You’ll become my business partner.”