Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 38908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
He hadn’t come back to walk her to work, so she had plenty of the morning to think of her own problems inside her head.
She added lots of chocolate chips to the brownie batter before pouring it out into a large baking tray and placing it in the oven. She took her items to the sink and began to wash them up.
“I’ve got a feeling Max likes you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“You know he ran out of Trey’s place last night, and he was pissed off. I can’t believe he made it in time for your thing.”
“It’s nothing.” She didn’t want to talk about being cleaned up by him either. She never drank, and last night had only proven she couldn’t handle her alcohol.
New rule for her, no Max Carter, and no drinking.
The only problem was, he knew about her watching porn, which wasn’t a problem, not even a little bit, but … he knew.
Anyone could watch porn. She didn’t see a problem with that. Her biggest problem was what everyone else thought, or more importantly, Max.
Molly didn’t get a chance to bug her for the rest of the day as the shop was heaving. Sundays the shop never opened, and this time, Aria was more than happy to be alone. She wanted to be with her thoughts, as otherwise she’d go mad.
How dare Max go through her stuff. It pissed her off that he’d do something like that. It wasn’t his stuff to go through. It was all hers.
By the end of her shift, her anger had dissipated, and to make matters worse, Trey, June, Dale, Molly, and Max were in the shop, including their kids. They were all gathered around talking, and she really didn’t want to look in Max’s direction.
She’d promised herself he’d never be able to make her look like a fool again, and yet, she’d given him a lot more ammunition.
With the kitchen completely spotless, and out of her work clothes, she had no choice but to say goodbye.
The moment she stepped out, her bag across her chest, she forced a smile. “I’ll see you guys Monday.”
“You want to come back and have a barbeque?” June asked.
“I’ll have to pass this time.” She was very much aware of Max staring at her, and he was driving her crazy. She couldn’t stand it when he did this to her. “I’m really beat. I’m going to call it a night.”
She gave June and Molly a quick hug before leaving the shop. Feeling like she’d escaped for the night, she just wanted to curl up on the sofa and read. She didn’t want to do anything else.
No thinking.
No internet searching.
She just wanted to be invisible and to be calm.
“You just going to ignore everything?” Max’s voice carried across the street. No one was around, and she sighed, turning around.
“I’m not going to do this with you. Not now. Not today. Not ever.”
She spun on her heel, intending to make her escape, but Max wasn’t having any of it. He caught up with her.
“You don’t have to be afraid.”
“I’m not afraid.”
“Then why are you running away?”
She stopped, turning toward him. “I’m not running away. I’m walking home.”
“Is this about the porn thing?”
Aria had taken a step away from him. She stopped and stepped right up to him. “You had no right going through my things. All of that stuff is personal and private.” She couldn’t help but stamp her foot. She hated how he made her feel. “Now, leave me alone.”
She kept on walking. Max didn’t say anything else to her, but she knew he was following her. Her heart sped up as she got to her place. The key was in her hand. He caught up with her.
“I just want to talk. That’s all I want to do. We can’t do that out here. Please, Aria. I won’t hurt you.”
She took a deep breath and looked at him over her shoulder. “If I ask you to leave, beg, will you go?”
“I’ll leave if you want me to go. I just think we should talk after this morning. I didn’t realize you’d want to run off so soon.”
“Only to talk.”
“I’ve got nothing else in mind.”
“Yes. Of course.” She wanted to think of a million reasons to say no, but avoiding Max wouldn’t be easy. They shared the same friends, and she wasn’t going to make them feel uncomfortable just because of her.
She let Max take care of the door as she walked into her home, removing her bag, jacket, and shoes.
This was her space. Her place.
Pressing her hands together, she turned toward him.
Having him back in her apartment reminded her of how good it felt to have his lips against hers and the feel of his hands on her body.
They were not supposed to be good memories, so she forced them out of her head, and instead, stared at the man.