Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 86751 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86751 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
He waves his hand. “Feel free to detonate as many F-bombs as needed.”
“For some stupid reason, just to get her to stop nagging me, I lied and told her I was dating someone. I told her this person, who doesn’t exist, might not be able to attend, but of course, now that I’ve thrown her this bone, she’s not going to let it go.”
“Ahh,” he says again. “Why is it so important to her that you bring a date?”
I groan and let out a sigh. “I don’t know. Something about the seating arrangements being lopsided, and keeping up appearances. My sister’s fiancé’s family has money, and I think all of this is to impress Adam’s dad, when I’m sure Mr. Hargrove couldn’t give a flying fuck about seating arrangements, or any of the other minutiae my mom obsesses about.”
“Mr. Hargrove?”
“Yeah, I think he owns a shipping company, or something. I can’t remember. Why, do you know him?”
“I know someone with that name. What’s his first name?”
“Adam’s dad is … John, I think? Yeah, John Hargrove. He’s widowed, and I’m afraid that’s another reason my mom is trying so hard to impress him.”
There’s a pause before he asks, “Your mom’s trying to catch his eye?”
“I guess so. Seems kind of weird to me, wanting to date your daughter’s new father-in-law.”
“What does your sister think about that?”
My feet are still wet, so I turn the knob to send more heat toward the floor. “I think she’s ignoring the situation altogether, just trying to get through to the wedding without any more stress than my mom’s already causing.”
“Makes sense.”
Max is so agreeable, another thing that doesn’t fit with what I thought I knew about him from yoga class. “I’ve been talking too much about myself,” I say. “I don’t know anything about you, aside from the fact that you’re not very flexible. I’d never seen you around before you showed up in my class last week.”
“That’s because I’m new in town. Just moved here recently. Still getting settled.”
A memory surfaces: When he was in the sandwich shop the first time, he ordered two sandwiches. I glance at his hand; still no ring, but that doesn’t mean anything. “Do you have a wife, a girlfriend, a family?”
“None of that, or I wouldn’t be inviting you out to dinner, at least not without telling you my relationship status up front.”
He sounds sincere, but I take it with a grain of salt. It doesn’t matter anyway; even if he was interested in something more, I’m not planning to get involved with him, or see him anywhere after tonight except in class.
CHAPTER 10
CALLIE
“Have you been here before?” Max asks when I pull into the lot he indicates.
“No, I don’t come up this way too often.”
“I’ve heard really good things about it. There’s a patio out back with a great view, but we’ll stay inside tonight where it’s warm.” Max’s towel, and the heat in the car, did a decent job of drying me off, but parts of me are still damp from the rain.
He opens the restaurant door for me, and after we peruse the menu board and place our orders, he steps in front of the register and pulls out his wallet.
I nudge him aside. “I’ve got it. You fixed my car.”
He stands firm. “I didn’t fix your car; I just got it started. You need a new battery, and since you won’t let me buy one for you, you can at least let me pay for dinner.”
I can tell it won’t do any good to protest, so I back down. I really appreciate his kindness, and I hope he’s not expecting anything in return.
Though, as I observe him being effortlessly charming with the woman at the counter, and see her getting distracted by the impressive muscles on his arms, I realize it wouldn’t be a terrible hardship to repay him with sexual favors. Ana appears on my shoulder wearing a devil costume, cheering on these dirty thoughts, but I brush her away.
“Thank you for dinner,” I tell him as we gather silverware and sauces at the condiment counter.
“My pleasure. I hope the food tastes as good as it smells.” There’s a sweet and spicy aroma coming from the kitchen, like Old Bay seasoning, but his comment triggers something that’s been working in the back of my mind.
Max smells really good—I noticed it as soon as he got in my car and again now, as I reach in front of him to pull napkins out of the dispenser. He has a sharp citrus scent that reminds me of the sea breeze or a refreshing dip in a pool. The odd thing is that he’s wearing a different scent than I’ve detected on him in yoga class.
Is it normal for a man to change up his cologne during the day? Rick always wore the same one all day, every day.