carried the foldaway camp bed his sister had loaned him inside and propped it against the wall. She’d raised an eyebrow when he’d asked if he could borrow it. His explanation that he had an old friend staying for a few days hadn’t gone far toward satisfying her curiosity. She’d already been suspicious of his continuing presence in her apartment.
The crisis she’d called him over—a problem with the latest babysitter the agency had sent—had been resolved in the first hour. Charlotte had really only wanted a stand-in for her absent husband, a shoulder to cry on while she expressed her fury and disappointment that her little girl had once more been let down and misunderstood.
Her gratitude had slowly turned to inquisitiveness as the hours wore on and he’d stayed to help bathe Marcel and Eloise then cook dinner. By the time he’d settled beside her on the couch after dessert she’d been looking at him out of the corners of her eyes, clearly wondering why he was still hanging around.
He’d been avoiding going home, and they’d both known it. As soon as he mentioned the bed and the fact he had an old dancing friend staying over, he’d seen the cogs begin to turn in his sister’s mind. Which was why he’d made his escape and finally come home. He wasn’t up for twenty questions regarding his friendship with Maddy. Not that there was a lot to discuss; he just preferred not to have his sister jumping to conclusions.
He eased off his shoes and crossed to the stairs. He could make out the pale oval of Maddy’s face on the pillow as he moved toward the chest where he kept his spare linen and blankets. He found a sheet by feel, then what he hoped was a pillowcase.
“Is everything okay at your sister’s?”
Light washed over the bed as Maddy flicked on the lamp and propped herself up on one elbow.
“She was fine once she calmed down. Just a problem with an inexperienced babysitter. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I wasn’t really asleep, anyway.” She frowned when she registered the linen in his arms. “Max, tell me you weren’t about to sneak down to sleep on the couch,” she said.
“I borrowed a camp bed from Charlotte. If you’re going to stay for a while, I figured you might prefer a bit of privacy.”
There was a moment of silence. He felt about as transparent as a teenager. It didn’t help that the mere sight of her in his bed springboarded him into about a million different sexual fantasies.
She threw back the covers.
“I told you, I’m not stealing your bed. If anyone is sleeping on the camp bed, it’s me,” she said.
She stood and crossed the space between them, pulling the folded sheet from his hands.
“Wait a minute,” he said, trying to grab it back.
She stepped away and shook her head. “No. You’re already doing me the hugest favor, letting me crash here. Plus, I’m about half your size. There’s no way you’ll be more comfortable on a camp bed than me.”
He started to protest again, but she held up a hand.
“Have you got a spare quilt?”
She turned and grabbed her pillow from his bed, tucking it under her arm. She looked immovable and determined. He yanked a thick duvet from the chest.
“Maddy, this is crazy. I’ve slept on the camp bed a million times, it’s no big deal. We kept it for when Père was bad and needed constant care in his room.”
“Not listening,” she said as she started down the stairs.
He had no choice but to follow her. She was wearing his T-shirt again, and he was acutely aware of her bare legs beneath it and the way her pert backside swayed from side to side with each step.
“Help me set this thing up,” she said, eyeing the bed frame.
“Maddy. This isn’t what I brought it home for,” he said.
“Stop being so damn noble.” The bed frame protested with a rusty groan as she unfolded it flat. “I’ve slept in far worse places, believe me.”
She tugged the duvet from his arms.
“Go to bed. You’ve spent the whole day thinking about everyone else. Get some sleep.”
He stared at her. If only she knew that from the moment she’d arrived on his doorstep she’d dominated his thoughts, pushing almost everything and everyone else aside.
The realization made him turn away. Maddy was a friend in need. That was all. His days of obsessing over her were in the past.
“Fine, you win. I’ll see you in the morning,” he said over his shoulder.
“Night, Max.”
Upstairs, he stripped to his boxer-briefs and slid into bed. The sheets were still warm from her body. He lay on his side, staring at the wall. He could hear her moving around downstairs, making the bed up. Then there was nothing but silence.
If he hadn’t brought the bed home, she’d be beside him right now, the sound of her breathing soft in the darkness.
He rolled onto his belly and fisted his hand beneath the pillow.
Getting the camp bed had absolutely been the smart thing to do. He just wished like hell he didn’t regret doing it quite so much.
FORGET ABOUT what you saw. Go out there, take your clothes off, start working. Max is waiting for you.
Maddy reached for the bathroom door handle for the third time that morning, and for the third time she hesitated.
She’d spoken to Max yesterday. Argued over the camp bed last night, in fact. So it wasn’t as though this was their first meeting post-shower scene. There was absolutely no reason for her to be loitering in the bathroom. Hadn’t she decided this wasn’t going to be an issue between them, that she was going to push the memory of what she’d seen into the very darkest corner of her mind and ignore it?
“Idiot.”
She pushed the door open and marched into the apartment. Her stomach dipped as she stopped in front of Max. He was sitting on his stool opening a new box of charcoals, his head bent over the task. She watched the muscles work in his forearms, the way his deft fingers teased the packaging open. Instantly she flashed to an image from yesterday: Max’s arms rigid with tension, his biceps flexing as his fist slid up and down his erection.
He glanced up, a frown on his face. Almost as though he’d somehow guessed what she’d been thinking.
“I forgot to ask. How did you get on with the specialists yesterday?”
She blinked stupidly at how normal the question was. While she agonized over the illicit glimpse she’d inadvertently gotten into his sex life, it was business-as-usual for Max. He didn’t know what she’d seen. He never would.
“Really well. I spoke to Anna yesterday and she texted me first thing this morning. She got me an appointment next week with her specialist, Dr. Rambeau.”
“That’s
