Rachel would continue to deny him answers until he got her alone, Max dropped the matter. Then, deaf to the protests of the two independent career women across from him, he settled the bill.
They exited the restaurant only to discover the day’s heat had lingered into evening. Rachel’s gaze followed her sister as Hailey headed off to where she’d parked her car. The shadows were back in her eyes.
“She’s on top of the world,” Max remarked, pacing beside Rachel as she retraced the path they’d taken an hour earlier.
“She’s really happy.”
Max cursed the strong desire to put his arms around Rachel and kiss her sadness away. “But you’re not.”
“Of course I am.” She adjusted her purse strap. “I’m thrilled.”
“For her, but not for yourself.”
She wrapped silence around her like a muffler and shot him a look that would have taken down a lesser man.
“Not that I blame you for feeling sad,” he persisted. “You’ve taken care of her all her life. It’s got to be hard to let go.”
“My feelings don’t belong in the conversation.”
Impatience rose in Max. Five years ago, he’d found her mysteriousness appealing. Until he’d discovered the reason behind it. How bad were the secrets she was hiding today?
“Why not? Surely it can’t hurt to talk to me about what’s bothering you.”
“Nothing is bothering me.”
In other words, she wanted him to back off. Too bad his disquiet over her financial troubles was a pest he couldn’t ignore.
“That’s not true. You’ve got financial problems.”
She stopped at an intersection and faced him. “I’m going that way.” Her finger pointed up a street perpendicular to the one they’d been walking along. “You need to go that way.”
“I’m not going to let you walk alone to your car.”
Despite the storm brewing in her blue eyes, she smiled. “I walk alone to my car every day. I don’t need your manly presence at my side to keep me safe.”
“Whatever.”
He snagged her arm just above the elbow and stepped into the crosswalk. She resisted his manhandling for three strides before breaking free.
“I don’t need you to walk me anywhere.”
“Stop being so damned independent and let me help you.”
She was breathing hard as they reached the sidewalk on the other side. Frustration poured off her in waves. She whirled to confront him. “I don’t need your help.”
“How about Hailey’s help? Why does she really want to give you—?”
She stopped the rest of his question with an open-mouth kiss that left him reeling. Up on her toes, her fingers fisted in his hair, she plunged her tongue into his mouth in a determined bid to divert his line of questioning.
It worked.
Max gathered her slim form tight against his body. He slipped one hand between their bodies, her breast his goal, when a horn honked nearby, reminding him they were standing in the middle of a city street.
Panting, he raked his lips across her cheek. The heavy air had coated her skin with a fine sheen of perspiration. She tasted salty.
“Come back to my place.”
“I can’t.” Her hands retreated from his back, sliding away from his body with haste. “I have a ton of work to catch up on at the agency.”
“Take tomorrow morning off and do it then.”
“You don’t understand.” Heaving a sigh, she shook her head and turned aside. “My boss is a complete tyrant.”
Max caught her arm and tugged her back into his arms. “A bear, is he?”
She arched her eyebrows and peered up at him. “Always roaring and throwing his arms around in a threatening manner. It’s awful.”
“Maybe there’s a reason why he’s like that.”
“Such as?”
“Sexual frustration?”
A golden chuckle rippled through her. “Not possible. You should see all the women he dates. There’s a list of them on my computer. All their preferences. Their favorite restaurants. Favorite flowers. Favorite music. Even their preferred jewelers. I think he’s getting plenty of action.”
At her recitation, Max’s grip loosened enough that she was able to free herself and put several feet between them. He hadn’t considered that she’d have access to Andrea’s files and information about his personal life. Sure, he knew a lot of women. Dated a lot of women.
“Did it ever occur to you that he dates all those women because he’s searching for something missing in his life?”
“Ms. Right?” She shook her head, tugged her suit jacket straight and raised her chin. “I don’t think that’s what he’s looking for. He’s a confirmed bachelor. No woman stands a chance of capturing his heart.” Rachel sent a breezy smile winging toward him and headed away. “See you tomorrow, boss.”
Max stood where she’d left him, a sour feeling in his gut. At some point today he’d set his toes on the line he’d drawn five years ago in the sand of an Alabama beach. He’d sworn then that he’d never forgive Rachel for her lies. He hadn’t understood the powerful connection between them or his vulnerability to it.
Today, in the face of his compelling need for her, Max felt anger and resentment losing their grip on him. How long before his heart was in danger? The smartest thing would be to cut her loose and stop playing this dangerous game. But his whole body ached at the thought of never again tasting her kisses or hearing the sounds of her pleasure as he drove into her.
Max pivoted and headed toward the Case Consolidated Holdings offices.
Who said he had to deny himself the opportunity to enjoy her body? Making love to her. Forgiving her. Falling for her, even. None of these things would result in the loss of his ‘71 Cuda.
He’d only lose his bet with Jason if he married her. And that was a trap he could avoid with ease.
At four in the afternoon, a Pensacola, Florida parking lot was the last place Rachel wanted to be. No breeze stirred the stifling air radiating from the sun-baked blacktop. The sky was a perfect blue, unspoiled by clouds. Rachel brushed sweat from her brow and half trotted to keep up with Max’s long stride. The dense Florida humidity made her white blouse stick to her skin. Every inch of her felt uncomfortably damp. Only her mouth was dry. The parched sensation had begun the instant they’d emerged into the harsh afternoon sunlight, and Max had transformed from Case Consolidated Holdings’ difficult chief of operations to the charming devil she’d toppled into bed
