detonate at the worst possible time?
A couple weeks ago he’d wagered an extremely valuable car that he wouldn’t marry. Falling in love had been the furthest thing from his mind. But that’s before Rachel had brought up all the unresolved issues between them. Telling himself that it was nothing more than passion that needed to run its course was a speech he was having a harder and harder time selling. What he felt for her ran deeper than desire. It had sunk its claws into his soul.
He couldn’t control his fierce need for her. Just like his father couldn’t control whatever had made him stay married to one woman and love another for more than twelve years. Max had become just like his father. He’d grown up despising Brandon because he’d let his emotional need for Nathan’s mother damage his marriage, and in Max’s eyes, destroyed his credibility and his character.
Her hand slipped into his to draw him along to the buffet. The simple contact tugged his pulse into a sprint.
Being with Rachel made a mockery of his principles. Yet the idea of walking away was sheer agony. He’d believed the only solution would be to purge his need for her. And the only way he knew to do that was to keep her in his bed until he grew tired of her.
Who was he kidding? He grew more attached to her every day.
On their way to the backyard where a dining tent had been set up to accommodate the guests, they were intercepted by a dateless Jason.
“I don’t believe we’ve met.” Max’s best friend took Rachel’s hand and bent forward to smile into her eyes. “I’m Jason Sterling, and you are way too gorgeous to waste your time on my friend here.”
Max stiffened at his friend’s flirtatious manner. They’d competed over women a time or two, but once either staked his claim, the other immediately backed off. A growl started building in Max’s chest as Jason’s gaze dropped from Rachel’s face to scope out the rest of her.
“Rachel Lansing,” she said. “I know your father. How are he and Claire doing?”
“They’re doing great, thanks to you. My father’s never been happier.” Jason’s keen eyes surveyed them. “Are you two dating?” A vile grin curved his lips as he looked to Max for confirmation.
“Something like that.” Max stared down his friend, warning Jason to keep further comments to himself, and slid his hand into the small of Rachel’s back.
Jason looked positively delighted. “How long has this been going on?”
“We’re just old friends,” Rachel said, offering her own version of their relationship.
“Are you, now?” Jason looked entirely too pleased with himself as he turned to Max. “I got an offer on my ‘69 Corvette yesterday. Looks like I should take it. I have a feeling there’s a new car in my near future.”
The taunt infuriated Max. “I’ve got room in my garage for the ‘Vette. Maybe I’ll take it off your hands.”
Jason just laughed and turned his charm back on Rachel. “Will you sit next to me at dinner?”
“She’s with me,” Max growled.
“I thought you two were just old friends.”
Max stepped between Rachel and Jason, bumping his best friend in the process. “You’re supposed to bring a date to events like this, not poach someone else’s.” It wasn’t until he’d settled Rachel at the table and taken his place beside her that his annoyance with Jason dulled to a nagging irritation.
Snarling like a guard dog was not the usual way he kept other men from sniffing around his dates. On the other hand, he wasn’t sure he’d ever cared enough to warn anyone off before.
Rachel’s hand settled on his thigh. His attention jerked in her direction.
Her eyes were soft with questions. “What was that about?”
“It was just Jason being Jason.” For some reason he didn’t want to explain about the bet.
“Why did you tell him we were just old friends?”
“I guess it’s a little bit of a stretch.” Her lips thinned as she pressed them together. “Why did you give him the impression we’re dating?”
“Aren’t we?”
“I don’t think so.” She settled her napkin on her lap. “The term seems too tame for what we’re doing.”
And wasn’t she right about that. He remembered how she’d looked this morning in his robe, the dark blue terrycloth contrasting with her pale skin and matching the midnight blue of her eyes. With her hair soaked from her shower, she’d let him pull her close then shook herself like a dog after a swim. He’d retaliated by dumping her onto the mattress and making her all sweaty again. Then, he’d joined her for her second shower of the morning.
Desire seared him, hot and consuming. He laid his arm across the back of her chair and leaned close. When she glanced his way, he captured her gaze and gave her a glimpse of his hunger. To his intense satisfaction, her lips parted and her cheeks flushed.
With the amount of time they’d spent together in the last week, his body shouldn’t be clamoring to ditch the party and take her home, but her touch set off a chain reaction inside him. Two things kept him in place. His mom would kill him if he left, and he was eager to take Rachel in his arms on the dance floor.
He covered her hand with his. Their fingers meshed. His emotions settled. The temperature of his desire dipped from raging boil to slow simmer.
On the opposite side of the table Jason watched him through narrowed eyes. Max knew what his friend was thinking, but he was dead wrong. As Sebastian stood to deliver the first toast, Max let his gaze roam around the tent. All the usual suspects had been invited. Immediate family, extended family and friends. About two hundred people in all. Including his illegitimate half brother, Nathan, who sat two tables over with his very pregnant wife, Emma.
For a moment, Max fought irritation. Nathan’s presence shone a spotlight on Brandon’s infidelity and made a mockery out of celebrating thirty-five years of marriage. Max had never understood how his mother had allowed her husband to bring Nathan into her home after his mother died. Sure, it was the decent thing to do and his mother was kind and generous, but it had to have killed her to explain to all her friends about the twelve-year-old boy with Brandon’s gray eyes. Yet to the best of Max’s recollection, he’d never heard a cross word between his parents on the subject. He’d never know if his mother had forgiven her husband, or if she’d just decided to bear the humiliation for the sake of her marriage.
He and Sebastian hadn’t followed her example of tolerance toward Brandon and their half brother. Even now, twenty years later, Max couldn’t come to peace with his father or Nathan. The anger and resentment bubbled far below the surface like a dormant volcano.
And caught up in all those negative emotions were his feelings for Rachel. He couldn’t completely let go of the way she’d deceived him all those years ago. Nor could he turn a blind eye to the secrets he knew she kept from him now.
The secrets that were bound to tear them apart.
“What are you doing out here?”
Max
