she asked, her voice rising. “I’ve never run from anything in my life. I’d choose better words next time. Or is it too hard when someone hasn’t written them for you?”
Max sighed, turning onto her street. The car slid a bit on the icy patch, but he eased the wheel in the opposite direction and righted the vehicle.
Raine was in a mood. Welcome to the club because, now that the initial shock of seeing her again had passed, he could feel all those old memories stirring up inside of him.
“I don’t want this to be uncomfortable for either of us,” Max said. “It’s apparent that you and my mother are...closer than you used to be. But I’ll be here for a few months, and so you and I are going to see each other.”
Raine turned and faced the front again, her hands twisting in her lap. “The past is dead to me, Max. I have different priorities now, and I don’t have the time—or the inclination—to dredge up old memories of that teenage lust we shared.”
Ouch. Lust? He’d been head over heels for her, but, with her declaration, there was no way in hell he’d admit that now. She had made her feelings about that time very clear, and he wouldn’t beat that dead horse.
Max turned onto her drive and barely suppressed a gasp. The old white sprawling two-story home had definitely seen better days. The stained roof needed to be replaced, paint had chipped off several of the window trims, the porch that stretched the length of the home was a bit saggy on one end, and, from the looks of things, no one had shoveled the snow off the walk.
“Just pull around to the back,” she said.
Keeping his mouth shut about the obvious needs of her home, Max eased the car around to the side where a very small path had been cleared from the garage to the back door. The red handle from the shovel stuck up out of the snow, where she’d obviously left it for future use.
“Thanks for the ride.”
As Raine jumped out, Max did, too. He opened the back door as she came around, and in seconds she’d unfastened the carrier. Max reached for it before she could grab the baby.
“Let me have her, and you can remove that base,” Max told her.
Because it was cold and she knew way more about that contraption than he did, Max started toward the cleared path, watching his steps carefully because he wouldn’t dare drop this baby.
Raine came up behind him with her keys and the base. He let her pass to unlock the door, but she blocked the entryway. After easing in, and setting down the base and her purse, she turned back to take the carrier.
“Thanks for the lift home.”
Her eyes darted away from his, to the baby, to the snow swirling around them, anywhere but on him.
“Do I make you nervous?” he asked gruffly.
Now she did meet his gaze. “No. You make me remember, and that’s worse.”
He stepped closer, near enough to see those gold flecks in her bright eyes. “Is remembering so bad?”
“For me it is, maybe not for you.” She shifted, holding the carrier between them as if to use the baby as a shield. “I’m not the same person I used to be.”
“You’re still just as beautiful.”
Raine rolled her eyes. “Surely you don’t think during the brief time you’re home that you can just pick up where you left off?”
“Not at all.” But damn if some of those old feelings weren’t right there at the surface. “We’re both different people, Raine, but you’re still stunning. Is it wrong of me to say so?”
“It’s wrong of you to be watching my mouth when I talk,” she said.
Max grinned. “Just doing a little remembering of my own.”
Raine gasped, and Max couldn’t suppress his laughter.
“I’ll let you get inside,” he said. “It’s too cold to be out here with that baby.”
Just as she started to turn, he called her name.
“What?” she asked on a sigh.
“See you tomorrow.”
He walked back to his car without waiting on her to sputter a response or narrow her eyes at him. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind she wanted to be left alone, but he just couldn’t. Raine had an underlying vulnerability, and like a fool, he couldn’t ignore the fact they shared a past and he wanted to know what happened after he left.
Even after all these years apart, all the blockbuster films, all the starlets on his arm and all the lavish parties, Max never felt so at ease, so...comfortable as he did with Raine. He honestly had no clue their past could come back at warp speed and take control over his emotions.
These next few months may be spent caring for his mother, but he sure as hell was going to have an interesting time with the beautifully sexy Raine Monroe.
Two
Raine all but sank against the door. Her heart was so far up in her throat she thought she was going to be sick.
The irony was not lost on her that, when Max had left years ago, she’d been so ready to be his wife and the mother to his children; yet, when he returned, she actually had a child.
But too many years had passed between. A lifetime, really. She’d lived through hell and was still clawing her way out. Her bank account was laughable, and her father was trying to play matchmaker with one of his minions.
Added to that, there was some sort of holdup with Abby’s adoption. Raine never could get a straight answer from her lawyer, who was equally frustrated at the untimely manner of the judge. Everything should’ve been finalized by now.
Other than all of that, her life was great.
Or it was until Max Ford had found her at a humiliating time when she’d wrecked her car thanks to a patch of black ice.
Raine shivered against the memories and the chill that had followed her inside. The Weather Channel update was calling for more snow, and this was just the start of several days. They hadn’t officially called it a blizzard, but they were talking in feet and not inches.
She’d have to go check on her chickens and her goats before it got too bad. Worry gnawed away at her, despite the fact that they were each in their own barn, and they had all the necessities an animal could need to endure rough elements. They even had a small built-in hatch to come outside, if they so chose. She loved owning such disciplined, albeit sometimes overly friendly, animals.
At least if she was snowbound, she could finish working on the new lotions for the Farmer’s Market next month. Raine was so excited that spring was right around the corner. Each day brought her closer to her favorite time of year, when she could sell all her goods at the market, meet new customers and chat with old ones.
Her finances always dipped in the winter, and she had to really watch her budget. Spring and summer were much more prosperous.
