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“You’re being silly.”
“Nah, I’m ecstatic and completely ga-ga over my lovely wife.”
“All right, all right, you two…” Reese chuckled. “Let me get a few pictures before we have to clear the room, or Eileen gets another call.”
Only to hear her radio on her shoulder go off.
“C’mere!” Max ordered in a panic, waving Eileen forward as Reese hurried to their side, held up the camera, and took a selfie of the four of them. His brother quickly kissed his wife, murmuring ‘bye Babe’, before Eileen ran out the door.
Reese took a few photos of them before nodding and answering his cell phone. A moment later, he turned to Max.
“I’ve got to head back to the station, too. Do you want to meet for dinner tomorrow evening so you have some time alone?”
“Yes,” Max blurted out before Elana could answer and saw his brother’s knowing smile. “We’ll meet up with you tomorrow.”
“Sounds good,” Reese agreed. “Nice seeing you again, Elana.”
“You too,” she said simply… and turned to Max the moment that Reese was out of earshot. “He thinks that we’re gonna do things.”
“Most people that just got married do.”
“But we’re not.”
“No, we aren’t,” he agreed quietly, a little frustrated he’d made that bargain now. “But I thought maybe we could spend some time alone, talking, and get to know each other.”
She nodded.
Max wished he could read her mind right now as she looked away from him. Sometimes, he just couldn’t figure out what was going through her head. Did she think he was some sex-crazed fiend? Didn’t she understand that if he acted on any of this, he was fully aware he would lose his chance to ever win her over?
That was the whole reason he’d agreed to stay celibate, knowing that this was his only shot at convincing Elana to marry him, and she had. He wasn’t backing out now, nor was he going to ruin that tenuous bond between them. Nope. It was time to hunker down and be the man she deserved.
This was going to be torture tonight.
CHAPTER 10
ELANA
Romantic and Sweet were not the words she would normally have used to describe Max’s personality, especially not after the stunt at the grocery store or his playful antics handcuffed to her bed. Heck, years of high school teasing had proven he wasn’t exactly a great guy. However, things are different now. The man that had been standing before her not twenty minutes ago – and the same fellow that had called her last night, speaking softly to her.
That guy was amazing.
His words had made her heart flip wildly in her chest and would forever be ingrained in her mind.
“I want to be the man you deserve, and if it takes me a lifetime, I’m gonna do it… for us,” he had promised, sliding a staggering emerald-cut diamond solitaire onto her finger. It made her wonder if the man actually knew the value of a dollar because, between the pearls and this ring, she was practically screaming, ‘rob me!’
And when she was about to protest about the ring, he teased her about it, saying that the ring was ‘happy.’ Inanimate objects cannot be ‘happy,’ and she knew it. It was more like he was happy to be putting a ring on her finger and playing it off.
The man loved to tease her, to openly taunt her sometimes about subjects that he knew would make her uncomfortable or blush; but then he would back down and say something sweet. That circle was forever spinning between them. He would push, she would push back, but there was a change now – a change she hadn’t expected.
He was stepping forward, taking the high road and giving her whatever she wanted simply to agree to marry him. She hadn’t asked for a massive wedding ring, yet he’d selected it regardless because it meant a lot to him.
But why?
Max had already said a few times that he didn’t love her, but rather that he wanted to grow into a friendship, and grow to get to know each other. Sometimes, the way he looked at her said differently, and she wondered again if this was an act. She half expected him to get her home and try to push his way around – and seeing him in that Air Force uniform, admiring the way he looked…?
Well, would it really be that tough to have a husband?
Her eyes slid upward to look in the rearview mirror, seeing him driving his brother’s truck behind her Honda. He was banging his thumb on the steering wheel, dancing and singing, and she chuckled. The man had no shame – and no filter.
