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I drop the stapler back onto the desk. “It’s okay.” I crane my neck to look over his shoulder. “Is Thad with you?”
“No,” he says as he steps inside. “It’s just me.”
“Max!” Jackie cries over the speakerphone. “I did the thing. Can I go now?”
“Yeah. Thanks, Jackie,” he says.
“Okay, good. But don’t forget our dea—”
Max raises the receiver and drops it down again, hanging up on her.
I flick my eyes back and forth. “And what was that?”
He shakes his head. “I wouldn’t worry about it,” he says. “Just Jackie being Jackie.”
I nod. Fair enough.
I switch my computer monitor off. “Guess you heard by now,” I say.
He nods. “Yeah, but I don’t want to talk about that.”
My lips twitch. “Neither do I.” I look at him across my desk and a shiver crawls up my spine. Those gorgeous eyes of his. As much as he’s changed since high school, those have remained as breathtaking as always. “How’d it go with your dad today?” I ask.
“I don’t want to talk about him, either,” he says, a playful bounce in his voice.
“Well, is there something you did want to talk about?” I ask.
Max wets his lips. “Actually, I wanted to ask you if you’d like to come to dinner with me tonight.”
I blink. “Tonight?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s Christmas Eve.”
He chuckles, flashing a bit of that boyish charm as he steps around my desk. “I had a great time with you at the reunion last week,” he says. “A really great time, actually.”
I squint. “Last week?”
“I can’t stop thinking about it.” His eyes fall, purposefully admiring my body. “And about you.”
I lean in, sniffing him for any obvious signs of inebriation. “Max, are you okay?” I ask. “You know, the reunion was over a year ago…”
Max smiles. “And yet… I’m still as crazy for you as I was the second I saw you in that gym.” He takes my hand and gently brings it to his chest. “My heart still pounds for you, Phoebe Pink.”
I swallow hard. “Okay, not drunk.” I smile. “Just silly.”
He steps forward and kisses me, forcing me to fall back in time. I succumb to the memory of him. His palms on my cheeks. His body pressing into mine. His kiss, so sweet and kind but full of heat and desire for me. For Phoebe Pink, the loser of Belle Academy.
But that’s not me anymore.
Now, I’m his woman.
“Go out with me tonight,” he says. “I won’t take no for an answer.”
I smile as I lick my tingling lips. “What about Thad?” I ask, injecting some reality.
Max takes a step back and grabs Stinky’s leash off the desk. “He’s busy,” he says as he leans over and Stinky happily lets him hook it on.
