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2
Walking into Max’s house a week later, Kiana took a deep breath, trying to remove all the stress from work. It had been one hell of a week. She loved being an attorney, but this shit was hard. Plus, her firm worked on all types of cases, from corporate mergers to criminal defense.
She never wanted to work defense cases, so she steered away from those attorneys as much as she could. She loved that her focus was on employment law. That type of work, she enjoyed, but that didn’t mean it was easy. It was just different.
All she needed right now was to be wrapped in her man’s arms. She’d used her key to walk inside since Max knew she was coming over. It was just after six o’clock, and she knew he wouldn’t be home for another hour or so. This happened occasionally, so she wasn’t concerned. Placing her bag in the master bedroom, she changed out of her work clothes, and into something a bit more comfortable.
“Time to make dinner for my man,” she said with a smile.
An hour later, she was dancing to music flowing from the surround sound speakers when Max walked in. She’d put on her favorite playlist for relaxing after work. The song playing as Max stood at the entrance to the living room was “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’” by Journey.
As she sang the words in enjoyment, the look on Max’s face became harder, darker. If she’d been paying more attention, she’d have realized the words of the song had a very specific meaning. An ex-boyfriend detailing how the woman he loved cheated on him, leaving him for the other man.
“Turn it off, Kiana.” His voice was clipped and short. Not understanding what his issue was, she cut her eyes at him as she went to turn off the music.
Pressing the button on her phone to stop the music, she turned to him with a smirk. “Happy now?”
“Yes,” he returned, a snarl in his voice.
“I swear, I’m not in the mood for your shit tonight,” she said under her breath as she walked into the kitchen. Giving herself an internal scolding, she knew Max only behaved this way when something serious was bothering him.
Sighing deeply, she began making their dinner plates. No need to bite off her nose to spite her face. She was hungry, so she was going to eat. Plus, since it was his home, she might as well feed him as well. Setting both plates on the dining room table, she re-entered the kitchen to grab her wine and him a water.
“Did you say something as I walked to the bedroom?”
Max’s voice sounded behind her, scaring the shit out of Kiana. She jumped, spilling wine on his floor.
“Damn, Max! How do you always sneak up on me like that? I swear, you’re part cat.” Setting her glass on the counter, she grabbed some paper towels and wiped up the excess. “Your dinner’s on the table if you want to go ahead and sit down. I’ll grab you some water.”
“Don’t worry about it, I got it.”
Not moving from where he stood, Kiana knew he waited for her to answer his original question. The man was like a dog with a bone. Since she knew exactly what she’d said as he left the room, and didn’t necessarily want to repeat it, she feigned ignorance.
“Did you need something, Max?”
Staring at her with those chocolate brown eyes, he waited a few more seconds before answering. “I thought I heard you say something when I went in the back to change.”
“You did? Oh, hmmm. I don’t think so. Maybe I was just humming the song.” She didn’t want to argue with him tonight. She’d had a very long week and with the way he came into the house barking orders, maybe his day hadn’t been so great either. They didn’t argue very often. Not very much at all actually, which was interesting since they both had such strong personalities. He pushed her buttons all the time, and she’d push his right back.
When they did fight, it was usually because he was being too damn obstinate about things. Like what she wore when she went out with friends, or if she didn’t contact him for a couple of days when things were hectic. Then again, when they did fight, the make-up sex was mind-blowing. Turning her gaze to him, she eyed his gray sweatpants and white T-shirt. Maybe a good argument was what she wanted after all.
Before she could set her plan in motion, he made a noncommittal sound as he turned toward the dining room. “Come eat, the food’s going to get cold.”
This man is going to drive me crazy, she thought to herself as she watched him walk away. Shaking her head, she followed behind him.
An hour later, they sat on the couch watching a movie. Her head lolled to the side as she fought to stay awake. It was too early to go to bed, and she didn’t want to be a party-pooper. Max’s body shifted again, his chest rising from another deep breath. Lifting her head to stare at him, Kiana lifted her hand, placing it on his jaw.
“Hey baby. You okay?”
He didn’t move for a few seconds before glancing down at her. “I’m fine.”
That was a lie. “Babe, you can talk to me. Everything at work going all right? You came in tonight like you were pretty stressed.”
“Kiana, I’m fine.”
Rubbing his upper thigh, she waited a few seconds to see if he’d say anything more. Not that he was a big talker, but he usually said more than those two words, especially if she pushed a little.
He tried to keep things to himself most times, but with how close they’d gotten over the past six months, he’d opened himself to her more and more.
