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Chapter 17
Maxhadwatched Gigi leavethekitchen,her head hanging lowand her eyeson theground. Christ, whata fucking idiot he’d been. Hewasn’tangryat himselfforthekiss;thatkisswasamazing. Hewas pissed offthathe’d handled whathappened after itsobadly.Thewholetimehe’d been saying the wordsto her,in hishead,hewassayingtheopposite.Okay,soitmayhavebeen inappropriate considering shewas nowhisemployee,butsaying itwasamistakewassofarfromthetruth.The feelof hersoftlipsagainsthis onlyconfirmedwhathe’d thoughtkissing herwould belike.
Perfection.
When she’d reachedoutand touched him,ajoltof electricitysurgedthrough hisbodylikehe’d been plugged intotheelectrical mains. Itmadehisblood boil,itmadehis cockstir. Hehad tosee whethershewould reacttohim,and when hereyeshad dipped tohismouth,heknew. Functioning on autopilot,he’d roundedthebenchand got up in her personalspace.Thescentof hershampoo was somehow hard-wiredto hiscockbecausehis erection begantostrain againsttheflyof his jeans. It had actuallyhurt,buthewelcomedthepain, hoping itwould calmthedamn thing down.
Although heknewheshouldn’thave,hesimplycouldn’tstop himself. He’d leaneddown and claimedwhathe’d wantedsinceprettymuch thefirsttimethey’d met. She hadn’treacted at first—shewasjuststill—butthenwhen he’dcoaxed her mouthopenwith histongue,shegave everything up tohim. Hewasgetting lostin a tactile ocean of Gigi,and thatwastheproblem. He remembered atimewhenhehad gotten lostinChelsea,had given everything to her,and look wherethathad gotten him.
He’d brokenoff thekissout offear. Eventhough shefeltnothing likeChelsea,looked nothing like her,shewasmaking himfeel likeChelseahadmadehimfeel in thebeginning. When helooked up from doing thedishes,Gigiwasgone. Checking down thehallway,hesawthather bedroom door wasshut. He guessed heshould have been happywith himself. Hehadwantedtostopanything morefromhappening,andhe’d achieved thatbydriving heraway…butwhy didhefeellikeshitfor doing it?
Hestoodtherestaring ather room,his handsballed intofistsat his side. Hewanted togoin thereandtell herhewasbeing a dickbecausehe’d been screwedover,but beforehecouldmovea foot,his phonerang. Itwashis mom.
“Hi,Mom,”hesaid,retreating backtothekitchen andhis sanity.
“Hi,Max. I’vegotsome good news.”
“IsitaboutDad?”
“They’vegiven himtheall clear torecuperateathome. I’mtrying toconvincehimtocomeback toLA withmesoIcan keepan eyeon him.”
Hefelttheweighthe’d been bearing sincehe’d heardhis fatherwassickliftfrom his shoulders. “That’sgreat.”
“Yeah,itis. Anyway,I justwantedyoutoknowhowhewasprogressing.”
“Haveyou told thetripletsyet?”
“I’ll callthemnow. I’lltalktoyou later.”
“Bye,Mom.”
Maxnoticed thetimeon hisphone. He had a few morehoursbeforehe had tobeatwork,and hewanted tospend itwithErin. Poking hishead intoher room,hefound her smiling facebeaming backathim;shealwayswokeup happyfromhernaps.
“Howare you,baby girl?Did you havea good sleep?” heasked.Erin simplyreached up her little hand and grabbed hisnose. Gently prying her loose,hechecked herdiaper thentookheroutinto theliving room.“Do you wantto gofora run,baby?”heasked her,getting a coobackin response. “I’ll takethatasa yes,”helaughed.
Heglanced atGigi’sroom briefly. Should heask her to go?Would sheagreetoeven if hedid?In theend,he decidedtosimplytell herwherehewasgoing. Sheprobablyhad tostudyanyway.With Erin in hisarms,heknocked on her door. A fewsecondslater it opened slowly.
“I’mtakingErin outto the park…”hesaid,leaving therestof thestatementopenfor her toeither sayshewas comingor not.
ShelookedatErinand smiled. “Havefun,youtwo.”
“Gigi,you didn’twantto—”
“Comewith you?”shefinished. Henodded. “I’d lovetobutI havea tonof studying todo.”
“Yeah.Of course you do.We’ll be backsoon.”Heknewshe’d justlied toavoidtheinevitable awkwardness.Maxhadto getoverit,too,andtheonlywayhecould thinktodothatwas topretend ithad never happened. And torun until hisbodynearlygaveout.
