I led Max down the hall to the bedroom I always stayed in when I came to Lexi and Mike’s. Mike threw my bag in there earlier when we got to the house and I knew no one would bother us alone in there.
Chances were they would think we were having sex.
Instead it was the opposite.
Max closed the door behind us and blocked out the noise of my friends talking in the living room. I worked my way across the room, still feeling a little drunk, but quickly losing my buzz. When I was settled on the bed I risked a look at Max.
“I can’t look at you on a bed and not want to crawl over top of you. This is going to be a quick conversation because if I’m in here with you much longer your friends will know exactly what you sound like when I make you come, and I don’t want anyone but me to know that sound.”
Heat flashed over my skin and I bit my lip.
“Fuck, Charlotte, don’t do that. Please, baby.”
I released my lip and looked up at him, trying to look innocent and not-seductive. That was pretty easy for me since I wouldn’t know how to seduce a prisoner his first day out after ten years.
Max ran his hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck. “Okay, real quick. I have no problem with your friends. Any of them. I’m not used to large groups of people because it’s usually just me and my family. The number of people you hang out with confuses the hell out of me. I can’t keep everyone straight and I don’t like not being able to call a person by their name.”
There was more to it, I could tell. I just couldn’t put my finger on it.
“The first time you saw Riley, Connor, and Mandy you wouldn’t even say hello. That wasn’t a big group.”
“It was about a week after I’d met you, right? I was still just a customer?” I nodded. “Who was Connor talking to that day?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea. A customer that he happened to know. Why?”
“The guy looked like he was going to throw you over his shoulder and make you scream his name. I was jealous as fuck. I didn’t want to hang around with your friends and watch the guy hit on you and listen to you flirt back with him.”
I was baffled. He was jealous? The whole reason I thought he hated my friends was because he was jealous? Or at least part of the reason.
“That guy never spoke to me. And if you were so interested in me why did it take you over a week to do anything about it?”
Max looked at me, his eyes traveling my body in an appraising, but not overly heated, way. “I was intimidated by you.”
I laughed out loud, quickly falling into hysterics. I laughed so hard I fell back on the bed and started to worry I was going to pee my pants. How in the hell could Max, super-hot, sweet, and stunning, Max, be intimidated by me?
When I was finally able to compose myself I asked, “Why in the world would you be intimidated by me?”
“Charlotte, you have no idea how amazing you are. When I first saw you I could tell you were different. After spending just a week with you I knew I wanted you, but I knew every other man who met you would too. I didn’t know your situation until we were at the hospital and everyone was paired up except for you. I couldn’t wait any longer to kiss you after spending the whole day with you.”
“Are you for real?”
He cupped my cheek and kissed the tip of my nose. “Yes. Not many women would have let me into their shop, then given me free coffee and muffins, at five am. You’re beautiful. And you’ve intrigued me from the first moment I met you.”
“You like me and my friends. I think you’re too good to be true.”
Max laughed. “Charlotte, I like your friends. They’re nice and really care about you which makes them okay in my book. They’re a lot to take in at once because I’m not used to so many people at one time, but I’ll adjust. If you want me around at least. I like you, Charlotte. My feelings for you are quickly heading past like and into a whole different world altogether, but if you’re not there I’ll back off and leave you alone.”
I sucked in a deep breath. This was it. Could I believe him? Could I trust he wanted to stick around? That he cared about me, implied he was falling in love with me?
“I’m scared, Max. I’ve never been here before.”
“Neither have I. I’m just as scared as you are. What if we decide right now that we’ll try. That we’ll give this, us, our best shot. We’ll be honest with each other about how we’re feeling, if we freak out, or if something bothers one of us. We’ll work through it together. I just want a chance with you, Charlotte. I’m not ready to give you up.”
“Okay,” I finally whispered, surrendering my trust to the man standing in front of me.
Over the next week I saw very little of Max. It snowed almost constantly so he was working like crazy to keep his lots cleared. By the time New Year’s Eve rolled around I was living out of boxes, ready to put everything into storage. I was getting excited about moving, but I had a ton to do. The next day we were moving everything into my storage unit and I was moving into Lexi and Mike’s condo.
But for one night, I was forgetting about it all so I could have fun with my friends. And my boyfriend? Was that what Max was?
I was trying not to stress about defining my relationship with Max. We agreed to give it a shot. Us. We were an us. I hadn’t really ever been an us before. I’d dated, yeah, but never been serious enough with a man that I would consider him a boyfriend, or the other half of ‘us.’
It was exciting.
New Year’s Eve was also the first time Max would be hanging out with all of my friends since we really started seeing each other. It would be the first time I was part of ‘us’ around all my friends. Would I be one of those people who changed? Would I still be able to be me? Would my friends call me on it if I wasn’t?
About a dozen times I thought about calling Max and canceling the whole thing. I wasn’t ready to be in a relationship. I was wrong to tell him I could trust him. I was too young to have a boyfriend.
Okay, maybe the last one was a little off, but still.
Lexi and Mike offered to pick me up to head to Mandy and Xander’s. Max was going to meet us there and said he would drive me home. We all decided not to crash at Mandy and Xander’s since Elise would be sleeping and… well, after staying up until midnight, or later, getting up early did not sound appealing.
After I closed up Bite Me!, for the last time, I headed upstairs to get changed. All the women agreed we would dress up a little for the party so we could feel like we were at one of those fancy parties none of us really wanted to go to. A quiet party with our friends was much better, but we liked the opportunity to dress up.
Once I was out of the shower I pulled on a pair of black lace panties, a matching bra, a flirty, short, black skirt, and my favorite pink top. I slid black thigh highs up my legs and stepped into my black boots, zipping them up to a few inches below my skirt.
I turned to the mirror. Hell, even I wanted to sleep with me. I looked hot. Max was a lucky man, if I did say so myself.
I dried my hair and pulled my fingers through it to bring out the natural wave. With smokey eyes, blushed cheeks, and pink painted lips I declared myself ready. I pulled on my black floor length jacket and went downstairs to meet Lexi and Mike.
~*~
The front door to Mandy’s swung open seconds after we rang the bell. Everyone else was already there, including Max. He was standing near the kitchen island talking to Xander and Aidan. When he saw me he walked away from them without another word.
“Can I take your coat?” he asked after he kissed me.
I nodded and turned my back to him. My hands shook as I unhooked the buttons down the front of my coat. When I pulled it free, Max took the collar and helped me out of it. Once I was free of my coat I turned and looked at him.
His eyes blazed at me. He scanned me quickly, the heat growing with each second he drunk me in. “Wow,” he said with awe and hunger evident in his tremble of his voice. “You look amazing. Fabulous, sweetheart, absolutely fabulous.”
“Thanks,” I whispered.
Max hung up my coat in the closet then rested his hand on my lower back guiding me into the kitchen.
“Damn, Charles,” Xander said when he hugged me. “You clean up nice.”
I slugged his arm. He laughed, then handed me a drink. “You’re forgiven. What is this?”
I took a sip. It was light, fruity, and had very little alcohol. It was good though.
“Family secret. It’s dangerous though because it’s full of liquor. Do you like it?”
I nodded. “It’s very yummy.”
“I’m making a pitcher. Just don’t drink the whole pitcher yourself.” Xander winked at me. He knew I was a happy drunk, but also a weak one. None of us drank that much so it didn’t take a lot to go from drinking to drunk, and I was the worst one. Xander helped get me home more times than was healthy.
“I need to make a toast,” Mandy said, lifting a glass of pop. “As the year comes to an end I have to say that it was a great year for me. I have a wonderful husband and daughter, but I’m also blessed with amazing friends. Every one of you is very special to me and I’m very thankful that you guys all came here tonight. We’ve had some new people added to our group this year and it’s only made us that much better. I’m thrilled to see all my friends so happy and for Xander to have some other men to talk to, especially now that he’s outnumbered at home. So, I guess all I have to say is I love you, old friends and new, and I’m honored to have you all here tonight.”
Everyone clinked glasses and said ‘Cheers’ to each other.
“I’d like to say something too, if that’s okay,” Max said when we were done.
What in the world did Max want to say? He had my curiosity piqued.
“I’d like to thank you all for being so welcoming to me. When I met Charlotte I didn’t realize she came with such a big family, but I’m truly honored to have met you and become a part of this group. I know I’m not officially a member, but I hope… well, we’ll see how things go. Thank you to Mandy and Xander for opening your home to us. Happy New Year everyone.”
‘Happy New Year’ chorused around the room, but I couldn’t move. Did Max just make some grand declaration? What the hell?
“We need to talk,” I whispered when I was finally able to speak. I clinked glasses with everyone again then nodded Max toward the living room, which was quiet thanks to everyone hanging out in the kitchen.
I crossed my arms over my chest and faced him. “What was that?”
Max glanced back at the kitchen as though it would give him some answers. “What do you mean?”
“Your toast. What was that about?”
“I just wanted to thank your friends. After last week when you said you thought I didn’t like them I realized they might have thought that too. Instead of coming out and saying, ‘I know you think I hate you but I don’t’ I figured I’d go with something else.”
“Not that part. What you said about being an official member?”
“Oh, that.” His head dropped and he wouldn’t look at me.
“Yeah, that. What the hell was that? What were you trying to say Max?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“I’m a little slow. Spell it out for me.”
He huffed out a breath and ran his hand through his hair. “I like you Charlotte. I told you that a week ago. I’m not trying to push you into anything. It’s been almost a week since I’ve really seen you. I just wanted to say I’d missed you. I’m not running and I wanted you, and your friends, to know that.”
“Why do you think I’m worried about you running?”
He cupped my chin and tilted my face up to kiss me. “I see the fear in your eyes, Charlotte. You’ve been hurt. I can tell every time you pull away from me, or push me away like you’re trying to do now. I don’t want you to put me with whoever it is that hurt you. I’m not going to.”
“You can’t promise that, Max.”
He sighed heavily, making me wonder if there was something he wasn’t telling me. He swallowed audibly then nodded once as if he’d made a decision. “You’re right. And there is something I need to tell you. But let’s enjoy the night with your friends.”