Chapter Twenty-Nine

Max had been delighted when Grandmother called and asked if he’d like to go to dinner with her, Ms. Hazel, and Aggie. A celebration of sorts in anticipation that Ms. Hazel would be accepted into Grandmother’s country club.

Now he sat next to Aggie in a booth at a small restaurant he’d never been to but found charming. It was an Italian place Aggie recommended for the four of them. And they were indeed celebrating Hazel’s membership. The committee had voted this morning.

Grandmother lifted her glass of wine. “Here’s to Hazel being the newest member of Martinis and Cigars.”

Hazel’s face lit up brighter than it had been all night. Something he wouldn’t have thought possible considering how much she’d already been glowing. It was as if she viewed becoming a member of the club as equivalent to winning a gazillion-dollar lottery. He had no regrets spending the weekend cashing in so many favors to get the votes to go her way.

“Thank you for nominating me.” Ms. Hazel’s cheeks were a rosy red. “I promise to do my best not to embarrass you.”

Grandmother waved the comment off with a flick of her wrist. “Nonsense. You won’t embarrass me. You will do me proud.”

“Enough about me.” Ms. Hazel raised her glass. “Here’s to Aggie dragging a compliment out of Max. To you guys finally hitting it off.”

Aggie stiffened next to him.

They had hoped the matchmaking had ended but had come prepared in case it hadn’t. He reached out and squeezed her hand. His signal for her to throw the first dart.

She squeezed back.

“Oh, I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on his compliment.” She paused and took a sip of her drink. “It came right after I relayed a message to him from someone whose name I can’t remember. The message was, and I quote, last night was puuuuuurfect.”

Both grandmothers set their drinks down, their expressions comical.

“Max, dear, do you have a girlfriend?” Grandmother asked. “I had no idea.”

“I hope not because I have a date with a different woman Saturday night.”

He felt Aggie’s gaze.

“Anyone I know?” Grandmother asked.

“I don’t believe so. Did you guys know Aggie has an actual boyfriend?”

She swatted at his arm. “Don’t throw me under the grandmother bus just because you stepped out in front of it.”

“Felt more like I got there by a shove, not a voluntary step.” He sipped his wine to keep the ladies from seeing the laughter in his smile.

“Aggie Johansson,” Ms. Hazel snapped, “do you have a boyfriend, and if so, why didn’t you tell me?”

She sat up straighter. “I planned to tell you as soon as I figured out if he liked-me, liked-me.”

Ms. Hazel pursed her lips like Aggie’s words were blasphemous. “You shouldn’t worry about if he likes-you, likes-you. He should worry about if you like-him, like-him. I don’t care who he is, you’re the catch, not him.”

Max couldn’t agree more.

Aggie smiled. “I love you.”

Ms. Hazel harrumphed. “And does he?”

“And does he what?”

“Like-you, like-you?”

Aggie glanced down at her hands. It was as if she couldn’t lie straight to Ms. Hazel’s face. “I will find out soon.”

He resisted an urge to whisper in her ear that he liked-her, liked-her.

Ms. Hazel’s lips pinched. “And do you like-him, like-him?”

Her head came up. “Absolutely.” That came out sounding quite sincere.

“Why?” Ms. Hazel demanded.

“Well, for starters, he has a Harley that’s paid for and a job.”

Max clenched his jaws to keep from saying something he’d regret and reminded himself this was an act. A planned act. Not things being said to rile each other up.

“That does mark all your boxes where men are concerned,” Ms. Hazel said.

Max watched Aggie as she spun her story for her grandmother. Someone as free-spirited as her would definitely find riding on the back of a Harley exhilarating.

Had she ever dated someone like him? Someone who drove a Porsche. And had more than a job. Maybe if she did, her standards for what’s great in a man would change. Fuck. What a pompous-ass thought.

He’d learned today his real assistant didn’t plan on returning. He should definitely offer the position to Aggie. If he did, though, he wouldn’t be able to ask her out on a proper date. Ever. While he’d never envisioned himself with someone like Aggie, now that he’d met someone like her, he kind of wanted someone like her in his life. Someone who would remind him to slow down and laugh. Have fun. And run like a child.

If he gave her the job long term, he’d never find another like her to date. Someone capable of filling this sudden need he had in his heart. A need that wasn’t there before he met her.

“In fact, we have a date tomorrow night,” Aggie said.

Max snapped his attention to her and willed her to look at him. He wanted her eyes to tell him she’d concocted the date as part of their ruse. That she didn’t really have one. He felt another work night coming on. Despite the fact, she had to feel his gaze on her, she didn’t glance his way, so he cleared his throat to get her attention.

“I hate to do this to you,” he said when she glanced at him. “But I have a business dinner with a new client tomorrow night, and I planned on taking you. You’ve worked so hard this week, I thought dinner at a fancy restaurant would be something you would enjoy.”

She gave him a bemused smile. “Aren’t you a peach? I don’t know how a girl like me could say no to an invitation like that.”

His shoulders relaxed. When their contract ended, he was going to tell her he wanted to date. Or maybe as soon as the dinner ended. “Great. And, because it’s a business function, I’ll give you my credit card and let you go shopping on company time tomorrow for something new to wear.”

“And a blowout and a mani-pedi?” she asked, her smile staying one notch below the one he liked best.

“I don’t know what any of those are, but sure.”

Her smile completely disappeared, and the color of her eyes turned frosty morning blue. No lavender in sight. “You really know how to make a girl an offer she can’t refuse.”

She was really playing this up for the grandmothers. “Then you’ll cancel your date?”

“Oh, you misunderstood where I was going with my sarcasm.”

He tugged at his tie. Grandmother insisted he dressed up for tonight’s dinner. “Excuse me?”

“Tomorrow night is me and my guy’s third date.” Aggie stared at him wide-eyed. “A girl doesn’t cancel on the third date.”

Time for him to step up his game and pull his weight in this pretend dislike of one another. The grandmothers hadn’t bought into it at card night, so they really needed to go all in tonight. “Cancel. Tomorrow night, you’re working late. As per our contract, you’re available to work twenty-four hours a day. Tomorrow night is a working dinner.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You know how to spoil a girl’s fun, don’t you?”

…

An hour later, Aggie drove Meemaw and her home in Meemaw’s poker bounty, Sweet Sally. After she and Max had gone into their pretend boyfriend-girlfriend spiel, things had changed. Their fun evening of celebration became one of more silence than laughter. She deeply regretted taking the pleasure out of Meemaw’s night of triumph. “You okay?”

Meemaw didn’t answer right away. “To tell you the truth, I’m a little sad you and Max aren’t mooning over each other by now. I thought for sure the two of you would be a perfect match. I guess Grace and I aren’t as good at picking out two people meant to be together as we’d hoped.”

Aggie’s conscience flicked her with a taut rubber band. But it was for the best. It really was. “Meemaw, he’s my boss. Nowadays, bosses don’t have office affairs.”

“If he weren’t your boss, would things have turned out differently?”

Aggie stalled. Meemaw and she always told each other the truth. Lying gashed at her heart, leaving painful lacerations.

And frankly, tonight she realized she saw Max as boyfriend material.

More than boyfriend material.

Future material. He was smart, almost funny, caring, dependable, a great kisser, solid. His solid made her liquid less sloshy. Made her a better person. Wasn’t that so much more important in a guy than how fast his Harley went?

The realization had scared the sweet tea out of her. No way would he ever see her in the same relationship light. And that wasn’t her thinking with a chip on her shoulder. It was just a cold, hard statistic. The mere fact he wanted to buy her an outfit for tomorrow night’s business dinner said as much—he didn’t trust her to have anything to wear to a fancy restaurant. He was afraid she’d show up in something cheap and embarrass him.

Meemaw might think things had changed and people from the opposite sides of the track could fall in love and make things work, but Aggie didn’t. Sure, they could fall in love. But “make things work” was a whole different story.

“I do like him,” she admitted. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, he’s an uptight, pompous ass, but he has an adventurous side. The other night he went to Pappys with me and hardly complained.”

Aggie received the full-force of Meemaw’s smile. “Do you like-him, like-him?”

“I like that he has his head screwed on straight. It inspires me to want to get mine screwed on straighter.”

She laid a hand on Aggie’s arm. “I don’t see a darn thing wrong with how your head is screwed.”

“Because you love me, warts and all.”

Meemaw shifted in her seat. “So, what are you going to do about this like you have for him?”

She rolled to a stop at a red light. “I don’t know. But I do know you’re going to stop trying to manipulate my relationships. Okay? I told you the truth. Liking someone is an ocean away from loving someone. Let me take it from here.” The light turned green. They proceeded several blocks with no conversation. What was Meemaw thinking?

“You’re such a peach for confiding in me,” Meemaw said. “I promise to not meddle any further. The last thing I want is for you to disappear out of my life because I was too bossy or too interfering.”

Her words gave Aggie’s heart a papercut. She pulled over to the side of the road. “Meemaw—”

“Tarnation. Is Officer Bobby pulling you over, too?” Meemaw twisted in her seat to look out the back window. “I don’t see his lights. You don’t have to pull over unless he turns on his lights. You know that, right?”

Aggie took off her seat belt and smiled. “Meemaw, I love you. I would never disappear out of your life. You’re the perfect amount of bossy and interfering.”

“Aren’t you a peach for allowing me the right to do a little interfering? Now. Let’s talk about what you’re going to wear. No way on my watch will you let a man buy your clothes. I don’t care if it is for work.”

Aggie nodded. Her reaction hadn’t been an overreaction. The gesture had been a bullshit stab at her upbringing.