Chapter Thirty-Seven

Friday afternoon, Aggie sat at her desk and listened to Max as he carried on a phone conversation. Now and then, her brain went from listening to chastising herself for not having make-up sex with him Wednesday night when she had the chance then praising herself for having the backbone to say not interested.

If she tried to have a casual relationship with him, her heart wouldn’t stay out of the equation. Hell, it had done everything but bare its ass to the world after only one romantic night with him. His heart, on the other hand, would stay clothed and uninvolved. Any guy who could have sex with a woman one night and then take another out the next had a well-behaved heart. A heart that knew no meant no. A heart that never bucked the rules set out for it to obey. A heart, no doubt, holding out for a society lady.

“I don’t care what it costs. I want the land.” Max leaned back in his chair, his feet up on his desk and his tie hanging loose around his neck. Even on Fridays, the guy came to work dressed to impress. “I agree. It’s two hundred thirty-five acres of awesome potential.”

She’d shown up to work on Thursday worried about his reaction to her walking out on him Wednesday night. There hadn’t been any need to worry. From the moment she walked through the door three minutes late, he had acted like nothing went down between them. That they were back to being boss and employee with an easygoing relationship that allowed smiles and laughter. She’d stepped up to the plate and played along.

He chuckled. “Okay. You’ve got me there. I do care how much it costs.”

Max caught her staring and threw her a wink.

Her stomach did a flip-flop. Okay, the occasional wink was new. This was the third time in two days he’d winked at her. The wink annoyed her. Because she liked it, and it made her have thoughts like: what would life be like if she could change her destiny? If a Johansson could capture the heart of an upper-crust winker and not only his lust?

She shook the pity party off. She didn’t need a man to be happy. Her happiness was all on her. It wasn’t anyone else’s responsibility to make it happen.

“Hopefully, it won’t go over my top number. If it does, call me.” Max clicked an ink pen open and closed as he talked.

Invitations to this particular auction went out this morning. The owners would hold the auction this afternoon. The whole thing cloak and dagger, hush-hush.

The landowners didn’t want to deal with the public sentimental outcry over their decision to sell the amusement park.

He ended the call and swiveled his chair around to face the windows.

After about ten minutes of silence, she asked him, “Want to brainstorm ideas of what you could do with the theme park should you win the bid?” Her brain had been buzzing with ideas ever since learning of the auction.

He glanced at his watch. “Sure. I’ve got a few minutes.”

A few minutes? Did he have plans with Tabitha? It was a Friday night. She pushed the thought away as she slipped on her heels, picked up her ink pen and a pad of paper, and walked to the conference table.

He pulled up an image of a map of the theme park and projected it onto a large screen. “My initial idea is to turn these quirky buildings into offices for start-up businesses,” he said. “Whoever buys the renovated property could offer five-year leases. The rent would be cheap, but in return, the owner would get a percentage of the tenant’s gross income starting year six and lasting until year ten.”

“You could rent to clothing designers, specialty boutiques,” she offered. “There could be a gourmet coffee shop. A beer and wine shop. And beauticians building their clientele could open a small one-chair salon. Oh, and you could offer food trucks a permanent home on the parking lot.” If she wasn’t leaving town, she might even want to rent a building and start her own business.

He sat back, crossed his arms over his chest. “What other ideas do you have for the property?”

“You could turn all the buildings into a series of little houses that a hotel would buy and rent to travelers.” She liked that idea. If advertised correctly, it would become a destination hotel.

“You’re a natural visionary. It’s a shame you turned down my offer to stay on as my assistant.”

“Do you want to work late and come up with more ideas?” she asked.

“Can’t. I have plans.”

“With Tabitha?” The words skidded out of her opened mouth.

“Does the fact you’re asking about my dating life mean you’ve reconsidered your position on us?” He’d asked the question nonchalantly, but it felt like being examined by a hot-shot defense attorney.

“Us?” She forced herself to laugh. “You didn’t offer an us. Just more sex.” Why had she said that? It sounded like she wanted an us. Which gave him the perfect opening to say there’d never be an us.

He stood and moved to her side and leaned a hip against the table. “Considering you plan to move to Brooklyn, I was under the impression you don’t want an us, either? Am I wrong?”

Either. So he admits it. He doesn’t want an us. “No, you’re not wrong. I have big plans for Meemaw.”

He ran a finger up her arm. “That’s what I thought. Aggie, my decency is what kept me from offering you an us. Just say the word, and I’ll happily become indecent and offer you an us.”

She forced herself to think. He had a date tonight, and here he stood flirting with her. And he had said “either.” “How long does an us usually last with you and a woman?”

His hand cupped the back of her neck. “With you, I’m thinking it might be a very long time.”

That wasn’t forever, and that wasn’t a declaration of love. That was just a rich man saying, I want to fuck you until I get tired of you. “I’m not prepared to give you an answer. I need to think about it. I haven’t even given the topic of us any consideration.”

With his free hand, he grabbed her wrists and pulled her up so that they stood toe to toe. “Do you have some salve to go with that scathing burn?” The words were humorous, but it wasn’t humor she saw in his eyes. It was lust.

“I’m not a nurse.”

“And I’m not a saint.” He yanked her into him. “You have exactly one second to tell me not to kiss you.” His thumb meandered over her jaw and up to scrape across her bottom lip.

“What does us mean to you?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never offered an us. Right now, what I know is that I can’t look at you without wanting to tear off your clothes. To cruise my hands over your lush curves. To kneel between your thighs and stroke you with my tongue until you wake up the dead crying my name over and over. And then I want to fuck you.”

Again. Not a declaration of love. She rolled her eyes, and the movement caused all of her intelligence to evaporate. “Kiss me already. We’ll figure out the details later.”

…

Max didn’t wait for a second invitation.

He took her mouth in a kiss of ownership—hell, he wanted to own every part of her. A kiss that said the words he couldn’t yet wrap his brain around—I’m falling in love with you, Aggie the Horrible. His good intentions of keeping it just a kiss evaporated. He lowered his hand to her skirt and tugged it up until it was bunched between them. He slipped his hand inside her panties and palmed her. “You’re so fucking wet.”

“That’s what happens when you talk about tonguing me.”

His fingers found her clit, and he rubbed, enjoying the feel of her hips bucking against him. “Next time we do this, my tongue is going inside your sweet pussy.”

“Why next time?” she asked, her hard breathing making her words almost unintelligible.

He didn’t answer but instead slid two fingers inside of her and continued to rub with his thumb.

When she begun to mewl incoherently, he bit her earlobe.

“Oh fuck. Max.” She clutched his shoulders. “I’m—”

He took her mouth and branded her with a kiss while he kept his hand in place, and she rode out the waves of an orgasm. Only when she loosened her grip on his shirt did he remove his hand and take a step back, allowing her skirt to fall into place. “I have to leave. Come over later tonight and bring an overnight bag. We’ll finish this.”

She pushed her hair out of her face, and her heavy-lidded stare melted the last remaining barrier protecting his heart. “Cancel your plans and take me home with you right now.”

He jammed his hands in his pockets. A man could lose himself forever in this woman. “I can’t.” Damn Ruby and her blackmail. She’d discovered he hadn’t taken Jodi to see The Lion King and now had switched from vague threats of revealing information about a guy from Grandmother’s past to a very real threat of exposing the hand he’d played in getting Ms. Hazel admitted into the club. And he couldn’t explain it to Aggie, because then she’d know Ms. Hazel didn’t get into Grandmother’s club without major strings being pulled.

Her eyes narrowed. “Do your plans include a woman?”

He nodded. He wasn’t going to lie. “It’s complicated, and I’m not at liberty to explain the complication to you. But I’ll cut it short and be home before it even gets dark outside.”

“And you think I’m the inappropriate type of girl you can ask to come over for a fuck after you have a date with someone society deems appropriate?”

“Damn it. That’s not it at all. Where did you get such a ridiculous notion that society finds you inappropriate?”

“Meemaw’s taught me a lot of things, but the most important thing is that actions speak louder than words. Your actions do not match your words.”

He sighed. “Aggie, would you do me the honor of going out with me tomorrow night? Give me a chance to prove you wrong?” He couldn’t just declare love. If he did, she’d be like Grant and think he’d fallen in love with sex and not her. All of her.

She smoothed her skirt with her hands. “Thanks for the orgasm, sorry I didn’t get to give you one in return, but it’s best if we just keep things strictly business until our contract ends.”

He stabbed his fingers through his hair. And that’s why his walls should have stayed up. To save him from how this felt. “That’s not what I want. My plans with—”

“It’s what I need. I suggest you spend the time getting your complications figured out.”