It had been over a week since he last messaged Josie. Not that Max was counting. Texting her was all he wanted to do. Every moment he thought of her had him reaching for his phone, but he had to refrain. He suspected Katie’s words had really affected her. His cousin had said some horrible things to the wrong person. If it had been to Sarah, he wouldn’t have cared at all.

But it was to Josie.

Sweet, innocent Josie.

He’d never had someone as sweet as her in his life.

Someone who was nice to him because they wanted to be.

It had been a long time.

The last?

When he and Sarah were kids.

Before they became teenagers, and she had chosen Alex.

It was right that Max had ruined something as good and as pure as Josie’s friendship before it could even really develop.

“Max?” He heard Stevie call his name. Blinking, he lifted his chin to shift his gaze to his best friend’s fiancée. Her brows furrowed as she stared at him. Then she turned her head and shrugged her shoulder at Julian. “I tried. You’re right. He’s broken.”

“See. I told you I wasn’t overexaggerating,” Julian said.

Stevie rolled her eyes as she set her palms on Julian’s cheeks. “I’ll never doubt you again.”

Max watched as Julian leant closer and said in a low voice, “You always doubt me.”

“Yeah, and I still seem to love you, mon soleil rayonnant.” She pressed her lips to Julian’s and kissed him.

That.

That love in their eyes.

That connection.

That smile they made.

That was what he wanted.

What he had with Sarah Collins never looked like that. What Stevie and Julian had was what Max wanted more than anything. His want for that had him getting up from his chair and creating a loud, scraping sound.

Julian pulled away from his fiancée’s kiss and yelled, “He’s alive!”

Stevie laughed as her hands left Julian’s face, and she glanced up at Max. “You’ve been out of it since you got to PJ’s,” she pointed out. “What’s going on with you, Max? Did something happen while we were in France?”

Too many questions, Stevie.

But instead, he asked, “Have you seen Ally?”

Stevie blinked at him and then nodded towards the bar. “She’s with Rob at the counter.”

“All right. I’ll be back.” Max stepped away from the table.

“Can you get me another—” Julian yelled out.

“No,” Max said, cutting off his best friend. He wasn’t going to return to the table. Not with what he planned to do.

Max searched the counter to find Ally sitting on a barstool with her husband by her side. Since Ally had worked at PJ O’Brien’s when she was first cut off, she was untouchable by all the regulars. It meant that no trouble would find her. And now that she had married his best friend, Robert Moors, the row club and its members had her back. She was now a world champion’s wife. And it didn’t take much convincing for them to love Ally.

When he reached the married couple, they both turned to him.

“Hey, Ally, can I talk to you for a second?” Max asked, almost afraid to.

“Everything okay?”

He nodded.

“You need me to go?” Rob asked.

If it had been anyone else, Max would have said yes, but Rob had always supported him and his decisions. He had been the one who told him that everything would be all right when he’d eventually come clean with his past sins. And Max would. He promised he would. And to be a better man worthy of having Josephine Faulkner in his life, even as a friend, meant asking for forgiveness from his past.

“No, that’s all right,” Max answered.

Rob stayed put, wrapping his arm around his wife.

“Are you okay, Max?” Ally asked, her hazel eyes shimmered at him.

Taking a deep breath, Max straightened his spine and squared his shoulders. “You’re the new boss of the bakery, right?”

“Correct,” she said with a nod.

His mouth suddenly became dry.

The organ in his chest doubled in size.

The beats it was supposed to make were anxious clenches.

But he was desperate beyond words.

Ally’s smile faded. “I’ve already signed the contract my family’s lawyer drafted. I’m sorry, Max. I didn’t even think of asking you to have a look at it.”

He chuckled. “No, that’s not what I was going to ask.”

“Oh?”

Max licked his lips and sucked in a deep breath. “Do you know if Josie’s working tonight?”

His best friend’s wife flinched in surprise. “You wanna know if Josie’s working?”

“That’s right.”

The shock turned to excitement and relief on Ally’s face. “She is. She’s closing tonight.”

“Great. Thanks, Ally,” he said appreciatively.

Just as he was about to turn around and make his way out of the pub, Ally got off the barstool and lifted her chin at him. “What happened when we were in France?”

Max glanced over to see the intrigue on Rob’s face.

“Nothing.”

Ally’s brows met. “Nothing?” She sounded disappointed.

“Nothing,” he confirmed. Then he balled his hands into tight fists. “But I wanted something to happen.”

“You did?”

Max grinned. “I did. And I’m gonna go do something about it. I’ll see you later.”

“Wait,” Rob said, grasping his arm. “Does that mean you’re over Andrea?”

Glancing over at Ally, he saw that hope in her eyes dwindle. Max wanted to say yes. Start fresh with whatever it was he had with Josie and see where his attraction towards her led.

But Andrea Wallace was almost it.

The woman was almost his.

Max pulled his arm free from Rob’s grasp and said, “I’m going to be.”

Noel: Hey, Max. When you’re free, can you give me a call?

 

Max entered the bakery with his phone in his hand and reread the message his best friend in Boston had sent while he had driven to the cupcake bakery to see Josie.

He knew he might not be able to have what he wanted with Josie. His affection for her didn’t make sense. But she understood him in ways no other woman had. She understood he held guilt, and she saw it clearer than anyone else had.

If all she wanted was a tutor and friend, then Max would be that for her.

His attraction towards her would be the unrequited kind.

Locking his phone, he decided that right now, he wasn’t free. As much as it pained him not to be there for his best friend, his focus and priority were Josie.

“Max?”

He tucked his phone into his black leather jacket pocket to find her with a tray of dirty dishes in her hand. Her hair was a mess, brown curls falling out of her bun, and she had what looked like a coffee stain on the white sleeves of her uniform.

“What are you doing here?”

Max cleared his throat and shoved his hands into his jacket pockets as he shifted his weight from the balls of his feet to the tips of his toes. “I was in the neighbourhood …”

She let out a sweet laugh, and he knew she didn’t believe him. “Seriously?”

“Nah,” he confirmed as he made his way across the shop floor to stand before her. “Came to see you.”

Josie shifted the tray to hold it in both hands. Max watched her cheeks colour a soft pink shade.

Did he make her nervous?

Did he make her heart beat as newly as she did with his?

Could she ever see him as anyone worth caring about?

Especially after she knew the things he had done?

“Why?”

Max removed his hands from his pockets and took the tray from her. He stepped towards the counter and set it down. Then he faced her and asked, “Any customers?”

She shook her head. “It gets really quiet on Wednesday nights. So why are you here, Max?”

He let out an exhale. Right here, he should just tell her. That in the eight months since they shared that conversation on the bridge, he had been a better man. Through her compassion, he had changed for the better. But as he watched her eyes search his, he knew there was a small chance he could disappoint her. His feelings for Andrea hindered the truth of his desires.

So Max made a decision.

For him.

For her.

For the sake of their friendship.

“My pride has been a little shot for over a week.”

She appeared amused as she tilted her head at him. Those big blue eyes of hers were remarkable. He knew two other sets, and they were nowhere close to matching Josie’s. Her eyes showed him that she knew pain he didn’t know. And it only made him in awe of her.

“Your pride?”

He nodded. “You haven’t told me what you thought of my notes on what you emailed me.”

Josie chuckled. She turned, and he watched as she made her way behind the counter and reached for a cup. “What’s your drink, Sheridan?”

Max approached the counter. “Just coffee.”

She nodded then spun around and began to press some buttons on the espresso machine. He watched as she spooned coffee into a scoop and then connected it to the machine.

“Any milk?”

“Just straight black for me,” he said.

Josie glanced over her shoulder. “Any sugar?”

“No, thank you.”

As Josie made his beverage, the smell of fresh coffee filled the bakery. It was a rich aroma he knew was quality coffee and not the cheap kind his father’s law firm had in the staff room. When she finished, she spun around and held the saucer the cup was on and smiled at him.

“I’ve gotta make sure this order for tomorrow morning is doing okay in the oven. Grab a booth, and I’ll be a minute,” she instructed and handed the hot beverage over.

Max took the cup of coffee, careful not to spill it, and nodded. Then he slowly turned towards the booths and made his way to the nearest one. Unlike the tables next to the windows, the lights wrapped around the rafters and built into the back wall of the bakery brightened the booths. Upon reaching the booth, he set his coffee down and slid onto the cushion.

Reaching for the handle, he grasped it and took a sip of the coffee. It was perfect—smooth but with the perfect hint of bitterness from the roasted coffee bean. He couldn’t remember a better cup of coffee. As Max set the cup down, Josie slipped into the booth across from him and set a cupcake in front of him.

“I’m pretty sure you were always a fan of the banana and Walnut Whip cupcake,” Josie said as she pushed it towards him.

“You remembered?” He was bewildered that she did. The banana and Walnut Whip cupcakes were one of the rare cupcakes. He never knew when they were going to be the cupcake special. He had once begged Clara to make a batch, but she didn’t know the recipe.

“I did.”

“Can I ask you a question about this cupcake?”

Josie crossed her arms on the table and nodded. “All right.”

“Who makes this cupcake? Because the only person I know who can make any tasty cupcake is Clara, and she swears she doesn’t know how to make this one.” He pointed at the cupcake for emphasis.

Josie bit down the smile that peeked through. “I make these. They’re only the rare cupcakes because I can’t be bothered making them. That, and we also have to import all the Walnut Whips from the UK.”

“Marry me,” he breathed as he picked up the dessert and peeled the paper down. His mouth watered as he took a big bite. The vanilla whipped icing hit his tongue, and he groaned. “Seriously, marry me.”

“You should be proposing to Danny.”

“What?” he said, a mouthful of dessert hindering his ability to be coherent.

“I know how to make them because he gave me the recipe before he left for San Francisco. I didn’t create it. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news.” That smile of hers hadn’t retreated. In fact, it only stretched wider.

Max swallowed down the cupcake with a sip of coffee. “You were almost too perfect, Josephine.”

He had meant for it to sound like a tease.

But it was more of a confession and a lie.

The truth and a lie.

Too perfect and Josephine Faulkner would be completely out of his reach.

It was selfish.

Completely and truthfully selfish.

The colour of her cheeks brightened as she turned her head away, breaking their eye contact.

Max pushed the coffee and cupcake to the side and reached out to grasp her hand. Josie slowly turned and glanced down at their contact. After a few silent moments, she lifted her gaze to his, and for a brief second, he believed his feelings could be requited. He allowed himself to believe it.

To give him hope at being truly adored by someone who wasn’t vindictive.

To be adored by her would make his life meaningful.

To be adored by her, he’d go through every hellish task.

I want her to adore me.

To want me.

Because he knew worst things in the world existed than being adored by Josephine Faulkner.

In fact, she was the better thing in the world.

His world.

And at that moment, he adored the way her blue eyes glittered up at him.

“Another question,” he requested.

She answered him with a nod.

“Why do you want to be a lawyer?”

Josie blinked at him. Seconds later, she sucked in a deep breath through her nose and said, “I wasn’t expecting that.”

Max squeezed her hand. “What were you expecting?”

“Honestly?”

He nodded.

“I kind of expected you to ask about my father.”

“You did?”

“Yeah,” she said in a small voice. “I guess my answer kind of involves my father. Actually, I want to be a lawyer in spite of him. My dad divorced my mother when I was eight, and her lawyer ended up getting her nothing out of the divorce. Growing up, I was so angry because I watched my mother work hard while he had the life of a diplomat. Then, when I found out that his new wife—who he married months after meeting her and the divorce only just finalised—was pregnant, I wanted her to have nothing from my father. I thought for so long she was a gold digger. But then she had a second kid two years later, and his affections were no longer meant for me. I wanted to be a lawyer so that when the abandoned partner needed representation, I would be there and get them what they deserved.”

Her eyes shone with unshed tears.

“You must think I’m so selfish. But it drove my need to get into law school. Before my parents divorced, I actually wanted to be a dancer. My first dance was when I was four, and it was for my parents in our living room to this music box that played my mother’s favourite song. The next day, my dad signed me up for lessons. I used to dance for them. When he left, I danced in hopes of getting his attention. It took many recitals, many no-shows and empty reserved seats for me to realise he would never show up for them. Not even my last recital. Disappointment just came complimentary. I decided to be a lawyer so I could fight for those who were left behind.”

His thumb softly brushed the back of her hand. “I don’t think you’re selfish, Josephine.”

Her soft smile was all the reassurance he would ever need. “Thank you, but my reason for becoming a lawyer started off as selfish. Now, I just want to help people. I don’t know what my speciality will be just yet. But don’t worry, you can be the contracts expert.”

The way she eased the conversation into a tease at his expense was a ride he was in awe of. She could convince him of things he never did, and he’d plead guilty in a court of law for them. He had no doubt that she’d excel at whatever kind of lawyer she decided to be. She’d be a sought-after lawyer before she knew it. And for Max, he had to ensure she graduated and realised her potential.

In spite of her father or not, she’d have that bachelor in the end. She’d know that when she had it, she had done it all for herself and not for him.

Josie surprised him by covering their joined hands with her free palm, trapping him in the best way possible.

“Can I ask you a question?” she asked in a soft voice as if she were afraid. The fear in her eyes was a beacon, luring him to her.

“Yes,” he breathed.

Josie had run her teeth across her bottom lip before she released it with a short exhale. “Your cousin. She thought I was someone else. Was she … Was she someone you loved?”

Sarah.

Memories of when they were kids collided with the struggling beats of his heart.

He thought he was clean of her.

But the emerging pain that intensified throughout him was proof he wasn’t. She had been the first person he had ever promised never to let down. That day on the step outside her front door, he had promised to be there for her. She was eight. Then, eight years later, on that very doorstep, he promised that it would only ever be her after her mother revealed she was leaving her father.

That was when Sarah Collins had gone from the little girl he would always protect to the teenager with a chip on her shoulder. She hated everyone in her path—Max included. He had wanted to stop her abnormal behaviour, but he couldn’t. She had pushed him away only to find the arms of his best friend, Alex Lawrence. But not even Alex could bring back that lost little girl she had been. Max had thought he had when she appeared on his doorstep telling him it was over with Alex.

But that had been a lie.

She had cheated on Alex with Max that night.

And it was a devastation Max had lived with for seven years.

Realising he had been quiet for some time, Max began to pull away from Josie’s touch. He needed air. He needed to be away from someone as pure as Josie. She couldn’t know what he had done.

But Josephine Faulkner did something surprising. She latched onto his hand with hers and made him stay. The first woman who, in her smallest actions, ever wanted him to.

That revelation wounded him in the very best ways.

With her hands clutching his, he wanted to be clean of every past sin for her.

And that meant being honest.

“I did,” he confessed in a tiny voice. The weight on his shoulders neither heavied nor lightened. Instead, he became comfortable. Max knew he wouldn’t be free until he told Alex the truth. Seven years was a long time to withhold it.

Josie’s lips pressed into a tight smile. “But?”

“Why do you assume there’s a ‘but’?”

“Because I can see it on your face. When we stood on that bridge, the guilt in your eyes was one I couldn’t look away from. Just like right now. You hold a lot of guilt because of her.” It was a statement rather than a question.

Max nodded.

He had never come clean to anyone. His best friends assumed or had figured it out. No one outside his close circle knew. He had never wanted anyone to judge him. And at that moment, out of all the people he had ever met and come across, Josie was the one he didn’t want to think so little of him.

He wanted to be the hero in her story.

Her ending entwined with his.

Max wanted to be Josie’s hero.

But he knew, just by looking at her and revelling in that soft gaze of hers, that she would be his hero.

And maybe he was looking for that all this time.

Saving.

Redemption.

Respect.

Someone to understand him.

“I’ve never told anyone this,” he said in a small voice.

“I would never judge you. I hope you know that.”

He smiled at her. “I know. And even if you did, I would never hold that against you.”

“But I won’t,” she insisted.

And he believed her.

Taking a deep breath, Max knew it was time. The first step to a better, cleaner future. “I used to believe in love with this woman named Sarah. We grew up together. I saw all this good in her that people seemed to have forgotten she had. I understood her. I understood why she was so angry with everyone and the world. I thought she realised I was the one on her side. One day, I just kissed her, and that was that. I knew I had put myself out there. The next day, she was Alex Lawrence’s girlfriend.”

“Clara’s brother?”

Max nodded. “Yeah. But don’t think Alex stole her from me or anything. It was never like that. He just never knew how I felt about her. He was always the better guy—always will be the better guy. I think she was just scared to have someone understand the real her. She didn’t want to feel, and with Alex, she could pretend. With me, I knew all her scars and her pain. I knew the real her.”

He paused to see if Josie was still with him or if she needed him to stop, but Max noticed her nod, so he continued.

“So I stayed away. I thought I could handle seeing them together, but I couldn’t. I let my best friend have the girl because I knew he could make her feel better. But then one night, she just appeared at my house. Told me it was over and that I was the one she really loved. That night, I told her I loved her. I thought I showed her that … but the next morning, I walked into school to see her in Alex’s arms. She had cheated on him with me. She ripped my heart out when our eyes met, and she had this vindictive smile on her face. I knew then it wasn’t real.”

“I’m so sorry,” Josie whispered.

“That’s not the worst part,” he warned.

“Okay.”

“I went back to her,” Max said, ashamed of his secret. “I confronted her, and before I knew it, I was getting dressed. I slept with her again and again. I couldn’t stop even though I tried so hard to. But she knew how much I loved her, and she used it against me. I begged her to leave Alex, but she didn’t. When he broke up with her, I thought it meant we could finally be together, but she moved on to some other guy.”

“You never deserved what she did to you.”

“Alex didn’t deserve what we did to him,” he corrected. “I still haven’t told him.”

Josie’s thumb circled the back of his hand. It was as if she were soothing his past transgressions away and making way for the better Max Sheridan he was capable of.

“Last time I saw Alex, he looked at Keira with a love that could never be broken by something like the past. Trust me; I don’t think it’ll hurt him the way you think it will. I think it hurts you more,” she pointed out.

“I have to tell him.”

“I know you will.”

“I have to apologise to Noel, too,” he announced.

Josie’s thumb stopped its turns. “Noel?”

Max let out a sigh. “This is where I think you’ll actually be disgusted in me, Josephine.”

“I can honestly say I won’t. I’m your friend, Max,” she assured.

Friend.

God, it hurt him to hear that.

He knew he was the hopeful one for wanting more than just to be a mere friend to her. It wasn’t fair to her if he presumed anything more would come out of their mutual friendship.

He hoped.

And if Max was going to be the hero in her story, he had to be what she needed and not just act on his selfishness.

“The moment I met his girlfriend, I was already starting to fall for her. I thought this time she’d understand me. She must have known Noel was in love with Clara. She’s a corporate lawyer just like me, and when we got to talking, she understood my work problems. One stupid bet and I pushed her against the closest tree and kissed her. Right under Noel’s nose, I stole his girlfriend’s kiss.”

Josie pulled her hands from him. It was slow. Agonisingly slow. And it was also painful to see her take her touch away from him.

“You think I’m a terrible person,” he said, the hurt he couldn’t hide from his voice.

She shook her head. “I told you; I will never judge you—especially for something you did in the past. You might not have made the right choices, but you feel guilty, so that means you know what you did was wrong. I would judge you if you felt any pleasure or sense of rightness. You made a mistake, Max. You’re human. You’re a man who let your emotions and affections guide you. People out there have done a lot worse, and you, Max, are not the worst kind of man out there. You’re one of the good ones who didn’t get the chance to be loved right.”

“You think so highly of me.”

“I do,” she said with a smile. “You taught me clauses in contracts that I didn’t get in my lecture. Your notes on my draft assignment were great. And I think that should put your pride back in its place.”

And there it was.

That ease that came with being with Josie.

She made him better.

She accepted and understood the wrongs of his past.

Sarah understood his personal life.

Andrea understood his career.

But Josie?

Josie understood both.

“Thank you,” he said as he felt his phone vibrate in his jacket pocket.

“Don’t thank me. I can’t let my tutor’s confidence take a hit, or I’ll never pass contracts,” she teased.

Max reached into his pocket and let out a dry laugh at Josie’s jab. He glanced at his screen, unlocked his phone, and read the message he had just received.

 

Julian: Maxie, you’ve been gone a looooooong time. Can you please come back? I mish you. OVAH!

 

“Gotta run?”

He glanced up from his screen to see Josie’s big blue eyes on him. “It’s Julian. He gets a little needy when he’s had a few.”

She laughed. “Needy for you and not Stevie?”

“Yeah, he’s always been strange like that.” Max slid out of the booth and glanced down at Josie. “You okay if I go? Trust me; I’d never hear the end of it if I didn’t show up.”

“Go. Julian didn’t leave that table by the window once when I told him I’d give him a free cupcake if he delivered Stevie’s order for her exam cramming. He said he needed another free one because the first one magically disappeared. I had to give him one just to get him out of the store. So yeah, I get it.”

“Do you want me to stop by and go over any of your work with you? It doesn’t have to just be contracts, you know. I can help you with your other classes.”

Her lips pursed as she mulled over his offer. “How is Friday afternoon?”

“Perfect. I’ll text you,” he promised.

“Great. I’ll see you later.”

He nodded, but as he was about to take a step towards the bakery doors, he stilled. “Josie?”

“Yes, Max?”

He hoped she saw the sincerity in his smile and the honesty in his eyes. “Thank you.”

“No, I should be thanking you for tutor—”

He shook his head, interrupting her. “No, thank you for letting me be honest with you … about Sarah and Andrea. Thank you for not judging who I was.”

That teasing grin on her face transformed into a small smile. Josie slid out of the booth and stood in front of him, her hand settling on his arm as she tilted her head back to look at him. “You don’t have to be afraid to be who you are around me. There’s no shame in the man who you are. I quite like Maxwell Sheridan. Nothing I have learnt about you has changed how I look at you. I’m honoured you trust me enough to reveal parts of yourself that you haven’t before.”

Max’s eyes fell to her pink lips.

It’d be so easy.

So right to just cup her face and have her mouth touch his.

The need outweighed the want.

And watching her lips part was torture.

Max tore his eyes from her beautiful mouth to land on her curious blue eyes. He saw it. The hint of desire. Maybe it was lust or attraction.

He could kiss her to find out.

But you can’t ruin this, Max.

Not with Josie.

The small voice in his head was right.

He couldn’t.

Instead of giving in to his needy wants, Max smiled and said, “I’ll see you on Friday, Josephine,” before he pulled away from her touch. He needed to get the hell out of the bakery before he did something stupid.

Like kiss her.

 

 

Feeling any better?

I’m sure it’s just the forty-eight-hour flu that’s going around. Which means only twenty-four more to go.

I called Nadia, and you have the weekend off.

Please don’t hate me if it lasts longer. I’m going into quarantine so I don’t get sick since West is feeling better.

 

Josie groaned as she scrunched up the sticky note she found on her bedroom door. Then she read the one behind the note she had just peeled off.

 

West just messaged.

He says he’s sorry for making you sick by staying over.

Seriously, stay in bed. I will check on Em for you and tell her. While I’m there, I’ll call so you can talk to her.

I love you, Josie.

STAY THE HELL IN BED!

Stella—the best roommate and best friend in the world.

 

This time she rolled her eyes and peeled the square piece of paper from her door to find, unsurprisingly, another note.

 

How to cure the flu?

Watch Gilmore Girls.

As recommended by Dr Stella Weller

(DVDs are on the coffee table. Episode of Rory graduating high school is on pause because I know how much you love that episode.)

 

Josie smiled.

Her best friend was a lot of things.

And thoughtful was definitely one of them.

But as Josie stared at the small writing on the note, she wondered, “How did she manage to fit it all on such tiny square pieces of paper?”

When she pulled the note down, she found another.

 

To answer your question,

I had to rewrite all these notes about a trillion times before they could fit.

 

And then she found the last note.

 

No, I can’t read your mind.

I just knew you’d ask.

 

LOVE YOU.

Stella xo.

 

Because the last note made her laugh, Josie left it on her bedroom door and held the stack of sticky notes until she made it to the large kitchen. When she agreed to her father’s terms of where she would live, it meant the apartment being refurbished to appease her father. It was before her mother’s very first cancer diagnosis. When her father’s assistant told him of her need for help, Josie had been embarrassed and never returned his calls. Her mother had played middleman and was able to get them both to agree to conditions.

It meant a new car.

It meant expenses paid for.

Until Josie had gotten so mad at her father for not calling for her birthday that she cancelled the apartment’s amenities and put them under her name instead of her father’s. Bills began to stack up, and she had worked extra to pay them off—never telling Stella what she had done and never asking her roommate for any money.

Josie wasn’t ashamed to admit she had a lot of pride.

Her father was the only person who ever tested it.

She had been scorned and abandoned by the man far too many times.

Upon reaching the kitchen counter, she set Stella’s sticky notes down and let out another groan. The fogginess in her head and the heaviness in her eyes made it hard for her to stay awake. Her best friend was right. She should stay in bed, but she had an appointment with a doctor to get a medical certificate for her tutors and lecturers. She was sure whatever she had wasn’t going to go away in a day’s time. Josie would kill Stella’s boyfriend for infecting the apartment with his sickness.

Suddenly, she felt something vibrate against her rear. Josie swung a hand around to find the cause of her vibrating bottom. It was several messages from Max. When she glanced at the time on her phone, she saw it was 10 a.m. and her ‘Do Not Disturb’ function had ceased for the day.

Smiling through the heat that consumed her body—which she blamed on her sickness rather than seeing Max’s name—she unlocked her phone and read his texts.

 

Max: Do you think I’m a bad friend and tutor if I tried to persuade you not to be a divorce attorney?

 

Max: Seriously, will you hate me?

 

She laughed at his questions.

 

Josie: You’re a lawyer. Convince me that your arguments are valid.

 

Max: Well, for one, you’d have to deal with Sully. He’s the lawyer who’s going through a divorce with his cheating ex-wife and is about to lose everything. Plus, I’m sitting in on this meeting with him and his new client. I feel horrible for finding it so entertaining to watch two people belittle each other after having vowed to love each other through thick and thin.

 

Josie: You’re only convincing me that it’s my field. The higher the marriage rate, the higher the divorce rate.

 

Max: Or you could be a prosecutor? But you’d have to face my father in a courtroom.

 

She bit back a grin as she climbed up onto the barstool by the bench and sat down. Her body felt almost too light to trust it to keep her vertical.

 

Josie: I’m sure by the time I’m a lawyer—wait, scratch that. IF I become a lawyer—I might have the confidence to prosecute your father’s clients. But right now, I haven’t chosen what kind of lawyer I really want to be.

 

Max: My father would not stand a chance with you in a courtroom. You already charmed him. Trust me; I hear it when he steps into my office wondering how I met a woman like you. We can discuss your field of practice when I come over to tutor you.

 

Her heart swelled in her chest.

She loved that his father wondered about her.

That Max spoke about her to others.

But Josie knew his heart was not hers to claim. Not when it was divided into two—maybe not-so-equal parts. One part belonged to Sarah and another to Andrea. Josie knew she couldn’t own a part.

Not romantically.

Whatever space he had left, she hoped it housed a spot for their friendship.

Because she was sure that was all he’d ever give her.

And to be fair to him meant being honest.

So she began her honest text about cancelling today’s tutoring.

 

Josie: Today’s not a good day for tutoring, which sucks because I had a question about equities that I’ve been meaning to ask you. I’ll email it later.

 

Max: How about during the weekend? Josie, I told you to message me at any time when it comes to your classes.

 

Josie: Max, you deal with all this legal stuff every day. You must get tired of it. Surely, tutoring me is painful. But this weekend is not gonna work.

 

Max: Are you avoiding me? Was Wednesday night too much? I don’t know if I’ve crossed a line.

 

Oh, Max.

He surely didn’t play fair.

 

Josie: Max, I’m sick. Have been since yesterday morning. I’m seeing a doctor to get a medical certificate in an hour, and I really don’t want to get you sick, too. I don’t think the companies who pay you will appreciate you being unable to work. And I definitely don’t want to be invoiced their legal fees. I’m not avoiding you. I like you, remember?

 

To her horror, she had pressed send.

“I like you?” she said in disbelief. “Shit, shit, shit!”

There was no way to cover it.

No way to take it back.

So she sent him a retraction.

 

Josie: Don’t let it get to your head. I like you, yes. As a friend, yes. I should have clarified, but I’m sick. Please don’t judge me.

 

One minute.

Two.

Five minutes.

Ten.

 

Max: Sorry, had a client drop by for a quick chat. I don’t judge you. I will never judge you. Message me when you get home from the doctor’s so I know you made it back.

 

Just as relief poured over her stressful heart, Max sent her another message.

 

Max: And, Josie, to be very honest and real with you, I like you. In whatever way you want me to like you back.

 

And that message became a problem for her heart.

Her mind.

Her sanity.

Her hopes.

And her supposed friendship with Maxwell Sheridan.

“Bed rest, Miss Faulkner,” her doctor prescribed. He was a young doctor in his late twenties. He had jet black hair and a smile that could make any woman swoon. If she hadn’t known the effects of Max’s smile, he might have affected her. “The cold and flu medicine you’re taking is sufficient, but make sure you drink plenty of fluids. I also recommend electrolyte supplements. I can see the sweat dotting your forehead. I’m sorry, but it’s only going to get worse. You’ll need the electrolytes replaced in your system.”

Josie nodded and raised her arm to wipe the sweat off her forehead with the sleeve of her hoodie. She wasn’t sure if her heated cheeks were from embarrassment that the cute doctor was seeing her at her very worst or from the stupid flu she had.

“How come my roommate’s boyfriend only had this for like two days?” she whined rather than asked.

Dr Ryder chuckled.

And Ryder?

Of course, his name would be ‘Ryder’?

More like ride-her.

Josie bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from smiling. Jokes like those were wasted on her own ears. Stella would have found it hilarious and agree. She allowed her eyes that moment to take in his arms as he began to type notes into her file.

Doctors shouldn’t wear such tight shirts.

“I’ve been doing some training for a charity run,” Dr Ryder said as he removed his focus from his computer screen to smile at her.

“I said that out loud?”

“You did,” he confirmed.

She sank into her seat in embarrassment.

She decided then that Dr Jennings, her usual doctor, was not getting a Christmas card this year for being away when Josie was sick.

“Sorry,” she quickly apologised. His laughter threw her off. Normally, she was so sure of herself with men, but this very attractive doctor was a rarity. Especially since she wasn’t expecting him. “You won’t ever see me again. I promise no more emergency doctor visits from me. I just really needed that medical certificate.”

Ryder swivelled his chair to look at her properly. His eyes fell to her chest. And oh, did she love that his eyes remained there.

Oh, Josie, you are a pervert.

Lack of sex + the flu = undeniably sexually starved.

“Deakin, huh?”

“Yep,” she confirmed as she glanced down at the university hoodie she had worn.

“What are you studying?”

“Law.”

“You’re going to be a lawyer. That’s impressive.”

“Not as impressive as a doctor.”

Stop it.

Stop flirting with the very cute doctor.

Ryder’s cheeks flared with the colour red. “Well, I’m glad you’re impressed. I’ll sign this certificate, and you’ll be on your way.”

Josie smiled. She was sure she looked delirious because she began to feel it.

The doctor returned to his computer, pressed a button, and then after several minutes, retrieved her medical certificate from the printer. He signed the paper flawlessly and then handed it to her. “I mean it, Miss Faulkner, plenty of rest.”

“I’ll rest when I get my law degree.” She folded the evidence her tutors and lecturers would need.

“Thought you’d be a determined one. So that medical certificate is until Tuesday. Not sure if you have classes on Monday, but I’d assume so. Though I’m not your regular doctor, I’d highly suggest you get a blood test so we can see how your iron levels are. I can see how tired you are, and it isn’t from the flu.”

You have no idea.

“I can’t make promises, but if you tell Dr Jennings, she’ll call me relentlessly to make it happen.”

He grinned at her. “I’ll be sure to let her know.”

“Thanks,” Josie said as she picked up her bag from the floor and stood from the chair where she’d been sitting.

“Miss Faulkner, before you go,” Ryder said.

“Yes?”

He got out of the leather chair and towered over her. Those grey eyes were pretty, but they didn’t make her feel as if she were lost in them like Max’s.

“Now that I’m officially not your doctor, and I hope you don’t find this inappropriate, but would you like to grab dinner sometime? When you’re feeling better, of course.” He asked so politely that a yes almost fell out of her mouth.

Ryder wasn’t like the typical men she dated.

He was the complete opposite.

And to her disappointment, her father would approve of him.

The realisation had her frowning.

“I know I’m a lot older than the guys you probably date. But I find you attractive and funny. I’d kick myself if I didn’t at least ask,” he said.

A smile tugged at her lips, but she forced it back. “I have a lot going on at the moment.”

The disappointment reached his eyes. “Of course. You’re a busy woman. I’ll let you continue with your day.”

She nodded then spun around and made her way towards the door. When she reached it, she paused and let out a heavy exhale. Her father might approve of a doctor, but her mother would be thrilled that she’d possibly date someone like Ryder. She returned to the doctor in a matter of seconds.

“Dr Ryder, you seem nice. If you were my regular doctor, I’d tell you that this is completely inappropriate. But since you’re not, then there’s nothing wrong here. Right?”

“Right,” he agreed.

“I’m not going to make you a promise for dinner. I have a lot going on in my life. I probably won’t ever see you again—”

“I’ll take that chance,” he cut her off.

“Just please don’t hold your breath. I have a year left with my law degree. If by some chance in a year’s time you’re free, then sure.”

He laughed. “A year, Miss Faulkner?”

“More like a year and a half. I have this semester and then next year.”

“So when you’re done, you’re saying we could possibly go for dinner?”

“If you’re free,” she added.

“All right,” Ryder agreed and reached out and took the medical certificate from her. Then he scribbled something on the back of it and handed it back to her. “In case you have free time before you finish your degree.”

That had her heart fluttering.

Not as strong as she had felt before.

But it was there.

She said nothing as she made her way out of his office and down the hall. Once she reached the end, she heard a door open behind her and someone calling, “Miss Faulkner,” behind her.

Josie spun around to find the doctor wrapping a stethoscope around his neck. “It’s just Zac.”

“And it’s just Josie,” she said and then spun back around and headed out of the medical centre, feeling oddly satisfied and ashamed of herself.