I rolled over on the bed and pulled the covers over my head. My alarm would go off in ten minutes and I wasn’t ready for that yet. It had been a month since the day Adam told me he had been cheating on me. One month since I had met Natalie. One month since I had talked to Max. Well, we had talked, minimally, at work, but that small conversation two weeks ago was how I ended up here today.

“My lawyers already looked over it.” Max slammed the manila envelope down onto my desk. I opened it and stared at my divorce papers. I looked up at him while he waited for me, his hands planted on my desk and agitation forming on his face. “Just sign it, Alexa.”

“Why are you doing this?” My eyebrows had furrowed and I felt the tears gathering in my eyes. I wasn’t ready for this. Or was I? His fingers tapped on the desk as he grew impatient. “Why do you have these?”

“I need you to sign them.” He came around the desk, took the pen that was beside me, and put it in my hand. “Now.”

“But why?” I was confused as to how Max had these papers and that I didn’t even know what they said, but he was wanting me to sign them. This was the last piece of me that was attached to Adam, and even though he broke me, I didn’t know how to exist in a world where I didn’t have him in it. But then again, I had been doing just that for a while now. “Can I look over it?”

“No.” He had a hand on the back of my chair now and was leaning closer to me. His lips came to my ear, and I shivered. “Please sign the papers.”

The words came out as a whisper, but I felt them down to my core. I obeyed this man. I did exactly what he told me because for some unknown reason I trusted him. I trusted blindly in the fact that someone was telling me this was what I needed.

I signed my name over and over again. My hand shook, but the pen didn’t. It had a mind of its own, knowing that this was exactly what I needed to do. I handed the papers to Max once I was finished, and he snatched them from my hand. He was about to bolt out the door, before I stopped him.

“Will you at least tell me why you did this?” My voice was weak, still trying to recover from the mood that had filled the room. I felt so small when Max turned around with a sinister look on his face, but that smile, God, that smile was all I needed.

“I need to…” He paused, putting a finger to his lips, and I could see his brain working, like he almost didn’t know what to say. “… keep you safe, Alexa.”

He straightened himself and looked me dead in the eye, his stance never wavering.

“And this is the only way I know how to right now.” He left me with just that and nothing else. I sat in my chair, a tear running down my cheek, and for once since Adam, I didn’t know if it was because I was sad or because I was happy.

That day, I signed away the life I once knew and put it into the hands of the man who wanted to be my future. It had been one week since I signed those papers, and every damn day seemed like a daydream.

I was staring at my ceiling as my alarm went off. All I wanted was just a few more minutes to think about all of this. Ten just didn’t seem like enough time; nothing seemed like enough time. I grabbed for my phone just as Lilly entered the room. We had talked about things when I came home the day after everything had happened with Adam and Max. We had created a plan to just ride it out until the divorce was final, and it was officially now. I hadn’t told my mother or Adam’s parents yet. I didn’t know how to, but if no one was calling me to find out, then I wasn’t going to spill the beans just yet. Lilly set a cup of tea down next to my bed and then sat on the edge.

“I got a text from Greg this morning.” Lilly twirled her spoon in her coffee. I sat up, now intrigued. “Chase and Max have a project for you.”

“Oh.” My ears perked up at Max’s name, bringing me back to the fact that we hadn’t discussed anything that had happened between us.

“Greg mentioned to me the other day how impressed everyone is with you.” She took a sip, hiding her smile behind her giant mug. As much as I was shocked to hear Greg talking about me to Lilly, I was more surprised that Lilly was openly talking about him. Something was off, she wasn’t giving me the whole story here

“You’re stalling. What gives?” I knew this game with her. She loved holding back secrets.

“Chase wants you to help with a major client.” Finally, a big break. Since I had helped Greg with his client, I had just been doing my regular job, but this was a chance to show them I could do more. Something seemed off though.

“I feel like there’s a but coming soon…” She bared her teeth to me, and my stomach dropped.

“Max will be working with you as well.” I could tell she felt proud telling me this. I had told her and Erica about the night at Max’s apartment, from Adam to when Max told me I would fall in love with him. They also knew that we had barely spoken to each other since that night. I took a deep breath, drinking more of my tea. I could do this.

“Okay.” I tried to make it so my voice didn’t shake, so she couldn’t see just how nervous I was about this. I was going to be working with Max. How close was I going to be to him? Would we be alone? I was staring down into my tea as Lilly laughed at me and left the room. If I couldn’t fool her, how could I make myself not look like a fool in front of Max?

Everything seemed to happen in a whirlwind as we left the apartment. Erica greeted us outside the building, distractedly staring into the building. She watched Chase stand in the lobby, clearly waiting for someone. I waved to Chase and then said goodbye to the girls as he ushered us up the stairs to Max’s floor; I still didn’t understand why some of these people like taking the stairs, work was no place for working out. I was grateful it was just Chase right now though. I didn’t know if I was ready to see Max. My mind had been racing so fast that I hadn’t even realized we had made it to the fifth floor.

I almost stumbled over my feet as we walked into the large room where Max was waiting with papers all over the table and a whiteboard with tons of scribbles on it. He looked disheveled, with his faded jeans and shirt, as he flipped through the pages in front of him like a crazy person. It put a smile on my face that even though Max seemed all put together sometimes, he truly was just like the rest of us in the world.

“What’s all this?” My voice sounded so small in the big room. Max finally looked up, realizing that I was there. His expression turned from distracted to happy. The smile on his face was contagious, and I couldn’t look away.

“We have a big proposal coming to us in a week. The author wants to have the whole series published at once. There are four manuscripts.” Chase broke the spell between us, pointing to the board and the papers on the table. “These are all the notes she gave us on the characters and the plot.”

“What do you mean ‘notes’?” I tried to get into business mode, because by the looks of everything, this was a big one. I walked over to the board and saw that it was filled with multiple character outlines. “Has she never had anyone ever read it before?”

“She is one of our best returning clients but has never written a series before.” Max finally spoke up, and our eyes locked. I was trying to figure out what exactly they were asking. “We need you to read through the manuscripts and not just check for the typical, because you will technically be reading through this before anyone else in our publishing department does. So, we need you to be looking—”

“To see if it is actually cohesive, that the characters follow the intentions, and that there are no slip-ups with the plot.” I cut off Max with irritation in my voice. Now I knew what they were asking, but it confused me. I had already been doing this with the final manuscripts I had been receiving and had even gotten with a few of the editors to make sure that they were catching what I had been. Every time I read through a final manuscript now, there was less and less for me to mark. “Have you not looked through my manuscripts before?”

I shot my gaze over to Chase. Both men had confused looks on their faces.

“Well, no—”

“I already look for all of this when I read through the final copy.” I walked to the end of the table, taking out sticky tabs, Post-it notes, a notepad, a red pen for grammar errors, a purple pen for plot errors, a green pen for character mistakes, and a highlighter for non-sequential portions of the novels. “I need a hard copy of each character profile and an outline of each book.”

I looked up as I grabbed for the first manuscript to my right. Both men were gaping at me now.

“What?” I felt self-conscious then. Was I too rude? I knew I was nervous, but I didn’t want them to kick me off the project. I shrank back into the chair.

“That is why they are always so colorful…” Max said, as if in realization. He was still gaping at me. Max had seen my final manuscripts. A thrill ran through me at the proud look on his face.

“When I give them back to the editors for the author to make changes, I make a note to tell them that there is a legend at the beginning for all my notes.”

“I never knew that it was you who did it.” Chase’s sounded amazed at this revelation.

“Yeah.” Both men were still staring at me, and I no longer felt self-conscious about my work, but it didn’t mean I felt any more comfortable in this room with Max.

“Did you learn all this from your internship?” Chase prodded.

“Yes and no.” I tried to flip open the first page to the book, but I knew I needed to explain. “I did some of this for my internship, the rest I learned in my college classes and working for various authors.”

They didn’t know a whole lot about my life, but I knew this was one thing I had kept hidden on purpose.

“Authors?” Max asked the question this time.

“I do freelance content edits for authors.” All eyes were on me and all I wanted to do was become invisible. I couldn’t sink back far enough into this chair.

“Why didn’t you tell us this?” Chase asked, but then Max overturned the question.

“What authors?”

“Romance authors. Genres and authors that we don’t work with here.” I gestured around the room. I loved The Ink Well, but the kind of books I read and wrote would never be something that they would publish, and I didn’t have a problem with that. That meant I could keep my work here and then everything else I had at home.

“Do you still do this?” Max had moved closer, clearly wanting more answers.

“Not right now, since I started work here, but I hope to again one day.” I paused, reminiscing about the books I once read. I needed to do a reread tonight. “But I do love the work I do here.”

I wanted to make sure that they knew I wasn’t thinking about leaving, even though I knew I was going to continue the work I did before. I just had to put it on hold for a moment. I didn’t give them any more information, but instead flipped to the first page of the manuscript and dove in.

I became lost in the story that was in front of me by the second chapter. There was love and hate. The story was full of fantasy, a young adult novel, edging towards adult. I didn’t know how long I had been sitting there before a hand touched my shoulder. I jumped, looking up to see Max’s smile. I relaxed a little after I realized I was still in the conference room. Getting into a good book would do that to you, just allow you to wander off to a new world.

“Take a break.” Max was holding up a bag of food. I could smell the orange chicken more than anything else. My stomach growled and his smile grew bigger, “See, even your stomach says it’s break-time.”

I checked my phone for the time and saw it was already four in the afternoon. I had almost finished the second book to the series. I was reading for enjoyment right now, making minor grammar marks as I read through. I had already read and reread the first one, making all appropriate markings for the author to know what I was talking about. The boys had been working on the financial portion of the proposition and setting up the outline for the week of meetings with this author.

I could hear them every now and again as I was reading, but for the most part they tried to keep as quiet as possible. A few times during reading, I could feel Max’s eyes on me, and Chase’s too. I wasn’t sure if they were impressed by me, or scared. Both could play in my favor.

“Fine, but only for a minute.” I moved away from the manuscripts to the other side of the table, where it was clear. Max took out a container of orange chicken and set it in front of me. He had clearly asked Greg what I liked to eat. I opened the container and dug in.

“Slow down there. I promise it isn’t going anywhere.” I stopped and looked down to see that half of the chicken was already gone by the time Max and Chase were starting to eat.

“Sorry. I just haven’t eaten anything since dinner last night,” I answered with a mouth full of chicken. I knew it wasn’t ladylike, but hell, I was no lady. The disapproving look that came over Max’s face shook me. I could see it in the way he moved that he wanted to say something but couldn’t with Chase in the room. Max was definitely an alpha type, just like the ones I read and wrote about in my books.

“While we’re taking a break, I think I’ll go see how the floor is doing.” Chase excused himself, and then it was only Max and me. I couldn’t look him in the eye, so I finished my food. I knew the sooner I finished I could get back to my book, but that also meant that I wouldn’t have to speak to Max. He foiled that plan when I finished, patiently waiting to help me clean up my trash. He stood there next to me, without a care in the world that he was acting like a stalker.

I stood, but he stopped me, taking the trash from my hands and throwing it out. I stayed planted where I was, not knowing what he was planning on doing next. He didn’t leave me for long, and when he was standing in front of my again, he made sure to grab on tight, one arm wrapping around my waist and my hands going to his chest to steady myself.

“Alexa.” The word came out as a whisper.

“Max.” Unlike Max, I was firm with my voice, unwavering. I couldn’t let him know that his hand at my side was affecting me.

“How are you doing?”

“As good as I can be.” He moved in closer to me. Luckily, the window was frosted, shielding us from the view of the other office workers.

“Alexa.” The way he said my name again, I had to forcibly stop the shiver that start to consume me.

“Max, not right now.” I knew the way he said my name meant so many things. Things that I wasn’t ready for, but things that he wanted.

“Then when?” He tilted his head and moved it down to me, almost leaning in for a kiss but stopping just before his mark. I froze, not sure what to do. I hadn’t had a first kiss in years, and I knew it definitely shouldn’t be in the conference room at work. “I meant every word I said that night.”

“I can’t right now.”

“Then I’ll wait.”

“Max…” I pleaded, and I didn’t know if it was for him to continue or to stop. His grip on me tightened, and I could see the fear cross his face at the thought of losing me. It was the same one I had seen on Adam’s face a month ago. No matter how hard I tried, I kept comparing Max to Adam, but then again Adam was the only person I had ever been with. And because of that, I couldn’t fathom why Max seemed to like me as much as he did. “Why me, Max?”

The question seemed to throw him off. I thought he would retreat, not pull me tighter to him. His lips whispered against my neck as he leaned down to me. I took in a quick breath.

“That smile.” My grin grew so wide, that my cheeks started to hurt. Max pulled back to look me in the eyes. “It’s what caught me first, and then you spoke.”

My eyebrows furrowed together.

“Your passion for books, your love for your friends, and even your love for your husband.” My heart skipped a beat. “You put your whole self into everything, and I knew that you were the kind of woman that I could see myself with.”

“Max.” My eyes closed. I couldn’t look at him anymore.

“Don’t. Don’t say anything.” He tucked my hair behind my ear. “I meant it when I told your husband you were mine.”

I didn’t know how to answer his comment.

“Hard and fast, baby.” Max’s words filled the conference room, just like they had filled my head for the last month.

“Give me just a little more time, Max.” Even though my heart was racing, I couldn’t just give it over to Max right now.

“I’ll give you all the time that you need.” He placed a hand on my cheek, his thumb brushing just under my eye. I leaned in to his touch, craving more, but in an instant his hand dropped, and where I was once warm, all I felt was ice. Max was pulling away, but something inside me wanted to pull him back. I knew if I did, though, he would want an answer, and that was an answer I couldn’t give him.

But I didn’t care.

“Max.” I grabbed for his hand, my fingers lacing through his on instinct. I didn’t know what to do from there, but it was like he knew what I meant by this. He enveloped me in his arms, and I wrapped mine around him. We stood there in the middle of the conference room, holding tight to each other, knowing that when I left this room we still wouldn’t be together. I thought I felt Max squeeze tighter when the thought went through my mind.

“Sorry that took so long.” Max sprang away from me as Chase entered the room, our moment ending just as fast as it had started. I looked up to the wall to see that it was past the time that I normally left the office.

“No worries.” Max sounded different than when it was just him and me in the room. I didn’t like that he could go from the scorching hot tension that was building in this room to stone cold in just a few seconds. “I was just about to let Alexa leave.”

This was news to my ears, but I took the opportunity and ran with it.

“I’ll make sure to be in early tomorrow so I can pick right back up.” I moved to grab my work materials.

“Don’t worry about cleaning anything up, I’ll have the room locked.” I took Chase’s word to heart and left the room immediately. I made it down to the lobby and out the front doors before I realized that I had left my bag upstairs, too. Lilly would be home by now, but I wanted my books that were in it. I needed to escape again.

I looked up at the building in front of me, contemplating if I wanted to go back in there. I had just escaped Max, but then again, there was something pulling me back to him. Everything I had told him was true. I couldn’t do this right now, but there was still something inside of me that longed for him. I had spent countless nights this past month thinking of Max, thinking about that night when he had told me I would fall for him.

“Alexa!” I was thrown out of the trance of my memories to find Max jogging towards me from the building. I didn’t move as he stopped only inches from me, invading all personal space once again. “You forgot this.”

There it was again. That voice. The one that sent shivers down my spine. The one he only used for me. I grabbed for my bag, but he pulled it away from me.

“You know.” He opened the bag in front of me. “I always suspected that you carried around a book with you wherever you went, but three books? Now that has me curious.”

The grin that spread across his face made mine turn beet red. He was reading me just like a book. I tried to make a grab for my bag again, and this time Max let me take it. I hugged it to my chest, trying to shield it away from prying eyes.

“You know it’s not a bad thing, right?” I’m pretty sure he could tell how mortified I was.

“My books are something I like to keep to myself.”

“I get that.” He took a step towards me, but I didn’t step back. “I’ve been collecting them since I was in middle school.”

The way he said “collecting” made my heart sing. Did he feel the same way that I did about books?

“How many books do you have?” The question came out of me before I could stop myself. My hand shot up to cover my mouth. His laugh made me feel calmer though.

“Around 10,000 now. They are split between my office, my penthouse, and my summer house.” Summer house? Who was this man? Also, 10,000 books?! I thought my thousand was impressive, and now I didn’t want to say anything else.

“How many do you have?”

“A lot.” He squinted his eyes, not letting me off the hook that easily. Silence engulfed us as he waited for my answer. I could have just turned around and left him, but I didn’t want to. “A thousand.”

It came out quieter than I thought, because Max moved closer, cupping his ear, like he needed me to repeat myself.

“I said, a thousand. That’s all I have.” I felt a deflated because it was my dream to have as many books as Max did, but it didn’t look like it was going to be a reality for quite some time.

“Don’t worry, babe, I’ll help you get your collection up.” He smirked and then winked at me. Instead of swooning on the inside, like a normal human being, I swooned on the outside and started moving towards Max. Before I knew it I was in his arms, our faces close together, just like they had been in the conference room. Our eyes were locked, but I closed my eyes slowly as his lips moved closer to me. I smiled when they didn’t land on my lips but softly on my cheek, his stubble subtly scratching me in the best way possible. The thought of him with a beard made me cling to him tighter. I had told this man moments ago I wasn’t ready for this, and now I wanted to jump his bones. “Goodnight, darlin’.”

I was left with a whisper in my ear that almost seemed like a promise, and I was hoping that Max was going to keep it.