CHAPTER ELEVEN

 

EVIE

Holden Ross is a nice man. A very nice man, who happens to be completely boring. At this point I’m considering going stag to Hannah’s party and taking my chances with Neal and his roving hands. It’s either that or fall asleep.

Okay. He probably isn’t that bad. I might have at one stage even thought he was the kind of guy I should date, but that was before Maxwell Holt.

I don’t know the CEO of Puppy Love though. I don’t know the Forbes list millionaire, or the playboy bachelor who has been the object of crushes worldwide. Only what Google tells me I should know about him. Other than that, I don’t know him at all.

I did know a guy named Max though. A guy who walked dogs that he wasn’t entirely fond of, and loved Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and cared deeply for his sister. I might have even fallen for him, given the chance.

But he was a charmer, and as it turned out, a liar. Was anything he said true? Was anything we did together more than just an opportunity to sleep with me? I suspected it, and practically threw myself at him anyway. It’s not like he had to go so far.

I haven’t seen him since that morning when I found out who he really was. If I never see him again it will be too soon. Unbelievable. He’s not even here and he’s ruining my date with Holden. A lovely date at that. Or it should be.

“So what do you think?”

“Sorry?” I try to tune back into what Holden is saying, leaning closer to him to appear interested. How much longer does this have to go on anyway?

“I was just talking about the cabin I rent every winter for a couple of weeks. Shadow and I like to get away from the city and just enjoy a slower pace. Sometimes we’ll go hunting.”

“Hunting?” My stomach turns.

“Right. Duck season is over this year, so we’ll probably head out soon for some geese. Have you ever been?”

“Sorry. It’s not something I would enjoy.” Abby would have a few large words for this man if she heard him talking about ducks like that. Is it possible I picked the worst of the bunch? Or were they all just awful?

“It is more of a man’s sport. That’s true.”

No, it’s definitely this guy. At least he isn’t making a fool of me like Max did. “Listen, I think...” Something catches my eye across the room. Maxwell Holt. What’s he doing here? I don’t recall his presence being required in the contract. There was no mention of the CEO-slash-dog walker attending the first date.

He holds a sheet of white cardboard in his hands. It’s blank. Still more interesting than Holden though. Unbelievable. I shouldn’t be interested in a single thing Max does. Not anymore. Not after the way he lied to me.

He turns it around and holds it at chest height pointing to the words on it. I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you.

“Um, I was going to say...”

That piece of cardboard flutters to the ground, revealing a new one. I’m in love with you.

He’s in love with me? Playboy bachelor and liar, Maxwell Holt is in love with me? What does he think? That I’m just going to fall into his arms because he says sorry and spouts a few words about love? I bet he doesn’t even know what the word means. I glare at him, give a shake of my head, and mouth, “So?”

He holds up one finger, signalling me to wait before digging a marker out of his pocket and pulling the lid off with his teeth while he balances the cardboard on his knee. Eventually he holds it up again. So I love you. And I’m pretty sure you’re in love with me. We belong together. You and me.

“You lied to me,” I say. “Worse, I didn’t question it. I knew how this would end and I didn’t stop it.”

“Sorry?” Holden screws up his face in confusion.

“Not you.”

“Not you,” Max says at the same time I do, approaching us. “I did lie to you, Evie. And maybe I shouldn’t have, but the truth is up until recently there’s only been one woman I’ve loved and that’s my sister. Until you I would have done what Dee asked and kept my distance, but you are something else. The moment I met you I was lost. Everything I thought I knew changed almost in the blink of an eye. No one expected that of me.” He takes a chair from a nearby table and plants it beside me, before seating himself and addressing Holden, “Sorry, man, I won’t be long.”

“That’s okay,” Holden responds. It’s clear he has no idea how to react to Max inserting himself into our date.

“Where was I?” Max takes my hand.

For some reason I let him. “No one expected you to change.”

“Right.” He nods. Behind us a couple of voices murmur in agreement. “So, no one believed me. And everyone wanted me to leave you alone. My sister was willing to sue you. I did try, believe it or not. I avoided you that first taping, which is why Kelly has run this entire thing. I went out for coffee, just so I wouldn’t be there when you came out.”

“That’s when I ran into you outside and you told me you were a dog walker, and I believed you because I believed you were honest the night previous when you didn’t hide the fact you played the field. But you’re not honest, are you? Which means there’s nothing about you I can trust.”

“Sure there is,” he says. “But you don’t want to, do you?”

“I knew what I was getting into.” I shake my head. This is how it always goes. You fall for a guy, and he tears your heart up like so much paper, before he moves on to the next girl. And sometimes if you’re really lucky, he lies to you, too. I get out of my seat and collect my coat. “It’s no big deal. We barely know each other. Besides, I don’t have time to date anyone.”

I slip my coat on and walk toward the group that is gathered between me and the entrance to Novo Greco. They start to part as I get close to them.

“Evie,” Max calls out. “Do you know what I think?”

“What?” I exhale. Do I really care to hear what he has to say? It won’t change anything about this situation.

“You’re chicken.”

I turn to face him. “I’m what? Did you just call me a—”

“Chicken,” he says, striding to meet me in the middle of the room. “You’re running scared.”

“Excuse me?”

“You keep telling me you don’t have time to date, but you don’t want to. Someone hurt you deeply, didn’t they? They fooled around behind your back?”

I blanche. He’s right, but we never talked about it. How does he know? How can he tell that I’m doing the best I can to protect myself? “He lied to me too.”

“I get it,” he says, raising his hand as if to touch me then letting it fall to his side. “I mean, I don’t know exactly because this is the first time I’ve been in love, but if not being with you hurts like this...” He shakes his head. “All I’m saying is I made a mistake. But it’s one I won’t make again. You already know I’m a one-woman man. Yours. If you’ll risk it.”

“You call me a chicken and then you want me to risk my heart on you?” I stare at him, almost certain he’s right.

“Yes.” He holds his hand out to me. “So how about it, Evie? Want to trust your heart to me? I’ll take very good care of it, I promise.”

“I don’t know.” I smile, so close to tears. My mind is already made up. Maybe I don’t know the man he is on paper, but I do know he’s so much more.

“Come on, Evie,” he pleads.

“Come on, Evie,” several in the group behind me call out.

“Anyone mind if I leave?” Holden asks as he zips up his coat on his way past us.

“Okay.” I slip my hand into Max’s. “Please take care of it.”

He covers my hand with both of his as he pulls me close. His chest rises and falls, and he bites his lip while he stares into my eyes. His smile makes my heart tingly and warm, and he slips one hand around the back of my neck. As he leans in, he says, “I will. Like it’s my very own.”

His mouth finds mine in the gentlest of slow dances. His lips rub against mine, and everyone starts to clap.

***

“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” I tell him. “I mean Hannah will probably kill me, but—”

“We are going,” he says, entering the bathroom behind me and gesturing at his naked pecs and chest. “I didn’t get all dressed up like a damn angel to stay home.”

There’s a thin sheen of gold glitter across his torsos that glints in the light and makes everything just that much more defined. Christ, being that put together just shouldn’t be allowed. My mouth waters and my legs silently complain as they turn to jelly. Maybe if I hadn’t jumped him in the car when we left the last taping for Puppy Love. Or perhaps if he hadn’t had me on my hands and knees on the rug in his apartment hallway when we got back. Or if maybe I hadn’t wanted to find out what such a gorgeous view would be like while getting pounded up against a window. Or if he hadn’t decided he wanted to get intimate with my behind. Point is I couldn’t jump him right now if I tried. I just couldn’t.

“You’re so hot I’ll have to fight women off you all night,” I say, and maybe pout a little. But Max promised to take care of my heart, and I believe him. I fell all the way when he said that. No holding back, no fears.

“What women? I’ve only got eyes for you.” He pulls a bag from behind his back. “Especially with you wearing this. Hell, I’ll be the one death staring and wondering how much damage Cupid’s arrow can do.”

I peek in the bag and pull out the tiny black and red costume. “The burlesque costume? Are you crazy?”

“About you.” He grins. “Trust me. I’ve been dying to see you in it again.”

***

“You’re here.” Hannah throws her arms around me. “And you brought a boy.”

“Boyfriend,” Max corrects, shaking her hand over my shoulder.

“Well, aren’t you a catch,” she studies him as though she can tell who he is from a couple seconds meeting, before turning her attention to me. “And this costume. You’ll catch your death of cold, but you’ll slay many a man in the process. I’m almost certain it will be worth it.”

“Just one man. This is Maxwell Holt, and I’m doing things differently this year.” I sink into Max’s arms. His chest warms my back and keeps the goose bumps away.

“I’ll say.” She sticks out her bottom lip and nods a few times. “Maxwell, it’s lovely to meet you. Keep an eye out for Karen. She loves a good ass grope, and you appear to have quite the ass. Also, Handsy Neal is in the kitchen.”

“We’ll steer clear,” I say, escorting Max past her. “Where’s the bar set up this year?”

“On the patio. We’ve had it enclosed, and there’s a fire. But I should warn you...”

As I reach for the handle, Hannah’s brother walks out of the bathroom carrying an armful of bath-chilled bottles. He’s wearing tight leather pants and devil horns and nothing else. He always was a show off. “Evie?”

“Caden.” This is awkward. Running into the guy who broke your heart a million years ago by cheating on you with nearly every one of your friends, except your bestie because she’s his sister, is weird. Not freezing up while recalling the hundreds of times he lied to my face is different.

“You look great,” he says, his gaze roving every inch of me in an uncomfortably intimate way.

“Doesn’t she? I’m Maxwell Holt.” Max introduces himself. “Her boyfriend.”

He must be able to tell that this is awkward for me. I lean into him, and he holds me protectively, as though I’m the most important thing in the world to him. “Yes, my boyfriend.”

“You look happy,” Caden says. Is that almost a tinge of regret I hear in his voice? Do I want him to regret treating me like he did? In truth, it doesn’t really matter at all.

“Come on, Caden. I need these bottles out on the patio,” Hannah interjects, pushing him in that direction.

“Old boyfriend?” Max asks, pulling me closer. “I’m thinking the one who couldn’t keep his hands to himself, if the way he looked at you was any indication.”

“He’s nothing,” I say, winding my arms around his neck. “And you’re nothing like him. You were right to call me chicken. I was scared that falling for a man who played the field would mean I get hurt like that again.”

“I was waiting for you,” he says. “Biding my time until you took my heart. Now that it belongs to you no one else can get close to it.”

“I’ll keep it forever,” I promise him. It might have only been six weeks, but I know he’s the one. Cupid isn’t stupid. He brought me the perfect guy this Valentine’s Day.