Chapter Seven
Gina wrestled the taxi door open around the multitude of boxes as well as T-Bone in his carrier. More boxes were stacked in the trunk of the car and the front seat.
“Hey, Charlie,” she hailed the doorman, careful to keep T-Bone out of sight. “Is there a cart or something to help with packages?”
“Yes, ma’am. Just a second.”
Good. At least she had a way to get all this stuff up to Max’s in one shot. Hopefully, she’d return the cart to Charlie empty rather than having to stuff these things in another cab and return them to the store. She figured she had a fifty-fifty chance that Max’s reaction could end in either result.
When her boss had come into the break room, muttering about prima donna trophy wives and had offered a set of custom-coordinated indoor Christmas decorations to anyone willing to cart them home, Gina had jumped on the offer.
Max’s stark, undecorated apartment screamed, “Decorate me!” So she was going to do just that.
While she waited for Charlie, she started to unload, all the while battling the urge to take everything back to the store. Not for the first time since she’d let her impetuous side take over and signed up to take the darned things, she battled self-doubt. Maybe her odds were more like sixty-forty that Max wouldn’t appreciate the gesture. There was a decent chance her impulsive nature might just have landed her in another awkward situation. Not that awkward wasn’t already part of the situation. They’d shared that achingly hot kiss in his apartment, then…nothing.
Not a late-night knock at her door. Not a booty call text. Not even a passing hello.
So, what the hell am I doing?
The answer didn’t immediately come to her. Instinct told her Max would protest, but he’d still appreciate the gesture, and maybe she could get him to loosen up, have fun. Just a little bit. If that didn’t work, she had another ace to play.
She was stretched across the back seat with one foot on the ground when familiar deep voice made her jump.
“Do I even want to know?” Max said from behind her.
Gina froze, then swore softly. What were the odds? This was not how this conversation was supposed to go down. The plan was to show up at his door with all the decorations unboxed and ready to go—to save him the mess—and breeze inside before he could object.
Grumbling to herself, Gina lunged for the last box on the floor on the far side of the back seat, then backed awkwardly out of the cab, fully aware of how her ass was the prominent feature being waved in Max’s face.
By the time she managed to right herself, she knew she looked a wreck with her hair a bedraggled mess, her pencil skirt hiked up showing more thigh than intended, and, based on the heat infusing her cheeks, her face as red as the conservative blouse she’d worn to work.
She smoothed her hair with one hand and swung around to come face-to-face with Max’s chest. Disgruntled and wrong-footed, she glowered at Max’s torso, doing her best to block mental images of licking her way up the strong column of his neck and across the hard line of his jaw, because that was not the point right this second.
“Gina?”
She dragged her gaze upward to encounter amused blue eyes. With more heat rising in her cheeks—she probably resembled a boiled lobster at this point—she cleared her throat. “Hi, Max.”
He glanced at the pile of boxes all around her. “You might be taking your job as an elf a little too seriously.”
Gina shifted on her feet, suddenly more nervous than she should be. “Not exactly.”
Charlie chose that moment to show up with the cart, and the cabbie stepped up, wanting to be paid. Plus, T-Bone was still hiding in the car. Grateful for the distraction and a chance to clear her muddled head, Gina busied herself with them, then asked the cabbie to wait a second and started loading all the decorations onto the cart.
Max leaned over to grab a large stack of boxes and help her out. “So, what are these for?”
Spit it out. “These are for you.”
The amusement faded as he stood up after depositing his pile. On the plus side, he didn’t look pissed yet. More like wary. “For me?”
She continued to load boxes as she rushed into explaining how she got them. “I thought of your place,” she finished up lamely.
She paused to assess his reaction, got nothing, and tried a bright smile. Only he didn’t react.
“Tada.” She added jazz hands for extra effect.
Max blinked. “Is this about adding color to my apartment?”
“No,” she scoffed, but messed it up by biting her lip as she gazed at all the boxes in consternation.
“Uh-huh. I don’t need changing, or fixing, or whatever this is about.” Instead of yelling, he got quieter. Yeesh. Hot button alert.
“This isn’t about fixing you,” she assured him.
“No?”
“I just thought you’d like some Christmas decorations. Sue me for doing something nice.” Oh hell, now she was on the defensive.
“I’m not a Christmas decorations kind of guy.”
She poked him in the middle of his chest with her finger. “Don’t tell me your family doesn’t do Christmas big, because I won’t believe you.”
He lifted an eyebrow, obviously wondering where she was headed with this. “They do.”
“I didn’t put you down for the Grinchy type.” Before he could get more annoyed, she grabbed a box with a picture of a twinkling snowflake light on the front and shook it enticingly. “It’s perfect for your style—nothing overdone or froufrou and easy to put up and take down.”
At first, she thought he’d relent as his gaze softened, amusement sparking again. But then he stepped back, and his expression closed off, rigid Max taking back over. Gina cringed as her odds dropped to more like zilch.
“Gina—”
Before he could say no, she brought out the big guns, her ace in the hole or up her sleeve or whatever that metaphor was. “You can take pictures and send them to your mom, praising your new girlfriend for her thoughtfulness.”
Max paused at that and ran a hand over his face. She’d known the boost to their fake relationship would get him, but she’d hoped she wouldn’t have to use it. Apparently neither of them was opposed to employing blackmail.
Again, she shook the box in her hands. “I’ll do all the work,” she promised.
T-Bone chose that moment to remind her he was still waiting and gave a yip. Gina glanced wide-eyed at Charlie, who didn’t seem to have heard, and then at Max, who definitely had. “Can we at least argue about this upstairs?” she whispered.
His shoulders slumped in resignation. “Fine.”
Not wanting to press her luck, Gina kept her mouth shut while they finished stacking the boxes on the cart. Then she carefully slung T-Bone’s carrier over her shoulder, deliberately putting the cart and herself between the dog and the doorman.
They made their way up to Max’s apartment in silence. Gina peeked at his face a couple of times but couldn’t quite place his expression. Disgruntled resignation was her best guess. That was better than outright rejection.
“I don’t know how you talk me into this stuff,” he grumbled, as she backed the cart into his apartment.
“I’ve been told I can be very—”
“Pushy? Irritating? Intrusive?”
Ouch. That hurt. Only the lack of anger in his voice had her persevering. She turned to find herself up against a wall of hard male. Again. “Persuasive.”
Trying to act casual while pinned between Max and the cart, Gina put a hand on her hip and pretended his proximity wasn’t bringing her body humming to delightful life by his warmth and earthy, orange-tinted scent.
T-Bone scratched at the bag. With a grumble, Max took it off her shoulder and let the dog out, giving him a good scratch when the dog put his paws up on Max’s legs. Little traitor.
“Does he need to go out?” Max asked.
Gina shook her head. “I had a double shift on the gift-wrapping line today, so I took him to a doggy daycare and he played and pottied plenty of times. He should be good for a while. I’ll just take him to my place, then I’ll get started on the fun part.”
Max dropped his gaze to her lips. “I can think of other fun things I’d rather be doing.”
Holy hell. Her body might melt just from that look. Apparently taking care of her own needs would never be enough to relieve the sexual tension riding her body whenever he was near.
He stepped back and the shutters came down in his eyes before he raised his gaze to the ceiling as if he might find an extra reserve of patience there. “I’m already regretting this. I should just wheel you and your boxes and your dog right out of here.”
Needing distance and more breathing room, Gina side-stepped him. “Too late.” She tore open a box from the top of the pile. “I’ve already started.”
“You’re a menace.” But the words were all bark.
Gina kept her head down and focused on pulling the decoration out of the box, and wrestling her clamoring body into some semblance of normal. “You know you’re secretly thrilled to have me decorate the apartment.”
Max grunted.
Close enough. Determined to really get started before Max could change his mind, Gina put down the box, scooped up T-Bone, and poked her head into the hallway, only to freeze at the sight of two familiar people standing outside her apartment door.
They spotted her and a lilting female voice called from down the hall. “Gina, is that you?”
Gina jerked out of sight and closed her eyes. “Oh my God,” she breathed. “This isn’t happening.”
She was sunk. With a gasp, she spun back to Max. “Help!” she whispered. She carefully shoved T-Bone at him.
He automatically reached out to take the dog. “What the—”
“My mom and my brother are here.” She raised her voice. “Isn’t that nice?”
Max glanced at the little dog, then realization registered, his face a comical mix of dismay and disbelief, followed by a look that clearly said, “How do you get me into these messes?”
“Yeah. That’s just great.” He, too, raised his voice. Only Gina could see his face, and great was far from what he was thinking.
By that time, her mom and brother had made their way down the hallway. “Gina?” Now her mother sounded irritated at being ignored.
Stiff smile in place, Gina turned to face them. “Hi!” Too enthusiastic.
She gave her mom a hug and then turned to Matt with a grin. Not skipping a beat, they went into the intricate series of claps, snaps, shakes, and fist-bumps they always did.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Mateo wanted to see you in your elf costume,” her mother said. “Only you weren’t working today, so we came by to same hello.”
Gina tried not to laugh as Mateo shook his head behind their mother’s back. “I emailed you my schedule.”
Her mother waved her hands. “Email is so impersonal. Who’s your friend?”
Right. Introductions. “This is Max Carter. Max, this is my mother, Virginia Wade, and my brother, Mateo. Max is my neigh—”
“Boyfriend,” Max jumped in. He stepped in closer behind her, and there went her body again as he reached around her to squeeze her mother’s hand. “I don’t think I can handle your handshake,” he said to Mateo, who grinned back.
“I didn’t know you were dating someone, honey,” her mother said as she eyed Max up and down.
“I told you…about Christmas?” Gina murmured faintly. Could this get any more awkward?
“Oh, yes.”
“Why don’t you come in?” Max offered.
He ushered her family inside and put T-Bone down. Mateo immediately dropped to his knees to pet the dog. “He’s so cute!”
Max and Gina shared a glance, one which involved her begging with her eyes.
“Thanks,” Max said as though the dog were his. “His name is T-Bone.”
For his part, T-Bone sat calmly in front of Mateo, tongue lolling as he enjoyed a good petting.
“Did we interrupt something?” Her mother was now looking at the pile of boxes with interest.
Gina directed another begging glance at Max, sure the next words out of his mouth would involve some sort of humiliating explanation on her part.
“Gina is going to decorate my apartment for Christmas,” Max said.
She released a silent breath of relief. “Thank you,” Gina mouthed from behind her mother’s back.
“You’ll love that. She has a fantastic eye,” her mother enthused as she picked up a box to examine the picture. Then she smiled at Max. “She gets it from me.”
Gina could see the wheels in Max’s head spinning as he took in her mother’s outfit—red slacks and a silky shirt that was patches of bright colors including turquoise, yellow, red, green, and purple.
“I’m sure she does,” he murmured.
Gina frowned. Was he being condescending?
“We ordered some pizza to be delivered to your apartment,” her mother said.
Gina felt like banging her head against the wall. Of course her mother had done that without checking first.
“Why don’t we bring it over here and help with the decorating?” came the next suggestion.
And the hits just kept on coming. “I don’t think—”
“That sounds like fun,” Max cut her off.
Gina had to work to keep her jaw from hitting the floor. “No really, Max. I could come back later…”
Max stepped closer to wrap his arm around her waist like a loving boyfriend, and any remaining powers of speech shut down. “Do you want to decorate my apartment or not?”
“Yes?” she squeaked. Only he didn’t want her to. Not really.
“Was that a question or an answer?” Finally, that twinkle of amusement was back, tinged with exasperation. What on earth was he thinking?
“Yes,” she answered more firmly. She was proud that the words came out at all, let alone sounding normal. Not when what she wanted to do was wrap her hand around his neck and pull him down so she could taste his lips again, thank him properly.
“Then shut up.”
She thought an answering heat sparked in his eyes for a second, but then her mother gave a happy sigh. “You’ve caught a good one, honey. Don’t throw him back.”
Gina closed her eyes and breathed. This was not how she’d pictured the evening going.
“Mateo, do you like to play video games?” Max asked.
Mateo perked up. “Yeah.”
“I have a console in my bedroom. Want to try it?”
Mateo glanced at Gina, who nodded approval. “That’d be awesome. Thanks Mr. Carter.”
As Max led her brother down the hall, with T-Bone dogging their steps, she heard him say, “You can call me Max.”
“Gina, he is gorgeous,” her mother took the opportunity to gush.
“Shhhh.” Gina glanced down the hall.
“I’m just saying I wouldn’t kick him out of bed for eating crackers.”
Gina dropped her head into her hands. “Mom.”
“Okay. Okay. I’ll stop talking about it.” She pulled out her phone.
Gina raised her head. “Thank you.”
“But he is dreamy.” Then, before Gina could comment, she dialed the pizza place to change the delivery location.