Handsome Hero

by Lori Wilde

“If that's true, then why are you feeling it, too?” she asked. “You weren't afraid or upset.”

  He caressed her hand one last, lingering time, and then he slowly released her. With a small smile, he said, “I'm a guy. We're all animals; haven't you heard?”

  With that, he headed back to the other side of the bar. Paige watched him walk away and tried to get her heartbeat to slow. The silence that had surrounded them abruptly evaporated. Everyone in the Honey Café seemed to talk at once, and Paige knew they were talking about her. And Max. But she couldn't focus on them. Instead, she was watching him.

  He was wrong. He wasn't an animal. An animal would have taken advantage of what she'd been feeling. But Max hadn't. Even though she knew he'd felt the same punch of desire she'd felt, he'd walked away.

  He wasn't an animal at all.

  Max sensed danger. Serious danger. In fact, he more than sensed it—he saw danger. Sitting across the table from him. He and Paige were in jeopardy, and there didn't seem to be anything he could do about it.

  “This extravaganza is the most important event the Honey Café does each year,” Hal said, grinning at Max and Paige. “It's a huge honor that Alma and I are asking you to plan it.”

  Max barely managed to not say “bull.” This wasn't an honor. It was off-loading work, and they all knew it. He didn't want to do this, didn't even want to be in this meeting. But since Paige was here, he was here.

  “It's not something I'm good at,” he said, hoping Hal would get the clue and drop this nonsense. “In fact, I'll stink at it, so you should find someone else.”

  “It's because of the extravaganza part,” Alma said, nudging Hal. “He isn't the type of guy to use a word like that.”

  They both gave Max sympathetic looks, and he sighed. “Look, I don't care what you call the thing, it isn't something I do. I tend bar. That's what I do.”

  “We'll call it a festival,” Hal said, ignoring everything Max had just said. “That's a nice manly word. Something he can say without trouble.”

  Max was all set to protest that it didn't matter to him what they called it, when Paige cleared her throat.

  “I don't think it's something I'm interested in doing, either,” she said. “Sorry.”

  Yes! An ally. Max turned and flashed her a thank-you grin. “See, neither of us wants to do it. I bet you can find someone else.”

  Hal hooted a laugh. “You're funny, Max. It's almost like you think we're asking.” He looked at Alma. “See, I hired these two with very little, no make that nothing, in the way of references.” He grinned at Paige and Max. “Any of this ring a bell?”

  Alma grinned at them, too, and Max had to admit, these two had a real career ahead of them as con artists if they wanted one. This was serious blackmail, and everyone in the room knew it.

  “I do believe he and Paige aren't getting this,” Alma said. “Perhaps if you speak slower, Hal, they'll catch on.”

  Yeah, well, Max for one was getting it now. “I was hired as a bartender.”

  “Look at your job description. You're a customer facilitator. That means you help guests have fun,” Hal said.

  Alma nodded. “It's all about the customers. But don't pout; you two will be paid very well for doing this, and you'll get time off your shifts. You'll have a blast. Every year, the employees beg us to pick them to do this. But we picked the two of you.”

  “Because?” Max had to ask.

  “Because you two will bring something different to this,” Hal said, his grin almost too big for his face. “I know it. Alma knows it. You're not going to make this a typical Midsummer Night Extravaganza—oops, make that Festival. See, it's already different. It's a festival.”

  He said the last part with a flourish, and Max seriously doubted a festival was one bit better than an extravaganza.

  “I don't think—” he started at the same time Paige said, “Fine. I'll do it.”

  He shut his mouth. Well, that settled that. He really no longer had a choice. If he wanted to keep Paige in sight, he'd need to do this, too.

  “Fine,” he said, not a bit happy at how this had turned out.

  Hal grinned. “Terrific. Now the only guidelines are there are no guidelines. I have pictures of the ones from the past three years to get you started.”

  “Then it's all up to you,” Alma said. “Feel free to dazzle us.”

  Oh, yeah. That was going to happen.

  “Remember, this sort of thing looks great on a resume,” Hal added with a wink.

  Max had serious doubts this particular activity was going help him at any point in the future.

  But he'd do it to keep an eye on Paige.

  He leaned back in his chair. Man, things weren't going well on this case. Not at all. First, he'd been hit with a punch of lust when he'd touched Paige's hand earlier tonight. Talk about a dangerous situation. He took his job seriously, and a serious investigator didn't get involved with a client.

  And now he had to work on this stupid festival thing.

  This night just kept going downhill faster than an out-of-control skier.

  “I'm so glad the two of you agreed to do this,” Alma said. “I know it will be great. And you two will truly enjoy the experience.”

  Max glanced at Paige. She didn't look any happier than he felt.

  “We'll try our best,” she said. “Because, Hal, I do appreciate you giving me this job.”

  Hal looked like a cat with a canary in its mouth. “You're welcome.” He looked at Max and raised one eyebrow.

  “Fine. I appreciate the job, too,” Max muttered. “And we'll try.”

  Hal laughed. “Hey, that's what I like. Enthusiasm. Okay, Alma and I will settle for that. You two will try. That's good enough for us.”

  Max hoped it was because he wasn't going to spend any serious thought on this festival thing. He had more important things to do, like keep trouble away from Paige.

  His only regret was he hadn’t been able to protect her from Hal and Alma and this plan of theirs.

  He and Paige started to stand when a devilish expression crossed Hal’s face. “Hey, Paige. Did you know that Max is a real live hero?”

  Max froze. “What are you talking about?”

  Hal’s grin was almost too big for his face. “I looked him up online. He doesn’t have any social media presence. Kinda like you, Paige.”

  Max glanced at Paige. Like him, she was frowning at her boss. “Hal, I don’t think—”

  Hal waved one hand. “Doesn’t matter. Anyway, despite his annoying lack of social media, I did find out two things about Max. Not surprising, he was a hero in the military. Saved a bunch of his fellow soldiers. Won some award. One of the papers had a write-up about him.”

  He leaned forward, then added, “But before he was a brave soldier, he was a brave teenager. Paige, did you know that when he was young, our Max ran into a burning house and saved a mom, her baby, and the family dog? A baby and a dog!”

  Max stood. He’d forgotten about those articles on the internet. Leave it to Hal to dig them up. “It was a long time ago.”

  He glanced at Paige. She was looking at him in that goofy way people did when they found out.

  “It wasn’t a big deal,” he said. “Plus, over in Afghanistan, all the soldiers were brave.”

  Paige stood slowly, her gaze never wavering from his. “Wow,” was all she said.

  Max sighed and headed back to the bar. Behind him, he could hear Hal laughing.

  Great.

  Paige was still trying to process everything Hal had told her. After she left the meeting, she took a moment and dashed into the ladies’ room. Once there, she brought up the articles about Max on her phone. Hal hadn’t been kidding. Max had been written up twice in the Dallas paper. The first article praised his quick thinking in spotting a fire on his way by and getting everyone in the house out safely. The article showed a picture of a smiling woman holding a baby and standing next to a fluffy dog. Next to them stood a teenaged Max. He looked less than thri
lled at having his picture taken.

  The next article was about him winning a medal for his bravery in Afghanistan. This time, the picture showed Max in his uniform, looking handsome.

  She wasn’t surprised that Max was a hero. He had that air about him. He’d already saved her a couple of times. What did surprise her was that she’d agreed to do the festival. She had no idea why she'd said yes. Okay, maybe that wasn't quite true. Hal and Alma had backed her into a corner, but even with that, they were her friends. They'd been good to her since she'd moved to Honey. It seemed to mean so much to them, and it didn't matter a bit to her.

  Plus, maybe they were right. Maybe it would be fun. She could use a little fun in her life right now. Any distraction was welcomed.

  “I think this is crazy,” Max said when she joined him at the bar.

  She knew he wasn't happy about this, and she couldn't help wondering why he'd agreed. Maybe he was afraid Hal really would fire him if he said no.

  “Hal isn't unreasonable,” she told him. “If you really don't want to do this, tell him no. He won't fire you.”

  Max's expression made it clear he didn't believe her. Paige knew he needed this job, so she felt bad about this.

  “Seriously, just tell him no,” she said.

  With a shake of his head, Max wiped the bar. Paige watched him start closing up for the night. He was an unusual person. Very focused. Very professional.

  Very sexy.

  She still couldn't believe the sensations that had washed over her earlier tonight when he'd touched her hand. She hadn't felt that intense burn of attraction in . . . maybe forever.

  So why now? And why with this man?

  Of course, knowing more about him and his background made him even more appealing.

  A woman, her baby, and a dog. That was hard to resist.

  She quickly finished up for the night, then headed out to the parking lot. This was the time of day she hated the most. The darkness. The drive home.

  As always, she walked out with some of the other employees. A group was good. There was safety in a group. Thankfully, the large parking lot was well lit, but she still stayed close to the others. But as she got closer to her car, she realized something was seriously wrong.

  “My tire,” she said, stopping. Her left front tire was completely flat.

  “Wow, Paige, you've got a flat,” said Krystal, one of the other waitresses. “Hey, Max, can you fix Paige's car?”

  Paige walked slowly up to her car. A flat. Was it an accident? Or had that creep tonight come out to the parking lot and done this?

  Worse, had the press done this to isolate her in the parking lot?

  She spun around, scanning the parking lot, and almost bumped into Max. He'd obviously heard Krystal and had come over to help.

  “I'll change it,” Max told Krystal and waved everyone else away. Then he knelt next to the tire, turned on the flashlight on his phone, and spent a lot of time looking it over. “Probably caught a nail,” he finally said.

  “Are you sure?” she had to ask. “I mean that guy tonight said he was going to do something.”

  Rather than looking at her like she was crazy, Max seemed to really consider her question. “It doesn't look like the air was let out, but I can't be sure. Still, how would that guy know which car was yours?”

  He had a good point, but Paige still couldn't shake the feeling this was more than bad luck. An article about her father and Adam had appeared two days ago in the Dallas paper. It had mentioned how they still were looking for her and had invited fans of Adam’s to pitch in. Had one of them come looking?

  But if so, why let the air out of her tire?

  “I can change the tire,” she said, heading toward the trunk. She hated people coming to her rescue.

  “Haven't you been listening to Hal and Alma?” Max asked, following her to the back of her car. “According to them, I've got Y-chromosome issues and can't say words like extravaganza. If that's true, then you know there's no way a macho beast like me is going to let you change your own tire. It could cause me serious psychological harm.”

  He said all this nonsense with such a straight face that Paige had to laugh. “Why don't I believe that?”

  With a loud, silly sigh, he said, “Can we afford to risk it?”

  Paige laughed again, and the stress that had been gnawing at her backed down. She knew as long as Max was here, she'd be safe. If someone was waiting to waylay her, they wouldn’t want him around. She knew that as surely as she knew her own name.

  She unlocked the trunk of her car, and Max lifted out the spare. But he stopped and shook his head.

  “Your spare is flat, too,” he said, setting the tire back in the trunk. “You're a lady without a lot of options,” he teased.

  Looking at the spare, Paige had to admit, it made her feel better. The tires on this old clunker she'd bought when she left home were awful. Chances were, the flat tonight was just bad luck.

  Of course, now she had an even bigger problem— how to get home.

  Max must have read her mind, because he said, “I'll give you a lift home tonight. Then tomorrow we can get your car fixed.”

  Paige hesitated out of habit, then took a deep breath. She could trust Max. She was positive of that. Plus, everyone else had already left. She didn't have any other option.

  “If it helps, I can swear on my brother's head that I'm a nice guy,” he said when she didn't answer right away.

  A bubble of laughter slipped out of Paige. “Swear on your brother's head?”

  After a self-deprecating laugh, Max explained, “Yeah, it's something we started as kids. For some reason, we thought it made our promises sound official and that people would know they could trust us.”

  The image of a young Max and this unknown brother developing an elaborate plan delighted Paige. She'd never had a brother or sister, but she'd like to think they would have joined forces like Max and his brother had.

  “Well, since you're swearing on your brother's head, how can I not accept a ride?” she teased. “You own the black truck, right?”

  He seemed surprised that she knew which truck was his. “How'd you know?”

  “I've seen you arrive at work,” she said, trying to keep her voice neutral. Idiot. Why didn't she come out and say, you're cute, and I couldn't help noticing you whenever you showed up?

  Jeez. Talk about immature.

  “Plus, it’s the only other vehicle in the parking lot,” she said with a laugh.

  “Ah, true,” was all he said. If he suspected her real motivation, he didn't comment on it. Instead, he led the way to his truck and unlocked the passenger side.

  “This truck suits you,” she said as she slipped into the seat and glanced around. “Boy, it’s fancy. I guess what they say about some guys spending all their money on vehicles is right.”

  To his credit, he chuckled. “I guess Hal and Alma aren't so wrong about me after all. I do have some bonehead macho guy issues.”

  “Nah. Just because you want to drive a super fancy truck doesn't mean you're beyond redemption.”

  He laughed again. “Gee, thanks. Now I can sleep at night. So where to?”

  “My home,” she said, settling back in her seat.

  “Got a Ouija board on you so I can get directions?”

  “Sorry,” she said, feeling once again like an idiot. It was funny, she felt so comfortable with Max that she almost assumed he knew where she lived.

  “Go to the light and turn right,” she told him.

  “Then?”

  “We'll take it a step at a time,” she said, since she hated it when people gave her convoluted directions and expected her to remember them. If she didn’t have GPS, she couldn’t find anyplace anymore.

  He started the truck. “Probably a good idea. Macho Neanderthals are known for their retention problems.”

  Paige laughed again. She couldn't believe how relaxed she felt. How happy. It felt amazing.

  As he drove, she carefully
doled out directions to her house, laughing more as he pretended to get confused a couple of times.

  “So tell me about this infamous brother on whose head you swear,” she prompted when they had several blocks to go with no turns.

  “Travis,” he said. “Child of Satan to those of us who knew him when.”

  “Ouch. Bad kid growing up?”

  “Just a handful.”

  The way he said that made Paige suspect he'd been the one to take care of Travis. “Did you raise him?”

  After a noticeable hesitation, he said, “Promise you won't say awww.”

  “What?”

  “If I tell you about Trav and me, promise you won't do that thing women do when they go 'awww, that's so cute.'“

  Paige couldn't help smiling in the darkness of the car. “No way. I'm not about to make a promise like that.”

  “Then my secret will remain a mystery.”

  When she realized he really wasn't going to tell her, she said, “Fine. I won't say awww.”

  “Better swear on my brother's head, just to be sure.”

  Paige laughed. “Fine. I swear on your brother's head I won't say awww. So what is this story?”

  “Trav and me in a nutshell—Army brats. Busy dad. Mom died when we were very young. Best friends. Watched each other's backs. Still close.”

  “You’re the older brother?”

  She pointed left, and he turned and then said, “Yes. By four years.”

  She could read between the lines. “So you took care of your brother, right?”

  For a few seconds he was silent, then he said, “Someone had to.”

  The awww hovered on Paige's lips, wanting to slip out, but she slammed her lips closed. A promise was a promise.

  Still, with just those few words, Max had told her volumes about himself. And the fact that he was so nonchalant about it told her even more. His relationship with his brother was not only close, but it was vitally important to him.

  She really admired Max. Seemed like he was a hero to a lot of people.

  “I didn't say awww,” she pointed out finally.

  “But you wanted to,” he countered with a laugh.

  “Yes, yes, I did. It's very sweet.”