I smiled at her words. “Good point, Janey. Thanks.”
“Anytime. Think of this piece of golden wisdom the next time you see Max. Maybe coax her into doing this photo shoot. For charity,” she added as I left, just in case I didn’t know.
Her idea of playing doctor with Maxine had a certain appeal—without the camera, of course—and that thought had my feet on the move. So she hadn’t called me to confirm a time for our date. That didn’t mean I couldn’t call her. Text her.
Even better, I could stop by to see her. It was time to take control of the situation. Janey was right, I had to show Maxine that I wanted her. Not someone like her, but her. And I would.
Until she believed.
Maxine
“Chocolate chips or sprinkles?” I held up a bag of teardrop-shaped chocolate chips and a bottle of rainbow sprinkles while Callie stared at each option like it was the most important decision of her life. Tonight, we were baking cookies together, another effort on my part to make sure we didn’t spend every evening in front of the television.
“Can we do M&M’s and pretzels?” Hope burned in her eyes and she wore one of those pleading smiles I couldn’t resist. “Please?”
“Where did you get that weird flavor combo from?”
She shrugged, and I knew she was hiding something. “It sounds yummy, doesn’t it? Grandma Vargas says we have to experiment to find greatness.”
Yeah, I’ll just bet she did. “Okay, so candy and pretzels in our cookies. How about steak or potatoes, too?”
“Mommy,” she whined and glared at me, which only made me laugh. “Be serious.”
“I’m always serious,” I told her, but the rest of my sentence was cut off by the sound of the doorbell. “Did you ask someone to bring over pepperoni for the cookies, too?”
“Not funny, Mommy.”
I laughed and made my way to the door, wondering who would stop by without calling other than Nina, who I already knew was busy at the Black Thumb tonight. “It was kind of funny,” I called back to Callie and pulled open the door with a start. “Derek.”
He leaned in with a lazy, sultry grin. “So you do remember my name.”
As if I could forget the wanton way I’d called that name out, so many times, during our night together. I stared for a long time, searching his blue eyes for anger that I’d basically ghosted him. I wasn’t proud of it, but I’d been too confused about what to do to do anything at all. “What are you doing here?”
“I haven’t heard from you in a while, figured I’d drop by to say hey. Hey.”
The soft greeting brought a smile to my lips and I realized that I was happy to see him. Really happy. “Come on in, then. We’re making cookies.”
His eyes lit playfully. “I love cookies.” The grin he laid on me sent a wave of heat rushing over me and spreading throughout my body.
“Me, too,” I whispered, feeling suddenly drunk on his masculine scent and playful grin.
“Maxine,” he called out, and I turned to him with a question in my eyes.
“Yeah?”
He pulled me close until our bodies were flush and a grin split his face. “Hey, you.” Then he fixed his mouth to mind and kissed me. It was a hard kiss, a slow burn that heated my blood until my flesh was hot to the touch. His tongue teased me and I purred into his mouth, and, finally, Derek pulled back with a satisfied grin.
“Hey back.” I licked my lips and groaned at the taste of him there. “Sorry I’ve been—”
“Not around? I kind of noticed, and you know what else? I didn’t like it one damn bit, Maxine.” His words shocked me—not the words themselves, but the tone. The hint of anger there, which I deserved. “I know you didn’t do it because you didn’t enjoy our night together, so why?” His blue eyes were so earnest, and his mussed black hair gave him a boyish quality that made me feel even worse. Derek didn’t deserve that.
“I’m sorry.”
“I know that, Maxine.” He glanced over his shoulder in search of my daughter before turning back to me. This time, he was close enough that I could see the ring of silver around the inside of his eye. “But why?”
I sighed, unsure of how to explain it so it made sense because it still made no damn sense to me. “I don’t know. I mean, I wasn’t sure what to do or say at first, and I didn’t know what saying yes actually meant. Then, by the second day, I’d convinced myself that it was best to say nothing at all.” It was a weak excuse, even to my own ears, especially from someone who prided herself on being independent and straightforward. I held my breath and waited for Derek’s response.
When it came, it was laughter. He was laughing at me and my crazy response to his totally sane request for a date. Derek’s big, capable hands fell to my shoulders and his laughter slowed. “You’re kind of crazy, Maxine, and I think I like it.” To prove his point, he brushed a chaste kiss to my cheek and stepped back.
I think I believed him—and worse, I kind of liked that he liked my crazy. But that was too much to think about when my mind was focused on a simple task. Like making cookies. “Callie, we have a visitor.”
She looked up from her one-handed decorating line and gasped in surprise. “Dr. Derek, hi! We’re making cookies and they’re gonna be yummy.” She held up an uncooked disc with a flower on it. “I can’t do it good with my cast, but my arm is feeling much better if you wanna take it off.” She looked up at him with her best puppy dog eyes and I could tell Derek was moved.
But the doctor in him was not. Derek, to his credit, accepted her hug with ease before he dropped down to look her in the eye. “But what if your arm only feels better, but it’s not quite healed yet. Then what?” His question was simple, and the authority of it allowed Callie to work it out on her own.
She opened her mouth to give her best reply and froze, snapping her mouth shut. It happened again and her shoulders fell in defeat. “Fine, Dr. Derek, I’ll keep it on till you say so.”
He laughed and gave her shoulder a light squeeze. “Sounds good. How about I give you two extra hands on the assembly line?” He held up his strong hands and wore an eager smile that had Callie quickly agreeing.
“You’ll listen to me?”
He nodded. “You’re the boss.”
The grin that split her face was so big, I felt it like a drop-kick to the chest. Callie enjoyed bossing Derek around and showing him how to do something he didn’t know how, and to his credit, Derek listened and followed orders perfectly. “Very good job, Dr. Derek.”
He grinned at her. “Thanks, Callie. I have a good teacher.”
She revealed another pleased smile and nodded, peppering him with questions about medical school and surgeries. He answered them all easily and patiently. “Are you married, Dr. Derek?”
“Nope. Are you?”
“I’m just a kid. Do you like kids?” She was fishing, and she wasn’t even being crafty about it.
“I love kids.”
“Good,” she said seriously and placed the final cookie on the waiting cookie sheet. Callie slid a mischievous look my way before turning back to our guest. “Don’t you think my Mommy is beautiful?”
“I do,” he confided easily, a matching mischievous smile lighting up his own face.
“Good. Mommy, I’m going to watch TV now.” Then she took off, leaving us alone after her minefield of personal questions.
“Is no place sacred?” I asked ruefully.
“Looks like age is no indicator of matchmaking or meddling in this town,” he replied with a laugh.
He had a point, but now that Callie seemed not only okay with the idea of me dating, but also invested in it, I started to think that maybe Nina was right. Maybe I needed to take something for myself—and maybe that something could be Derek. It might not last. It probably wouldn’t, but maybe I could have a good time without getting my heart mixed up in it before it all went sour. “I think we should go on that date,” I decided in that moment.
“Because you recognize my potential, or to get
out of going on a second or third date with me?” The man was smart, I’d give him that. But not as smart as he thought, at least not when it came to me.
I shrugged, though, because the truth was that I didn’t know how to answer the question without giving away the whole truth. Derek was captivating and smart and sexy and funny and charming. Not to mention sexy as hell. “Neither. I like you and I want to know if my bad streak is alive and well, or if I can actually spot a good guy in a crowd.” He said nothing. “I want to see if my taste has improved.” If so, Derek was a good guy to test the waters with. If not, then it was back to my man fast.
Derek leaned in, trapping me between his body and the island counter, his hands on my hips as his lips pressed together behind my ear. He swiped a tongue along the edge of my earlobe and moaned. “Your taste has definitely improved, Maxine. Today, it’s sugar and vanilla.” His tongue traced the shell of my ear before falling down my neck and across my collarbone. “Saturday. Me and you.”
I nodded, but my mouth didn’t work. I was breathless and shocked at how easily he made me forget myself.
The bell rang and I jumped back with a gasp. “This place is like a madhouse, lately. Who can that be?”
“Dinner would be my guess,” he called out, sounding far too amused.
“You ordered dinner?” The question was unnecessary. The door opened and I immediately set my eyes on the seventeen-year-old delivery kid from The Chinese Palace.
“Chase, hey.” Derek leaned between me and the door once I had the bags in my arms and tipped the kid. “Stay safe out there.”
“You bought us dinner.”
“All three of us,” he clarified. “I heard something about cookie making and figured dinner could be my contribution. You upset?”
“No,” I admitted. I liked that he stopped by and didn’t just assume I would take care of him, too. “Thank you, Derek.”
“My pleasure, Maxine.” He ruffled Callie’s hair as we passed. “Race you to the sink, Cal!”
She darted off the sofa and skidded around him, running like she was being chased and laughing loudly. I could only shake my head in wonder. Was this what I had deprived Callie of by opting out of dating seriously? She’d taken to Derek easily, which worried me, but also highlighted how starved she was for a father figure. A male role model.
I found them both in the kitchen, scrubbing their hands all the way to the elbows.
“This is how we scrub in for surgery to remove any microbes that can be dangerous for the patient.” He’d gotten his hands good and sudsy, and was helping Callie do the same. “I get a lot of thinking done during a surgical scrub.”
Her brows furrowed. “What do you think about?” I was tempted to intervene, but Derek seemed to be handling her questions well. Too well. “My mommy?”
I bit back a groan but couldn’t deny my own desire to hear his response. “Sometimes. She is very pretty, as you pointed out. Sometimes, I think of how I can better help a patient, a new treatment or anything else that’s on my mind.” It was a good answer. A damn good answer, and I wasn’t yet ready to interpret my body’s response to his words.
“Hurry up, slow pokes,” I interjected, “or I’m eating all the egg rolls!”
Derek
Why in the hell had I offered to cook Maxine dinner for our first real date? Because, just like she’d accused me of being on multiple occasions, I was arrogant. Don’t get me wrong, the meal I prepared for her was my go-to meal when I wanted to impress. Then again, it had been far too long since I’d cooked to please a woman, and as the clock wound down on her impending arrival, all I could remember were the dozens of dates where this blond or that redhead had turned her nose up at carbs.
Carbs. Pasta. Bread. Rice. Did I mention pasta? If Maxine was a woman who counted, or worse, eliminated carbs altogether, then the meal would get us off to a rocky start. And I couldn’t afford more rocky starts.
Then again, Maxine’s acceptance of this date had floored me. To say she was reluctant would be an understatement, but something had changed her mind and I was grateful for whatever it was. Except that I couldn’t stop thinking she’d take one look at everything and give me that look I’d seen her use on men who weren’t worthy. “Stop it!”
I pulled a bottle of whiskey from the top of the fridge and poured a quick shot to calm my nerves. This was a date and I’d been on hundreds, maybe thousands of dates in my life. I could do this. I was a good date, especially a first date. Then again, Maxine and I already knew each other. Sort of.
The bell rang, because of course she’d refused to let me pick her up, insisting she needed her car in case Callie needed her, and suddenly, my nerves vanished. A smile appeared on my face and I quickly rinsed off my hands and made my way to the front door. When I opened it, I nearly bit off my own tongue.
“Maxine, you look stunning.”
She smiled sweetly, tucking a springy red curl behind her ear while I enjoyed the sight of the pink rising up on her skin—and there was a lot of skin on display. Her green dress made her eyes look like the ocean and the sky had a baby, and they were lined in that sexy way that made a man think of nothing but getting her into bed. The dress was short and the sleeves were long, cupping her nipped-in waist and lush, perky breasts.
“Thank you, Derek. You look nice, too. Casual looks good on you.”
Who in the hell was this Maxine, and why did she smell so good? “Thanks. I was hoping to turn you on.”
A sweet, husky laugh erupted out of her and she shook her head. “I’ll let you know when that happens.” Her slow perusal of my body in the navy blue button-up shirt and jeans told a different story.
“I can’t wait. Come on in, dinner will be ready soon.” Hopefully, it wouldn’t end up a total disaster.
Maxine stepped in and gave the hall a thorough look, smiling at photos of me with my parents and friends over the years. While she took in every detail, I did the same. “It smells incredible in here!”
“You smell incredible,” I blurted out like an overeager teenager. “I mean… hell, never mind.”
She laughed. “It’s the dress.”
When she turned around, I sucked in a breath at the lack of material covering her back. “Holy shit, it’s the dress.” The bottom scooped so low on her back that she couldn’t have on any panties, not even a thong. Or a bra, because all I could see was miles upon miles of smooth, creamy skin, with the occasional freckle thrown in just to tease the hell out of me. “Damn, Maxine.”
She laughed again, a pleased blush staining her cheeks once more. “Thanks.” Then her back was to me again as she went back to gazing at the photos and trinkets in the hall that led to the living room. “Nice place.”
“Thanks. I decorated most of it myself.” She arched a brow my way, calling out my obvious lie. “I did. Okay—whatever my mom didn’t do, I did.”
She laughed. “Now that, I believe,” she said, walking over to the big-screen television I had mounted on the wall at Ry’s insistence. “This was definitely your pick. And so was that sofa.” She pointed to the stuffed denim blue sofa in the center of the room.
“That sofa caused my mom not to speak to me for two whole days.”
“Wow. It must be comfy, then.” Maxine walked around the coffee table that I hadn’t been able to talk my parents out of buying for me when I’d bought the place and took a slow, deliberate seat on the couch, kicking up one leg to cross it over the other in the process.
I had to swallow back some drool. “Well, what’s the verdict?”
She smiled up at me and wiggled her hips, leaning back against the plush pillows and rolling her head on the firm memory foam in the head rest. “Worth the ridiculous amount of money you spent on it.” The smile she flashed took the sting out of her words.
“How do you know I paid a lot for it?”
“This fabric is like baby’s skin its so soft and, knowing you, probably stain-treated, too. That costs money.”
“And I’m a guy that
spends money like there’s no tomorrow?” I shouldn’t have been offended but, dammit, I was.
Maxine, however, didn’t seem to notice. She stood and looked at the artwork and photos on the far corner of the wall before turning to me, catching me staring at the back of her. “No, because you seem like the kind of guy who doesn’t like shopping. So you take your time until you find what you want, even if it costs a little more, to make sure it’ll last a long time.”
Wow. Now I really felt like a jerk for jumping to the wrong conclusion. Again.
“It’s okay, I’d feel like an ass, too, if I were you. But instead of dwelling on that, how about we head towards those incredible smells?” She nodded her head in the direction of the kitchen with a playful smile I couldn’t resist.
“I do feel like an ass, but I’m hoping one taste of dinner and all will be forgiven.” I reached for her hand, feeling my smile widen when she didn’t pull away and instead let me lead her into the kitchen.
“Wow. This is your kitchen?”
I nodded, barely suppressing a smile at her shock.
“Are you some kind of foodie?” She looked around at the six-burner stovetop and the double oven on one side with a broiler on the other. The island counter left her mesmerized and the hanging copper pots and pans had her green with envy. “Seriously, what’s the deal?”
I shrugged once again, feeling like all the decisions I’d made back when I’d bought and decorated this place had been leading me here. “Honestly?”
“Yes, please. Always.”
“I do like to cook, but I don’t have enough time to be a proper foodie. But I guess I was hoping I’d find a woman, someday, who really loved to cook.” I realized after the words were out of my mouth exactly what I was saying, but I refused to take it back.
“Well, I’m in love, so play your cards right and I might whip up a feast for you in this baby.” She ran a longing finger along the flour-covered countertop. “Beautiful.”
Misters of Love: A Small Town Romance Boxset Page 24
