“Shit,” he muttered, dropping her fingers so he could run both hands through his hair.
“You said it was killing you.”
“It is.”
“I don’t want to wake up one day and find that you’ve left everything behind and faked a plane crash because you can’t take it anymore.”
“Even if I’m running to a house in the suburbs and the nine-to-five grind?”
“Yeah. I want you walking right up to those things, out in the open. Like a man.”
“Jesus, Chloe. I didn’t see that blade coming.”
Pressing her lips together, she refused to offer an apology.
After a few sips of his beer, Max rolled his shoulders. “I’ve been living this way for thirty years. It’s going to take me a little while to untangle myself.”
“I understand. I can give you time. And the reason it’s easy to forgive you? Because you were actually trying to do the right thing when you walked away from me.”
“For myself,” he clarified.
“Well, I was trying to keep you there for myself, so I don’t begrudge you that. Much. And you know what? I think long-distance dating might be just the speed of dating we both need right now. For a little while.”
“Can’t handle all of Max Sullivan at once, Chloe?” He laughed along with her at first, but when she kept laughing, his expression turned to insulted. “Hey.”
“Sorry. So now that we’re going steady—”
“Oh!” a woman gasped from close by. “It’s really you!”
Chloe jerked upright as a young blonde leaned into her personal space.
“You’re Chloe Turner!”
“Um…” The woman didn’t look like a reporter. She looked like a college student.
“Oh, my God, I love you so much. Can I take a picture of us together?”
Chloe met Max’s eyes, but he looked just as confused as she was.
“I can’t believe how much of an ass that Thomas turned out to be. Stealing from his own mama! What a loser. I’ll bet you’re glad he jumped out of that plane now, huh? Say cheese!”
Chloe smiled weakly as the girl held her camera at arm’s length and pressed her cheek to Chloe’s.
“Thank you! Y’all have a great night. Max, you’re so cute!”
“Er, thanks,” he said as she walked off.
“You are cute,” Chloe offered.
“Wait a minute, what was that about Thomas stealing from his mom?”
“The D.A.’s office must’ve sprung a leak.”
“That’s the embezzlement charge? Jenn wasn’t—”
“No.” Chloe watched the blonde slide back into her chair and show her phone to her squealing friends. “Jenn,” she murmured. “None of it’s really sunk in yet. I’m relieved it wasn’t Jenn. Anna is a friend, but she’s not like a sister.”
“Still.”
“Yeah, still. And Jenn…”
“She knew?”
Chloe started to nod, then shook her head. “How did you figure that out?”
Max shifted, glancing around the room as if he were hoping for another interruption. None seemed imminent and he was clearly disappointed as he faced her again. “Look, Jenn was a little upset that last night on the island. She and Elliott…talked.”
Chloe gasped. “He told you about that?”
He winced. “Yeah.”
“Oh, God. Poor Jenn!”
“‘Poor Jenn’? What about my poor brother?”
She waved a dismissive hand, confident that the Sullivan brothers could handle a good battering to their self-esteem. “So how did you know?”
“Elliott said she was pretty torn up about being a bad friend to you. About being a liar. That’s why she was crying.”
“She knew he was sleeping with Anna, and she was going to let me marry him. That’s what happened.”
“She knew before the crash?”
“Yes. She knew three months ago. How am I supposed to get over that?”
“I have no idea, but you have to, because she’s your best friend and she loves you, Chloe. This has been killing her. Even I can see that.”
He was right about that, at least. Angry as she was, she could see how miserable Jenn had been for the past month, and jumpy and pale for weeks. She felt a surge of sympathy and shook her head against it. “How can I forgive her? She betrayed me.”
Max’s warm hands close over hers. “You know she didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“I guess.”
“So you’ll do it. You’ll forgive her. Maybe a little long-distance dating will work for you and Jenn, too. Time to get yourself together. A few late-night phone calls.”
“Just a few?”
His smile was like a balm on her wounded heart. “I was talking about Jenn, not me.”
“We’ll see. Maybe. Right now, I just… Well, I don’t know what to do now.”
“I’ve got two weeks free for a shore-leave affair. You know any promising candidates?”
“Depends. How do you feel about a crazy girl who’ll likely be called as a witness in an upcoming criminal trial?”
“You had me at ‘crazy girl.’”
This was not a promising start. Her life was complicated enough without adding a long-distance relationship with a man who had serious issues of his own. So why in the world did Chloe feel so damn happy?
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
JENN BIT HER LIP NERVOUSLY as she pulled into the alley behind Chloe’s apartment. She’d passed the point of worrying that she’d scrape all her lipstick off. Now she was worried about the state of her actual lips. But she couldn’t bite her nails while she was driving, so her options were limited.
She hadn’t seen Chloe since the day of the hearing, but they’d talked twice in the month since then. The first call had been tearful and halting. The second call had been a bit easier. Now they were going out to dinner. A real date, as Chloe had put it, and Jenn definitely had that level of jitters.
She’d changed her life in the past thirty days. Oh, she wasn’t loud and wild and bold, but she’d shored up some of her self-confidence. And she was being brave. Things with Elliott had progressed, and she was actually…hopeful. Hopeful that the relationship with him might progress, and hopeful that he might actually be a man who would live up to her expectations. Her new expectations.
That thought gave her a little boost of confidence, enough to get her out of the car and through the tall wooden gate.
A ball of fur and teeth and claws barreled toward her, snapping and snarling. “Oh, God!” she shrieked, scrambling backward so quickly that she hit the gate and shut it before she could escape. “Help!”
“Brutus!” an ancient female voice called, and the dog stopped in its tracks.
Jenn kept one hand out and pressed the other to her pounding heart.
“You’d better get on outta here, if you know what’s good for you,” the woman snapped.
Jenn tore her eyes from the beast for a split second to locate Mrs. Schlessing in the backyard. She was lounging in the shade of a tree, wearing gardening gloves and holding a cocktail glass.
“Mrs. Schlessing,” she panted. “It’s me. I’m Chloe’s friend, Jenn.”
The old woman tipped down the sunglasses that were half the size of her head. “You sure? That Jenn hasn’t been around in a while.”
Chloe’s door squeaked open somewhere above her. “Is everything okay?” she asked as she jogged down the stairs.
Mrs. Schlessing frowned at Jenn. “There’s an intruder.”
“Jenn!” Chloe gasped when she finally caught sight of her. “Brutus, you leave her alone. You should be ashamed of yourself!” Brutus slunk away, but Chloe aimed a glare at Mrs. Schlessing, as well. “How can you not remember Jenn?”
The woman shrugged, nudged her glasses back up, and sipped her drink.
“Are you ready?” Chloe asked. Jenn nodded, hoping her legs would hold her when she pushed away from the gate. They both slipped through, and then, miracle o
f miracles, Chloe put her arms around Jenn and hugged her tight.
“I’ve missed you,” she said.
Jenn hugged her back, too choked up to respond.
“Come on. Let’s go to dinner.”
“Chloe… I’m so sorry. I hope—”
“You’ve already apologized a hundred times, Jenn. Let’s not go there. We’re going to be okay, all right? I know you were trying to protect me.”
Jenn swallowed back the sob that wanted to escape and nodded.
“Even if you went about it in a completely screwed-up way.”
When Chloe smiled, Jenn finally let out her tears in a half sob, half laugh mess. Chloe pulled her into another hug. “We’re okay. But for the record, I want to know if my man is cheating on me. In fact, there’s a whole list of things I expect you to report—seeing him at dinner with another woman, catching him in my underwear dancing around my apartment…the list goes on.”
“Okay. I promise.”
Jenn hopped into the driver’s seat, feeling lighter than she had in months. Maybe even her whole life.
She had her best friend back, and she was never going to put that friendship at risk again.
CHLOE SNAPPED HER SEAT BELT into place, and gave Jenn’s hand one last squeeze. Max had been right. She’d needed to forgive Jenn, and it had been surprisingly easy. Not that she wasn’t going to keep an eye out for any signs of strange nervousness in the future, but it wasn’t as if Jenn had protested that she’d done nothing wrong. Regret was clear in everything she’d said or done.
“So,” Chloe said after a deep breath. “I’m sorry I didn’t run out to rescue you earlier. I was on the phone.”
“With Max?”
“No…with Thomas.”
The car jerked a little when Jenn’s foot banged against the brake pedal. “What?”
“He called me.”
“To try to get you to lie?”
“No, his mom kept leaving me these saccharine-sweet messages, but she’s stopped calling. There’s rumors of a deal with the prosecution.”
Jenn glanced over, her eyes wide. “What did he call about then?”
“He wanted to apologize. Finally. Actually, he said he was going to send a letter, but with the charges…”
“Seriously? He didn’t want to leave evidence?”
“Well, he needn’t have worried. It’s not like he said much at all. He just said he was sorry. That he’d panicked, and it wasn’t my fault, and he didn’t expect me to forgive him. Then he paused like he wanted me to forgive him.”
“Oh, God.”
“I know. Anyway, I asked him if it had all been a lie from the very start, and he said…” Chloe frowned at the dashboard. “He said, ‘I think we both wanted it to be more than it was.’”
“What an asshole!”
“No, I’m pretty sure he’s right. I know he’s right. It wouldn’t have worked. Maybe in a few years, I would’ve been the one jumping out of a plane. But I’d have done it with more flair. I’d have gone to Europe. If I were on the run, I’d want Interpol after me, because I’m just awesome like that.” Chloe laughed, but when Jenn took her hand, she squeezed it hard, then held on for the rest of the drive.
As soon as they slid into the booth at their favorite brunch restaurant, Chloe leaned forward and put her chin on her hands. “So, how’s it going with the other Sullivan brother?”
“Good. Really good. We see each other every weekend. And when he comes here, he doesn’t even bring his laptop.”
“Really? That’s not very nerd-sexy.”
“I know. He’s making a big effort to try to leave work at the office, but honestly… I like watching him work. Last weekend I was at his place, and I woke up to see him sitting at his desk in the glow of his laptop. And it was so sexy. Like I was watching him save the world with no shirt on.”
“Wow, that’s really interesting…”
Jenn nodded.
“…because the last time I talked to you, you said were taking it slow, and there was no sex going on.”
“Oh.” Her cheeks blazed red. “Um…”
“You’re doing it with Elliott Sullivan!” Chloe crowed.
“Shush,” Jenn scolded past a smile. “We got carried away.”
“So did you cry?”
Jenn clenched her eyes shut. “That story is never going to die, is it?”
“Nuh-uh.”
“No, I did not cry.” She opened her eyes, and they sparkled with joy. “Unless you count my cries of wild passion and crazed need.”
“Oh, my God!” Chloe squealed, reaching across the table to slap her arm. “You’re a dirty girl!”
“Maybe,” Jenn answered with a cheeky smile.
Chloe grinned at her so hard it hurt. “I’m so glad to see you. But I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Not while my Sullivan brother is four thousand miles away.”
“Are you sure? I was going to tell you about Elliott’s amazing—”
“Stop it!” Chloe covered her ears. “I am a lonely wretch of a woman.”
“Aw. When’s Max coming back?”
“Six more weeks.”
“And then what?”
She should’ve felt uncertain as she pondered the question. But Chloe felt nothing but anticipation. Even if Max spent the next year going back and forth, working out his issues, Chloe Turner was going to be just fine. She looked down at her Lucky Charms T-shirt with a little smile. “I have no idea. Things are good between us, and I think they’ll only get better. Right now, we’re taking it slow. Some of us know how to be patient.”
“Liar,” Jenn said.
And she was right.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
MAX NO LONGER FELT the roll of the sea beneath his feet, but a glance toward the horizon made him aware that the boat was bucking pretty hard. He scanned the water with a hard eye, waiting for the last diver to surface, but he didn’t move forward to assist.
Instead, he wrapped his hands around the railing and let Kailie hunch over the water as it began to bubble. This hands-off technique made him sweat, even in the constant sea breeze, and his stomach wasn’t exactly happy with the training, either.
The diver, a twenty-year veteran who still faced every day with excitement, emerged from the water, holding his net bag high. It was the last planned dive at this site, so even though the bag held only a tiny pottery shard, the diver shouted in triumph. The crew hated to leave even a fragment of treasure behind.
Greedy bastards, Max thought with total affection. They worked hard and partied harder and drove him mad every step of the way. But tomorrow he’d be on a flight to Virginia, and that was enough to keep his anxiety under control.
Chloe. Just the thought of her made him smile, though he turned serious again when he watched Kailie handling the last of the tanks. He’d check her work when she was done. So far, he hadn’t discovered any mistakes. Kailie was thorough, but she was young and way too nice to boss these hard-headed daredevils around. Maybe after a few more seasons…
By the time he finished double-checking the equipment and the logs, the galley was deserted, so Max made a quick sandwich and retreated to his cabin. As he shut the door, his mind raced, anticipating the soft thrill of hearing Chloe’s voice. It was Saturday, so they’d share a few hours of conversation, at least.
Damned if he wasn’t giddy as a teenage boy at the prospect. And just as fucking horny. Two months was a long time to go without Chloe’s touch. He was only mildly appeased by her willingness to describe in great detail just what she missed about his body. And what she wanted him to do to hers…
“Tomorrow!” she squealed as soon as the line opened up.
“Tomorrow,” Max agreed. “Are you sure you’re ready to put up with me in person?”
“Oh, God, I’m gonna put up with you so good you won’t be able to walk for two days.”
“Jeez. Maybe I should be afraid.”
“You should definitely be afraid. I’m going to…Oh, Max, I’v
e missed you so much. Jenn and Elliott are so annoying, always holding hands and looking at each other. It’s sickening.”
“You mean the way we’re going to hold hands and look at each other as soon as I get there?”
“Yes, it’s awful!”
“I’m sorry.” He was smiling as he said it. Jenn and Chloe seemed nearly back to normal. And Jenn was all Elliott ever talked about. Life had moved on without Max, and he was acutely jealous.
Suddenly, he couldn’t hold it back any longer. He’d wanted to wait until he saw her. Maybe he’d wanted to be sure. But there was nothing doubtful in him when he said it. “I love you, Chloe.”
Her breath jumped, spiking his blood with a quick surge of adrenaline. The moment drew out, stretching his pulse thin, until she finally inhaled as if she’d speak.
“Max Sullivan,” she breathed, “I love you, too.”
Max stretched out on his bunk with a sigh. He let her words sink in. Women had told him that before, of course, but he’d never believed them. They couldn’t have loved him, because they hadn’t known him.
But Chloe… Chloe knew all his secrets. Except one.
“I’D REALLY PLANNED ON TAKING you straight to my apartment, you know.”
Max couldn’t help the big grin that stretched across his face. “Half an hour,” he answered.
“In case I’m being too subtle, I want to have sex with you. Right now. I’m desperate. Horny. I’ve been horny for two months.” Her hand slid up his thigh. “I need your huge—”
“Hey!” he barked as the tires of his rental car thumped against the grooves in the highway shoulder. “Come on. That’s just mean. I have a surprise for you. Aren’t you excited?”
“If the surprise isn’t an erection, then no. No, I’m not excited. I’m sullen.”
He tugged her hand over and put it back on his thigh. “Come on, don’t pout.”
“Where are we going? We’re not even in the city anymore!”
“Almost there.”
“Max,” she groaned. But after a few seconds, Chloe seemed to forget her pouting and her hand moved in friendly little circles against his knee, edging up beneath the hem of his shorts. The skin of his thigh tightened until he couldn’t feel anything except the electric sizzle of her fingertips stroking him. “Oh, Max, I didn’t know I’d miss you this much.”
Crazy for Love Page 24
