“The motorcycle wreck you were in not long after you left.” She spoke aloud as if talking to herself. “That’s where that scar on your shoulder is from?”
He nodded. “I was so angry at you for shutting me out, and all that time you had no clue how much I wanted to be with you. My God, can you forgive me?”
Raine smiled through her tears. “We were victims, Max. There’s nothing to forgive. We both know who’s at fault here.”
Anger bubbled up in Max. Fury and bitterness soon followed.
“Did your parents despise us together that much?”
Raine swiped at her damp cheeks. “My mother offered me my trust fund early if I would stop seeing you and date this boy who planned to go to law school and had aspirations of running for State Senate further down the road. Needless to say, I refused.”
This was news to Max, which just proved how strong and loyal Raine was. Too bad her parents never saw what a treasure she truly was.
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
He focused his attention back on her, on the glimmer of light at the end of this long, dark tunnel. “You need to confront your parents.”
Raine nodded. “You want to join me?”
“If I come along, things could get ugly. How about I watch Abby while you go pay them a visit?”
Raine stood stock-still. “You’ll watch Abby? Alone?”
Max shrugged. “I think I’ve got the hang of it. Feed her, change her and let her sleep. Does that cover it?”
Raine’s sweet laughter filled the room. “That covers it for the amount of time I’ll be gone.”
She reached for him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head against his chest. “I have no idea what to say. I know they’ll defend their actions, but they stole everything from me. You were my life, Max.”
How could they get over this massive hurdle that seemed to constantly be placed in front of them? Could they move past this revelation? So much time had elapsed, but his feelings were stronger now than they were when he and Raine had been eighteen.
Emotionally, if they could move on, where would they move to? He had a life in L.A., and she had a life here with her work, her baby.
Abby. He couldn’t let Abby or Raine out of his life, but how the hell did he make this work? Had they missed their opportunity?
“After I talk to my parents, where does that leave us?” Raine asked, searching his eyes for answers he wasn’t sure he had.
“It leaves us with a lot to discuss.” He reached out, stroked her rosy cheeks. “And to decide if we think this will work again.”
Her lids fluttered down as she brought her hands up to clasp his wrists. “The stakes are too high.”
“Does that mean you won’t try?”
“It means I’m scared,” she murmured, raising her gaze to his.
Max slid his lips across hers. “Me, too.”
Coaxing her lips apart, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her body flush with his. He wanted to take away her pain, make her forget all the bad between them. He worried she’d push him away, but, when her hands traveled to his shoulders and around his neck, he knew they were meeting in the middle.
With a patience he’d never known before, Max lifted the edge of her shirt until she helped to rid herself of it. He fused their mouths together once more, taking her bra straps and sliding them down her arms.
Raine arched her back, allowing him perfect access to her neck, her chest. All that smooth, silky skin waiting to be explored. He took his time, making each stroke of his tongue, each simple kiss, count.
They may have screwed up in the past, and he could very well be making a colossal mistake now, but damned if he could stop himself.
He pivoted her until they hit the wall. Sudden, frantic movements had them shedding the rest of their clothes. Garments lay all around them in random piles.
Max took his fingertips and traveled over her bare hips, into the dip at her waist and up to her breasts. Her body trembled beneath his gentle touch. Goose bumps sprung up all over her skin.
“What are you doing to me?” she whispered, searching his face. “The things I want with you...”
“I want them, too, Raine.”
He only prayed to God they were talking about the same things, because, even though he’d be leaving Lenox in a few months, he wanted to spend time with her. He wanted to get to know her all over again. And when the time came for him to leave...well, they’d deal with that bridge when it was time to cross it.
Ten
Whoever was pounding on the door would be very sorry.
Didn’t people in this town know she had a finicky baby who didn’t sleep too well? No? Well, they should. This was the second time someone had pounded on her door, and she was about to put up a Do Not Disturb sign.
Springing from the bed, Raine grabbed her robe and tiptoed from the bedroom, careful not to disturb Max or Abby.
She nearly twisted an ankle racing down the steps, because, if whoever was at the door decided to reach for the doorbell, that would surely wake Abby. And Raine wasn’t about to let that happen.
Making sure the robe was tied and everything was tucked in, she yanked open the door.
“Marshall,” she said, jerking back. “What are you doing here?”
His eyes raked over her body, and Raine so wished she’d grabbed the thick terry cloth robe because the blast of cold air was doing nothing to hide the fact she was completely naked underneath.
“I wanted to check in on you, and let you know that the roads have been downgraded from a level three to a level two. Which means you can go out, but only if necessary...”
Behind her, Raine heard the steps creak. She didn’t have to turn to know who was there, but she glanced over her shoulder and nearly swallowed her tongue.
If she had thought Max Ford was sexy as hell before...well, now she needed some water. The man had on only his jeans—unbuttoned—and was cuddling Abby against his bare chest. Yeah, he may not want this family life, but he looked damn good wearing it. If Abby had woken up fussy, she surely wasn’t now. She was nestled against Max’s warm, broad chest.
A sliver of sorrow slid through her. This could’ve been their life...but their baby had died along with her dreams.
And even though she and Max had uncovered a major secret last night, she hadn’t been able to confess that she’d been pregnant. Max had already been dealt a blow and was beating himself up. There was no way she was going to drop another life-altering bombshell.
They had enough issues to sort through as it was.
Marshall lifted a brow. “I see you weren’t alone during the snowstorm,” he stated.
Max came to stand directly behind Raine and she turned her attention back to Marshall. “Thanks for letting us know about the roads.”
Marshall didn’t take his eyes off Max. “I’ll be sure to let your father know you’re okay, Raine.”
With that he turned and marched off the snow-covered steps.
Raine closed the door, flicked the lock and spun around to lean against it. “Well, that was awkward.”
Max held Abby out toward her. “Awkward is not knowing what to do when she wakes crying and smells like...well, you know what she smells like.”
Raine laughed and took the baby. “Don’t be afraid of a dirty diaper, Max.”
“I’m not afraid of the diaper,” he said defensively as he followed her back up the steps. “I’m more afraid of the baby in the diaper. What if I did something wrong and hurt her or got crap all over the place?”
Heading back into the nice toasty-warm master bedroom, Raine laid Abby on the bed and grabbed a fresh diaper from the dresser.
“First, you can’t hurt her by changing her diaper.” Raine unzipped the footed pajamas. “Second, the wipes are here for a reason, and, believe me, I’ve gone through my share.”
Raine quickly changed the diaper and picked Abby back up, patting her back. When she turned to Max, he had h
is arms crossed over that wide chest sprinkled with dark hair. He stole her breath.
“You’re a wonderful mother.”
Needing to lighten the tension, she shrugged. “Being a good mother has nothing to do with changing diapers.”
“No, but I’ve see how loving you are with her, how patient and gentle. I’m a nervous wreck.”
Raine smiled. “I was a nervous wreck too when I brought her home for the first time. But I learned quickly, and I’m still learning. I’ll screw up at some point, and all I can do is hope she loves me through my faults.”
And she prayed Abby would love her when she learned she wasn’t her biological mother. No matter the genes, Raine loved this baby more than anything in the world. And she’d do everything in her power to give her a life full of choices and opportunities...not demands and expectations.
“So you think Marshall has run back to your dad, yet?” Max asked.
Raine cringed. “I have no doubt he was on his cell the second he got back into his truck. But who cares? My parents don’t control me.”
Moving around Max, she took Abby and laid her back down in the Pack ’N’ Play pen with her favorite stuffed cat. She turned back to Max and sighed.
Now that the damage was done, Raine could only hope the news of Hollywood’s hottest bachelor playing house with her wouldn’t hurt this drawn-out adoption process.
“My parents have never been happy with my decisions,” she went on. “Finding both of us half naked is nothing that will disappoint them. I’m almost positive I’m at the bottom of the list for Daughter of the Year, anyway.”
Max eased down on the edge of the bed and stared at her. “I know your father barely mentions her, but, surely they love having a grandchild.”
Raine shrugged. “I’m sure they do in their own way, but they’ve already asked if I’ve put her on the waiting list for the private schools because so many of them are years to get into. They can’t believe that I’ve considered homeschooling.”
Max rested his elbows on his knees and continued to study her. “So they want to control her?”
“The way they couldn’t control me,” she confirmed, rubbing her arms. “I won’t let it happen. Abby will make her own path in life, with my guidance, not my demands.”
“You really are a single mother,” he murmured. “You have no one to help you.”
Raine lifted her chin. “I don’t need any help. I sure as hell don’t want help in the form of control.”
“Good for you,” he stated. He reached out, took her hands and pulled her toward him. “But that has to be hard on you...being alone, doing it all. Is Abby’s dad nowhere in the picture? Surely he could give financial support.”
Raine shook her head. There was no need to get into the whole backstory of Abby’s life. If she and Max could work through their past problems—and that was a big if—then she would come clean about everything. And that meant both babies.
“It’s just me,” she reiterated. “But we’re making it work. And as soon as I get back to a heavier volume of work in the spring and summer, things will really look up.”
The way he studied her made her nervous. She didn’t want him to dig deeper into her life, into her closet of skeletons. He would only end up more hurt, and she couldn’t do that to the man she loved.
And she’d never blamed him for deserting her when she was pregnant...because he had had no clue. But she had blamed him for killing their dreams. Now she knew the truth, and the guilt consumed her for hating him all these years.
“I’ll pay to have your furnace replaced.”
Raine jerked her hands from his. “Like hell you will! I’ll pay for it. We’re okay right now as long as my firewood holds out. These old stoves heat really fast. I should have enough wood for another month anyway. Plus that space heater downstairs didn’t do too badly.”
“So what will you do when the wood runs out if the weather is still cold? You know the East Coast is finicky.”
Raine shrugged. “I’ll figure out something. I always do in a pinch.”
“Why not just let me help?” he asked.
Raine glanced over at Abby who was waving her little arms and sucking on a stuffed cat’s furry tail. “Because you’re here for a short time.” She turned back to him and offered a smile. “And I won’t always have someone to come riding to my rescue.”
“Because you won’t let them or because you are alone?”
Why did he have to put things into perspective so simply?
“Both,” she replied honestly. “I’d rather do things on my own than pretend to be someone I’m not just to have the help and support of my family.”
“What happened to all the money you got when you turned twenty-five?” he asked, then shook his head. “I’m sorry...I shouldn’t have asked that. I’m just surprised that you’re struggling when I know you had a good chunk of change coming your way.”
Raine backed away from him and moved to the dresser, pulling out a pair of black yoga pants and a sweatshirt.
She didn’t care that he watched; she wanted to get dressed so she could start her day, and then he could be on his way since the roads were clear. They both needed time to think about the past...and the future.
“My parents had that little rule changed when I rebelled and decided that the money could be mine, provided that I adhered to their ‘simple’ guidelines.”
Max’s brows drew together. “They kept the money from you? That’s...archaic. Why did they do that?”
She pulled out a pair of heavy socks and yanked them on, as well. “Because I loved you, because I planned on leaving and because I ran into some...trouble when you left.”
“What kind of trouble?”
Oh, no. There was no way she could get into that conversation. Not after they’d succumbed to passion so many times over the past two days, and not when her heart was starting to gravitate toward him again. She had to steel herself. There was already way too much hurt hovering between them.
“We’ll save that for another time,” she promised.
Max looked as if he wanted to say more, but he merely nodded.
“I need to get some wood, feed the chickens and the goats.” She grabbed a ponytail holder from the top of the dresser and pulled her hair into a top knot. “You care to watch Abby for a minute?”
He glanced over and nodded. “She seems harmless, but, if I smell something, I’ll let you know.”
Raine laughed, grateful he didn’t push the issue. “Thanks. I’ll hurry.”
“Watch that one goat,” he called after her. “He likes to get all up in your business.”
Raine laughed and headed out of the room. Max was starting to enjoy it here. He hadn’t said so, but she could tell. After only two days of living in her crazy farm-girl world, Hollywood icon Max Ford was comfortable, content and liking it. He smiled, he opened up, and he even let down his guard.
If the paparazzi got wind he was here, they’d be all over him. Raine giggled as she went to the back door and shoved her feet into her rain boots. The paparazzi at her house would seriously tick off her parents, and, if she was a teen again, she’d so be calling the media, but she was a mother and an adult. Pettiness had no place in her life.
And there was no need in starting any more fights than necessary, though she knew her mother or father would be calling shortly to confirm that Max had indeed been stuck here.
As she stepped off the back step, Bess and Lulu came through the weatherproof rubber flap and ran out to her, the chickens following behind. She nearly tripped but caught herself. She loved her life, loved raising a garden, loved her chickens and goats, loved her home that needed more repairs than she knew what to do with, and she loved being a mother.
The adoption progression was beyond frustrating, but her attorney had assured her everything was fine, and sometimes the process took longer than others.
So, now Raine played the waiting game...and tried to figure out just what to do with her heart and
Max Ford.
Eleven
Abby started fussing; and Max tried shaking her stuffed cat, holding up another toy that had tag things all over it and even a silky blanket. Nothing was making her happy. And she wasn’t in full-fledged-crying mode with the red face and snot, but he seriously wanted to avoid that type of confrontation.
So he bent down into the Pack ’N’ Play pen—he thought that’s what Raine had called it—and picked Abby up. Instantly she stopped fussing.
“Are you kidding me?” he asked her.
Drool gathered just below her bottom lip and slid down her chin, and Max wasn’t repulsed. She was so damn cute he wanted to squeeze her. He refrained, but held her against his chest, inhaling the sweet scent.
He’d worked with babies on a couple of films, but his actual interaction with them was slim because the mother was always nearby, and once the scenes were shot, the baby would leave.
Max took a seat in the chair closest to the fireplace. He’d be kidding himself if he didn’t admit that seeing Raine as a mother clenched his heart. They’d had the perfect life planned for themselves, and kids were a huge part of it.
As he looked at Abby, he realized her features were nothing like Raine’s. Where Raine had soft green eyes, Abby’s were dark brown. Raine had pale skin and Abby’s was a bit darker.
Apparently she took after her dad. And Max hated the man...a man he didn’t even know. But how could Max resent a man for making a child with Raine? Raine was a victim just like Max. They’d both moved on as best they could once their lives together had been ripped apart.
Abby squirmed a bit on his lap, so he sat her on the edge of his knee and bounced her. “I’m not sure if I’m doing this right, but if you start screaming, I guess I’ll know you don’t like it.”
Raine’s cell chimed from the dresser, and Max nearly laughed. He had no doubt that was either Raine’s mother or father calling to confirm that their daughter had a sleepover.
Who the hell took away money rightfully due to their child? Not only that, who kept it when there was a baby in the mix?
Max had no idea really what to do with Abby, so he came to his feet and starting walking through the house.
Snowbound with a Billionaire Page 10
