Married...Again

by Stephanie Doyle

He shrugged. “I like it.”

  “I’m just saying, I know you want to support me, but that doesn’t mean I expect anything like this.”

  “Nor, it’s not a big thing,” he said, not wanting her to feel any kind of guilt over it. “I like it. I’m home earlier from my classes. Besides, that’s my kid you’re carrying around. I have a vested interest in keeping you well fed.”

  He watched as her hand instantly went to her belly. And then he watched that look take her over. One more new expression he got to memorize. A mix of surprise and astonishment. Like she still couldn’t really believe it was real. He was convinced that’s why she hadn’t told her family yet.

  Because once Marilyn knew, then it would be very real.

  “You really like doing it?”

  “I really do.”

  “And you’re not going to resent having to do it night after night?”

  “Well, I imagine I’ll take a night or two off here and there. If memory serves, you have a weakness for pizza.”

  She smiled, and it felt like he’d won something.

  “Really greasy pizza,” she admitted as another smile played around her lips.

  “Yes. I know. Double the cheese and the grease. Now go.”

  She picked up her discarded shoes, and he watched as she made her way up the stairs.

  He nodded even as he threw the food into the skillet. This, he thought, was a good night.

  A few smiles and a little teasing.

  Yes, this was absolutely going to work.

  Chapter Seventeen

  THIS WAS ABSOLUTELY not going to work, Eleanor thought. It had been another late night at the office. Max didn’t seem to mind. He just had dinner, some delicious chicken casserole, waiting for her when she got home. Then after dinner, as they sat and watched TV, he picked up her feet and put them in his lap, rubbing every ounce of tightness away.

  It was glorious. It was almost better than an orgasm.

  And that’s when she knew that if things stayed this way, if he kept being so kind and caring and considerate, then she had no hope of not falling in love with him again.

  Of course, there was a case to be made that she’d never fallen out of love with him.

  But she didn’t want to go there. It was too much, and this space he’d created for them was a very safe place. They didn’t talk about divorce or staying married. They didn’t talk about their relationship or the future. They were just allowed to be. She liked that.

  “Man, you are tight,” he murmured, and she wished he hadn’t sounded so sexy saying it. He was pressing his thumb into her arch, and she wanted to groan.

  “Heels,” she told him. “It’s a love-hate relationship.”

  “Hmm. I also think it’s stress. Now that we’ve been doing this living-together thing for a few days, I notice you don’t talk much about the job. Is that because you don’t want to or because you think I won’t care?”

  Eleanor considered that and shrugged. “It’s not that I think you wouldn’t care. I don’t know. I guess Head to Toe has been so much my own thing for so long, I don’t think about talking about it. And maybe there is a little more stress now. My natural inclination is to bury that so I can sleep at night.”

  “Is it the expansion?”

  Eleanor shook her head. She hadn’t told Max about Daniel’s threats, mostly because she didn’t know how he would react. The old Max would have been furious and threatening and would have offered to punch the guy out.

  Nothing that would help the situation.

  But this was the new Max. The more serious and sober, take-nothing-in-life-for-granted Max.

  Who excelled at foot rubbing.

  She had no idea how he might react. But did she have much to lose by telling him?

  “You remember Daniel? From the engagement party?”

  “I do.”

  “Well, our relationship, for lack of a better word, started as a series of business meetings. He’s an investor and very much wants to invest in Head to Toe.”

  “But you don’t want that.”

  “Maybe I’m too much of a control freak. I don’t know. Or maybe because it was the only thing that kept me going...after. Besides, if I was going to take on a partner I would want that person to be Selena. She’s earned it. All I know is that it’s mine, and I didn’t want to let it go. So I said no.”

  “Okay. Then what’s the problem?”

  “He’s not taking no for an answer. He seems to be over whatever minor crush he had for me, now he just wants the company. Half of it.”

  Eleanor watched Max’s face. His jaw tightened, but he seemed to be taking the news in stride.

  “Yes, but you can still say no.”

  “He’s implied that doing so would not be in my best interest.”

  Now she saw it. Real anger. Max stopped rubbing her feet. “Did he threaten you?”

  “Yes, but listen, this is my problem to solve, okay? With the expansion, we’re a little overextended, so there is the possibility he could cause some problems, but it’s a business situation. Not a personal thing. You can’t rush in and try to save the day.”

  “Let me at least help,” Max insisted.

  Eleanor reached out to pat his arm. “I know you want to, and I know you hate the idea of this guy hurting my company in any way, but you have to let me do this on my own. You have to respect that this is my area of expertise.”

  “I know, but you’re not alone anymore, Nor. You don’t have to handle everything on your own. I can help. I have money...”

  She leaned into him and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for offering. And thank you for listening. But really, you have to let me do this myself. Owners of major companies figure this stuff out all the time. If I want to play with the big boys, then I have to learn how to handle situations like this that come up.”

  “Do you know how hard this is for me?”

  Eleanor smiled. Yes, she did. Max was a man who wanted to fight battles, not sit on the sideline. It’s why he’d always been so passionate about his work. It was a quality she’d loved about him.

  “I know. You’re actually being calmer than I thought you might be.”

  “I want to punch this guy in the face,” he said tightly.

  “Yes, but you won’t. Ugh. I’m actually dreading seeing him again.”

  “Where? When?”

  “There is a charity event we’ve both been invited to next week. He’ll be there with his new girl of the month, no doubt. Which I couldn’t care less about. Trust me when I tell you, I harbor nothing but ill will toward the man. But there had been speculation about us romantically. It’s going to be awkward, and I really wasn’t at my best the last time I saw him. I’m not looking forward to a repeat.”

  Max smiled wide enough that she could see his teeth, which probably wasn’t a good thing.

  “Then why don’t you bring your new man of the month? I’ll rent a tux, and then you won’t have to do this thing alone.”

  Eleanor considered the idea. Having Max at her side, at her back. It wasn’t the worst plan. She nodded. “You know that might actually work.”

  “Perfect. It’s a date.”

  “It’s an outing,” she corrected him.

  “I’ll buy you a corsage,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

  “It’s not a prom.”

  “Will there be dancing?”

  “Yes.”

  “So it will be like a prom. We’ll get gussied up, dance to nice music, and if this Daniel guy says one thing to you I don’t like, then I get to push his face in the punch bowl.”

  Eleanor groaned. She could see the headlines. Dead Husband Back to Life Shoves Ex into Punch.

  “Please tell me you won’t do that.”

  Max shrugged. “I think you’re better off hoping there is no punch
.”

  * * *

  ELEANOR SMOOTHED OUT her dress and took a deep breath. The party was a crush, which she imagined was a good thing for the charity. Denver’s up-and-coming business owners along with some local sport celebrities were in attendance.

  Max had excused himself to check their coats, and the loss of him felt a little jarring. It was like she’d gotten used to him in the past week always being there for her. Like having lost a vital body part, only to have it back again.

  Like she was suddenly capable of doing more because she had Max.

  That feeling was reinforced when he returned to her side. He was holding two flutes of champagne.

  “Uh, forget something?” she asked him.

  He drank a sip out of one, then handed it to her. “Just for show. You’ve got someone here who wants your company. He sees me at your side, and you’re not drinking, it could lead to speculation. You want to avoid that.”

  “Good point,” she said. And there it was. Max having her back. When always their roles had been reversed. She’d gone with him to the faculty parties. She’d filled him in on the names of the professors’ wives and husbands. She’d been his rock.

  Now he was hers.

  “You know you’ve been really nice to me...”

  He smiled. In that way he did that lit up his whole face. She wanted to reach out and touch that smile. Run her thumb along his bottom lip.

  “I hate to let you in on the secret, but that’s kind of my plan.”

  “Oh, there is a plan?”

  “Yep. Step one—remind you that I’m a nice person.”

  “I think we can say that’s been accomplished,” she said.

  “Step two—wow you with my cooking.”

  She chuckled. “You are surprisingly fairly competent in that department.”

  “Step three—seduce you.”

  Eleanor sucked in her breath, and her stomach dropped. Immediately she could feel a pulse between her legs. “Max...”

  “Don’t worry,” he said, clearly retreating. “That’s not until step three. You’ve got time to build up your defenses. Tonight all I want to do is dance with you.”

  Except with each passing hour she spent with him building up her defenses was getting harder to do. The reason she’d pushed for the divorce in the first place was to prevent herself from falling into the Max trap.

  She’d changed her mind about them because a divorce decree hadn’t seemed to work on changing her feelings, and now that she was pregnant, they were connected anyway. So the question was what if she stopped fighting it? What if she stopped trying to defend her heart against him and just let herself fall?

  Falling was scary.

  Distracted, she lifted the glass to her lips without even realizing what she was doing. Fortunately the smell of champagne was off-putting enough to stop her.

  “Eleanor! How nice to see you.”

  Max and Eleanor turned at the sound of the man’s voice behind them. Daniel looked elegant in a white tux and bow tie.

  “And of course... Dead Max. How nice to see you again, too.”

  “You’ll forgive me if I don’t believe that,” Max said tightly.

  Daniel smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. The woman on his arm said nothing, and Daniel didn’t bother to introduce her which Eleanor thought was rude. She wasn’t used to rude Daniel. She’d always thought of him as so polite and charming.

  Then again, the man wanted to steal her company. Not exactly a polite thing to do.

  “Daniel,” she said smoothly. “I hope you’re well.”

  “Tolerable. Maybe a little bit of a heartache.”

  Eleanor didn’t quite know what to say to that. And given that he was here with another woman, she couldn’t imagine she’d left too much of an impression on him.

  “So I hear you like to go around taking things that don’t belong to you,” Max said as he took a sip of his champagne. Eleanor put her hand on his arm. She wanted his support. She didn’t need someone to fight her battles.

  Daniel’s smile faltered. “I’m a businessman. It’s what I do. If Eleanor can’t keep up with the game, then that’s on her.”

  “People like you make me sick,” Max snarled.

  Sensing a punch-dunking in her near future, Eleanor stepped in front of him. She simply lifted her chin and looked at Daniel directly. “You’re right, Daniel. It’s on me to defend my company from the sharks that are out there. Do your worst, if you must. But I’m keeping Head to Toe. All of it.”

  “We’ll see,” he said. Then he dipped his chin and escorted the nameless blonde at his side into the crowd.

  “Do your worst,” Max repeated. “That sounded ballsy.”

  “Did it?” Eleanor hoped so, because she sure as heck had no clue what Daniel’s worst was. “I wanted him to see me, know that I wasn’t going to back down. But I really don’t want to be here anymore. Do you think I’ve done my duty for the evening?”

  Max took the glass from her hand and set it with his on a table. “Once around the room, with a big smile on your face, and a dance, because you promised me. And I want a chance to hold you in my arms. Then we can leave.”

  Another piece of sound advice. No problem here, her smile said. Look at how I’ve got all my shit together. Nope, not falling apart on the inside while I deal with a husband back from the dead, an unexpected pregnancy and business shark out for my company.

  After a few hellos and some rounds of small talk, she felt like her face was going to crack.

  But through it all Max was there. At her side. She tried not to think about how comforting it felt to have his hand on the small of her back. She tried not to think about how it felt beyond the comfort of letting her know he was close.

  She’d always been very sensitive there. He knew that.

  So when he pulled her onto the dance floor to sway with her to the sounds of the band and his thumb rubbed her casually through the silk of her dress, she couldn’t help but shiver. He had to have felt it.

  “Just a little longer,” he said, pulling her closer into his arms. “You feel so good here. I had forgotten how much I loved to dance with you.”

  “Max,” she said as if to chastise him, but in the end, she couldn’t. She simply pressed her cheek against his and let him lead them around the dance floor. It was nice, but her feet were starting to hurt, and really, she didn’t know how much longer she could keep a smile on her face.

  He must have sensed she was at her limit because the next thing she knew he was leading her out of the hotel ballroom, tucking her into her coat and getting the valet to retrieve the car.

  On the ride home, she was mostly quiet. There was a tension between them. She could feel it. It had been there since he laid out his three-step plan. What Max wanted had never been in doubt. He wanted her back, as his wife. In every way that meant.

  They pulled up at her place and parked the car.

  “All things considered, not a bad first date,” he said.

  “It wasn’t a date. It was an event.”

  “You’re wearing perfume. I’m wearing a tie. We danced...it was a date.”

  They made it to her front door as she pulled the keys out of her purse.

  “I fake-smiled for most of the night...that can’t be a good thing for a date.”

  He moved toward her, and this time she didn’t back away.

  “Yes, but when you real-smiled, it was at me. And it’s the most beautiful thing in the world. I would like to kiss you now.”

  “You would?” she asked, nearly breathless. “Well, if it was a date, then I suppose one kiss wouldn’t hurt.”

  He leaned into her, and she could smell him first, the hint of his aftershave, or just his natural scent. To her, Max always smelled a little like the ocean. Then she was in his arms, and he was kissing her, and she didn
’t think about anything other than how good this felt. How right they always were together.

  His finger stroked her chin, his hands dipped into her hair, and she had this thought that maybe they could stand here forever, doing their first-date kiss.

  Until the door of her condo opened.

  “Eleanor! Max!”

  They broke away from the kiss to see a shocked and red-faced Allie.

  “Allie, what are you doing here?”

  “What am I doing here? Hello! What is he doing here? You divorced him, remember? Then you ran to my place to hide.”

  “You did?” Max asked Eleanor.

  “She was completely freaked out and was afraid you were going to come after her. I think because she knew she was weak and would have caved.”

  “Allie!” Eleanor snapped at her sister.

  “What? It’s true. Which means he must not have given up because you were doing a whole lot of caving there. Kissing, caving. Same thing.”

  Eleanor took a breath for patience. “Allie, what are you doing here?”

  That’s when her sister promptly burst into tears. “The wedding’s off,” she cried through heavy sobs.

  Max flinched, clearly unprepared to handle a despondent Allie.

  “Can you make hot chocolate?” Eleanor asked him even as she was pulling Allie against her side.

  “With whipped cream!” Allie shouted.

  Max nodded. “I’m a man on a mission. You two go do your thing.”

  * * *

  AN HOUR LATER, Allie sat on the couch sipping her hot chocolate. Max had run to the closest grocery store and gathered up the ingredients, including fresh whipping cream. Because if you were going to be consoled by whipped cream, only fresh would do.

  Eleanor had changed out of her elegant gown into a tank top and pajama bottoms, her dark hair piled on top of her head. Allie thought it was a testament to how beautiful Eleanor was that she could go from a fancy dress and heels to pajamas and still pull off classy.

  They were sitting on her couch while Max was still cleaning up in the kitchen.

  “Are you going to tell me why he’s here?” Allie asked her.

  “Your story first. Why did you call off the wedding?”