She nodded. “I am trying. I really am. I thought... I thought I was there. I really liked not feeling alone. I liked feeling like I was part of something again. Maybe I was afraid of being that happy. I don’t know.”
“The fear will go away in time. I know it will. Every morning when you wake up and see my ugly face, you’ll start to know it, too.”
She touched his face then, and he liked the feel of her fingers over his skin.
“Are you mad that I’m not there, yet? That I jumped to the wrong conclusion so easily?”
“Not mad,” he said. And he wasn’t. Hurt maybe, but he had to get over that. Their marriage wasn’t just about two people who broke up and were now trying to fix things. The wounds and the grief went deeper than that. “We just need time.”
“Why are you being so patient with me?”
“Because I love you,” he said easily. “Remember?”
She gasped, and he smiled at the sound. Then he moved in to kiss her. Her cheeks were damp, but her lips were soft and welcoming. He sank into her and could feel the hot wet heat of her mouth. He thought this would be good. Making her feel better after having felt so shitty for hours.
He pressed into her body and was delighted to feel the bump of their child pressed against his stomach.
“Pretty soon, your belly is going to get so big, we’ll have to find new and creative ways to make love.”
“Hmm, what did you have in mind?” she asked, running her hands along his ear, down his neck. Finding those points on his body that she knew would make him shiver with excitement. Nor was the only woman who had truly figured out how to touch him. Because each touch felt like it was more than skin on skin. It felt like she was touching and stroking his heart, as well.
He turned her then so that her back was to his chest. Then he laid them both on their sides. Suddenly, he felt this urgent need to be inside her. He didn’t want to play, he didn’t want to tease. He wanted to connect them again, taking another step in repairing the damage that had been done to his wife’s heart.
“Take off your leggings,” he said gruffly in her ear.
She shivered again, and he knew she, too, was already aroused. Her hands went up her tunic top, and he saw her leggings along with a flash of white cotton that was her panties fly over their heads while he undid his jeans. He freed his cock and positioned her again, pulling her leg over his jean-clad thigh and pushing against her wet folds.
Then he was pushing inside her even as one hand was wrapped on her belly, the other against her breasts, holding her against him. He rocked his hips into hers from behind in a slow and steady rhythm even as he buried his face in her neck.
“Max,” she whispered as he felt her body tightening around him.
“Say it again,” he demanded. “Say my name again.”
“Max.”
He thrust harder into her and thought he needed to go even further, even deeper into her. Until there was nothing that would ever separate them again. Then she cried out his name one more time.
“Nor,” he cried into her neck, coming hard and deep inside her. “I love you. I love you.”
He waited for the words back. Wondered if, in this heady state of pleasure, she might tell him what he knew to be true.
Because the thing was she never would have been as hurt by his death if she hadn’t loved him as deeply and as passionately as he did her.
But there was only her panting breaths as she came down from the high, only the soft beat of her heart under his hand.
Patience, he thought. She just needed more time.
* * *
ELEANOR WOKE TO the smell of coffee. She and Max had made their way from the couch to the bedroom where he had made love to her yet again. This time slower and more leisurely. As if they had all the time in the world.
It had been delicious.
An escape from the reality of their marriage, her company and everything else. She knew Max was right. She obviously didn’t completely believe in him yet, but he had such faith that she eventually would, she decided to go along with it.
She still couldn’t say the words. The words she was sure he had wanted to hear. Back when they were married, Max used to tell her all the time that he loved her, and every time he did, she repeated the sentiment. Because it was her truth. He loved her and she loved him.
She still believed it was her truth, but she knew it wouldn’t be fair to give him those words without all of her trust, as well.
Time, he’d said. She just needed more time.
She got up from the bed, took a shower and put her tunic from yesterday back on. She obviously hadn’t thought to pack when she decided to come up here, so she would have to make it home in day-old panties.
Panties that she realized were on the floor in the living room somewhere. Then she saw they were folded on a chair in the bedroom on top of her leggings. Why the thought of Max taking the time to pick up and fold her clothes seemed so sweet, she didn’t know. She joined him in the kitchen and he poured her a cup of coffee.
“Just half a cup,” she reminded him. “Trying to keep the caffeine to a minimum.”
“How do you feel?”
Eleanor thought about that. She hadn’t felt nauseous at all this morning. “Good,” she said. “Really good. Must be this whole second trimester thing kicking in.”
“Well if you get even hornier in this second trimester than in the first one, I guess I’ll have to work that much harder at being your sex slave. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.”
She laughed, but now that she thought about, she did still feel a little turned on. Whether that was a carryover from last night, she didn’t know. She was about to mention it when he changed the subject to something much less sexy.
“So, in an effort to work on you trusting me, why don’t you tell me about your meeting with Daniel yesterday.”
Then it all came back. His threat, the fact that he wanted even more now. And the surety that there was a mole in her company feeding information to Daniel. About her business, which stung, but also about her baby, and that really pissed her off.
The harsh reality of the world, which had seemed miles away last night, was suddenly all right there.
“I was going to tell you at lunch.”
“I’m not going to lie. I’m little upset you didn’t think to tell me before you met with him.”
Eleanor squirmed on the stool she sat on, even as she sipped on her coffee to bide more time. “I guess I didn’t know what you would think. If you would be happy because it would mean me spending less time at work. Or angry that I wasn’t willing to fight to hold on to the thing that I had built. I felt like it had to be my call, so, no matter what, I wouldn’t resent you. Can you understand that?”
“Yes,” he said. “But you need to know I would have been behind whatever decision you had reached. I want what you want. If that’s the company and I have to work around your schedule, so be it. If you are ready to let it go, then I’ll support that, too.”
Eleanor frowned. “Even if I was willing to let it go, I’m not now. Daniel the Douchebag changed the offer. Now he wants controlling interest. That’s not going to happen.”
“That dick.”
Eleanor sighed. “He says it’s just business, but I can’t help think there is an element of revenge in it for him. Daniel is a man who is used to getting what he wants. And as courteous and polite as he was about the whole situation between us, I think he resents the fact that I broke things off with him. He’s not used to losing...anything.”
“So he’s taking your company in retaliation? That just makes him a sore loser in my opinion. The good news is we have options.”
“What do you mean by options?”
“Your problem was that you were overextended and couldn’t pay your contractors—”
“M
ax,” she said warily. “What did you do?”
He smiled, but to Eleanor, it looked more ruthless than happy.
“I made a deal.” He wiggled his eyebrows, and she couldn’t help it, she laughed.
* * *
“I CAN’T BELIEVE you did this,” she whispered as they sat in the waiting area outside Daniel’s office.
They had driven separately to Denver, and Max had encouraged her to call Daniel and make the appointment for the next day.
Now they were sitting together waiting for him. The appointment had been set for two o’clock, and it was fifteen past the hour. Either Daniel was doing it deliberately as a power play, or he was legitimately running late as his assistant had suggested.
“I didn’t do anything other than give you a choice. In the end you are the one who made the call.”
He took her hand and squeezed it, and it felt amazing. Max had her back. Max was letting her choose what she wanted to do. Max was making it possible for her to have everything.
“I still can’t believe it.”
“Believe it,” he said. “I love you.”
The words again. Always the words. Offered so easily and so freely. Sometimes she wondered if his endless patience would run out one day. She hoped not. She really hoped not. Because she did believe he was right. That all she needed was more time.
“Eleanor!” Daniel said as the door to his office opened. “Welcome back. And I see you brought reinforcements.”
She could practically hear Max growling behind her as they both stood.
“Daniel,” she said. “If you have a minute.”
“Of course,” he replied. He stepped into his office.
Eleanor turned to Max. “This shouldn’t take long,” she said.
“You’re sure you don’t want me in there?”
She shook her head. “It was enough that you were here with me. I’ve got all the support I need.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Eleanor made her way into Daniel’s office. She didn’t bother to sit. This time she was wearing one of the maternity dresses she’d bought only yesterday after she and Max returned to Denver.
She placed her hand on her belly and wondered for the one thousandth time if she was doing the right thing. Not just for her, or the company, but for her baby, too. Then she thought about what it would mean to have a baby girl and to show that girl that she could do anything she wanted in life. That no dream was too big to handle.
“I’ll make it quick, Daniel. I will not be accepting your offer.”
He sat behind his desk, his fingers pressed together in a steeple. “That’s unfortunate. I assume it was my request for controlling interest?”
“It was your request for any of it, really. Head to Toe is mine. I built it, and I’m going to be the person to grow it into something bigger.”
He frowned then, as if she’d said something naive. “You understand you’ve got that little problem with your cash flow.”
“That isn’t a problem any longer. I’ve had another investor step up, and I’ve chosen to accept his offer.”
“Another investor?”
“Yes, it seems because of the negligence of the ship’s captain to not turn around and avoid the storm, a settlement was made to the research foundation. As the sole survivor of that storm, the settlement belongs to Max. My new partner in Head to Toe.”
Daniel flinched. “I see.”
“No, I don’t think you do see,” Eleanor said tightly. “I’m not sure if you were responsible for my technical difficulties last week or not, but I know you have someone inside my company providing you with information. I would imagine the only incentive a person might have for doing that would be money. With the influx of cash from Max’s settlement, I’ll be hiring a private investigator to do a more thorough background check and investigation into each and every one of my employees. I’ll find whoever tipped you off. So you can either tell that person to quit now, or prepare to be fired later. My company’s business is no longer your business. Are we clear?”
“I could create a competing company,” Daniel said, neither admitting to nor acknowledging his mole’s behavior.
Eleanor smiled. “Bring it. Nothing like a little competition to get the blood stirred. And I’ve got a pretty big head start on you, so good luck trying catch up. But you’re certainly free to try.”
Daniel stood then, and put his hands in his pockets. Eleanor couldn’t say he looked defeated, but he did look resigned, and she thought that might be just as good.
“You, too. Good luck...with everything,” he said.
Then he sat again and turned to his computer. It was clear to see she was dismissed. Eleanor Harper may be the only woman to have ever survived Daniel the corporate shark and lived to tell the tale.
She walked out of the office, and Max stood. She smiled at him and gave him a thumbs-up.
“You tell the asshole off?”
“I told him I wasn’t accepting his offer. That I had another partner I much preferred working with.”
Max put an arm around her shoulders and brought her in tight to his body. “Who would have thought I would be a part of a fashion company?”
Eleanor laughed. “Nobody. Nobody would have ever thought that you would be part of a fashion company.”
“I might have to start stepping up my game.”
Eleanor considered that. Getting to dress Max up. “That is definitely something we can fix.”
“We?”
“Oh, you are in for it now, Max Harper. You are about to put your fate and your wardrobe into the hands of the most ruthless fashionista of all... Selena.”
“Why are you making me feel like I should be afraid?”
Eleanor rubbed her hands together. “Be afraid, Max. Be very afraid. You are about to get a first-class makeover.”
Max stopped then, and turned to her, lifting her chin with his finger so that her eyes were pinned to his.
“Promise me this,” he said quietly. “If I let Selena work me over today, you’ll work me over tonight.”
Eleanor knew a good deal when she heard one. “Done.”
Chapter Twenty-One
ALLIE ROCKED BACK and forth on her feet. “Not sure why he’s late,” she said to the people currently standing in her living room. “He’s usually home by now.”
“We’re in no hurry,” Maggie, who worked at the town hall, said.
Allie smiled. “Thanks. I know I must seem nervous.”
“Any bride would be,” Maggie replied.
Allie sucked in her breath. Right. Because this was it. This was the big day. Even if Mike didn’t know it yet.
Then she heard a car pull up, and her nerves nearly exploded. What if he didn’t like her idea? What if she ruined everything by doing this? What if he got angry? Despite being mortified, she knew she would be crushed.
This was a big deal. This was her taking a risk and doing the thing that Mike said she needed to do. She was trying to prove to him that she was strong enough to be a woman he could love. A woman he deserved.
“Allie? Whose car is that out back?”
“I’m in the living room,” Allie called. Then she wrapped her hands around the bouquet of wild flowers she had picked out. Because they were her favorite. Just like the simple, white dress she had chosen. Miles away from what had been picked out for her to wear. Her hair was down and soft around her shoulders. She had just a hint of makeup on and splash of Mike’s favorite scent on her. So that when he saw her, he would know it was her. Not just someone who looked like a fancy version of her.
Tucked in the flowers was the paper with her vows. It probably wasn’t fair not to give Mike a chance to write his own, but she knew he would have hated that kind of thing anyway. He wasn’t one for flowery words or sappy emotions. He would much prefer to say
“I do” a few times and call himself married.
But she knew she needed to say more.
“Allie?” he said as he came into the living room. “What is this?”
She’d strung Christmas lights around the room. All blue. She’d lit a fire in the fireplace because that added a different color element. She was standing in front of Judge Martin and Maggie, who worked as his clerk at the town hall.
“Our marriage license was approved. Which means we can get married any time after that.”
“Yeah. I thought that’s what we were doing in three months?”
“We’re going to. The whole show and everything. With the fancy dress and the bridesmaids and groomsmen and our families there and everything. But you told me you wanted me to stand up for what I wanted. Well, I want this. I want just us to be married together. I don’t want to share the day with everyone. I don’t want to wait. I want this day to be ours and ours alone. I guess I’m surprising you with your own wedding.” She bit her bottom lip then. “What do you think?”
She held her breath, then watched as a huge grin took up his whole face. “You want this?”
“Yep.”
“And you’re telling me this is going to happen right here and right now because it’s what would make you happy?”
Allie nodded.
“Okay, then. Let’s get hitched.”
Mike took her hand, and together they stood in front of Judge Martin with Maggie as their witness.
Judge Martin did the normal vows for Mike.
Did he take Allie to be his wife?
He did.
Did he take her in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, so long as they both shall live?
He did.
Then Judge Martin turned to her, and she gulped. She had the piece of paper, but she didn’t need to take it out. She knew the words by heart.
“Mike, you know I love you. That’s never been in doubt. Hardly from the moment we met. But what you didn’t know is how I struggled to be worthy of you.”
“Allie...”
“No,” she said. “No interrupting my vows. I did. I wanted to be worthy of you. Because you’re not like any man I’ve ever known. Not only are you kind and patient, but you always want what’s best for me. You push me to be a better person, and because I love you, I accept that challenge. I take you to be my husband, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health for as long we both shall live. Today, because that’s what I want.”
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