“I’m intrigued,” I tell him.
He nods toward his car. “I can drive you home if you want. I’ll wait for you to get ready.”
I look down at his clothes; he’s wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a simple light blue polo shirt. “Are you wearing that?”
Chuckling, he glances at his attire. “Yep. Just because we’re going to The Chandler doesn’t mean we have to dress up. My mother doesn’t care what we wear. You can go dressed in what you’re wearing if you want to.”
I snort. “No, thanks.”
“Then come on, I’ll drive you. Not unless you’re embarrassed to be seen with me.”
“Terrified,” I tease. “I’m sure your uppity friends will have something to say about you hanging out with someone like me.” Not that I care what his best friends think; they’re asshats.
Max’s smile fades. “I don’t give a shit what they think, London. I have a mind of my own.”
Guess we’ll see when the time comes.
We walk over to his car and he opens the door for me so I can get in. Very gentlemanlike. That’s one of the things I’ve noticed about him since we started sleeping together. He’s different than what I thought he’d be.
It only takes a few minutes to get to my house and the driveway is empty. Holly is spending the weekend with her boyfriend, and Kim is still at work. Max peers up at the house and smiles. It’s a navy blue, old Victorian style house with white shutters. “It’s cute. And you live here with Kim and her sister?”
I open the car door. “Yep. At least until I save enough money to get my own place.”
Max follows me inside the house and to my room. My furniture isn’t fancy, but I have a queen-sized bed with a white lace quilt covering that has small light blue flowers embroidered on it. My grandmother had made it when she was still alive. My ex-husband might’ve taken my money, but he would’ve regretted taking any of my belongings. That quilt means more to me than any amount of money.
There’s a picture of me and my parents on my dresser and Max stares at it. “Where are your parents? Are they in Rhode Island?”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. I go into my closet and pick out a khaki skirt and a silky floral top. “They moved to Maine a few years ago. I work all the time, so I don’t see them much.”
“I’m sorry. I know that must be hard.”
I take off my work clothes and slide on the skirt and top. Max watches me with heat in his eyes and I love it. I sit beside him on the bed and turn my focus to the picture. I’m standing in between my parents, all of us grinning wide at the camera. It was taken right after my divorce. I remember feeling determined to get my life back on track.
“It is,” I admit honestly. “They wanted me to move in with them after my divorce, but I knew I needed to do all of this by myself. I’m too old to depend on them.”
Max places a hand over mine. “I think you’re doing pretty damn good. You’ve been through a lot.”
“Thanks,” I say, turning to him. “I’m trying.”
He squeezes my hand. “You ready to go? My mom’s dying to talk to you. I had to calm her down at lunch today. She’s really excited to spend time with you.”
“Speaking of your mother, thanks for not warning me.”
With a heavy sigh, he nods. “I know and I’m sorry. I just felt like I could tell her about you.”
“What exactly does this make us?” I ask. My heart is thumping so hard I’m surprised he can’t hear it. What do I want it to mean? I wish I knew the answer.
Max looks right into my eyes. “I don’t know. What I do know is that I want to be with you, London. No more sneaking around. No hiding. But I’ll leave it up to you though.”
“Okay,” I murmur. “This is all new to me, so I have no clue what to do.”
He chuckles and helps me up. “Same. We’ll get through it together. Now let’s go before my mom calls asking where we’re at. The sooner we get there, the quicker we can leave.”
I’m definitely down for that. “All right, I’m ready.” Actually, I’m not but I know how to pretend to be.
Hand in hand, we walk through the hotel lobby and everyone acknowledges us with smiles. I keep waiting for them to look down at me but none of them do. Maybe that’s just me being self-conscious. For three years, I’ve been talked down to by club members. The only reason I’ve put up with it is because of the money.
Max and I take the elevator to the top floor and my palms grow sweaty the closer we get to their room. We stop outside the door and he turns me to face him. “My mom and her husband aren’t like the people you’re used to. Just relax and have fun. We won’t stay long, I promise.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. “Okay. I can do this.”
He knocks on the door and it bursts open. His mother squeals and jerks me away from him, folding her arms around my body. “You’re here. I’ve been looking forward to this all afternoon.”
“Don’t scare her, Mom,” Max chuckles.
Kitty lets me go and waves him off. “Oh, hush. I’m just excited.” She takes my hand and leads me into the penthouse suite. It’s bigger than my entire house.
Mark comes over and holds out his hand. “It’s good to see you again, London. Would you like a cocktail?”
I shake his hand. “Sure. That’d be great, thank you.”
He walks off to the bar where two glasses await the fruity concoction. Mark fills each glass up and hands them to us, both with a single raspberry on the rim. Max kisses
