“If it can be found once, it can be found twice.”
Maxie nibbled on her lower lip.He’d already done so much for her today.She fingered the folder.It was thick.“It’s a lot of work.I don’t mean to put you out.”
“It’s for a good cause.”He waited an indefinable moment.“Don’t you want to know the truth?”
She wasn’t sure.
Did she want to know that her whole life had been a lie?Or at best, that such an important piece of information had been kept from her?Did she want to know that she was part of a set of girls that had been broken up at too tender an age?Did she want to know that her parents weren’t hers?Would it make a difference?
No, she knew the answer to that already.Nothing would change the way she felt about the mother, father and grandmother who’d raised her.It didn’t matter what she learned, her feelings for them wouldn’t change.
But the rest of it?
“I don’t know if I want to, but I have to.”Ignorance wasn’t bliss, and the two women waiting to have dinner with them wouldn’t allow her to bury her head in the sand.
Zac closed the file and settled his arm along the back of her chair.“There are a few more things we need to discuss.”
She let out a long breath.Honestly, she didn’t know how much more she could take.“Like what?”
Leaning back in his chair, he stretched his long legs out in front of him.“Like are we serious or are we in it for the hot, kinky sex?”
Maxie spun towards him so fast, it was a wonder she didn’t give herself whiplash.“What?”
“If our cover story is going to fly tonight, we’ve got to be on the same page.”He tugged on a strand of her hair.“I’m thinking we’re hot and heavy, but it’s starting to lead somewhere.What do you think?”
The tightness that had slid down her body gave a delicious squeeze, and Maxie’s thighs trembled.Hewaswickedly smart—and flat-out wicked.“I think you’re crazy.”
He smiled.“You’re the one who came up with the plan, Beauty.”
She wasn’t going to forget that anytime soon.Agitated, she traced the edge of the table.“Why do you keep calling me that?”
“Because it fits, and because you were asleep in my arms this morning until I kissed you awake.”
Her eyes widened to the size of saucers.“You kissed me?”
“No, but I’m working my way up to it.”
Her sawdust-filled mouth started watering.Swallowing hard, Maxie turned her gaze away.Even the file seemed safer than him right now, although she knew he was teasing.
Wasn’t he?
He gave another tug on her hair.“Things were getting a bit heavy there.”
Yes.Yes, they were.She let out a puff of air.He was teasing her.
She folded her hands in her lap.She supposed he was right, though.If they were going to make it through dinner, they’d better have their stories straight.Whatever her motivations for having him there, he’d been helpful dealing with the sisters and going through the documentation they’d provided.“We’ll just tell them we’re dating.”
“Trust me, that’s not enough to make a cover story fly.We’ll need more details.Intimate, tiny details.”
She tried not to squirm at the way he said intimate.“Okay, how long should we tell them we’ve been going out?”
He grinned.“I wouldn’t have wasted much time.Let’s say right after I moved here.”
“When was that?”
“You know the answer to that.”
Yes, she did.Vividly.“We met at your welcome party and started going out soon afterwards.”
