Maxie blinked hard, determined not to let that first tear fall.Once it went, she wasn’t sure she could hold back the rest.“Tension?”
Her sister’s laugh was low.“The sexual kind.You two just ooze it.”
Ooze it?Really?The irony of that statement got a laugh out of her, but it didn’t really sound like a laugh once it came out.
“Oh, sweetie.It couldn’t have been that bad.”
Oh, yes.Yes, it could have.He thought she didn’t care about him at all, and now he was headed into a situation that was potentially dangerous.
“Whoa, don’t do that.”Roxie rubbed her hand over her head.“Let’s go talk, just the three of us.”
Maxie sucked in a shuddering breath.Yes, that sounded good.She’d done so much lying and deceiving, she was about to burst.She needed to talk to someone.She needed to talk toher sisters.
“Lexie, come over to the dining tent.Watch the booth, would ya, Hatchet?”Roxie pointed behind him.“You’ve got customers coming in.”
The tough, sexy tycoon started towards the booth, but stopped when he saw all the knickknacks and flowery decorations.
Maxie wiped her eyes and took an instinctive step forward.“It’s okay.It’s my business.I can cover it.”
Roxie hooked her about the waist.“He’s wrestled Fortune 500 companies into submission.I think he can figure it out.”
“What’s going on?”Lexie asked.Their shoulders bumped as the three of them walked together towards the empty tent.The pancake breakfast wouldn’t start for another half hour.“What’s wrong?”
“She and Zac had a fight this morning.”
Maxie climbed onto the nearest picnic table and sagged.She settled her elbows onto the wooden tabletop and rubbed her face with both hands.How had everything become such a mess?
Lexie sat beside her and patted her back.“It’s all right, honey.All couples fight.”
“And the fun part is making up.”Instead of sitting across the table, Roxie perched atop it.
Maxie closed her eyes.That was the problem.She and Zac weren’t even to the point where they could fight and make up, because they’d never really been together in the first place.
“Come on.Tell us what happened,” Lexie said soothingly.
Maxie sucked in a shaky breath.She’d been holding back for so long, she expected it to be difficult to find someplace to start.Only too many confessions were pushing at her.There was nothing holding her back, making her hesitate.She wanted them to know the truth.She wanted to confide in them.
“I’ve always been really timid,” she began.“I’m the wallflower in the corner of the room.I’m the quiet one who waves but never says anything.”
“That doesn’t sound like you,” Roxie said.
“Not since you two arrived.”A smile forced its way onto Maxie’s trembling lips.“But that day you walked down the street and I first saw you?I didn’t know what to think.I didn’t know what to say or what I was supposed to do.”
“Nobody knows what to do in that situation,” Lexie crooned.“We understand.We’ve been there.”
“You scared me,” Maxie admitted.“Because of that, I did some things I normally wouldn’t do.I was trying to stay in the shadows, but you wanted to pull me into the spotlight.”
“Things like what?”Roxie asked.
Maxie dropped her hands to the table, but she couldn’t stop fidgeting.“I needed time.Time to deal with what you were telling me.Time to figure out what the truth was.But I lied to buy that time.”
“You lied to Zac?”Lexie sucked in a breath of surprise.
In a way.She just hadn’t been quick enough with the truth.
“I lied to you.”Tension was vibrating in the air, and Maxie couldn’t take it.She burst from her seat and began pacing up and down the row between the tables.“I’m thrilled to have family again.Honestly.Now that I have you back, I don’t feel so tied down and lonely anymore.”
“Wait,” Roxie snapped.“Back?”
