“Um…” she finally said. “Well, we only met a few days ago, so we’re just dating now.”
Natasha considered that as she took a bite of her onion ring. “Don’t you like him?”
Lana glanced at Max, glad he couldn’t hear any of this all the way over by the swings. “Sure I like him. He’s great.”
“Then you should marry him,” Natasha said seriously before eating the rest of her onion ring. “If I had a boyfriend who brought me both french fries and onion rings, I’d marry him. Not that I’m old enough to get married yet. I can’t do that for another year or two.”
Lana nodded at that well-thought-out opinion. There was a certain logic to basing your marriage decision on a willingness to buy alternative side dishes. She’d certainly seen women get married for lesser reasons.
As she and the girls discussed the various menu options for her wedding to Max—just in case—Lana caught snatches of Max’s conversation with Terence on the breeze. What she heard made her want to cry.
“I should have protected my sisters better,” Terence said. “That’s what older brothers are supposed to do.”
“You protected them as well as you could,” Max insisted. “In fact, I’m willing to bet you put yourself in between your dad and your sisters a lot.”
“Yeah, but it was never enough,” Terence said. “I couldn’t stop him.”
“No, you couldn’t,” Max agreed. “Because the only person who could stop your dad from doing that stuff is your dad.”
Lana glanced over to see Terence sitting on the swing, staring at the ground. “I hate my father.”
“I know,” Max said softly. “And that’s pretty normal, I guess. But if you can, try not to dwell on that too much. If the only thing you ever let yourself feel is hate, pretty soon, that’s the only thing you’ll be able to feel. Instead, think about how much you love your mom and your sisters, and what kind of life you’re going to have with them now.”
That was good advice, Lana thought.
Max and Terence came back over to the table a little while after that, and they all sat there, eating the rest of the fries and talking about any silly subject the kids brought up. Lana couldn’t help but notice how patient and thoughtful Max was. He made sure each of the kids memorized his cell number, telling them they could call him day or night, even if they simply needed to talk. Or wanted french fries.
She was thinking about the fact that Max was going to make an awesome dad someday when another thought popped into her head. He wouldn’t merely make a great dad to a bunch of kids. He’d make a great dad to her kids.
Whoa. Where the heck had that come from?
She’d known Max for a grand total of three days and had spent the night with him once. Even if you counted multiple orgasms as separate sexual events, she still hadn’t been with him long enough to be thinking about having a family with him.
This was insane. No, this was about four miles past the turnoff to insane. But at the same time, she realized she couldn’t convince herself it was wrong. In some ways, it all made complete sense. Her head might have been trying to tell her she was moving too fast, but her heart—and those funny flutters in her belly—were saying this was exactly what she wanted.
She glanced at Max to see him regarding her with a smile that made her pulse go crazy. “You want some more fries?” he asked. “Or onion rings?”
Returning his smile, Lana reached over and took a handful of each.
Maybe Natasha was onto something here. How many guys would offer you fries…and onion rings?
* * *
Max opened the door of his apartment, holding on to Lana’s small overnight bag as she walked in ahead of him. He certainly hadn’t minded that Lana wanted to stay at his place tonight, but he’d been shocked when she asked him to stop at her friends’ place near Medical City Hospital first so she could pick up her toothbrush and some other essentials.
“Isn’t that stuff at your parents’ house?” he’d asked in confusion.
That’s when Lana mentioned she’d moved in with Brandy and Miriam after getting into a fight with her father that morning. He hadn’t pushed for details at the time, but now that they were back at his place, he figured it was about time she told him the rest of the story.
“So, does this thing with your dad have anything to do with me?” he asked, setting her bag on the floor by the couch and tugging her into his arms.
She shrugged, as if trying to make it seem like it wasn’t a big deal. But Max could tell she was upset. He could feel the tension in her body.
“Yeah,” she said. “He told me that if I wanted to keep seeing you, I wasn’t welcome in his house.”
Max had feared it was something like that, but he was still stunned to hear it put so bluntly. None of this made any sense. Even if the deputy chief knew Max was a werewolf, why would he be this vehemently against his daughter seeing him?
He leaned down and kissed away the line of stress between Lana’s brows, hugging her close until he felt her relax.
