I twirled a pencil between my fingers. “You probably scared the shit out of her and I can’t blame her. But you probably shouldn’t call her. Just let it be.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I’ll explain things to her and we’ll leave it at that.”
“I don’t want to cause problems between you, Max. She really just seemed...angry.”
“I’m sure she was,” I grinned, thinking back to Kari’s call. “This won’t cause any problems because I won’t let it. Kari is my world, Sam, and if things come down to the two of you—if you working here is an issue—I’ll pick her. Understand?”
Sam nodded and placed her hands on her trim hips. “Of course I do,” she smiled, but without the usual twinkle in her eye.
A strange sort of chill raced momentarily down my spine.
“How’d you meet her, anyway?” she asked.
“Her car was broken down and I came to her rescue.”
“A knight in shining armor?” A shadow danced across Sam’s eyes and I knew immediately what she was thinking—that I was not her knight in shining armor when I should’ve been.
“I’m no one’s knight,” I said, my voice low and steady.
My office phone rang and I looked up at her again, her baby blues locking onto mine. I could see the hurt, the pain, swirling in them, the realization that I had come to someone else’s rescue when I had left her to her own devices.
“I’ll grab your keys,” she whispered and walked out the door.
Kari
I was washing dishes when Max came in. I heard him, felt him, sensed him, but didn’t turn around. Sam’s appearance had rocked me pretty hard. After talking to Max, I had put away the groceries, but found myself leaving the decorations I had purchased for the house in my car.
I knew it was silly and that I was overreacting. But overreacting or not, how stupid would I feel if I was packing those items back out in a couple of weeks? Days? Hours? Because if I knew anything, it was that things could be over in a split second. And seeing another woman in my bedroom, of all places, left me disconcerted.
My emotions were all over the place. I was angry. Sad. Embarrassed. I was confused and worried. In a perfect world, I’d call someone, like my sister, and talk it out. But that never worked out for me. Everyone was always busy when I needed them.
Max’s arms slipped around my waist, his breath hot on my ear. “Hey, sweetheart.”
“Hi,” I said softly, rinsing the last cup. I breathed in his scent and briefly closed my eyes, taking comfort in the only things that had ever made me feel safe at a time when I felt anything but.
“Are you still mad?”
I shrugged, not really knowing how to answer.Is it even Max’s fault?
“Don’t be.” He kissed the shell of my ear and down my neck, kissing a trail from my collarbone back up to my mouth. I turned around and caught his mouth with my own, my body working on muscle memory. Our lips found their way to each other instinctively, clicking together immediately. Max kissed me sweetly, gently, reverently.
Finally, I pulled back and Max rested his forehead against mine. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry about today. I had no idea she had a key.”
I rolled my eyes. “How’d she get it, anyway?”
“I gave her my office keys to copy and she said the store must’ve copied the whole thing by mistake.”
I moved away from him and poured myself a glass of wine. “Want one?”
“Nah,” he said, grabbing a beer from the fridge. “I took her keys away, obviously.”
I took a long drink of the Moscato, praying that it would calm my nerves in a hurry. I could feel myself getting worked up again and I really didn’t want to lose my cool. “Okay, so she made the keys. Let’s give her the benefit of the doubt and just say the store copied them all. Why was she in our bedroom?”
