The man who wants her so badly it hurts, yes, but also the man who wants the connection we've already begun to build to deepen until it becomes somethingunbreakable.
Because there's something magnetic between us, something that’s both inevitable and impossible. It’s bigger than anything I've felt for a woman before. And trust me, my romantic history hasn't exactly been short. But those were simply attractions. Pleasant diversions. About as deep as Toffee’s water bowl.
This? This is like coming home to a place I never knew I was searching for.
Man, when did I become such a sentimental fool?
I already know the answer. It’s when I mether.
Which is why, when the tension coming off of her is virtually cracking around her head, it’s clear as day that she’s as affected by our proximity as I am, and my heart leaps at the possibility that it could be because she feels it too.
My instinct is to pull her into my arms and soften her tension, to smooth it away with my touch. But she pushed me away last night by the fire, and I don't want to risk spooking her again.
“Come on,” I say, as I pull the creaky door to the armoire open and grab one of the spare blankets I spotted earlier. “Help me with this.”
She eyes me. "What are you doing?"
“Building us a fort of course,” I reply as though it’s the most natural thing for two grown adults to do together. I shake the blanket out and grin at her bemused expression as Toffee bounces about excitedly. "What? You've never built a blanket fort before?"
“I—" She looks genuinely taken aback, and something about her confusion tugs on my heart strings. “Not for a long time.”
“Well then, tonight's your lucky night.”
“Max,” she says, shaking her head. “What will we do with a fort?” she asks.
“Hide. Clearly.”
She raises her brows. “From whom? The grown-ups?”
I grin at her. “Precisely.”
“You aresotypically a youngest sibling. Never growing up.”
“Why grow up when there’s so much fun to have?” Iwaggle my brows at her and the tautness in her face relaxes a touch.
“We can’t all spend our lives having fun,” she replies, and there’s something in her tone that tells me there’s a reason behind her words. A reason I want to understand, as I want to understand so many things about this woman.
“Come on. Let’s get to work.”
She throws me an inquisitive look. “Work?”
“Building the fort, of course. Toffee’s keen.”
We both watch as Toffee turns round and round on the blanket before flopping down.
“You’re not serious, Max.”
“Try me.” I move the chair closer to the bed and drape the blanket over its back. Taking a pillow from the bed, I secure it at one end.
She seems to think about it for a moment. “Come on, Toffee. Off you hop.”
Toffee does just that and Fabiana helps me stretch the other corner to the bed.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this.”
“You’ll love it. Trust me.” I secure the blanket on the bed and hand her the last of the pillows to arrange inside our makeshift shelter. Then I hold back the door flap for her. “After you,mademoiselle.”
She hesitates, not sure whether to play along.
