“He-he—” She pointed to the floor.
Snorting, I nodded. “Yes, he was here.”
Then a hard punch landed on my arm. Ray scowled. “You couldn’t tell me this earlier?”
Laughing, I rubbed my stinging bicep and walked into the living room. “Why? I didn’t want him to slip on your drool and hurt himself. I’m not insured for things like that.”
“You’re mean.” She followed, sulking. “You could tell me that doofus Ryder is a model, but not the famous one?”
“I didn’t know it was him when Pierre told me. He said ‘a friend.’ You’ll get to see him when he comes on Monday since he’s a client now.”
“Awesome!” She punched the air.
My phone rang. Shaking my head, I retrieved my cell from my jeans pocket, answered.
“Ila?”
“Hey, Dad.”
“So you girls are all set for next weekend?”
“Dad, I’m—” Grabby hands swiped my phone away. Smirking, Ray danced back. “Hey, Daddykins—who, Ila? Oh, she had to sneeze. And I wanted to say hi.”
I lunged for the cell, but the worm slid easily over the couch with her long legs and ducked safely behind the heavy armchair, grinning evilly. “Yep, we’ll be there for the weekend, and I’m bringing a friend along…ugh, no, Dad, he’s not my boyfriend…” Then Ray laughed, evading my reach. “Only when Nicholas Hoult proposes, only then…no, Dad, Liam H. was so last week.” Ray grinned and stuck out her tongue at me. “Bye, Daddykins—love you, and love to Mom, too.” She rang off. “There, all done.”
“Darn it, Ray,” I growled. “I have Gus coming this weekend. I had to reschedule him to fit in Titus.”
“You work too hard.”
“I like my work.”
“There is life out there, and you’re coming home, even if I have to hogtie you!” Ray promised darkly.
My stomach churned at the thought of going to Millbrae, of bumping into Devyn. It was bound to occur with me attending the fair.
Footsteps echoed on the wooden stairs, pulling my focus away from my own demons. Max was back and had obviously showered. He jogged downstairs while pulling on a t-shirt, his muscular, long legs covered in dark gray sweats. His muscular, inked chest disappeared behind the navy tee with a cartoony Mozart charging after a musical note on the front. He ran his fingers through his damp hair, his gaze immediately settling on me.
He always did that when he first came into a room. Probably so I could suffer high blood pressure at the rate my heartbeat shot up.
“Maximus, you’ll never believe who was here just now.” Ray shoved the cell back into my hand, her eyes shining with stars.
He cocked a brow. “So, the dork left?”
“Why are you calling him names? He’s beautiful.”
“Must be gay.”
“He’s not.” Ray glared at Max, who merely shrugged as if unconvinced. “He had a girlfriend, but I read somewhere they broke up.”
“Yeah, gay.” He ducked her punch and ended up near me.
“You’re mean, just like Ila.” She pouted.
His curious gaze met mine. I shrugged. “She’s peeved because I didn’t tell her my client’s identity.”
“Yeah, mean. So, what are we eating tonight?” Ray asked, seeming to forget about her celebrity crush.
Instantly, Max lowered his gaze to my mouth.
