Of course he hadn’t been. She was strong enough to stand up for herself and wouldn’t have done anything she didn’t want to. Hopefully he knew that by now. She bumped her shoulder against his arm. “He’s tried to keep up with me, but he has a lot yet to learn.”
“That’s why I called you both here.” Dad’s gaze bounced back and forth between them. “I wanted to see if Max would like to stay longer, maybe for another week.”
“What?” Emberly’s mouth nearly dropped open. What was her dad doing? If she didn’t know better, she’d almost think he was trying to set her up with Max. But why would he do that when he didn’t know anything about Max other than what her nosy brothers had said?
“I don’t know what your schedule is like, Max,” Dad continued, “but maybe you can work remotely or rearrange your schedule to free up your workload.”
After the past week of taking so much time away from work, Max was probably feeling the pressure to get back to business. But instead of a polite refusal, he slid his hands into his pockets and didn’t immediately respond.
Her heart thudded an extra beat. Did she want him to stay? If she was completely honest, thoughts of him driving away from the ranch had flooded her mind with a strange sadness that he would walk out of her life forever.
She’d known all along that the time with him was temporary and would soon be over. Maybe because of that, she’d allowed herself to let go of reservations and just have fun with him. She’d had nothing to lose in being herself and making the most of the time.
Or maybe she had more to lose than she’d realized... like maybe her heart.
Max met her gaze, his silvery-green eyes turning serious. “What do you think?”
Was he really considering her dad’s idea? That was ludicrous, wasn’t it? Why would he want to stay here when he had a busy life waiting for him? And there was Sarah. Wasn’t he planning to go home and attempt to repair his relationship with the duchess?
“Would you be open to the idea?” Max’s gaze seemed to probe deeper.
“You’ve told me how much work you’ve put off this week—”
“I can delegate it. I have already had to do that with some of the newest portfolios, and I shall do it again.”
Was he admitting he wanted to take up her dad’s offer? If so, was it because he wanted to spend more time with her?
The prospect of getting to be with him a little longer was really appealing. She’d grown to admire and respect him as a person and as a prince. Not only was he personable, kind, and enjoyable to be with, but he was intelligent, compassionate, and determined and would make a great king of his nation one day.
But what would his staying at the ranch longer accomplish? It wasn’t as if anything could happen between them. Not when he was a prince and far out of her league. Even if he hadn’t been a prince and had simply been a wealthy man, they were two different people from two different walks of life and two different parts of the world.
“I can tell you want to stay.” Dad was studying Max’s face. “So why not just say yes?”
“Your offer is very kind, to be sure.” Max’s mannerisms set him apart from the ordinary man. Could her dad see that, and was he wondering more about Max’s story? “But I do not wish to annoy Emberly if she prefers to have me leave.”
“Of course I don’t.”
“So you would like me to stay?”
Did she dare say so? A part of the truth was that she didn’t want him to leave at all, ever. A part of her wanted to go on spending her afternoons and evenings with him indefinitely.
There had been a few times where an attraction had seemed to flare to life between them. The key word wasseemed. She’d caught him looking at her a time or two with something more in his eyes than friendship—or so she thought. And she’d felt a magnetic tug toward him once in a while, especially when he’d pulled her down on his lap. He’d only been practicing, but it had felt charged, making her want to linger there against him.
As tempting as it had been to let herself get carried away with a man as handsome as Max, she’d kept good boundaries.
Max was still waiting for her response, his expression growing more serious. “If you would like me to go tomorrow, just say so.”
“That’s not it.” With her dad staring up at her expectantly, she suddenly felt on display. “Maybe we can have a private word out on the deck.” Away from her dad’s pressure.
“Now, darlin’,” Dad started, “you don’t need to overthink this. I was just hoping Max would stay so I could get to know him better.”
She leveled a look at her dad. Why did he want to get to know Max better?
Dad only smiled. “Tyler already told me the Antelope is booked up, as are all the other cabins. So Max and his staff can stay here in the house.”
“That may not be private enough—”
“Thank you for the kind offer.” Max smiled back at her dad. “I would enjoy the chance to get to know you better too.”
