If anything, they’d made her worry grow even more.
Someone had been out there.
The thought stayed with her as Blue Ridge Hollow came into view.
Max pulled to the curb in front of her clinic a few minutes later and cut the engine.
He glanced over at her. “I’d like to walk you up.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know. But I’d feel better if I did.”
Hadley nodded. The truth was, so would she. But she didn’t want to be needy. “Okay, if you insist.”
They stepped out into the cold together, the night air sharper now than it had been earlier. The boarded-up front window at the clinic loomed as a reminder of everything that had gone wrong. A frown tugged at her lips at the thought.
As they reached the front of the building, Hadley headed toward the steps leading to her apartment.
Her foot hit a patch of ice.
She pitched forward, her feet slipping beneath her. A startled breath escaped as she scrambled for balance.
Before she could hit the ground, Max’s hands went to her waist. In one quick movement, he steadied her.
Hadley’s breath caught as she looked up at him, his face mere inches from hers. Their eyes met, closer now than they’d been before. The space between them suddenly felt smaller.
Before she could think it through—before she could talk herself out of it—she rose onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.
Max stilled, clearly caught off guard.
For a heartbeat, he didn’t move.
Then he shifted closer. One hand came up to steady her as he kissed her back.
The moment lasted just long enough to make her breath catch and make everything else fall away.
By the time the kiss ended, her heart was racing out of control.
Max gazed down at her, a flicker of surprise in his warm gaze. “That was . . . unexpected.”
Hadley let out a breathless chuckle. “For me too.”
He fidgeted as if he wasn’t quite sure where to put his hands or what to say next. “Hadley . . . as much as I loved that, there are things you don’t know about me.”
She held his gaze. “I know enough.”
His brow furrowed. “You say that now, but . . .”
“I see the way you take care of people. The way you look out for everyone at Refuge Cove. The way you always try to do the right thing. What else do I need to know?”
His gaze clouded with doubt. “There are things about my past, things I’m not proud of.”
Hadley shook her head. “The past is the past.”
He studied her as if he wanted to believe that but didn’t quite know how.
And all Hadley wanted was to reassure him . . . and she vowed she would do just that.
