“You’d have to make an appointment for that, and we have a waiting period before access is granted. I’m sorry.” She leans in a little and lowers her voice. “We have to make sure no one makes the decision under duress, you understand.”
An unhinged laugh escapes me, which makes Winger and the woman gawk. “Oh my, we wouldn’t want that. Imagine someone was kidnapped, held against their will, and forced to come here to retrieve their items.” I shake my head for good measure.
“I know it seems so far-fetched, but you never know.” The woman assumes I’m being patronizing and agrees with me.
“Max.” Winger says my name softly, but it pulls my attention from the woman I’m joking with. His brows rise, censoring me without words.
“He’s too serious.” I roll my eyes. “Can he at least wait for me in the hall?” I place my hand near my mouth, pretending to whisper, but say it loud enough for Winger to hear. “He’s kind of obsessed with me and can’t stand having me out of his sight.”
“Young love.” She smiles. “Come on, I don’t think I’ll get in too much trouble for letting you wait in the back. Just don’t tell anyone.” She smiles like a naughty child, pleased with herself.
“It will be our secret,” I assure her.
Winger’s hand slides smoothly up my back until his fingers are gently wrapped around the back of my neck and he’s standing much closer to me.
“She’ll be right through those doors. You can wait here if you’d like.” She points to a low leather bench.
Winger’s fingers tighten for just a second before he releases me. “Hurry back, trouble.”
“Oh, that’s adorable, he calls you trouble,” she says while pulling her keycard off her hip to unlock the vault.
“Yeah, I call him my peggy, because he likes it when I—”
“Max!” Winger barks loud enough that everyone around looks over at him.
“I’m teasing, I call him my snookums, because he’s just the sweetest.”
“You are a handful.” She blushes, then waves her hand for me to go ahead of her.
“See you in a minute, snookums, don’t miss me too much.” I even give him a little wave. His mouth is in a hard flat line. He does not look pleased, which I enjoy more than I should.
CHAPTER19
WINGER
Ishould be worried she’s going to try to escape after she disappears behind the heavy doors, but I’m too busy thinking about how she smiled over at me, like I was in on her joke, even though I was the butt of it.
I grow a little uneasy as the minutes pass, so much so that when the doors finally open, revealing the woman, I’m already on my feet. “You weren’t kidding. It’s like he thinks you’re going to disappear.”
Max emerges from behind her and walks over to me, wrapping her arm through mine. “My own personal stalker. Good thing he’s so darn handsome,” she goads.
I glare down at her, surprised she’s all cozied up to me.
“Come on, snookums, we can go get married now that I have my birth certificate.”
“You’re getting married?” The woman brings up her hands and covers her mouth in wonder, while her eyes go right to Maxine’s bare fingers draped over my arm.
“Yep, but the honeymoon planning has been kind of tricky.” She winces.
“Really? Why?” The woman is hanging onto Maxine’s every word.
“His first wife died in this freak boating accident when they were in the Maldives for their honeymoon, and I don’t want to trudge up bad memories, you know. It kind of limits our options.”
“Oh…” The woman’s eyes scan the area, probably looking for a way to escape the suddenly awkward conversation. “Best of luck to you both. I need to get back to work,” she finally says, sounding much more reserved.
I tighten my arm against my body, not letting Max remove her hand from my forearm as we exit the bank. “I don’t know if that woman was more worried about you having a freak accident on our honeymoon or the absolutely cavalier way you spoke about my dead wife as if she were an inconvenience.”
She climbs into the passenger seat after I open the door for her, clearly pleased with herself, if her smile is any indication. “Well, if my dead body turns up, she’ll know to send the cops straight to you.”
