Max draws his hand down in front of his face, instantly switching from a serious expression to his more usual grin. “Callie Baker, thank you for coming to dinner with us for this first date. We can’t wait to learn all about you, but first, we want to tell you up front that we’re employed as special agents for the state.”
“A lot of what we do is classified,” I add, “but we promise to tell you everything about our work that we’re allowed to.”
She shakes her head, and the sound of her laughter is the best thing I’ve heard in weeks.
Still holding my hand, she reaches for Max’s too. “It’s very nice to meet you, Miles and Max Pruitt. You’re the most handsome men I’ve ever seen, and I find you completely irresistible. I’m going to expect honesty from you, but I’m also going to do my best not to let my past hurts get in the way of our relationship.”
“That’s such a coincidence, Callie,” Max says. “You’re obviously irresistible yourself, and I hope you won’t find this too forwardfor our first date, especially since we’ve just met, but would you mind if we kissed you?”
With a beautiful smile on her lips, Callie leans forward to meet Max in a kiss, then she turns my way. It’s a brief kiss, perfectly respectable for a public place, but it means everything.
It’s the promise for a fresh start.
CHAPTER 65
CALLIE
The next day, my iced coffee is delivered in person—by two persons, actually—and accompanied by a couple of kisses that push the boundaries of what’s acceptable behavior on a front porch at five in the morning.
But as we carry on kissing, we decide that no one else in the neighborhood is awake yet, and our hands get involved. Miles says he can’t get enough of my backside when I’m wearing yoga pants, and I’m never going to get enough of the two of them.
Even though they look like they're about to play basketball, they’re actually coming to yoga class with me, and though I thought I was prepared for the class’s reactions, I can’t help but laugh at the way every single person does a double take when they enter the yoga studio and see Miles with Max by his side.
After their third day of attending, the men take me aside. “Any chance we can arrange for private yoga sessions with you instead?” Miles asks.
“Are all the eyes on you getting to be too much?” I tease.
“They actually are, and when we were in the hall filling our water bottles, a cardio instructor asked us out.”
My brows shoot up. “Oh, really? What did you say?”
Both men frown at me for asking what they clearly think is a silly question. “We thanked her for asking, because it was the perfect opportunity to tell someone that the smoking hot yoga teacher is our girlfriend.”
“Your girlfriend?”
“Yeah … aren’t we your boyfriends?” Max asks. “We’re not messing around, Callie.”
But that’s kind of a lie, because later, when I go over to their place, we do a lot of messing around.
Over the weeks and months that follow, we spend as much time together as my schedule allows. Max and Miles fill my workdays with mini dates, joining me on my lunch break, making dinner for me at their place, or giving me a back rub while we watch an hour of TV in the evening at my house.
On my days off, they let me sleep in, and then we set off on fun adventures, take long walks on the beach, or we just relax together.
Occasionally, they invite my mom to go out to dinner with us. If it were just Miles and I out with her, conversation would probably be stilted, but Max draws us all in, and has all four of us laughing together through our meal.
I get together frequently with Sadie on my own, but she and I agree that it would be awkward, if not actually inadvisable right now, for Max and Miles to see Adam socially. Hopefully, once everything is settled with Mr. Hargrove’s court case, things will be different.
During one visit, Sadie tells me that Adam’s sister asked for my number, and wants to know if it’s okay to share it with her. A couple of days later, I receive a message from Alexis thanking me for trying to warn her about Rick. I tell her I hope she’s doing okay.
On a long holiday weekend, Max and Miles take me on a road trip to meet their family, and I can immediately see how they got to be such good men. Their parents make me feel like part of their family right from the start, and so does their sister.
On our drive back, the men entertain me with stories about their work, some recent details they’re allowed to share, but more about past cases that have long since been resolved.
“Have you ever thought about getting into investigative work?” Miles asks during a break in our conversation.
“What? Me?”
“Yeah. You have good instincts. You were on to Willie Gardner before we knew who he was.”
