Page 48 of Her Righteous Protector

“I can’t do this right now,” she whispered. “I can’t stand the idea of Zephyr being hurt, and eventually this will hurt him.”

Max smiled calmly, not touching her. “I understand that’s what you’re thinking, now. But can you do me a favor?”

She nodded.

“I’m a few days ahead of you on this,” Max said. “Can you look into your heart and see if you think we might have a chance? I’m not talking about some kind of affair. I’m talking about a relationship that could last forever.”

Hannah’s chin wobbled.

“You love me?” she asked.

“I absolutely do love you. You’re an amazing woman who I will always cherish,” he said immediately.

She felt a tear drip down her cheek.

“But, I’m beginning to fall in love with you, Hannah. The kind of love that has the potential to rip out my heart and leave me bleeding by the side of the road.”

God, the amount of emotion in his words about killed her. She’d never had any man talk to her like this.

“But Hannah, with our situation, with who we both are to Zephyr, I’m doing my damndest not to fall unless you’re going to be with me. That’s why I’m trying to be direct about this, and see where you are.” He blew out a breath. “Where you could be,” he whispered with a small smile.

More tears fell.

How could she not be in love with this man? How?

“Max—” she started.

“No, Hannah.” He put two fingers against her lips. “You take some time to think about this. Really think about this. Even if you say yes, it won’t be to forever, it would be to seeing if we have the potential for forever.”

She desperately needed to kiss this man, but instead, he got up and picked up the two bowls. He took them to the kitchen, put them in the dishwasher, and started it up.

“Good night, Hannah.”

“Good night, Max.”

* * *

“What’s up, Buttercup?” Julie called out to her daughter as she walked into the house. “Where’s Zephyr?”

“I left him with Max,” Hannah said when she stepped into her mom’s kitchen. “Do you have cookies?”

Julie lifted one finely arched brow. “How many do you need?” she asked carefully.

“Every single one that you’ve baked,” she said as she plopped down at the table. Hannah had no intention of telling her mother what Max had said two nights ago. She adored her mother, but on something like this, she’d keep her own counsel. However….

“Do you need some ice cream with those cookies?” Julie asked as she got down the smallest stainless steel mixing bowl. Oh thank God, her mother wasn’t going to skimp.

“Yes, I need ice cream. Can you heat up the cookies?” Hannah practically begged.

Julie took two handfuls of cookies out of the crystal cookie jar and put them on a paper towel and inserted them into the microwave. Then she went to the freezer and took out a half-gallon of vanilla ice cream and pulled out her ice cream scooper. When the microwave dinged, she placed the cookies into the bowl, then scooped the ice cream on top and placed the decadent dessert in front of Hannah, who just stared at it.

“Well, you’re not crying, so Max isn’t taking Zephyr away. You’re not eating yet, so you haven’t had wild monkey sex—”

“Mom!” Hannah shouted out, appalled.

“Hey, I remember Clive when you were a junior at Northwestern. You gained seven pounds. Three years later when we shared those two bottles of wine, it sure sounded to me like it was wild monkey sex.”

Hannah hit her forehead against the dining room table. “I’m never drinking with you again.”