To Have It All(45)

“Ladies,” he beamed before bending down and kissing Pim on the head. My body tensed. I hated seeing him being affectionate with her. This whole situation was nuts. I only hoped that Pim wouldn’t remember any of it . . . wouldn’t remember Max when it was over.

“Take care of your urgent matter?” I asked dryly.

He cut his eyes to me in question, but then quickly smiled and nodded. It was obvious he didn’t know what I was talking about at first, but figured it out. “Oh, yeah. All is good.”

I wasn’t letting him off that easy. “Did your urgent matter involve rolling around on the street?”

“What?” he snorted.

“Your shirt,” I pointed at the black stain on his sleeve.

Looking down, he checked his hands, nodding. “Just helped someone with some mechanical issues they were having,” he answered.

I stared at him blankly. “Mechanical issues?”

“Flat tire,” he explained.

“Right,” I huffed, not believing him. Max? Working on a car? Changing a tire? Yeah right. Leaning back on the couch, I crossed my arms as he stood up.

“Well, I did it,” he announced.

I quirked a brow at him. “Did what?”

“I bought a motorcycle today.”

My jaw dropped. I don’t know why I was so shocked. I guess I was still absorbing the fact Max apparently had a new-found passion for motorcycles. I thought when he mentioned buying one today, he was just goading me for a reaction. I never believed he’d buy one.

“Seriously?”

“Yep,” he confirmed with a smirk. “It’s a real beauty. Wait till you see it.”

When he turned to walk back to the front door, I sat up. Did he expect me to follow him? “I’m not going,” I informed him adamantly.

When he spun around, he tilted his head, a sly smirk on his face. “Go where?” he asked.

“Down to look at your bike, Max,” I stated.

“Where do you think it is?”

“The parking deck. Congrats on buying a death machine, but I don’t have any desire to walk down there and see it. Especially with my bad ankle.”

Crossing his arms, the same stupid and infuriating smirk on his face, he shrugged. “Who said you had to go to the parking deck?”

Flopping back, I groaned. “Whatever, Max.” He could be so damn infuriating. How else would I see the bike if I didn’t go to the parking deck? Unless he brought it up to the apartment, but that would mean he would’ve had to bring it up on the elevator, which would be ridiculous. Popping up, my eyes widened. He didn’t, did he? “Where’s the bike?”

His smirk brightened into a grin, and I wanted to choke him he looked so thrilled. “I’ll get it.” Then bending down, he picked Pim up and propped her on his hip.

“Where are you taking her?” I squawked.

Letting out a loud sigh, he lowered his chin and fixed his gaze on me. “Just to the front door,” he informed me. Spinning on his heel, he walked out of the room.

“You didn’t bring that motorcycle up here did you?” I shouted after him, but he didn’t respond. “Don’t put her on it!”

Scooting up I grabbed my crutches and stood. Once I was situated, I called, “Max!”

If he brought that motorcycle up here, he’d probably get kicked out of the building. What was he thinking? And he’d better not put Pim on it. She was only a baby and they were dangerous as hell. It didn’t matter to me if it was parked or not, I didn’t want her on one.

“Max!” I yelled again. I managed to make it three steps when I heard something that sounded like it was grinding, almost like a loud electric pencil sharpener.

When I looked down, Pim was rolling around the corner on a tiny hot pink three-wheeled power wheels motorcycle. Her face was lit up in a grin, as she looked up at me, her head donned in a matching bike helmet. Max was hunched over, walking awkwardly, his thumb holding the power button to make the bike move.

“Now put your hand here, sweetheart,” he instructed her as he took her arm and moved it, so her hand fell over the power button. Max let go, and Pim pushed the button causing the bike to lurch forward which scared her and she let go.

“Vroom-vroom,” she laughed, her gummy smile wide with a few baby teeth showing.

“What is this?” I asked, as we watched Pim hit the button-lurch-stop-giggle.

“I told you I bought a motorcycle today,” he quipped, then pressed his lips together to stop himself from laughing as he absorbed my expression. He’d duped me. He’d gotten me all worked up and bent out of shape for nothing.

Rolling my eyes, I muttered, “Very funny. A three-wheeler?” I questioned dryly. “Since you’re such a badass biker guy now, I’m surprised you got her a trike instead of a two-wheeler.” There was no missing my sarcasm.

“Trikes are for kids and old timers,” he affirmed. “Or for someone like yourself.”

Like yourself? “What does that mean?” I asked, defensively.

He snorted. “It’s not a slam against you. I just mean you seem like the kind of person that would be terrified to ride a real motorcycle.”

Tilting my head, I narrowed my eyes at him. “You don’t know me, Max.”