The Gamble (Colorado Mountain #1)(149)



I waited for him to say more and for awhile he didn’t, he just kept looking into my eyes. Then he did.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had someone I gave a shit enough about to share anything with and I’m out of practice.”

This was something, a hint, and I waited for more. This time, I didn’t get it.

Instead, his thumb drifted over my bottom lip while his eyes watched it then he dipped his head and touched his mouth to mine before lifting his head again.

His hand cupping my jaw, he whispered, “I f**ked up, baby.”

I closed my eyes and turned my head away, disappointed, no, beyond disappointed.

But at least he could admit when he was wrong. That was something.

I opened my eyes, looked at him and gave in. “Don’t worry about it, Max. It’s been…” I searched for a word and settled on, “crazy.”

He touched his lips to mine again before he pulled slightly away.

“Promise me you won’t sit in another man’s lap.” His voice was gentle but serious and I nodded.

“I think I got that.”

“And don’t call anyone ‘darling’. That’s mine.”

I swallowed, liking that he’d claimed that, and nodded again.

His forehead came to mine and he whispered, “Love it when you call me that in your accent, honey.”

My body relaxed under his and my hands went to his waist but I reminded him, “I don’t have an accent.”

I watched from close as he grinned.

“Now, Duchess, what exactly is a lawyer desk?”

I couldn’t help it, I grinned back. “Can I tell you while I make us something for dinner?”

Max lifted his head. “Yeah, dinner would be good. Then we’re gonna celebrate.”

“No, then we’re going to finish my movie.”

“Babe, that movie’s shit.”

“I know but I was kind of into it.”

He grinned again then his eyes dropped to my mouth. “I want a kiss first.”

My body relaxed even more under him and I whispered, “Okay.”

“I want your mouth open this time.”

I felt a shiver on my skin (and elsewhere) as I repeated, “Okay.”

“Give it to me, baby.”

I lifted my head and put my mouth to his and repeated yet again, “Okay.”

Then I opened my mouth and kissed him.

* * * * *

We were in the kitchen, the water was at the boil and I had the cookie sheet out as well as all the fixings for dinner.

Max had asked me what I wanted to drink, I’d requested a glass of wine from the bottle he opened last night (the Chardonnay this time) and he’d poured it for me.

Now he was standing h*ps against the sink, drinking beer and watching me. I opened the packet of hot dogs and he burst out laughing.

My eyes went to him. “What?”

His head dipped to the counter. “This duchess food?”

“What?” I repeated and he walked up to me, putting his beer on the counter and picking up the tube of biscuits.

“Mac and cheese and pigs in a blanket with white f**kin’ wine,” he stated through his smile. “Is this duchess food?”

“No, it’s Nina’s Home in America Food. They don’t have macaroni and cheese in a box and biscuits in a tube in England and when I’m home I eat the food I like that I don’t get in England.” He kept smiling at me as he pulled the wrapper off the tube then rapped it on the edge of the counter so it gave a soft “poof” as it exploded open. “Max!” I cried. “You stole the fun part!”

His hand snaked out, caught me behind my neck, yanked me to him so he could kiss the top of my head then he let me go muttering, “Sorry, honey,” and twisted the tube open.

I pulled out some hot dogs thinking that my telling him I was moving to Colorado wasn’t exactly a special moment between us. I was also thinking that I had the Max I knew back after the Max I didn’t know and who kind of scared me was around for the afternoon and I didn’t want to go back to the other Max. I was also thinking I really wanted to know what was in Curtis Dodd’s letters and I was thinking it was Curtis Dodd’s letters that brought out the other Max.

But I really wanted to know what was in those letters.

“What was in Curtis’s letters?” I blurted then tensed.

Max took a hot dog from me and started to wrap a biscuit around it.

“Bitsy’s letter, a bunch of shit about Shauna, more shit about how he loved Bitsy and only Bitsy even though he was nailin’ Shauna and the fact that he’d received death threats,” Max answered, not sounding angry, not looking broody, just being Max.

“And yours?” I prompted, wrapping a biscuit around a hot dog.

“A bunch of shit about how I needed to take care of Bitsy and take care of the business for Bitsy and how Bitsy had death threats too and, seein’ as I was readin’ his damned letter, how I needed to take care of that and what he was doin’ about it with the PI and how I couldn’t tell Bitsy her life was under threat.” He put the biscuit-coated hot dog on the tray and reached for another one. “Oh, and more shit about how he loved only Bitsy when he was f**kin’ Shauna.”

I tried to keep the tone light. “That’s a lot, was your letter ten pages long?”

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