Landlord Wars(72)

He reached for my hand, and I let him hold it in his warm, firm grip. Mostly because I longed for his touch.

“Please forgive me,” he said. “I should have told my parents about you as soon as I knew I was serious. I also should have cut off all contact with Gwen after she dumped me over my parents’ lost fortune.”

I shook my head. “Wait—that’s why you broke up?”

He exhaled heavily. “I’d been thinking about ending things long before that, but the financial debacle was the impetus. Gwen recently had a change of heart, however, which I suspect had more to do with my parents’ influence in town. As far as I was concerned, whatever we had was long over.”

Paul had broken up with me because my mother didn’t fit in his world, and now Max was telling me he’d been dumped because his family name would be tarnished. What the hell was wrong with people? Had they no integrity?

Maybe it wasn’t that I didn’t fit in Max’s world, but that he didn’t fit in his world either. And if he didn’t fit in his world…then he was in my world.

I took the flowers out of his hand. “You should know, I’m in love with you too.”

His shoulders sank and he pulled me to his chest. “I’m an idiot, but I promise to be a better idiot.”

My chest grew lighter as my heart broke out of its protective shell. I leaned back. “What every woman wants to hear.”

He grinned and kissed me on the lips, quickly, sneaking it in before I could protest. “Those flowers are for your mother, by the way.”

I frowned, but he wouldn’t let me pull away. “Where is my token?”

Holding me around the waist with one arm, he reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a red box. “It’s not La Fleur au Truffe. That place is high maintenance, with its two-week ordering.”

My eyes widened at the pretty red packaging. “You got this in Noe Valley, didn’t you? It’s a good backup.” I opened the box and popped the chocolate in my mouth as fast as I could. “This close,” I said, chewing, “I don’t trust you not to steal it.”

He wrapped his arms around me, lightly smashing the flowers, and held my head to his chest. I breathed in the clean Max scent that felt like home. “God, Sophia, these were the worst days of my life. Don’t ever leave me.”

We stood there for a minute until he said, “You know, if you moved in with me, your mom could live in your old room while her house is being cleaned. She’d be close, and Jack would love it. He misses having a mom.”

I tilted my head back and studied his eyes. He was dead serious. “My mom is a hoarder who’s going into therapy for her problems, and you want her to move in alone with your best friend?”

He shrugged. “Jack is adaptable. I’m telling you, he’d love it. Or she could move in with us.”

I actually could see my mom enjoying being Jack’s roommate. She used to love having people over before my dad died.

I blinked several times. “Are you asking me to move in with you?”

“What’s this about moving?” a cultured voice rang out.

Max looked over my head and frowned, and I turned.

Max’s mother was standing in the hallway in a lavender skirt suit, with her hand on her hip.





Chapter Thirty-Four





Max





Kitty Burrows walked down the hallway of the hospital, black patent leather heels clacking against the linoleum, with a fruit basket in her arm.

“Mom? What are you doing here?”

She smiled at Sophia. “Hello again.” Her face grew serious. “Sorry to hear about your mother. I spoke to the doctor, and he says she’ll be released tomorrow. Don’t worry about the hospital bill. I’ve covered what wasn’t taken care of by your mom’s insurance.”

I groaned. “Mom, what do you think you’re doing?”

She looked at me sternly. “Making amends, Maxwell. Please observe.”

She turned to Sophia. “I want to apologize for the announcement at the ball the other night. I should have never gone behind my son’s back.” She shot me a sorry look before returning her attention to Sophia. “I also should have never listened to Gwen. It turns out she was the person behind the leak—”

“What?” My body tensed. If this was true, I had even more reason to hate my ex.

My mother adjusted her designer purse on her forearm. “Gwen wasn’t making any headway with you and thought to force your hand. It seemed she’d decided that being a part of a scandalized influential family was better than not being a part of it. But no need to fret, Maxwell,” my mother said. “I’ve taken care of everything. We might be broke—”

“You’re not broke,” I said.

“—but we have a handful of connections left, and connections are power. Gwendolyn is taking a nice, long trip across the Atlantic. Turns out she has family in rural Holland who can use her expertise in… Well, who cares. She’s gone.”

I stared at my mother, impressed.

“Thank you,” Sophia said hesitantly. “But I can’t let you pay my mother’s hospital bill.”

Mom waved her off. “Already done, dear. I expect you over for tea sometime next week, yes? I’d like to get to know the love of my son’s life.”