Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 130255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
“He’s a nice guy,” Max said, nodding slowly. “Fred.”
I raised my eyebrows. What was he doing? “He seems to be. He was far nicer than you were the first time we met.”
“He’s far nicer than I am in general,” he grumbled. “I’m sure you’ll get along just fine.”
“And why do you care?”
“I don’t care.”
I folded my arms across my chest and stared at him. “Try again.”
Max ran his fingers through his hair. “What? I don’t care. You’re single. He’s single. You could do worse than Fred.”
“I’m sure I could.”
“You could. He’s a great guy.”
“Mm.”
He eyed me. “What?”
“Nothing.” I picked up my glass and walked through into the living room.
He followed me. “What do you mean, nothing?”
“Nothing. It is what it says on the tin.” I shrugged a shoulder and put my glass on the coffee table, switching it for my phone and checking to see if I had any updates from Kevin. He’d promised to let me know when he was almost here, so I guessed I still had a little time.
“Okay.” Max held his hands up. “As long as we’re good, there’s no awkwardness, and you’ve accepted yet another apology from me, I’ll leave you to it.”
I nodded. “All right. Well, thank you.”
“Right. Have a good evening, then.” Max nodded and walked to the front door.
“You, too.” I looked down at the rug and wrapped my arms around myself, rubbing my hand along my forearm as I left out a slow breath.
This was a mess.
It didn’t matter that he was going. Why did I care? I didn’t care. I had nothing to care about.
Right?
“Are you interested in him?” Max stalked back into the room, stopping just short of the coffee table between us.
I jerked my attention upwards to him. “What?”
“Fred. Are you interested in him?”
“How do you mean? He’s quite interesting, and I suppose I’d like to pick his brains on some family history purely for my own benefit, but—”
“Ellie. You know what I mean.”
I did know what he meant.
Was I interested in dating Fred?
No.
I wasn’t.
If Max hadn’t kissed me yesterday? That was another story. Perhaps I would be. Fred was handsome, single, and most certainly a very good option for a potential partner, but not right now.
Not for me.
Because my stupid little heart didn’t flip-flop at the mention of his name the way it did for Max.
“So what if I am?” I asked.
He said nothing.
“Why do you care?” I tossed my phone onto the sofa and held out my hands. “It’s none of your business if I am.”
“I don’t know.” He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed heavily. “I just… Never mind.”
“Oh, no. You’re the one who stormed back in here. Start talking, mister.”
“I care. I don’t know why, but I do.”
I folded my arms across my chest and let a smile creep onto my face. “Why, Lord Windermere, do you like me?”
“Drop that,” Max said sternly.
“Answer the bloody question.”
“Yes. Fine, all right? Is that what you wanted?”
I swallowed. “You like me?”
He snapped his gaze to mine. “Don’t tell me you said all that and you weren’t expecting me to admit that.”
“Not really,” I answered. “You’ve never given me any indication that you might.”
“I kissed you yesterday. I didn’t do that out of unadulterated hatred, did I now?”
Anything was possible with him, to be fair. “I was teasing you. I know you don’t do relationships so I—”
“Ellie, just because I’m not interested in a relationship doesn’t mean I’m some kind of emotionless robot.” He held out his hands. “Yes, I like you. Yes, the idea of you flirting with and getting to know Fred bothers me, but no, I can’t elaborate on why that is so please don’t ask me to.”
“Why on Earth do you like me?”
“God knows, but I do,” he replied, walking around the coffee table towards me. He slowly raised his hands and cupped my face again, brushing his thumbs over my cheeks.
I tilted my head back to hold his gaze. “Now what?”
“Are you interested in Fred?”
I shook my head.
“Okay, good. I have no business saying that, but still, good.” He lowered his face to mine and took a deep breath. “Ellie… I have no right to ask you this, but I’m going to anyway.”
Oh.
My lips twitched into a smile.
“Can I kiss you?”
“Please do,” I whispered.
Max kissed me, gently pressing his mouth against mine. It was soft and perfect, and I uncrossed my arms, tentatively reaching for him. His body was firm as I ghosted my fingers across his waist until they settled at his hips, and I took a step, bringing us closer together.
Every part of my body came alive.
I didn’t know what it was about him. I didn’t know why I reacted this way to something as simple as a gentle touch of our lips, but it was undeniable.
Max made me feel a certain kind of way, one I’d never felt before, one I didn’t know it was possible to feel.