“It went great. Perfectly, in fact, which I’m sure you already know since your friend, Nick Power, probably reported back to you.”
He winced, finally understanding what was upsetting her. “I only—”
“Stuck your nose in where it didn’t belong.” Hurt and anger flashed in her eyes.
“Gave you a foot in the door,” he countered. “Whatever happened after that was all you.”
“Dammit, Lucas. Don’t you understand what your brother did to me? He manipulated me into taking a job with him.” She raised one finger in the air. “He got me to date him by telling me you were engaged.” She added a second finger to the first. “He kept me with him by threatening someone I care about.” A third finger raised. “And that’s just a few of the things he did to control me. I need to make things happen for myself. And I told you that. The last thing I need is you pulling strings behind my back too. It makes you no better than Keith.”
Her words hit him like an emotional blow as she pushed past him and stormed into her room.
Shit.
He’d never thought about one simple phone call that way. Helping her? Yes. Giving her a leg up? Definitely. But to have her lump his behavior with his brother’s sat like lead in his stomach.
“Maxie.” He pushed her door open and walked inside, needing to explain. She stood by the nightstand next to the bed, removing her necklace.
“I just wanted you to have the opportunity to meet with them. I never once thought I was undermining or manipulating you.”
She turned to him, frustration in her eyes. “Well, you did both. And now I’ll never know if I got that job on my own merit or because tech mogul Lucas Monroe called in a favor.”
“I get it.” He held up both hands in defeat. “So what are you going to do if they offer you the job?”
“They already did. The salary is good, benefits solid. I accepted, of course. I’d be stupid not to, no matter how it came to pass.” She sounded sad when she ought to be excited and happy.
“I’m sorry, Max.” He stepped closer, wanting her to forgive him as much as he wanted her.
“Well, that’s something Keith never gave me,” she murmured, her shoulders dropping in obvious relief. “Thank you. But Lucas, I need to grow and stand on my own, and I need you to respect that from here on out.” She eyed him warily. “Can you promise me that?”
“Cross my heart,” he said, meaning it. He’d do anything to put and keep a smile on her face.
Anything to have her in his arms.
“Maxie?”
“Yes?” She removed her earrings next, placing them in a tray on the nightstand, and met his gaze.
“Where were you all day?” And night. He asked the question that had been plaguing him all evening.
“My girlfriend Bailey’s,” she said, her lips twisting in a wry grin. “She’s an artist. She paints and works from home. I hadn’t seen her in a while, and I showed up with ice cream and we hung out all afternoon. Then we went out for dinner.”
He exhaled a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. “So you weren’t on a date tonight,” he said, aware of the relief in his voice and not giving a shit that he was putting his emotions out there for her to see.
“Not in the way you mean. Why do you care?” She met his gaze, all but daring him to answer.
Something he had no problem doing. “Because I care about you.”
“I care about you too.”
He wasn’t talking about friendship anymore, and she needed to understand where he stood. Two steps and he was in her space, crowding her between the bed and the nightstand.
Her fruity scent was stronger in the bedroom and went straight to his cock. The time for pussyfooting around had come to an end. “I want you.”
She blinked, her eyes alight with surprise. She obviously hadn’t expected him to verbalize what had been unsaid for years. She hadn’t anticipated him crossing the line between friends. But this morning he’d realized he couldn’t maintain the status quo.
And tonight, pacing the floor, waiting for her to come home, he’d nearly lost his damned mind.
“Lucas—”