“Maxi.” He sat up slightly, with her still in his lap. He surveyed as much of the damage as
he could, then let out a low chuckle. “Well, I’ll be damned. Look at that.”
“Ryan!”
He laughed heartier. “Maxi,” he countered. “They’re just scratches. You didn’t even break the skin.”
“I bit you!” she declared as she stared at the slight indentation of teeth marks on the lower portion of his neck.
“I think I’ll survive. Unless you’re a vampire. In that case, you really should have warned me upfront. It’s the courteous thing to do before you suck someone’s blood.”
Swatting at him, she said, “You’re impossible.”
“And you, Maxi Shayne, are a tigress.” His arms caged her waist, and he kissed her soundly, temporarily derailing her thoughts and her guilt. “I think it’s sexy. You’re damn sexy. And you proved your point from our lunchtime discussion, so congratulations.”
“You continually astound me,” she said. “And I think you’ve tapped into some primal part of me I didn’t know existed. I’ve never actually maimed someone in the heat of the moment.”
“Do you hear me complaining?” he asked with a pointed expression. “And for the record…I’m happy to know I brought out those carnal urges in you.”
“So why aren’t you looking triumphant?”
His brow furrowed. “Maxi, this isn’t a competition. It’s not a who can make who surrender while the other remains in control kind of thing. What just happened between us—that’s the way it’s supposed to be, right? Giving and receiving pleasure. Not keeping score. Not holding anything against the other. Not using sex—”
“As a weapon,” she finished for him. Maxi climbed off Ryan and hastily fixed her clothing. How long had she lived the cliché? Probably since her first time, when she was eighteen. His name had been Reb. He’d been the start of a long and undistinguished line of users.
She told Ryan, “You’re exactly right. You’re precisely right. You’re metaphysically, viscerally, cerebrally, algebraically correct. Totally.”
They stared at each other.
Maxi felt an emotional storm brewing within her—and saw the same in Ryan’s glowing irises.
They’d reached a poignant, crucial stage. So quickly.
That reality-check moment where they stood on a precipice of something that could be substantial…or fade away.
She didn’t want it to fade away. She already felt more tuned in to Ryan than she had with her previous boyfriends—those had been “surface” relationships that simply couldn’t compare to the yin and yang, the obvious compatibility, of Maxi’s and Ryan’s association.
Yet…to get in over their heads at this critical juncture at work…?
Maxi wasn’t so sure she could handle or juggle work and romance when a company was on the line.
And, in a million years, she’d never want to do anything to let Staci down. Her friend. Her boss. Someone who’d believed in her when Maxi had been directionless. Someone who had provided the right direction.
The backs of her eyes suddenly burned.
She’d told Ryan just one night, and then they’d behave.
It wasn’t at all what she wanted, but…
Did she have a choice, if she was going to keep her promise and commitment to Staci Kay Shoes?
Fuck!
She’d hoped to get Ryan out of her system. That clearly didn’t pan out for her.
Yet Maxi found herself saying, “It might be wise to pretend that what’s happened between us didn’t actually happen.”
Ryan’s jaw clenched briefly.