Her eyes went wide and she lowered her glass. “You’re a secret philanthropist.”
He laughed lightly and tugged a lock of her red hair—God, it was silky. “If I talk about it, then it’s not a secret, is it?”
“Magazines call you a billionaire playboy, but then go around doing all these nice things for people.”
He shifted in the seat, uncomfortable with the turn of the conversation. “Don’t romanticize me, Natalie. I’ve lived a footloose life as an adult, living my way. It’s easy to be nice with all this money and freedom at my disposal.”
“Max, you’re trying to paint such a bad boy—”
He kissed her. Held her lips with his, not pulling away for even a second as he set aside his beer bottle, then filched her crystal glass to put it down. Hands free now, he wrapped his arms around her and hauled her close, giving his all to kissing her. The taste of wine on her tongue was almost as intoxicating as the woman herself.
And yes, having her in his arms was better than being tempted to talk more. She had a way of drawing things from him he hadn’t thought about in years, and wasn’t sure he wanted to think about now.
Losing himself in her was far preferable to visiting the past. And damn, he would like to completely lose himself in her body.
And Natalie swayed closer to him, her breasts flat against his chest, her fingers thrusting up and into his hair. She breathed a husky moan against his mouth. “I thought you said you’re okay with my need for a bit of breathing room. That we weren’t going to sleep together tonight.”
“We aren’t.” He grinned, enjoying the sound of temptation in her voice. He could have her, but he could still sense the reservation in her. She might have come to his room, but clearly something about that gave her pause and she had the right to say no. And he would respect that, even as he gently pursued her. He wasn’t going to risk spooking her altogether. “But I never said I wasn’t going to kiss you absolutely senseless. Which now that I have done, I will say—” he kissed her lips, then the tip of her nose “—good night.”
* * *
Training days in the yard with Margie always gave Natalie hope.
Hope for a fuller life for her son. Hope that somehow she was managing to give her children what they needed to grow into productive, happy adults. Listening to Max talk about his childhood reminded her of the lifetime of emotional scars that could be left on a person from their youth.
Hearing her son and daughter laugh was the sweetest reassurance of all. Today, Margie had been playing hide-and-seek with the kids and the dog, what she termed one of the early foundations of teaching K-9 search-and-rescue. While Miss Molly wouldn’t be taking that path with her working life, she could be called upon to find Colby if he wandered off—not an unheard of occurrence for her brilliant, reticent son.
Lexie and Colby had spent the past hour hiding in different places around the yard, giving Miss Molly variations of clues to find them—anything from whispering, to squeaking a toy, even wearing a shirt from the dirty laundry pile to give Miss Molly an extra whiff of their scent on the breeze.
Miss Molly was a natural.
Natalie leaned against a tree, taking in the sight of Miss Molly tunneling under an upside-down kiddie pool, where her children were curled up together, giggling.
Lexie wrapped her arms around Miss Molly’s neck and hugged gently. “Love you, my puppy.” She glanced up at Margie. “This is fun. I like this game.”
Margie adjusted the treat pouch strapped around her waist. “I’m happy to hear that. We’ll play that some more in the future, all right?”
“Yes, yes, yes, yes!” Lexie wriggled farther out from under the baby pool.
“Yeah,” Colby said simply, but his enthusiasm showed in how he leaped to his feet, upending the plastic pool.
Natalie pushed herself away from the tree and knelt by her children. “Margie’s going to work on leash walking now, so would the two of you play in the sandbox? I’ll be right here in eyesight and you can call me if you need me.”
“Okeydoke.” Lexie hugged her mom hard and pressed a sticky kiss on Natalie’s cheek.
Colby nodded, following his sister to the wooden sandbox full of shovels and buckets and toy trucks.
“Miss Molly, come.” Margie issued the command low and firm, her alpha-style authority a fun contradiction coming from the slight, wiry woman. Miss Molly stopped dead in her tracks, pivoted on her paws and trotted back toward them.
Even after these months of training since Natalie had adopted Miss Molly from the Royal Safe Haven Animal Shelter and started the golden retriever’s training, Natalie still found Margie’s ability to command the dog with such ease impressive. That was why she was the professional, after all.
Miss Molly still had a lot of training to accomplish, but Margie assured them all was on track. Kneeling, the trainer hooked a service-dog-in-training vest on the yellow dog.
Glancing to the left, Natalie checked on her kids in the sandbox. Lexie and Colby had constructed a rather lopsided sand castle. Her daughter’s infectious laughter mingled with the sounds of birdcalls and the hum of conversations on the front porch. Even Colby seemed relaxed today. Her heart squeezed, returning her attention back to Margie and training. Natalie hoped that Miss Molly’s training would give her son every advantage in the world.
As Margie passed over a treat from her pouch, Natalie took a deep breath. The scent of fallen leaves filled her. She loved this time of year.
Her mind wandered a bit, picking up a well-worn trail in which she stored the recent memories of Max. His confident grin and mischievous eyes. The way his kisses hinted at his duality. Every kiss with him fused strength to passion, abandon to control. An addictive combination, if she were being truthful.