Smokescreen

I giggle and wrap my arm through his. “Shall we get to my car?”

“No, babe, give me your keys. I’ll bring your car around, load it, and follow you on my motorcycle back to your place. Erica may get vengeful when she sees the package of realtor information I sent her this morning. Me telling her she was moving out was bad enough, but now that she’s seen the proof, I want my bike out of her reach.”

Motorcycle rings through my head and I clench my thighs. He notices and grins seductively.

Leaning down he whispers “When you get home, you need to change babe. We’re taking the bike today.” The thought of riding with him on the back of a bike turns me on beyond belief.

He goes to get my car and I stand back slightly watching the traffic. A limo pulls up and I step back into the shadows of the building, watching Erica emerge. She’s an incredibly beautiful woman. It’s hard to believe she has a high level of crazy under the designer clothes and perfect make-up. She noticeably scowls at the doorman when he doesn’t open the door fast enough. Watching her, in all her bitchy glory, makes me feel even sorrier for Max. Seeing the level of devastation she can cause when she doesn’t get her way and the length she will go to for her public image, reinforces that she is a major ticking time bomb.

Max pulls up in front of me and I motion for him to stay in the car, hurriedly putting his things in the trunk. He looks at me confused when I climb into the passenger seat.

“Erica just got back

. I don’t know what will happen if your housekeeper tells her you left. We better get to your bike.”

He nods his head and drives to the end of the block turning into a garage. “Mia won’t say anything, but her early return tells me she got my email. I explained I was leaving and she had a timeline to choose a place and move. I’m going to get out here and meet you at your house. Drive safe.” He kisses my cheek briefly and then hops out, running to a stairwell. I crawl over the console and drive away.

The events of the last hour race through my mind and I need help processing it. This morning I woke up hurt, embarrassed, and determined to send Maxwell McCoy back into the “professional associates only” category. Even if he had the best explanation, I never thought he could convince me his relationship with Erica was over. But after seeing his home and the look of resignation on his face, I had to listen to him. Now, his clothes are in my trunk, he’s on his way to my house, and we have a date this afternoon on the back of his bike. How the hell did this happen?

I use my hands free and push speed dial to the office. When Laci answers, I screech “You are not going to believe what happened this morning!”

“Let me guess,” she laughs through the phone. “You’re meeting was at Max’s house and you got to see firsthand that Erica Hurst is a nut-job bitch. He told you the truth, explaining his terrible guilt, and the realization that she finally has to go. Now you are on your way home with his things in your car.”

“What the fuck? How did you know all that?”

“He called Dana with the last tidbit of information, but I knew the rest yesterday.”

“You didn’t think to give me a head’s up?”

“Yes, I thought about it, but Dana begged me to give him a chance to explain. I set a time limit. If I didn’t hear from you in the next half hour, I was coming to find you.”

“Laci, this could have gone so much differently. Where’s your loyalty?”

“With you. Always with you, but sometimes I need to make decisions in your best interest. This was one of those times. Dana loves Max and is very concerned about the position he’s in. She wants to see him happy and said you do that, Stella. You make him happy. So I gave in to see what would happen. It sounds like it worked out.”

“Jesus, what have I gotten myself into?”

“Maybe a six foot two, blue eyed, statue of a man that is completely wild about you.”

“Laci—”

“Listen, I called your parents and told them we had a project coming up and you were coming back to your place tonight. Your mom wants you to call her and discuss the flowers taking up the kitchen table. But I bought you a few days with the presentation before you have to answer to the firing squad.”

“Thanks. I didn’t even think of calling Mom and Dad.”

“I know you have a big afternoon, but I’ll be by at six-thirty. I want to hear everything. Every little detail.”

“Okay, but it’s a double bottle of wine story. You may want to plan on spending the night.”

“We’ll see. It might be awkward since it’s your boyfriend’s first night living with you.”

“Laci! Shut up. I’m already a little freaked out.”

“Just kidding, girl. Calm down. This is your time to be spectacular.” She uses our key phrase to calm me.

When I pull into my driveway a few minutes later, a sense of thrill bubbles up. What will it be like to have access to Max all night long?

“We have an appointment at one with Jean,” I tell the girl at the customer service desk. She stares at me with wide eyes and licks her lips. Which earns a groan from Stella, who’s standing beside me. I grip her hand and press a quick kiss to her temple, which snaps the associate out of her trance and she grabs the phone, calling Jean.