“No,” Chloe said, still looking at her foot. “No, you weren’t.” She shook her head as though clearing it. “I just didn’t realise it would be so soon. I mean, you did buy a house. I thought…”
“Well, I didn’t know how long the curse would take to break,” Maxwell said, almost apologetically. Wasn’t she going to say anything at all? Tell him she’d miss him? “When I relist the house, you’ll be my realtor.”
Chloe took a quick breath. “Thanks,” she said dully. “The tenth,” she repeated. “That’s the day of the Small Business Awards.”
“Is it?” Maxwell cleared his throat. “Right. Sorry, I would have liked to see you win. Not that I expected you’d invite me, but—”
“It’s no big deal,” Chloe said, and he noticed she was gripping the handrail of the staircase very hard indeed. “Julia and Jesse will be there.”
“Probably a good thing that Jesse and I won’t be in the same room, huh?” Maxwell ventured, offering her a crooked smile. “I mean, he never liked me.”
Chloe didn’t reply, and Maxwell took a step toward her. “I’ll miss you,” he said. It wasn’t true; he wouldn’t just miss her. He’d be leaving his heart behind when he left Crowley Lake. But he couldn’t say that. Couldn’t make her feel bad for him being stupid enough to fall for a woman who’d never want him the way he wanted her.
“I’ll miss you too,” Chloe said, and she looked up at him as though she was searching his face for something.
“And there’s no reason that we can’t keep seeing each other until I go,” Maxwell said, even though he knew doing that would be heartbreaking. But he was weak; if Chloe wanted to be with him for just one more week, he wouldn’t be able to resist.
“Actually, I’m going to be pretty busy,” Chloe looked away. “Really busy these next few weeks. I mean, I wasn’t giving as much of my time to my work as usual, what with the curse and…other distractions. So maybe it’s best we say goodbye now.”
Maxwell closed his eyes for a moment, forcing himself to remain calm. “If that works better for you, then of course,” he said. “Well, then…”
He didn’t know if she’d shake his hand, just for symmetry, or give him a hug. But she didn’t do either of those things. Instead, she leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed him so hard it was almost like she was throwing a punch. The kiss was over as quickly as it had begun, and Chloe took a step back. “Goodbye, Maxwell.”
“Goodbye, Chloe.” It was all he could do not to break down right then and there. To pour his heart out, beg her to reconsider her position on distractions and possible vampirism. Promise her that if she’d only give him a chance, he’d make her so happy. He didn’t know if he could, but he’d put everything he had into trying.
But Maxwell didn’t say a word. He just raised his hand in something like a wave and went out the door of Crowley Lake Realty.
He didn’t look back.
He still didn’t look as he opened the door of the Range Rover and started the engine. Everything inside him was screaming that this was a terrible idea. Surely, being with Chloe for whatever time she’d give him was better than just leaving like this. He could enjoy her sweet lips, her small hand holding his, the way she listened to him and laughed at his jokes and—
“I can’t,” he said quietly to himself, pulling out onto Bailey Street. “Because if I have to hear her say she’s done with me, I’ll…” He left the sentence unfinished. He didn’t do what he’d do if he heard those words. Better to make sure he never had to. End on a high note, so to speak.
But Maxwell knew that even in the humid hustle and bustle of Miami, there was nothing and no one that would make him stop thinking about Chloe.