CHAPTER 43
Maxie
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to kiss or smack my sisters. The dress they’d left for me was nothing I ever would’ve picked, not in a million years. The tiny black dress dipped low in the front and back, meaning I couldn’t wear a bra with it, and it also stopped several inches above my knees. The black heels they left were going to be the cause of my death, I was sure. When I looked at myself in the mirror I didn’t know if I wanted to scream or strut through town. My curves were on display in a way they’d never been before.
Between the dress, the heels, and my new hair I looked like someone completely new. I looked daring and bold, even sexy. Okay, maybe I wanted to kiss my sisters for leaving me the world’s sexiest dress. As nervous as I was about the idea of accepting forever from my guys, I was thankful I could go into our date feeling like I was on their level.
I stopped before leaving my room, taking a moment to think about what I was doing. Going on a date with them felt significant, like I was agreeing to what they wanted. No more talk of surrogacy, which I could admit had been a stupid idea. How I thought I’d be strong enough to have their child and then walk away was beyond me. There was no way. Was I ready to take a chance with them, though?
I looked at myself in the mirror once more and saw a stronger woman staring back at me. I’d already taken a chance with the guys, hadn’t I? I’d opened myself up to them and let them in. I’d faced a lot of crap with them at my back. They loved me. Enough to openly tell me without fear of being rejected.
No more running scared from the truth. I took a deep breath and stopped chewing on my bottom lip. I was ready.
The guys were waiting at the bottom of the stairs for me and when they saw me I wasn’t sure we were going to make it out of the house. The looks on their faces were primal. They wanted me. I’d never truly felt powerful in my femininity before but they made me feel like a goddess.
“You look…Jesus, Maxine. You look beautiful.” Shep pressed his knuckles into his mouth and shook his head. “ Goddamn .”
“Come here, baby.” Arlo came up a few steps to reach me but Rhett pulled him back.
“No. If any of us touch her before we get out of this house, we’ll never make it to our date.” Rhett groaned and slapped Arlo on the chest while pulling him away. “Walk your sexy ass out to my truck and climb in. It’s the only way we’re not dragging you straight to bed, sweetheart.”
I giggled and rushed past them, nearly falling over in the heels I wasn’t used to. I managed to catch myself and then hurried out to the truck with them hot on my trail. The pained sounds they made lit me on fire. Knowing how much I affected them made me feel so alive.
Arlo opened my door for me before I could do it myself and looked at me with so much heat that I blushed.
“If you put that dress on with the idea that you were still planning on leaving us eventually, you’re sadly mistaken. There’s no way we’re letting you go, no matter what, but after seeing you in this dress? Baby, you’re ours. Forever.”
I hesitated before slowly raising my hand to brush my fingertips over his cheek. I wanted to tell him I was done fighting but I couldn’t make the words come out. Not yet. Instead, I smiled shyly and then gasped when he grabbed me and put me in the backseat. His hands immediately released me and I missed them desperately.
Shep climbed into the backseat with me and slid his hand over to hold mine.
“I’m going to send your sisters flowers. And maybe jewelry. This dress is something else.”
I ran my free hand down my bare thigh and rolled my eyes.
“I think they were dressing me for a night out in the city. I’m not sure Devil’s Den requires all this.”
“They were dressing you in hopes of getting you knocked up, I’m pretty sure.” Rhett glanced at me in the rearview mirror and smirked. “They had that scheming look about them.”
“They were angry about the surrogacy plan.” I looked out the window and watched the mountains in the distance. “It seems like everyone knew it was a stupid plan but me.”
Shep’s hand tightened around mine.
“And now? What do you think of it?”
I looked back at him and smiled.
“It was a stupid fucking plan.”
Arlo let out a bark of laughter from the front of the truck and shifted so he could look back at me.
“There’s something magical about hearing you curse, sweetheart. That hold over you gets a little looser day by day, huh?”
A sly smile was my answer. Truthfully, I heard Mom’s voice less than ever and still less and less daily. For all the bad she’d pushed on me it didn’t seem to be strong enough to handle all the good the guys gave me.
Rhett parked in front of the diner and I let out an astonished laugh when I saw the sign on the door that proclaimed that it was closed for a private event. In my entire life I’d never seen the diner closed for anything of the sort.
Arlo opened my door for me and helped me out, using his body to block my not so graceful dismount from view. He looked down the front of my dress once I was standing in front of him and stepped closer. He tucked his finger under my chin to lift my face and then he gently pressed his mouth to mine. Speaking against my lips, he kept his voice low.
“As soon as we get home tonight I’m going to push this dress up and eat you until you can’t take anymore.”
I leaned into him and trailed my mouth up to his ear.
“Want to know a secret?”
His hands gripped my hips hard.
“From you? Always.”
“I couldn’t wear panties with this dress.” Who was the siren who’d taken my place and decided being a seductress was the best idea ever? I didn’t know but I appreciated her taking control of my mouth.
He pinned me to the side of the truck and kissed me so intensely that I lost my breath. His tongue stroked past my lips and teased mine before the sound of someone clearing their throat drew us apart. He glanced over his shoulder and sighed while slowly pulling away.
“Ma’am?”
Samantha Drury from the Baptist women’s group was standing a few feet away from us, her eyes narrowed.
“Sir, this is a respectful town and we don’t make out in the—Maxie?”
I could feel her judgment raining down on me heavily. The woman who normally didn’t look twice at me, not for longer than it took to tell me what she wanted, gaped at me. Her upper lip curled higher and her nose wrinkled as she scowled.
“What in the world happened to you?” She looked down at my dress and clutched her imaginary pearls. “Maxie, is something going on with you? I think you need to get away from that man. You look like—”
Rhett put his hands on his hips and stepped closer to me.
“I’d be careful how I finished that sentence if I were you.”
I waited to see if I was going to be crushed by her thoughts of me but instead, I just felt annoyed that the woman who used me for free baked goods for years was daring to look down on me.
“Your family would be horrified to see you right now, Maxie. I’m sorry, but I knew your mother and I can’t sit back and not say anything.” Samantha scowled. “I can’t have you involved with the women’s group if this is how you’re going to carry yourself.”
I put my hand on Rhett’s arm as he growled.
“It’s fine, guys. If Samantha doesn’t want me to do all the free baking for her church group because she doesn’t like the way I’m dressing, then I can’t help that. I’ll just have to be understanding of her choices and respect that she doesn’t want me to donate hours of my time every week to keeping her group stocked with treats.”
Shep laughed out loud.
“Come on, baby. Let’s have dinner and then I can tell you just how hot I find this new sassy side to you.”
Samantha stammered and flushed.
“I wasn’t trying to be mean, Maxie… I—”
“No, it’s okay, Samantha. I understand. You have your morals and I respect that you’re sticking to them, no matter the cost to your snack budget.” I smiled sweetly and reached out to gently pat her arm. “You’re a good woman and I’m sure the other women in your group will understand. Now I have a date to get to. My first ever, if you can believe it. Have a good night.”
“No, wait, Maxie—”
“Oh, by the way!” I cut her off and smiled even wider. “After thinking about your petition to change the name of Devil’s Den, I have to sit it out. I imagine all of the Hellstones will, since it was our ancestor who named the town. Good luck.”
Arlo wrapped his arm around my waist and led me into the diner.
“God, that was fucking hot. You’re amazing, Maxine.”
I let out a shaky laugh and felt embarrassed I couldn’t hide that confronting Samantha had affected me. I wanted to be the person who could stand up for herself without her voice shaking but I wasn’t there yet.
“It really clears up my time…”
Marlie James welcomed us into the diner, her eyes bright and happy as she motioned around her at the candlelit room.
“Welcome, y’all. We have a special table for you in the back.”
Arlo kissed the side of my head.
“Lead the way, baby.”