7. Carver
seven
carver
We had just dropped her orders at the post office and were headed to Pine and Grind. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face from the moment we stepped out of her place. It felt good walking with my girl’s hand in mine. I glanced down beside me, loving the way her pretty, brown eyes rose to meet mine almost like she could feel my stare.
“You’re so beautiful, Max.” I grinned, pulling her closer to drop my mouth on hers. She moaned, and my hand moved to the back of her head before I pulled away. “Have I told you how damn pretty you are today?”
“Only like a hundred times.” Her lips twitched, and I chuckled, loving her sassy side. Shit, I loved every side of her.
“You sure you don’t want to go to the diner?” I asked. “They have heartier meals,” I muttered, knowing she was going to argue. My girl loved her coffee, and I didn’t blame her. The small local mom and pop coffee shop made a great cup of joe.
“I love Pine and Grind’s breakfast sandwiches,” she shared, and I nodded.
“Okay.” I knew there was nothing I wouldn’t do to get her what she wanted. “Max?”
“Yeah, baby?” She smiled.
“There was something else I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Hmm. So you keep saying,” she teased before pressing her side against mine.
“Max, I’m serious?—“
“I am, too. I think the sooner we have this little secretive talk of yours, the better. You keep telling me we can’t do something I really want to do,” she seductively whispered into my ear, “so, let’s talk, refuel, and go home.” I liked hearing her call it that. “And maybe we can finally do that thing we’ve both been waiting too long to do,” she suggested. And even though my cock started to come to life, a knot tightened in my gut.
She had taken the news okay about me not being an actual masseuse. Would she be okay with this? With me being her boss and the owner of the resort? Maybe. I just needed to explain. It was time to fess up.
“So, you see—“ I started to say. “You know how I told you I’m not really a masseuse?”
“Yeah?” We had just crossed the street when a passenger car door opened. Luckily, my girl was already on the street.
“I’m actually—“ When I looked, I came face to face with an all-too-familiar person.
“Mr. Storm,” Stan, the hotel manager said, and I felt like all the blood in my body dropped to the bottoms of my feet.
“Shit,” I whispered under my breath.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you there,” the old man apologized, and I didn’t dare look behind me. I felt her eyes on me, watching the two of us.
“No worries.” I tried to side-step Stan, but when I looked beyond him, I winced. Harrison was with him.
“Carver? What the hell are you doing here?” he asked, and I knew the moment his eyes moved to Max, who was standing behind me. “Please don’t fucking tell me you, of all people, are doing this?!” Harrison exclaimed, and I tried to move closer to Max, but she stepped away, staring at my brother and then me. “Do you know who she is?” he asked pointing in Max’s direction. “Is this why you’ve been in and out of the office like a crazy person?”
“Carver?” I heard Max whisper, and when I turned around, she was looking at me like she didn’t know who I was. Like she had been betrayed, and I was the only one to blame. “Car?” she said my name.
“Baby—“
“One of the first rules you pounded into Grant and me was that you don’t mess around with our employees!” Harrison kept running his mouth, unknowingly digging me deeper into a hole.
“Max, why don’t we go in and get some coffee. What do you think, kid?” Stan offered. I turned my attention and could see the way he had cottoned on to what had happened.
That I had been lying to Max.
But Max wasn’t paying attention to the old man. She gently brushed his arm away and stepped forward. “You’re…Oh my god,” she whispered. “You lied to me.”
“Max,” I said her name but lost her beautiful brown gaze, “I can explain.”
“Explain?” Harrison asked, but I ignored him. The only thing that mattered, the only person who had my attention, was the woman in front of me.
“You lied to me.” The pain was so visceral, so plain to see, I felt it radiating off her.
“Princess, just let?—“
“Don’t,” she clipped, and her eyes opened. When she looked at me, I knew my girl had erected titanium walls around her heart to protect herself. The light in her eyes was dim where it had been all but sparkling just minutes before.
“Baby—“ But I didn’t get to say another word. Not when her hand rose and slapped me across the face. I heard the sharp sound of the slap, but not even the sting of her hand could cut through the fear I felt. I was losing her. Fuck.
“I don’t even know you,” she rasped raggedly. Her lips wobbled. Before I could take her into my arms or snap into action, the old man was there, wrapping his arm round her shoulder, pulling Max to his side.
“Come on, girl, let’s take you home.” This time, my girl’s shoulders sagged. By the way the old man staggered slightly, she had given him some of her weight. He didn’t stop, though. The old man put one foot in front of the other as they walked away from us.
He led her away, heading towards her apartment, taking my heart with her.