9. Stella #2
“I don’t know, Ray,” I hesitated. Leaving Charlie here at the house with Ray was one thing. Leaving her with a stranger who’d only seen her in passing was another.
While Firefly Cove was a small enough town, I just questioned if it was acceptable for a mother to get a babysitter to go out to a bar with her friends.
“I can smell your brain burning with all the thinking you’re doing,” Ray joked.
“It’s okay to take some time for yourself every now and again, Stella.
Also, Angie has babysat for my dad on occasion when he has to work an overnight shift and I’m not available.
I’m sure if she’s reliable enough for the chief of police to allow her to watch his kids, she can tackle Charlie. ”
She reached over and laid her hand on top of mine. I rolled my lips in contemplation. Could I go out for a night out with my friends and not feel the overwhelming weight of mom guilt?
“Okay, how about this?” she said, tapping her chin in thought. “We go out on Friday night. Angie will come over AFTER you’ve put Charlie down for bed. She’s been sleeping really well, so it should be a breeze. We will have you home before you turn into a pumpkin at midnight.”
She held her hands up in front of herself in question.
One thing I’d learned quickly about Ray is that she talked animatedly with her hands. If her mouth was moving, so were her hands. It was as if she had an excess of energy that needed to be expelled when she was passionate about something, and it came out as hand gestures.
“Have you talked to Max and Wade about this?” I asked.
“Talked to us about what?” A deep voice came from the hallway.
Max walked into the kitchen wearing a pair of grey sweatpants that slung dangerously low on his hips, a fitted navy blue tee with a white outline of a saddle bronc rider on the left chest, and his hair was still damp from a shower.
My mouth suddenly went dry, and I fought for a coherent thought. What was it about a man in grey sweatpants and straight out of the shower that made every woman a bumbling mess?
Ray answered for me, much to my detriment.
“The fact that we’re all going out to Jack’s on Friday night after Charlie goes to bed,” she answered definitively.
Well, I guess that was that.
“Is that so?” He questioned, quirking an eyebrow in my direction.
“I’ve already asked Angie if she will come and sit over here while Charlie is asleep,” Ray once again answered for me.
I nodded and averted my eyes from that delicious eyebrow quirk and the little smirk that was playing on Max’s lips.
In the last few weeks, things have been nothing but cordial around the house between Max and I. I had managed to live with him and Wade with no issues. Though, I will not say that it’s been easy, at least not for my libido.
Max is sex personified. I’m also not confirming nor denying that I may have used his likeness as inspiration for my alone time material .
There was something about how he cared for those around him, Charlie and I included, that made him damn near irresistible.
I had made a solemn promise to myself that I would never, under any circumstances, cross that particular line.
Charlie and I were finally in a stable environment and were working towards getting on our feet again.
I wasn’t about to fuck that up for some good sex, and I knew being with Max would be more than just a one time fling.
There had been no news or sightings from anyone associated with Dean, a situation I knew wouldn’t last forever, but for the moment, things were good. I had replaced my original phone with a pre-paid temporary fix, keeping my original turned off and in the bedside table drawer.
“Well, Trouble, are you finally ready to break into the Firefly Cove scene and go out on the town for a night at Jack’s?” Max asked, bringing me back to reality.
Oh yeah, we were talking about going out.
“Uh… I guess we could go out for a couple hours,” I conceded. “It will give me an excuse to pick up some of the new items in the boutique I’ve been eyeing.”
Not missing a beat, Max held up a finger as if telling me to ‘pause’ and walked back down the hallway and to his room. A soft rustling filled the air, punctuated by the hard clang of a belt buckle as he rummaged through something. He walked back into the kitchen and held out a credit card.
“I know you haven’t gotten a really steady paycheck from the boutique yet.
I don’t want you spending your hard earned money on a night out, so here,” he pushed the card in my direction.
“Grab yourself a new outfit. Don’t worry about the cost. I want your night out on the town to be more than just a break from being a mom; I want you to feel truly special and indulged. ”
Instant swoon. A fiery blush, encompassing at least fifty shades of red, crept across my cheeks as, with the utmost gentleness, I accepted the card from his outstretched fingers.
I’d never had someone offer to buy me an entire outfit just for a night out. I knew Max wasn’t exceptionally wealthy. He worked damn hard for all the money he had. Was it wrong of me to squash the thoughts that I should give the card back? Should I play coy and insist that he not pay?
Nope, I’m going to get those fucking sparkly boots and look like a snack out at the bar this weekend.
“You don’t have to do that,” I said, looking up into Max’s eyes.
He grinned down at me and my heart melted even more when he said in his deep timbre, “I know. Just let me take care of you, Stella.”