Chapter 9 #3
It didn’t take me long to spot Max already sitting at a table.
There were only two empty seats. I moved fast in his direction.
He sat with Sean Patrick, Brandon Chase, my friend Kristen, thank God, and Tate Fontanna.
Their table was suspiciously close to the buffet filled with steak and seafood, the aroma of which was currently teasing my nostrils.
My phone had the nerve to ring as I was about to sit next to him and I knew it would be my dad. Who else? With a plate in one hand and my ringing bag in the other I sat down.
“You going to answer that?” Max said, his blue eyes laughing while his face held noting but his gentleman’s smile. I peeked at the phone.
“It’s my dad. I’ll let him leave a message.” I smiled and the message tone beeped.
“You should check it,” he said. “If I called my daughters to check up on them, I’d be pissed if they didn’t answer.
” In spite of his smile, I knew he was only half joking, so I pressed the button and put the phone to my ear, keeping my eyes on Max while I listened.
Knowing full well that he could hear every word and that I was taking a chance, letting him in on this thing with my dad and my family.
My insides tumbled around, and his steady smile kept my heart racing.
Hey, Red. Called to let you know I’m on the way to the lacrosse game. Lisa and I have everything covered. You enjoy yourself and give Cat our love.
The message ended and I shoved the phone back into my miniature bag.
“Our love? For pity’s sake, Lisa, his wife, barely knows who Cat is,” I said, not bothering to hide my scoffing. “Neither does my dad, for that matter.”
Max raised his brows.
“He sounds like he’s trying to put you at ease so you can enjoy your weekend.”
“Of course you’re taking Dad’s side.”
He put his hand over mine and took a quick look around the table. The others were either taking amongst themselves or off getting food.
“I’m on team Natalie all the way. What makes you think your dad isn’t on the same team?”
“He doesn’t know anything about me. He’s been too wrapped up in his . . . ” I waved my hand, not even wanting to refer to her as his wife. Even after all this time, his marriage still felt like an insult to Mom’s memory.
“No? Why is that?” His words were soft and caring. This was not wedding weekend chit-chat and he stared so intently at me with those compelling blue eyes of his that I was convinced he didn’t mind, that he really wanted to know the answer.
“Maybe because I’ve practically led a double life since I went to college and started having fun. I suppose I haven’t exactly shared a lot of details about friends or anything else I did with him. But he’s been wrapped up in Lisa.” I rolled my eyes.
He chuckled low. “But he knows Cat, so you haven’t been completely closed.”
“The only reason Dad knows Cat is because she’s gotten me three tickets to a Militia game to give him for his birthday every year. He takes my brothers.”
“Why only three tickets? Why wouldn’t you want to go too?”
“That’s what Cat always says. But I purposely chose not to get four tickets because Dad and my brothers need boy-bonding time. You know, some father-son time without the step-doll hovering. If that meant I had to be left out of the party too, then so be it.”
He squeezed my hand. “You’re even more giving and sweet than I thought, Natalie. I’m sure your dad and your brothers appreciate you.” Then he grinned. “The step-doll I’m not so sure about.”
I laughed. If he was waiting for me to say more, to explain about my less than wonderful relationship with the step-doll Lisa, then he’d have a long wait.
I wasn’t proud of my resentment to her and knew I should be over it by now.
And there was no way to explain it to Max when I couldn’t explain it to myself.
“How about you share some of your family dirt and drama now that I’ve aired my closet.”
“How about if we get some food first?” He put a hand on the small of my back as we rose and I enjoyed the hell out of the fact that he’d said we. Such a small thing, but I knew it meant we were together today and that’s what I’d needed to hear.
We filled our plates and he laughed at the mountain of food on my dish. It was so impressive that I got a few irreverent comments of appreciation from the other men at the table. Max came to my defense.
“Leave her alone. While all you lazy asses were still in bed, Natalie was out running the beach.” He winked at me as I snorted, incredulous at the outrageous claim, almost spilling the water I’d picked up. We ate some of the food before I went back to our conversation.
“I need my own place,” I confessed.
“I’m surprised you haven’t moved out since you seem so unhappy with Lisa. Why haven’t you?”
It was a reasonable question and I’d opened myself up to it with my excessive need to share.
But there was a limit to my confession, and no way was I telling him I was jealous of my brothers’ attention to Lisa, that we’d been in a competition for their affection ever since she’d joined the family.
Even if I was ready to admit I was ridiculous.
So I opted for the easy out explanation, followed by a quick change of subject.
“I can’t afford it. Tell me about your ex-wife.” I forked a piece of steak and put it into my guilty mouth. He looked at me and put his fork down.
Unsure if he was mesmerized by my chewing or if he was trying to come up with an easy out answer of his own, I waited.
“My ex—Liz—just started a new job in real estate. She’s excited about it and I’m happy for her, but it’s thrown our schedule off. We have some juggling to do with the girls now.”
“You have shared custody?”
He nodded and ate a bite of salmon, but I wasn’t letting him get away with such a cheap answer. My curiosity was too voracious to leave it at that.
“Is Liz seeing someone else?”
He stopped chewing immediately and raised an eyebrow as if he couldn’t believe I’d asked him such a personal question. Clearly I’d hit a sore spot. Bingo. That’s the kind of stuff I wanted to know—no, needed to know.
He swallowed his food and picked up the glass of water to take a sip and I let him have his moment, but I wasn’t going to let him put me off.
Turning back to me, I could see that he knew this.
His face was serious, but clear of all emotion.
Disappointment clouded my mood. Until he leaned in close to me and spoke low, close to my ear.
“Yes. She lives with him. He was the reason for the divorce.”
Damn. I put my hand on his thigh and felt a blush of shame creeping up to my chagrinned face. This sore spot was a lot more than I’d expected. Who would ever dream that a woman would cheat on Max Devon?
“Liz must be out of her frigging mind—I mean, I’m sorry.
” It was hard to keep my outrage checked, or to speak quietly.
His wife cheated on him. That could be why he was holding back on starting a relationship with me.
He’d been burned by a cheating spouse and he saw me as someone who was too flirty to be trusted.
I could do something about that. Immediately.