Page 16 of Midnight Heat

"No, it's just you jump whenever someone says Max’s name. I thought there must be something going on."

"Can you keep a secret?"

She mimes zipping her lips and throwing away the key.

"We had a one-night stand the weekend before I started working here. I lied to him about my name and profession, and he took it hard. Now, things are tense between us."

"You're the first person he's been interested in since I've known him."

"Really?"

"There are rumors that he lost someone close to him, and after that, he's never looked at another woman—until now, I guess. Listen, I got to go. We should go out and do something together."

"We'll do a spa day at my house. We can paint each other's nails and gossip some more."

"Perfect. Take care, Anne."

She leaves my office without knowing how she has turned my world upside down. Is this why Max never kissed me? Who did he lose? He seemed so happy and carefree that weekend we had together, but the man I've seen since then is very self-contained and direct to the point of being rude. Let's face it, he's a big grumpy ol' bear and the staff has to put up with it because he's the owner.

I spend the rest of the afternoon looking at the clock, waiting for it to be six. When the time comes, he walks into my office like he owns it – which he does – and just looks at me. But his eyes don't show the usual anger or impatience they usually do. His stare is intense, and a shiver runs through my entire body. I follow him, and we go to the parking lot behind the club's building.

His car is sporty and expensive and I'm reminded of that Friday night when we went to his house. He opens the passenger door for me and I take a seat. Before I know it, he buckles me up. His masculine scent is a reminder of all the sexy times we had together and I clasp my hands tightly in my lap.

"Where am I going, Anne?"

I rattle off my address and am glad that I'm good at straightening up after myself and that my house is clean.

"Max, what are we going to talk about? I mean, we've been talking every day? What more is there to say?"

"Tonight, we're going to talk about us, kitten."

The endearment sends heat straight to my core, and now I can't wait to get home.

Chapter 7

Maxwell

Iput in the address of her house on my GPS and start following the directions. I've been hard on Anne the past few weeks, interrogating her each day so I can quench the thirst I have to know about her. With every bit of information that she discloses to me, I feel increasingly drawn to her. My inner resolve is wavering, and when she challenged me today, I couldn't deny the fact that I wanted her—badly.

We're going to her house so I know where it is. She could have lied in her application, but this address matches what we have on record. The lies hurt, but I'm starting to let go of that anger. She's been doing great at work, and everyone seems to like her. Erik and Theo keep giving me weird looks, but they don't get in the way of my moods. They know I can be an asshole when I'm in one of those. They won't confront me just yet.

I'm distracted by Anne's nearness, and as we get close to her house, I see that it's in a quaint suburb of Miami. We come to a gated community, and she waves to the guard to let us in. I'm kind of relieved that she's so well protected, but it reminds me that I originally wanted her to move in with me as soon as possible. I'm not sure if I'm back at that point right now.

"Over here on the right," she says.

I pull into the driveway and park there. The house is more like a small cottage and all the houses look alike, but Anne seems to have put out some colorful flowers on the windows that give it her special touch.

"Let me get your door."

"Okay," she says.

When I open the passenger door I check out her shapely, long legs. I can't wait to have those wrapped around my waist again. Reaching for her with my hand, I assess her mood. She takes my offered hand after unbuckling herself from the car. I close the door, but I don't let go of her. I practically drag her toward the front door of the cottage.

"Where's your key?"

She rummages through her purse and finally, after a long minute, hands me the keys to the house. I hear her mumble something, but I don't quite catch it.

"What did you say, kitten?"