Colorado 01 The Gamble (17 page)

I felt my breath hitch and at the sound his
arm got tight and his fingers flexed against my scalp.

“I miss him,” I whispered and I didn’t know
why, I didn’t even think the words before they came out of my
mouth.

“I can tell.”

I pulled in a shaky breath then another one
and the third went in smooth so I told him, “You can let me go
now.”

“Keep tellin’ you when you’re in my arms, I
like you where you are.”

“Max –”

His hand in my hair pulled my head back and
when I was looking at him he declared, “Next up, we’re talkin’
‘bout your Dad.”

“I don’t have a Dad.”

His brows slid together and he said, “You
mentioned him earlier.”

“
No, I mentioned
my father,
” I stated clearly. “I don’t have a
Dad
.”

“All right, then we’ll talk about your
father.”

“No, since I never talk about him.”

“Nina.”

“Max.”

“Did I stay away long enough?” Mindy called,
Max twisted, I got up on tiptoe to look over his shoulder and Mindy
halted at the counter. “Whoops, see I didn’t.”

“You did,” I said quickly.

“I can come back.”

I pushed against Max’s stomach again, he
released me and moved to my side as I said, “You’re fine.”

“Sure?” she asked.

“Definitely,” I replied.

Her eyes hit the stove and she observed,
“Bacon’s all greasy, Max.”

“I’ll sort it out,” Max told her.

She skip-danced around the counter, throwing
him a cheerful smile and I marveled this girl was raped three weeks
ago. Marveled at the same time that the knowledge hit my stomach
like a rotten pit.

“I’ll do it,” she offered and I saw she was
in one of Max’s t-shirts and obviously her own jeans for they fit
perfectly.

“You need a shirt?” I asked and she looked
at me as she pulled paper towel off a holder.

“Uh, last night, I kinda got beer on –” she
started but Max cut her off.

“Damon doused you with beer,” he stated and
Mindy’s eyes flitted to him.

“Damon?” I asked, grabbing my bowl.

“Her dickhead boyfriend,” Max muttered,
pulling down a plate and handing it to Mindy.

“He’s just –” Mindy began but Max
interrupted her again.

“A dickhead,” Max declared.

Her face fell and she arranged paper towel
on the plate.

I decided to wade in. “Why did he, um… I
mean how did he get beer on you?”

“He threw it at her,” Max answered and Mindy
ducked her head and pulled bacon out of the skillet.

“He threw a beer at you?” I asked Mindy, not
comprehending these words, at least not in recent Nina Land with
Niles who didn’t even drink beer just occasionally gin and tonics
or wine with dinner and he wouldn’t begin to imagine dousing anyone
with any liquid.

Older Nina Land was the land where there
were dickheads who might (though they didn’t) douse women with
beer. Though, maybe not women who’d recently been violated.

“He’s, not, really… coping… uh –” Mindy
stammered.

Max’s hand went to the back of her neck and
he said quietly, “She knows, Mins, I told her.”

Mindy nodded but didn’t lift her head from
her bacon task and I squelched a new desire to throw my bowl at Max
for he may not be okay with me being a bitch to Mindy but he
certainly wasn’t handling this very well.

“He’s not coping with what happened to you,”
I said to her and she nodded and took the last piece of bacon out
of the skillet when I went on. “Men are idiots, mostly. Anyway,” I
changed the subject. “Upstairs, my suitcase is on the armchair in
Max’s loft. You can go through it, grab whatever top you want.”

Her head twisted to me and her eyes slid
along my robe.

The she began, “I couldn’t –”

“Why not? You can’t wear that.” I dipped my
head to Max’s t-shirt. “It’s huge on you.” And it was, she was
swimming in it like I had but I’d worn his t-shirts to bed which
was acceptable.

I pretty girl who’d just been raped? No.

She needed to remember she could look pretty
and it was okay.

“But, your clothes are really nice. Becca
said –”

I spooned up more fruit, yogurt and granola
and smiled at her before asking, “You have a flesh-eating virus or
something?”

She grinned at me and replied, “No.”

“Then go and pick something.”

Her eyes moved to the ceiling then to me and
she said, “Anything off limits?”

“No.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“You sure you’re sure?”

I shook my head but smiled and promised,
“I’m sure I’m sure.”

“Cool!” she cried, dropped the bacon fork
and skip-danced out of the kitchen.

I spooned breakfast in my mouth. Max’s eyes
followed Mindy but since I was in the back recess I couldn’t see
her. I knew when she was out of sight though because Max’s eyes
came to me.

Then
he
came
to me.

Since I was already against the counter, I
had nowhere to retreat.

He got super close again, took the bowl out
of my hand, the spoon out of the other, dropped the spoon in the
bowl and set it on the counter.

I swallowed my food and demanded, “Would you
quit taking that away? I’m trying to eat breakfast.”

I said this as I looked at the bowl. I
should have kept my eyes on him. For, when my head twisted back,
his hand came to my neck and his mouth came down on mine.

I really tried not to respond this time. I
knew how good it could be so I thought I could steel myself against
it.

I was wrong.

His tongue touched my lips, my mouth opened
like it had a mind of its own and then I was in his arms. Max
deepened the kiss and my hands slid around his neck, my fingers
going into his hair. I went up on my toes, pressed into his body
and he pushed me back into the counter.

It was as good as it was yesterday, just
as good, which meant it might
always
be that good.

Which was bad.

His mouth broke from mine but he didn’t move
far away. His hand came back to my neck, curling around, his
forehead rested on mine and our heavy breathing mingled.

“Tried to wake you up last night when I got
to bed, you were out like usual, didn’t have the heart in the end,”
he whispered.

“Okay,” I whispered back, not really
thinking because my mind was on my nipples which had gotten hard
and were tingling and my stomach which had somehow disappeared and
between my legs which was tingling even more.

“Mindy was on the couch,” he went on.

“Oh.”

“
No Mindy tonight,” he finished and I found
that my stomach
hadn’t
disappeared because it spasmed in a way I really,
really
liked.

“Oh,” I breathed this time and I watched his
eyes smile.

His thumb slid along my jaw. “You kiss like
that, honey, lookin’ forward to findin’ out what else you can
do.”

I
kissed like that? It was Max who was a good
kisser.

I didn’t tell him this, instead, I
shivered.

Then I muttered, “Um…”

He interrupted me with, “Men are
idiots?”

“
Mostly,” I answered on a whisper and I
heard
and
felt him
chuckle.

“Hey! I know!” Mindy shouted from somewhere
not exactly close but in Max’s house nowhere was exactly far.

Max closed his eyes, rolled his forehead to
the side and his body unfortunately followed it

I hastily grabbed my bowl.

“What?” I asked when Mindy hit the
kitchen.

“You and me and Becca can go shopping in
town this afternoon then later we’ll take you to dinner.”

“That’s a great idea,” I told her.

“We got plans,” Max said from beside me and
I watched as Mindy’s face fell.

Then I looked at Max and widened my eyes at
him. He caught my hint, looked at Mindy then he sighed.

Then he said, “You bring her home, safe and
sound, we can push ‘em to later.”

“Cool!” Mindy exclaimed.

“Doesn’t anyone around here work?” I
asked.

“I work at The Dog with Becca so we work
nights,” Mindy said, walking to the cold bacon and picking up a
slice. “I’m off tonight, Becca’s gotta work but that isn’t until
later.” Then she bit off some bacon and chewed.

I noticed that Max didn’t answer my
question.

“You’re good to stay with Bec?” Max asked
and Mindy nodded. “And we’re movin’ your shit there this mornin’?”
Max went on, Mindy took another bite of bacon and nodded. “You’re
gonna stick with this break with Damon?”

“A week, Max,” she said. “That was the deal
we decided last night.”

“You stick with a week,” Max returned,
sounding exactly like an older brother though, I couldn’t know, I
didn’t have an older brother, just a dead younger one, but I was
guessing since, even younger, Charlie used to sound like that a
lot.

She looked at me and rolled her eyes.

Yes, definitely an older brother.

“Mindy,” Max’s voice was a warning.

All right, maybe a somewhat scary older
brother. Charlie had never been scary.

“I’ll stick with the week,” she
answered.

“You make Damon stick with it too,” Max
pushed.

“
Oh…
kay,
”
she replied impatiently and I looked at Max to see he was grinning
which, when I looked back at Mindy, I noted she found
annoying.

“I love that top on you,” I butted in. “You
should keep it.”

Mindy’s annoyed face disappeared and her
eyes hit me. “I couldn’t.”

“You can.”

“But –”

“I’ll replace it in town this afternoon.
There looked like there were some great shops.”

“
They’re awesome!” Mindy cried. “I
can’t
wait
to show
you.”

“Me either,” I replied, spooned up more of
my breakfast and when I was shoving it into my mouth, Max’s arm
hooked around my neck and he pulled me into his side.

“Make me some eggs and toast to go with that
bacon, Mins,” Max ordered, she rolled her eyes but headed to the
toaster, I tested his arm around my neck and found it didn’t budge.
“Hand me my coffee, Duchess,” he ordered me, I caught Mindy’s eye,
rolled mine back, she giggled then I reached forward, his arm still
around my neck, grabbed his mug and handed it to him.

So, in the end, I finished my breakfast
pressed to Max’s side, his arm around my neck, watching Mindy make
eggs and toast while Max sipped cold coffee.

And I not only didn’t tell him we weren’t
going to explore our situation, I let him kiss me again, told him
about Charlie and made a date to spend the afternoon and have
dinner with, essentially, his baby sister who’d been raped only
weeks before.

Yes, I was officially in trouble.

* * * * *

I took a shower in Max’s downstairs
bathroom, hauling all my stuff down there to do it. There, I got
ready while Max took a shower upstairs and Mindy sat on the toilet
seat chatting animatedly to me like a girl who’d never experienced
anything but extreme happiness while living in a land of golden
rainfalls, fairies that granted wishes and dancing leprechauns that
showered treasure on you.

When I was done getting ready which, if
Max’s impatient yet amused demeanor was anything to go by took way
too long, we all climbed into the Cherokee and went to Mindy’s
apartment where we packed up a lot of her stuff. In fact, as far as
I could tell since she and this Damon person didn’t have much,
outside of dishes and furniture, it seemed like most everything she
owned.

On a trip to the Cherokee with a box, I
caught Max who was heading back in.

“Isn’t this, um…” I asked quietly, in case
Mindy could hear, “a lot of stuff for one week?”

Max put his finger to his lips, winked at me
then took the box from me and headed back to the Jeep.

When we were done packing up, we drove
across town and then Becca helped us carry it up the two flights of
stairs to her third story condo.

After we had Mindy safely ensconced in her
new lodgings, Max took us out for lunch at a little rustic but
lovely café by the river. We had a booth by the window and Max sat
by me. Mindy and Becca did most of the talking, so much I didn’t
have time to think much less room to speak. Though I did manage to
think it felt nice the way Max lounged beside me, his arm across
the booth at my back, his bearing laid back but possessive. And I
also managed to remind myself I shouldn’t be thinking that way,
even though I couldn’t stop myself from doing it.

The sun was shining and the cold snap had
completely disappeared. It had to be twenty, maybe even thirty
degrees warmer that day and the snow was melting so fast the
gutters in the streets had turned to streams. The sun glistening
off the water and the snow made the clear day so much brighter it
was cheerful, like the town had its own brand of magic.

Experiencing it, I couldn’t help but wonder
if maybe Mindy had, indeed, lived an enchanted life prior, of
course, to being raped.

When we walked out of the café, Mindy
proclaimed, “All right, girl time! No boys allowed.”

“Like I’d wanna go shoppin’,” Max muttered,
his arm sliding around my shoulders, pulling me into his side.

“Right, so, skedaddle,” Becca ordered.

Max grinned and said, “She’ll be right
back.”

Then he walked me to the Jeep, shoved me
into it with a hand in my belly, followed me in, slid his fingers
in my hair, an arm low at my waist and then he made out with me
right there on the street, in town, in broad daylight.

Yes,
made out with me
. Tongues and all.