Worth the Fall (24 page)

I almost told her to join the club.

“Why don’t you guys practice that move?” I suggested and grinned as the younger woman all but bounced on her toes.

Max looked down at me next to him, another one of his unreadable looks as he studied me.
 

“You wouldn’t mind?”

“No. Of course not.” And found I really didn’t. Eva was sweet and obviously thoughtful considering she didn’t try to seduce my date—
non
-date—out from under me. “It sounds like Eva’s been waiting all week to see if she’s nailed this move.”

I looked up at him, trying not to notice how dark his eyes were and how intensely they studied me before that dimple broke out again.

“You’re something else, Tuesday.”

Before I could figure out what that meant, he offered Eva his hand and led her out onto the floor. They stayed at the edge, a more than comfortable distance between them, as Max patiently led her back and forth on the floor, every once in a while doing something with his hand that pulled her across the front of him and turned her about. Then back to the back and forth steps. One-two-three. One-two-three.

Compared to some of the overtly sexual dancing going on behind them, their little spins seemed almost sweet, with Max correcting her and letting her try again. After they’d done that a few times, he did some fancy thing were she spun half way around and did a little kick before coming back.

When the song came to an end, they both clapped politely before Max’s hand dropped to her waist to guide her back to our table.

It was, unfortunately, one of the cutest things I’d ever seen. It was kitten worthy.

I was one cute thing away from insomnia.
 

Eva was talking a mile a minute when they got back, but she turned to me and thanked me for letting her use Max for practice, before taking off into the crowd again.

Max settled into the chair, a bit pink around the ears at the obvious adoration.

“You should have her hang out with Abby.” I knocked his shoulder to get his attention. “Maybe they’d cancel each other out a bit.”

“At seventeen, Abby’s probably about thirty-seven years older than Eva.”

I laughed because it was probably true, but also because I was suddenly nervous. I wasn’t sure what to do about the fact that I was wearing date clothes on what felt like it was a date with a guy I swore I wasn’t going to date but couldn’t seem to stay away from.

Max leaned in, really leaned in this time. And, not as if he were just going to say something and it was loud. I fought to keep my gaze from dropping to his lips, but my eyes seemed to have a mind of their own. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if he tried to kiss me. There was something about Max that pulled you in, but I hadn’t wanted to
find
anyone.
 

I wanted to find
me.

I was feeling more lost by the moment.

“Max.”

It took me a moment to drag my gaze off him to the woman standing over us. Max’s focus stayed on me, blocking her out. But, she obviously wasn’t going anywhere. At some point, Max’s hand had landed on my knee, drawing us together, connecting us. He gave my knee a little squeeze and turned to look up at the woman who still hadn’t gotten the hint and gone away.

As soon as that focus was off me, I could breathe again.

I could also panic again.

Everything was shifting and I wasn’t sure what to do.
 

“Olivia.” Max sounded annoyed. It wasn’t a normal sound for him and it made me pause, pulled me back outside of myself and my anxiety.

“You promised me a dance next time you were in.” Olivia lifted her hand to her hip, turning sideways in her little flippy skirt as if she were on a fashion shoot.

“I’m here with someone.” Max lifted his arm and let it settle across the back of my chair, leaning into me, his warmth seeping into me even in with the heat of the club.

“You danced with Eva.”

“Yes. I did.”

I watched the interplay, wondering what my role in it was supposed to be, but suddenly feeling like I needed some time away from him. That some distance would definitely give me the perspective I was rapidly losing.
 

“You know what?” I stood and looked between them. “I have to run to the ladies room. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Max stared at me as if I’d abandoned him to hordes of angry zombies.
 

I felt a stab of guilt, but I hadn’t told him to dance with her. I hadn’t given her permission to dance with him—as if I had the power or right to do that. I’d just…abstained.

And escaped.

I definitely escaped.

I pushed my way through the overheated crowed almost rushing to where the ladies room sign glowed on the far side of the stage. Once I got to every woman’s hideout, I shut the door behind me and splashed water on my face wondering where this night had gone so wrong.

Probably the date clothes. They were the reason everything felt so up in the air.
 

Just like Jason had taught me to dress for the job I wanted, I’d accidentally dressed for the man I was out with. I had to get myself under control.
 

I couldn’t deny I was attracted to Max—more than that, I was drawn to him.

That was the most frightening part. If I had this draw, if I was pulled toward him, could I trust myself to know if he was safe? He got extra safety points for Jenna and Hailey both vouching for him. Ben seemed like a solid guy, so there was one more. And Dane—okay, maybe not Dane. Who knew what that guy thought was a trustworthy man?

Luckily, I didn’t need to make a decision tonight. I just needed to enjoy myself.

I came out of the ladies room and glanced across the room to see if Max was still fighting off Olivia. Instead, I found them fairly quickly on the dance floor, her all but wrapped around him, the heat of the dance so fiery I could feel it from where I stood.

So, I did what any insane woman would do. I headed for the bar.

With the majority of people on the dance floor, it was easy to get the bartender’s attention. “Hey, sweetness. What can I get you tonight?”
 

“I don’t know. Something sweet and not too strong.”

“Sure thing.” He went to the far end of the bar and poured something from a pitcher into a little glass. “Here you go. It’s a fruit sip.”

Well, that sounded good. I took a sniff of sweetness before taking a sip. It tasted like pineapple and flowers. Which, hello. Why had I never heard of these fruity sipper things before?

I leaned against the bar and watched the all-kinds-of sultriness going on. From a distance it looked like Olivia was basically trying to climb Max. I wondered if she’d start pulling at his clothes in another minute. Max, leading Olivia and scowling at her. Of course, if Max was interested in me, scowling didn’t necessarily mean anything bad. It could be how he looked at women he was attracted to.
 

I finished my drink more quickly than I meant to, arguing with myself the entire time. Annoyed Max was dancing with the hot girl. Annoyed he was dancing all the sexy-time dancing with her. Annoyed he’d said yes when I suddenly realized I’d wanted him to say no. Annoyed I was annoyed at all this.

I put my empty glass down and was turning away from the bar when the bartender handed me another one.

“On the house. You look like you need it.” He set down another sipper in a slightly bigger glass and nodded his head toward Max and Olivia. “She’s…Yeah, don’t let her step between you guys again if you want to have a man when you leave tonight.”

Great.
 

I wandered back to our table, trying not to watch them but morbidly fascinated. I studied their moves trying to figure out if Max was into her or was just going through the motions. Telling myself it didn’t matter. Drinking my drink and hoping a happy little buzz would make sure it didn’t.

I sat down, almost missing my seat, wondering if maybe that third-and-a-half drink wasn’t the best idea.

But, of all the bad ideas I’d had tonight, it wasn’t even in the top three.
 

Max spun Olivia out, stepping to the side when she came back. He really was smooth. Most guys used that to get closer to a girl, but he seemed to be using all his moves to keep some distance. I caught him once glancing over at me when Olivia basically tried to grab every part of him at once.

As soon as the music ended, Max stepped away, gave her a tight smile, and turned to work his way back to me.

At the table, he stood, gazed out over the crowd watching the band pushing into the next song. He lifted the nearly empty Corona to his lips and finished it off.

“You ready to go?”

I studied him, trying to figure out what that meant. Was he really done with the little club, was he done with Olivia, was he done with me? I pictured a long, silent walk home. But, in the end, it was getting late and I wasn’t sure I wanted to watch another show quite like that one while I figured out what was going on in my head.

I stood, catching myself on the edge of the table as those drinks hit me. Isn’t that always the way? You never know how much you’ve drunk until you stood up. And then—look out equilibrium!

I’d never been much of a drinker, so the floor moving seemed a little more suspicious than normal.

Not that the floor normally shifted.
 

Max grabbed me by the elbow, steadying me. “How much did you have to drink?”

“Just these two little things.”

“Shots?”

“No. He said they were fruity sipper things.”

Max rolled his eyes and mumbled under his breath about talking to Johnny. “Alright, Tuesday. Let’s see if we can get you home without incident. You’re light, but I don’t think I can carry you that far.”

Ha! I wasn’t light. Jenna was light. Hailey was fit. I was all curvy squishiness. I studied his shoulders and reached out putting a hand on his chest to make sure it was as solid as it looked. “No. I think you could.”

Max’s hand came up and covered mine where it was over his heart, his gaze as deep and unreadable as ever. We stood there, me wondering if I’d ever know what he was thinking, until he smiled. It was a deep, full thing that crinkled the edges of his eyes and made that tight, sharp jaw relax.

He wrapped his hand around mine and shifted to start us through the crowd through the door.
 

“Here.” Max held my sweater out for me to wrap myself in and, before I knew it, had taken my hand again, slowly leading us down the sidewalk.
 

I held on to him, enjoying the feel of my hand wrapped in his. The warmth and comfort and feeling of safety I got from knowing that I wouldn’t fall.

Of just knowing that Max was there. That Max was with me.

I pushed the panic off and, for once, just let myself soak in his steady, sweet presence.
 

TWENTY-FOUR

We got to my door and I wasn’t stupid enough to demand to walk Max back to his. That extra sixty feet seemed really,
really
far. I leaned forward, trying to see it through the parked cars.

“You’re a ridiculous drunk.”

“I’m not drunk.” Was there something between pleasantly buzzed and drunk? “Well, not on purpose.”

“Alright, Tuesday. Up you go.” He nudged me toward my door and took my keys from me when I started fiddling with them. “Three flights and you can collapse into bed.”

Bed sounded great. I was tired and just sober enough to realize that tonight hadn’t gone at all like I’d expected it to.
 

I totally blamed the date clothes.

I headed in and wandered up the stairs knowing there was no sense arguing with Max on this one. The revelation about his ex and his desire to do things for people he cared about pounded heavier than my footsteps.

I couldn’t help but wonder what was going to happen when we reached my door…well, my other door. I glanced at Max, my gaze dropping to his lips again. I’d heard the word chiseled used to describe men before, but everything about Max fit that: His jaw, his lips, his abs…the hard way he often looked at me.
 

“Face forward.” His hand came up to rest on my lower back, probably to catch me when I went tips-over-toes back down the stairs. “You’re halfway there.”

Right. Stairs.

We rounded the top corner and stopped at my door. I leaned against the wall while Max unlocked it.

“You going to be okay?”
 

I nodded, trying not to stare at him again, wondering when I’d become so attracted to him.

“Right.” He handed me my keys, gazing down at me as if he were going to say something more, which would have been really helpful to me right then.
 

Instead, he grinned that small grin, the one that just barely brought out his dimple and shook his head as if he were laughing at me. Or maybe himself.

“Night, Tuesday.” He leaned down and brushed a kiss so quick I questioned it across my lips.