He winked at me, pulling the door open when we heard another pounding coming from the front door.
“Someone’s impatient,” I grumbled, irritated we’d been interrupted right when things were about to get really, really good.
“Yeah, that someone being me.” Max motioned at his crotch where his hard-on was pressing against his zipper.
Swallowing the flames licking up my throat, I let him lead me out of the bedroom.
His parents’ voices were coming from the front door, joined by other voices. They must have taken a break from their arguing long enough to answer the door. It sounded like they knew whoever was outside and like they were happy to see them.
We’d barely reached the end of the hall when Max broke to a stop. His hand tightened around mine while the rest of him went rigid.
A young man stood inside the front door—he looked a lot like Max, just a little rougher and younger. There was a woman too. A woman who looked like she was used to getting what she wanted whenever she wanted and, from the way her eyes had just latched onto Max, I knew exactly what she wanted.
“Get out of this house.” Max’s voice thundered around us, his finger pointing at the door. “Now.”
The woman didn’t look fazed. Instead, she finished taking off her leather gloves, one at a time, a smile making its appearance. “Is that any way to greet your first love?”
Max’s jaw went rigid. When she walked toward us, her eyes landing on me, he backed us away from her.
“You must be Nina,” she said, closing in. Max kept backing me away from her. “I’m Elena. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”
“Are you planning on eating dinner? Or are you going to spend the rest of the night pacing circles around the living room?”
My eyes flickered over to Nina leaning into the wall, her eyebrow peaked as I circled the room like a caged lion. That was what I felt like. A man-eating animal just waiting to get loose.
“Will they be there?” I asked, doing another circle. I was still barefoot, in my slacks and undershirt, but I didn’t care.
“‘They’ being your family and former flame? Yes, they will be eating dinner as well.”
I shot her a warning over the former flame part, but Nina rolled her eyes. She didn’t seem threatened by Elena, which was good because she had nothing to be threatened by. However, I’d known my share of women who cowered in Elena’s presence.
“Then no. I’ll carry on with the pacing.”
“You know”—Nina’s thumb jabbed into her chest—“I will also be there. Your fiancée. The one whose dress you just had your head under.”
My mouth twitched as my eyes skimmed the hem of her dress. I wanted to do it again. I wanted to have Nina in every way I could have her. Now. Maybe if I could just fuck some of the anger out of me, I could sit at the same dinner table as the rest of them.
My eyes drifted down the hall, lifting my brow at her.
“After dinner. It will be your reward for behaving yourself.”
Throwing my head back, I groaned. So much was coming at me. Nina. My family. Nina. Elena. Nina.
“Come on, they don’t seem that bad, Max. We can make it through a few dinners.”
“Not so bad?” I waved in the direction of the dining room, where they were gathered. I didn’t care what any of them heard. “You know why my parents invited her, don’t you?”
Nina lifted a shoulder. “Because you guys grew up together.”
I huffed. “Because they’re hoping she’ll drive a wedge between you and me. Because they’re hoping Elena will do what Elena does best and destroy everything in her path.”
Looking calm, Nina continued to watch me pace the room. “She won’t come between us, Max. That wouldn’t have happened before, and it definitely won’t happen now.”
When she peaked her eyebrow at me, I caught her meaning. She was right. We were getting married no matter what, but after what had just happened, so much more than promises and arrangements bound us together now.
“She needs to leave. Now.” I’d wanted to force her out the moment I saw her standing in the entryway.
“Max, it’s late. I’m not just going to kick someone out. Especially a friend of your family and an old friend of yours.” She emphasized the old part, but hearing her refer to Elena as any kind of friend of mine made me wince. “Besides, she doesn’t seem so bad. Maybe kind of self-absorbed, but she’s been helping me out in the kitchen, and I really think she just wants the best for you.” When I didn’t say anything, she shoved off the wall and came toward me. “Please come to dinner. For me?”
I let her block my path. I let her hands settle onto my chest as she looked up at me with those innocent, trusting eyes of hers.
“All of your family is here, your ex-fiancée is sitting at my dining room table, and you just got me off on the kitchen counter I used to frost Christmas cookies with my grandma at.” Her mouth lifted on one side. “I’m kind of reeling here. Could use a little help.”
I didn’t want to sit at the table. I didn’t want to be surrounded by the people I knew were plotting to take this woman away from me.
But I wanted to make her happy more than any of that.
“Fine. But don’t expect me to be civil.”
She let me take her hand as we headed for the dining room. “Not civil seems to be a trend for you tonight.” She eyed the kitchen counter as we passed it.
“It’s going to be the trend for the rest of the night too.” My hand drifted around her to squeeze her ass right before we emerged into the dining room.
Nina cleared her throat, pulling at the hem of her dress. The four of them had been talking and laughing, but when we showed up, the table went quiet.
“Look who decided to show up for dinner?” My brother, Magnus, twisted around in his chair and tipped his chin at me. His accent was the strongest of all of us, but that probably had a lot to do with him being under the impression that the degree of his accent had a direct correlation to the number of American women he could screw.
“Look who decided to show up to our house unannounced?” I smiled tightly.
“God, Max, nice of you to get all dressed up for dinner. Don’t mind us.” Elena searched me, her gaze lingering around my belt region. When her eyes narrowed, I guessed she’d figured out what Nina and I had been busy doing before she and Magnus showed up.
“I haven’t minded you for a long time now, Elena.”
Nina gave my hand a squeeze before guiding me to an empty chair that was as far away from Elena as I could get. Nina winked at me, sliding into the empty seat beside it.
“So what brings you two here?” I asked, guessing Magnus’s and Elena’s answer to that question would be as dishonest as my parents’.
“I had a show in New York. When I heard the good news and found out Magnus’s flight would be stopping over in La Guardia, I just couldn’t help myself.” Elena didn’t blink as she answered. She was used to lying. More of a first nature than a second nature with her.
“Yeah, I bet you couldn’t.”
“I wanted to congratulate my good friend. I wanted to meet his future wife.” Elena shrugged, like that was that.
“So now that you’re here and have met her and congratulated me, when are you leaving?”
When the roast came around to Nina, she served a piece on my plate first. Maybe she was hoping I would keep my mouth shut if I was chewing.
“Dude, I love the West Coast. The women here are freaks.” Magnus bobbed his head at me like we shared some kind of secret. “I’m staying until I wear out my welcome.”
“Consider it worn out.”
Nina had to bite her lip to keep her smile hidden.
“And I’ve got a few vendors I’ll be meeting with while I’m over here,” Elena said.
When the potatoes came around, Nina mounded a heap onto my plate.
“And those vendors are where? On the other side of the country?” I sighed when Nina scooped another heap o
f potatoes onto my plate. Her message was silent but effective—shut up and eat.
She laughed silently.
Elena was looking between us. “A few in LA, a couple here, a couple more up in Seattle. I’m planning on making Portland my home base for the next few weeks while I get it all taken care of. There’s a chance for relocation too. The company I’m working for is looking to open a branch on the West Coast, so I’m scoping out the area, seeing if America would be a good fit for me.”
Nina glanced at me, looking like she was bracing for whatever I was going to say next.
“What a great idea, Elena. Hans and I were just saying how nice it would be to extend our stay, see some of the sights, while we help Max and Nina with their wedding plans.” Mom smiled across the table at Elena, the daughter she never had. The daughter-in-law she’d always planned on.
When Nina looked about to say something, probably along the lines of offering her place to Magnus and Elena, I shook my head at her. I loved how generous she was, how trusting and good and kind. It was everything the woman on the other end of the table had fooled me into believing she was, but I would not survive the four of them sharing the same living quarters as Nina and me.
She drew an invisible zipper across her lips and stayed quiet.
“Where are you staying, Elena?” Dad asked.
“I think the company put me up in a nice hotel downtown. I haven’t checked in yet. Magnus and I just couldn’t wait to get here and see everyone.” Elena glanced down the table at Nina, but Nina didn’t notice. She was looking at me. “I couldn’t wait to meet you, Nina, and now having done so, I can say you do not disappoint.” Elena lifted her glass of hemlock or water or whatever it was. “Max is lucky to have you. You’re lucky to have Max. To luck.” She tipped her head and smiled a little wider. “To those who have it and those of us in search of it.”
“I’ll cheers to that.” Dad lifted his glass and clinked glasses with Elena and Mom.
Magnus was too busy tearing into his roast to be disturbed, and Nina and I were too busy reeling from the past twenty-four hours to keep up with anything else.
“Dude, this roast is like trying to chew through a piece of leather.” Magnus gnashed his teeth, working the hunk of meat he’d stuffed in his mouth.
I loved my kid brother, but he was clueless when it came to things like manners and women’s feelings.
“Magnus.” I shook my head at him.
He stopped sawing at the meat with his teeth instantly.
“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I think I overcooked it.” Nina stabbed at her own piece of roast. “I got a little distracted.”
When her hand found my knee beneath the table, sliding up the inside of my leg, I went hard instantly.
“Well, I think it tastes divine, Nina.” At the end of the table, Elena’s plate remained untouched. “You know, I bought a special bottle of champagne to celebrate. Let me run and grab it.” After scooting out of her chair, Elena left the dining room, her heels echoing through the house.
“So. Nina.” Magnus swallowed his chunk of meat. “You’re marrying my brother.”
Nina shrugged a shoulder. “I guess that’s what this ring means.” She threw me a sideways glance.
“Why?” Magnus waved at me like it was unfathomable that anyone would want to marry me.
Nina picked up her fork and stabbed at her green beans. “He’s really good in the kitchen.” Her hand crept higher, curling around my package.
I flinched, making the whole table shake. Everyone gaped at me while Nina grinned at her lap, her shoulders shaking from her contained laughter.
“Do you guys have a little girl living with you too?” Elena reappeared in the dining room with a bottle of champagne in one hand and a pair of underwear in the other. A familiar pair of underwear.
“Nope.” Nina clucked her tongue. “Those are mine.”
Elena looked at the underwear dangling from her finger, her nose wrinkling. “Really? I haven’t seen cotton underwear since I was ten.”
Magnus was grinning, his gaze going from Nina to the pair of underwear . . . which reminded me. She didn’t have any on. Was in a dress. A short-ish one.
Because my dick was not already aching from restraint tonight.
“Yeah, well, I’m a big fan. Comfort. Cost. Breathability.” Nina shrugged then looked around the table. My parents were kind of gaping at the dinner table scene. “And moving on . . . sorry, they must have fallen out of the laundry when I was folding it.”
I nudged her foot with mine. “Must have.”
She sighed, giving me a look that led me to believe she thought me quite immature.
“Here, I’ll hang on to those.” Snagging them off Elena’s fingertips, I stuffed them in my front pocket. When Nina looked at me, I licked my lips slowly and she shifted on her chair. “For safekeeping.”
“Champagne anyone?” Elena waved the chilled bottle.
Three glasses went in the air. Nina’s and mine stayed on the table. As Elena tore off the foil, a look crossed her face. It was one I knew well. I was already bracing myself before she opened her mouth.
“So I just checked with the hotel to make sure my reservation was still set, and it seems they’ve overbooked.”
Mom made a sad face. Dad threw his arms in the air. Magnus kept eating. Nina looked at me. I glared at Elena. I knew her games. I knew them all too well.
“But don’t worry, you two. I’m sure I can get a reservation somewhere else. This is a big city. Lots of hotels, right?” Elena tossed her smile our direction. “I won’t impose, I promise.”
“And yet you’re here. Unannounced. Imposing.”
Nina kicked my foot as Elena shot me a semi-wounded look.
“I’m here for work, to congratulate you, and have a fresh start with my old friend and his lovely fiancée.” Elena worked the cork until it burst free with a loud pop.
“Forgive my skepticism. I’m a little biased where you’re concerned, Elena.”
Magnus tuned back in, giving his head a shake. “Dude. You’re acting like she was fucking your best friend behind your back, Max. Chill. You guys didn’t work out. Not a big deal. It happens all the time.”
The taste in my mouth turned bitter. Elena glanced away, something that almost looked like guilt settling into her expression.
When Nina’s hand moved under the table this time, it found mine. Her fingers wove through mine, giving them a gentle squeeze.
“Just stay here for the night, sweetheart. It’s too late to be worrying about finding a hotel at this hour,” Mom said before taking a sip of her champagne. “I’m sure Max and Nina won’t mind. There’s plenty of room.”
When Nina glanced at me, searching for what to say, I stayed quiet. This was her house. Her place to decide who could be here. I might have been a dominant son of a bitch in the bedroom, but I knew better than to take that into the kitchen. At least, I knew better now. Nina was her own woman and I wasn’t going to stifle that by calling all of the shots.
“Nina? What do you think? Elena could stay in the room next to Hans’s and mine tonight, and tomorrow, we’ll find her a hotel.” Mom waited for Nina’s reply, sipping on her champagne, which was almost gone.
Nina swallowed.
“Really? That would be wonderful.” Elena covered her chest with her hand. “I mean, is that okay with you, Nina?”
Nina shifted on her chair. “Um . . .” She shifted again. “Maybe?”
Mom clapped. “It’s settled. You’ll stay here tonight.”
Elena beamed, pouring more champagne in Mom’s glass. “Perfect.”
Nina was working her lip, glancing around the table like she had no idea what was happening. Her hand stayed in mine the entire time.
I shoved back from the table then headed out of the room. “I just remembered something that needs my attention at the office.”
As I left, I realized their plan was already working—they were already driving Nina and me apart.
&nb
sp; I’d done it. Fallen for him.
The question mark that came after that was gone. The dot, dot, dot was gone as well. I’d fallen for Max Sturm, the last man on the planet I probably should have.
That was what I was thinking as I took what felt like the world’s longest elevator ride. How I’d been so sure he’d be easy to despise. How easy I’d thought it would be to treat him with a kind of cool removal. Maybe it was my confidence in my lack of attraction to him that had ultimately led to the opposite happening. I’d been so sure of one thing that I hadn’t guarded myself against the opposite happening.
It was too late to go back. With any of it. I was marrying Max Sturm in a couple of short months according to his meticulously laid-out schedule. Of course us confessing our attraction to one another made things more complicated. Would the marriage still be one of convenience? Would there be benefits other than money and a green card? Would marriage complicate what we already had? Would it last? Would we still divorce at the end of that two-year period?
Everything felt so up-in-the-air and undecided. I felt like a hundred glass balls were floating above me, just waiting to fall out of the sky and shatter at my feet.
After Max had escaped dinner, I’d stayed with the rest of his family, finishing a meal I didn’t really taste, taking part in conversations I didn’t really hear, making nice. I wasn’t usually one for making nice, but this was Max’s family and old friend/fiancée/enemy, and whatever his feelings toward them, they were in my house and owed a margin of respect.
Elena and Anya helped me clean up after, while Hans and Magnus decided a game of pool and bourbon were in order. Elena even offered to mop the kitchen floor since, somehow, strawberry juice had kind of wound up smeared along the linoleum. And the cupboards. And the counter. And Max’s hair if we were keeping track.
I told her not to worry about it and showed her to the old bedroom beside Max’s parents’ room upstairs. She was gracious and almost pleasant. Not that I could share that with Max because it was clear that Elena could find a cure for childhood cancer and that still wouldn’t elevate her in his esteem.