“Thanks for picking us up, Charles.” He rolls my bags over to the bottom of the stairs.
“Anytime, and if you need a ride anywhere while you’re in town, let me know,” he says, then looks at me. “It was nice meeting you, April. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around.”
“You will.” I wave at him when he leaves, and Maxim shuts the door, then places Binx’s crate on the ground. Squatting down, I open his door, and he comes right to me. Standing with him held against my chest, I smile as he rubs his head against my jaw while Maxim wraps his hands around my waist.
“Do you want me to give you two a tour?”
“Yes.” I lean in when he bends to touch his lips to mine. “I also need to go to the store to pick up some stuff for him.”
“I asked my housekeeper to get everything he needs, so it should all be in the kitchen.” He kisses me again. “We’ll set him up, then I’ll show you around.” He lets me go, and I follow him out to the kitchen, where there is in fact everything Binx will need, including a few toys. After putting down his food and water and placing his litter box in the laundry room, we go on a tour of the house that ends when he gets a phone call that I can tell annoys him to take.
With him in his office, I make my way upstairs to the master bedroom that, like the rest of the house, looks staged with gorgeous furniture, bedding, and accessories. If there were not a few photos of Maxim and his family here and there around the house, I would have assumed this was a rental property for people looking to be close to Vegas but not too close to the glitz and glamor of downtown.
After hefting my suitcase up onto the end of the bed, I unzip it and open it up, stopping when I hear a thud. Figuring it’s Binx, I go to the walk-in closet and spot him on one of the angled shelves, chewing on the lace of an old sneaker, the other foot lying on the floor. “You, sir, are a terror.” I pick him up and hold him an inch from my face, smiling when he reaches out to tap my nose with his tiny paw. “No chewing on stuff.” I kiss him on his nose before he can swipe me with his tiny yet very sharp claws, then put the shoe back in its place and grab a few hangers.
Carrying him out of the closet with me, I make sure to shut the door so he can’t get back in there and place him on the bed next to my suitcase. After taking a moment to sniff around, he hops inside my bag, curls up on top of one of my shirts, and closes his eyes. “You’re lucky you’re so cute.” I scratch behind his ear, and he opens one eye to look at me, then stretches out his legs and rests his jaw on his paws.
When I told July she won and that I would take Binx, I thought I might have been making a huge mistake. I had no idea how quickly I would fall in love with the little ball of fluff. Even with him constantly chewing things he shouldn’t, ripping things up with his claws, and getting into stuff, I wouldn’t want to give him up.
“Unpacking?” Maxim comes into the room, obviously finished with the phone call, his gaze moving from the suitcase on the bed to the one with all my toiletries on the floor next to his dresser.
“I just want to hang my stuff that I don’t want all wrinkled.” I tip my head to the side when he wraps his arms around my waist from behind and kisses the skin below my ear.
“I told you that you don’t need clothes at my house.” He nips my neck, making me smile, then he lets me go and walks around the side of the bed, laying crossways on it. Binx, seeing his second favorite person is now here, moves from my suitcase to lie on his chest and begins to purr loudly.
“What’s the plan for tonight?” I ask, working a hanger through the neck of my shirt while he pets the top of Binx’s head.
“I gotta go to the club for a few hours,” he says, and my stomach drops. I knew he had to work, but I guess I didn’t think he would have to work as soon as we got here. And even though I don’t consider myself an insecure person, the idea of him being around a bunch of naked women—some of who he might have slept with—doesn’t exactly make me feel good.
Back home, I could kind of forget that’s where he was spending his time when he was away. But here, I don’t think it will be that easy to do, especially being left alone with nothing but my own thoughts to keep me occupied.
“Do you want to come hang out with me there? We can order in food or wait until we get home to eat dinner—it just might be late.”
Stunned by his offer, my mouth opens but no words come out.
“You good with that?”
“You would be okay with me going with you?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” His brows drag together as he focuses completely on me.
“Because you’re going to be working.”
“Yeah, and I can still work if you are there with me.”
“Okay,” I say quietly, and his eyes roam my face.
“I’ve never slept with any of the women who work for me.” He carefully sets Binx aside and gets off the bed.
“I never said you did,” I point out as he walks toward me.
“You didn’t have to say it. I saw it in your eyes that that’s what you were thinking when I told you I had to go to the club.”
“I wasn’t,” I lie, and he reaches out, grasping my chin between his thumb and index finger.
“You told me that you want to trust me.” His hand slides back, his fingers spearing through the hair at the side of my head, and my heart starts to go wild inside my chest. “In order for that to happen, you need to trust me with your concerns and to always be honest with you.” His gaze holds mine hostage. “If you have a question, ask it. If you’re worried, let me know and—” He dips his face close to mine. “—trust that I would never put you in a situation where you might be uncomfortable. And I sure as fuck would never put you in a position where you had to be around someone I’ve been with.”
Staring into his eyes, I’m not sure what to say or how to react to his words, but there is no denying the feeling of warmth that has filled my chest. It might be stupid of me to trust him, because he’s not been the most forthcoming with some potentially important information or the most talkative man on the planet. But I do believe him when he says he would never put me in a situation where I might be uncomfortable or around someone he’s been with. And as much as I don’t like comparing people, it’s so hard to remember that he’s nothing like the men I’ve dated in the past.
“April.” His hand in my hair tightens, and I come out of my thoughts and focus on his handsome face.
Since day one, there has been no games, no drama, and no trying to figure out what he’s thinking or where we stand. He’s given me every indication that he wants to be with me and that this is serious—without a whole bunch of words that are just words at the end of the day.
“Thank you.” I rest my hand against his chest, and his chin jerks back.
“What?”
“I know it might not seem like it, but I do trust you. I just…” My nose scrunches. “Well, it’s not always easy for me to remember that I can.”
“Don’t be sweet when I don’t have time to show you how much I like it,” he mutters, and a tingle slides down my spine right before his mouth lands on mine. As he kisses me, I lift up on my tiptoes and kiss him back, then before I’m ready for the kiss to end, he rips his mouth away and rests his forehead against mine.