“You’ve been divorced for years, though.” I watch him carefully. “There’s never been anyone special in all that time?”
“No,” he replies simply as his chest rises and falls with a deep breath.
“Did you love Everly’s mom?” I ask, wondering if he’s still completely heartbroken over losing her.
His jaw muscle tics before he answers, “I thought I did at the time.”
My brow furrows. “Then why wouldn’t you want to find that again?”
He turns on his side to face me, and there’s a distinct look of resignation on his face as he rests his hand on my hip. “I had trouble trusting women after Jess came out to me. I know it’s her story and her truth, and I’m happy she’s happy now. But things about our life together have this strange cloud over them after she told me the truth.”
“Like what?” I chew my lip nervously as I clutch the edge of the sheet tightly in my hands.
His eyes are tight and pensive. “Honestly, every memory. Our entire relationship in college, the moment we found out she was pregnant. The day I proposed. It was at our college graduation. She was four months pregnant by then, but I’d planned to propose to her that day even before we found out about the baby.”
My lips curve down into a sad smile. I can’t really picture Max as a public display of affection sort of guy. He seems too buttoned up and focused to do anything in front of a bunch of people.
“We were both in our cap and gown. I thought it was so special. But now it’s all clouded over along with our wedding day and even Everly’s birth.”
“In what way is it clouded?” I inquire, my stomach twisting into knots over him reliving some of the best moments of a family’s life and not seeing any of the joy in it.
“It’s clouded because I was so fucking happy and in love, and I thought I had a partner who was sharing in all that with me, but I didn’t. In fact, Jessica was in hell fighting against her true self with me and faking every moment we spent together. Is it really love if someone didn’t ever fully love you back?”
My breath catches in my throat at hearing the pain in his voice as he confesses the true depth of what their relationship was. He was living his dream with the woman he loved, and he believed she was putting on a show for him. What an awful feeling.
My chin trembles at that image. “Is that really how she felt? Have you asked her that?” I can’t cover up the emotion that cracks through my voice as I reach for his hand gripping my hip.
“We’ve discussed a lot of things. And I’ve even spoken to a therapist.” He exhales heavily, his eyes haunted as he turns away from me to stare up at the ceiling. “And that’s the fucked-up part. I’ve read lots of books and broadened my sights, so I know that what Jess dealt with is far bigger than what I had to deal with. But that doesn’t change the fact that what I thought were the best years of my life were all a lie. That’s why I don’t do relationships. I don’t want to put myself in the position to be blindsided again. I was in love with someone only to find out they weren’t in love with me that whole time—at least not in a meaningful, all-consuming kind of way. It gives a guy a healthy dose of inferiority complex.”
I inhale sharply at that label. How the hell could Max Fletcher, this beautiful specimen of a man in front of me, ever suffer from an inferiority complex?
“That complex is why I focused so intently on growing my business when I was younger. At least there’s no heartbreak in business. The risks are purely financial, which I can stomach a lot easier than emotional. Especially when I already have something in my life that fulfills me in all the emotional ways I never imagined.”
“Everly,” I finish his thought, a knot forming in my throat over the image of this strong, virile man who has the success anyone would ever dream of, but in reality, he’s broken on a fundamental level, only allowing the love of his daughter into his life as a form of protection.
“She’s my world.” Max’s voice cracks at the end, and I think my heart stops at the pain in his eyes. He clears his throat and adds, “She chases all my clouds away. What more do I need in life?”
The faint sound of birds chirping rouse me from the hardest I’ve slept in months. My eyes pry open as sunlight pours in through the parted blinds in Max’s bedroom. I come to, my brow furrowed as I realize I spent the night here last night.
“Shit,” I whisper to myself and look down to find Max’s arm banded firmly around me. His hot body is pressed up behind me, and the steady rise and fall of his chest indicates he’s still asleep.
Jesus…apparently epic sex and a big heart-to-heart knocked us both out. I had every intention of going up to the guest bedroom. But Max’s warm chest felt so good under my cheek. And the way he played with my hair after I slung all those heavy questions at him made it impossible for me to leave.
God, this man has such power over me. I don’t even know how to understand it. The realization that he’s not just an uptight boss makes him so much hotter than he was twenty-four hours ago. Is it the broken man thing that’s turning me on? I don’t need a broken man. I’m broken enough my damn self.
Plus, I’m not sure Max is truly broken. He’s more just stubborn. He’s choosing to live a certain way because he thinks that’s all he will need in life. But Everly will reach an age when she doesn’t need him as much anymore, and he’ll want someone to share that vacancy in his life with.
He shifts behind me, and a soft gasp escapes my lips when I feel his rock-hard erection digging into my back. Like seriously, how do men sleep through this level of a boner? Surely, it’s painful.
Glancing at the clock, I see it’s still barely six, so we should have plenty of time to fool around before the girls wake up.
I slip my hand under the blanket and reach behind me. He stirs when my fingers wrap around his long shaft. His groin mindlessly rocks into my ass as he squeezes me tighter around the waist. His strong arm banded around my waist is fucking delightful, but I will not be distracted.
I turn over and slide myself under the covers to give Max a wake-up call he certainly earned after last night.
“Fuck.” His harsh morning voice croaks when I pull him into my mouth, tasting the salty pre-come and moaning around his silky hard flesh.
“Cassandra,” he groans my name as I fist his base and slide my lips over his cock, feeling electrified every time his hips jerk. “God, Cassandra.”
The sound of my name on his lips warms the blood in my veins. Before I came into this house, I never liked my first name. It always felt like it was meant for someone more elegant and mature than me.
But when Max says it like he just did, God, do I become a Cassandra.
I pull him into the back of my throat and hear a faint notification buzz on his phone. I pause my best work to listen and gasp literally around Max’s dick when I hear Everly’s faint voice chirp, “Let’s go see what my dad will make us for breakfast!”
“Is that the camera? Is Everly coming inside?” The pitter-patter of rapid footsteps in the house has me flinging back the blanket. “Did you lock the door?” I whisper-shout, my entire body tense with terror.