smiled at Brandon Case as she shook his hand, unable to stop herself from basking in the man’s charm. At her side, Max stiffened slightly.
“Congratulations on your thirty-fifth anniversary,” she said. Max’s tension heightened her own anxiety and the next words that came out of her mouth, she wished back immediately. “What’s your secret?”
Susan dipped her head in acknowledgement. “To a long marriage?” She gazed up at her husband. A gentle smile curved her lips. She was obviously very much in love with the man she’d married. “I think you need to be able to forgive each other and laugh together.”
Such simplicity took Rachel’s breath away. Was that really all there was to it? She thought about her own marriage. She and Brody had failed at both. She couldn’t recall a single time when they’d laughed together. In the beginning, they’d gotten along, but it had never been joyful the way it was with Max.
A slight indent had developed between Max’s brows at his mother’s words. “And that’s it? All the pain just magically melts away? Trust is restored with a chuckle?”
Rachel put her free hand on Max’s arm and squeezed in sympathy. She’d been so busy thinking about herself this week, she hadn’t considered how hard this renewal of vows and anniversary celebration would be on Max. He’d never gotten over his father’s infidelity. And now she saw that he was also angry with his mother for staying with a man who’d betrayed her.
“Of course not,” Brandon retorted, his gray eyes hard as they rested on his son. “What I did to your mother wasn’t forgiven overnight. It took years before she began to trust me again. And now that she does, I would never do anything else to hurt her.”
“Max, this is a party,” his mother said, her voice showing no signs of stress. “My anniversary party. Please behave.”
As the tableau played out before her, Rachel had a hard time swallowing past the lump in her throat. Seeing Max’s expression darken and knowing why he was so upset made her realize she’d been a fool to wonder if the passion they shared might lead to something more.
If twenty years had passed without him forgiving his parents their shortcomings, she’d been a fool to hope he would ever forgive her.
Laughter and forgiveness.
His mother was kidding herself. For years she’d turned a blind eye to her husband’s second life with the woman he couldn’t bring himself to live without. She should have included sacrifice in the mix of ingredients that kept a marriage going. Because, in his opinion, if she hadn’t sacrificed her pride, her self-confidence, and her peace of mind, she would have divorced Brandon a long time ago. Instead, her husband had violated her trust with his infidelity and yet she’d stayed.
She’d stayed because she loved him.
And she’d taught Max a valuable lesson about trust, marriage and love. He wouldn’t make his mother’s mistakes. He wouldn’t trust. He wouldn’t marry. He wouldn’t love.
The first two he could control. It was the last that worried him.
Coming here tonight with Rachel brought home his own weakness. He’d grown preoccupied with a woman who behaved like his father, keeping secrets, sharing only the surface of her life, not the emotions that drove her actions. How could he trust her? What hidden bombs lurked beneath her composed exterior, waiting to detonate at the worst possible time?
A couple weeks ago he’d wagered an extremely valuable car that he wouldn’t marry. Falling in love had been the furthest thing from his mind. But that’s before Rachel had brought up all the unresolved issues between them. Telling himself that it was nothing more than passion that needed to run its course was a speech he was having a harder and harder time selling. What he felt for her ran deeper than desire. It had sunk its claws into his soul.
He couldn’t control his fierce need for her. Just like his father couldn’t control whatever had made him stay married to one woman and love another for more than twelve years. Max had become just like his father. He’d grown up despising Brandon because he’d let his emotional need for Nathan’s mother damage his marriage, and in Max’s eyes, destroyed his credibility and his character.
Her hand slipped into his to draw him along to the buffet. The simple contact tugged his pulse into a sprint.
Being with Rachel made a mockery of his principles. Yet the idea of walking away was sheer agony. He’d believed the only solution would be to purge his need for her. And the only way he knew to do that was to keep her in his bed until he grew tired of her.
Who was he kidding? He grew more attached to her every day.
On their way to the backyard where a dining tent had been set up to accommodate the guests, they were intercepted by a dateless Jason.
“I don’t believe we’ve met.” Max’s best friend took Rachel’s hand and bent forward to smile into her eyes. “I’m Jason Sterling, and you are way too gorgeous to waste your time on my friend here.”
Max stiffened at his friend’s flirtatious manner. They’d competed over women a time or two, but once either staked his claim, the other immediately backed off. A growl started building in Max’s chest as Jason’s gaze dropped from Rachel’s face to scope out the rest of her.
“Rachel Lansing,” she said. “I know your father. How are he and Claire doing?”
“They’re doing great, thanks to you. My father’s never been happier.” Jason’s keen eyes surveyed them. “Are you two dating?” A vile grin curved his lips as he looked to Max for confirmation.
“Something like that.” Max stared down his friend, warning Jason to keep further comments to himself, and slid his hand into the small of Rachel’s back.
Jason looked positively delighted. “How long has this been going on?”
“We’re just old friends,” Rachel said, offering her own version of their relationship.
“Are you, now?” Jason looked entirely too pleased with himself as he turned to Max. “I got an offer on my ‘69 Corvette yesterday. Looks like I should take it. I have a feeling there’s a new car in my near future.”
The taunt infuriated Max. “I’ve got room in my garage for the ‘Vette. Maybe I’ll take it off your hands.”
Jason just laughed and turned his charm back on Rachel. “Will you sit next to me at dinner?”
“She’s with me,” Max growled.
“I thought you two were just old friends.”
Max stepped between Rachel and Jason, bumping his best friend in the process. “You’re supposed to bring a date to events like this, not poach someone else’s.” It wasn’t until he’d settled Rachel at the table and taken his place beside her that his annoyance with Jason dulled to a nagging irritation.
Snarling like a guard dog was not the usual way he kept other men from sniffing around his dates. On the other hand, he wasn’t sure he’d ever cared enough to warn anyone off before.
Rachel’s hand settled on his thigh. His attention jerked in her direction.
Her eyes were soft with questions. “What was that about?”
“It was just Jason being Jason.” For some reason he didn’t want to explain about the bet.
“Why did you tell him we were just old friends?”
“I guess it’s a little bit of a stretch.” Her lips thinned as she pressed them together. “Why did you give him the impression we’re dating?”
“Aren’t we?”
“I don’t think so.” She settled her napkin on her lap. “The term seems too tame for what we’re doing.”
And wasn’t she right about that. He remembered how she’d looked this