herself into his arms and tell him everything. Once upon a time it had been so easy to trust. But she’d learned the hard way not everyone had her best interests at heart. “But I can’t take that chance.”
“You don’t trust me?”
Instead of answering, she shrugged.
Max blew out his breath. “If anyone in this relationship deserves not to trust, it’s me.”
“I never asked you to trust me,” she reminded him. “I’m sorry if I’ve upset you, but I need to do this myself.” She tried a smile. “And what’s wrong with that? You and I both know this thing between us is going to burn out eventually. It’ll be easier to part ways if I don’t owe you anything.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to owe me.”
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable taking help without being able to pay you back.”
Max wasn’t usually, at a loss for words, but he seemed to be struggling with what to say to her now. Rachel imagined he was sorting through his conflicting impulses. Continue to push into her life and become the guy she could rely on, the one who would be there when things got difficult or uncomfortable. Or just enjoy the physical side of their relationship and be the guy that moved on before things got too complicated.
“Do you want me to find someone to come in for me starting tomorrow?”
The way his eyes widened, he hadn’t expected her to be so matter-of-fact about ending things. He didn’t know how much armor she’d wrapped around her heart or how many times she’d smiled in the face of heartbreak.
“No.” He scrubbed at his unshaven cheek and studied her from beneath long, dark lashes. “Get in when you can. We’re not done with this. Not by a long shot.”
Rachel nodded, her throat too tight to speak as she watched him disappear out her door. For a long time her legs were too unsteady to move. By the time she walked to her large front window and sank to the floor, Max’s car was long gone. She rested her chin on the sill and wished he could hear her silent plea for him to come back, take her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be okay.
A half an hour ticked by before she gave up hope. Max couldn’t help her because she wouldn’t let him. If she was miserable, she had only herself to blame.
Max drove out of Rachel’s neighborhood, his gut on fire. He hadn’t been this mad since Nathan decided to join the family business a year ago. But at least then, his anger made sense. His half brother had been pushing his way into a family where he didn’t belong since their father brought him home twenty years ago.
Max had no real reason to be mad at Rachel. She didn’t want his help. So what? She had an independent streak a mile long. He’d known that about her since they first met.
Did he really think she owed him an explanation about the things going on in her life? What were they to each other? Lovers. Casual ones at that. He’d told her they had no future. He’d given her a clear picture of his boundaries. Now he was upset because she didn’t need him?
Max gunned the engine and pulled out into traffic.
This was for the best. It would be easier in the long run if they didn’t draw out the goodbyes. A clean break. Just like last time.
Only here he was. In deeper than last time. On fire. Singed body and soul by emotions only she aroused. Around every corner, more secrets. More lies. And his need for her showed no sign of abating any time soon.
The next morning he arrived at the office tired and cranky. However, his surly mood brightened slightly at the sight of Rachel at her desk looking just as exhausted. She didn’t greet him as he neared, but her tight expression told him she was acutely aware of his presence. To his dismay, he was relieved to see her. Happy, in fact. The sight of her shouldn’t lift his spirits. He was still mad at her.
“I told you to take your time getting in this morning,” he said, accepting the cup of coffee she held up to him.
“I know. And I appreciate it, but Hailey brought me in.”
“Did you tell her what happened?”
Rachel shook her head. “She saw my car and she was no more happy about it than you were.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
She appeared so miserable it took all his considerable willpower to keep from sweeping her into his arms and kissing away the worry lines between her brows. Instead, he jerked his head toward his office.
“Come in for a second.”
She hesitated. “Is this about work? Because from here on out, that’s all I want to talk to you about.”
“Yes. It’s about work. I have a difficult situation with an employee and I’d like your opinion on how to handle it.”
Once he had her inside his office, he shut the door and gestured her into one of his guest chairs. Then he strode to the window and stood staring out over downtown Houston. Behind him, he heard her soft sighs and the creak of wood as she shifted in the chair, impatient for him to begin.
“Last night you said people had taken advantage of you. What happened?”
“You said you had a situation with an employee.”
“You’re an employee.” Max turned and let his gaze catch on hers. “We have a situation.”
“I’m a contractor working for you.”
“Same difference.”
“And nothing about this situation has to do with our professional relationship.”
“It has everything to do with my ability to concentrate on work.”
“I’ll quit.”
“It won’t change my ability to get my job done. Five years ago, you walked out of my life and never looked back. That’s not going to happen again.”
“What are you saying?”
Yes, what was he saying? “That I want to see where this goes. And I want to start by learning about your past and your present. Maybe that way we can have a future.”
“It will never work between us.”
He snorted. Any other woman he’d ever dated would have been dancing for joy at what he’d just offered. He had to pick the one woman more skittish about commitment than he was. “What makes you so certain of that?”
“The biggest problem is you can’t trust me.”
“And you don’t trust me,” Max countered, still smarting from that revelation. “That puts us on the same page.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “We’re not even in the same bookstore.”
“Let’s see if we can change that. Tell me who took advantage of you that makes you so skittish about accepting help.”
She opened her mouth, but no words came out. A second later, she bit her bottom lip. Max waited while she grappled with what story to tell him and how much to tell. Letting her sort it out without prompting tested his patience, but he kept silent. At last, she seemed to come to some sort of decision. Her breath puffed out.
“Aunt Jesse.” She closed her eyes. “My dad’s sister.”
“What happened?”
Instead of forcing intimacy by sitting in the chair next to her, Max gave her space by keeping his big executive desk between them.
“I was eighteen when my dad died and still in my senior year of high school. Hailey was two years younger. Since our mom left when we were both young, I’d always thought of Hailey as my responsibility. She was diagnosed with asthma when she turned six. The first time she collapsed and turned blue, I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my whole life. After that, I watched her like