Best Man For The Job (The Men of Fear Incorporated Book 1) (14 page)

Chapter Fourteen

Max

It had been over a month since Sloane walked out of Max’s life. She moved from her apartment and changed her cell phone number. He didn’t know what had happened. Why did she walk out on him? They had just started something incredible. He felt her absence every day.

Foster and Gutter Mouth would only confirm that she was all right. The few times he saw Bella, she scowled at him before leaving the room. That was something she had never done before.

What the hell? Did he do something wrong with Sloane? He replayed the last 24 hours they spent together over in his mind for the hundredth time. He couldn’t think of one thing except letting her leave. Why did he let her go? After the third day with no word from her, he knew it was over. His heart ached for her. He had never loved anyone before, and he never would again.

He tried not to think about his heartache as he entered his mother’s living room.

“Hey, Ma.” He wrapped his tiny mother in his arms. She was small and fragile.

Her thin eyebrows pinched together as she pulled away from him. “What is it, Max?”

“It’s nothing, Ma.”

“Don’t lie to me, boy. I’m your mother; I know when something is eating you. You look like you’re being devoured from the inside out, right now.”

Max sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. “I met a girl—it ended before it could really begin, and I don’t know why. It’s got me mixed up inside.”

His mother looked surprised. “A girl?”

“Yeah.”

His mom smiled at him. “Is she pretty?”

“Beautiful, but didn’t you hear me? It’s over.”

Her expression sobered. “Why?”

He shook his head in defeat. “I don’t know.”

“I’ve never seen you like this over a girl, Max. Do you love her?”

“Yeah, Ma, I do. I love her.” A wide grin stretched across her face. “Why are you smiling?” Max asked suspiciously.

“It’s not like you to give up anything without a fight.”

“She moved and changed her number. What am I supposed to do?”

Now the crazed woman was belly laughing at him. His own mother. She actually had tears in her eyes, she was laughing so hard.

“What the hell, Ma?” Max was getting pissed. He came here for a little comfort, not to have his pain laughed at. Especially not by her.

“Oh honey, I’m sorry, but you’re a private investigator for crying out loud. It’s your job to find people that don’t want to be found. What are you waiting for?”

“I don’t know what I did to make her leave in the first place. Until I can figure that out, how can I fix us?”

“All’s fair in love and war. Play dirty. Don’t give this girl up without fighting for her, Max. You’ll never forgive yourself. You’ll always wonder ‘What if’ and that’s no way to live. Understand me?”

Fight dirty, she says. Yeah, he could do that. Max knew just where to start too. With his resolve in place, he kissed her forehead. “I understand. I’ve gotta go, Ma. I have an idea.”

“That’s my boy. Now go get that girl back. I wanna meet the woman that stole my baby’s heart.”

After leaving his mom, Max drove straight to Foster’s house. He was getting some answers this time. He walked with confidence up to the front door. Bella answered after the second knock.

“Max. What are you doing here? Foster is at work.”

“I know. I came to talk to you.”

“Me? Why me?”

Without waiting for an invitation, Max entered the house just like he had dozens of times in the past. She looked nervous and yet defiant at the same time. She was so cute; it was no wonder Foster was smitten. The wedding was rapidly approaching. Max didn’t want to face Sloane for the first time since she left at the rehearsal dinner in front of everyone.

“Please, Mirabella. I know she talked to you. I don’t know what I did, but I can’t keep on like this,” he roared. “She just walked away like it didn’t mean a damn thing. I’ve waited weeks for her to tell me what went wrong. I need to know. That woman drives me crazy, but I can’t stop loving her any more that I can stop breathing.”

Max raked his hands through his hair. He didn’t mean to yell at her, but he couldn’t help himself. A tear slid down his cheek when he raised his head to meet her eyes. She looked shocked. Why did everyone think it was so unheard of for him to feel something for someone? Sure, he never had before, but that’s because he didn’t know Sloane before. She was everything he never knew he’d wanted.

“I’m sorry, did you say
love
?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Whoa. Stop right there and let’s take this step-by-step. When did you fall in love with my cousin?” Bella put her hands on her hips and waited for him to answer.

“When? I don’t know, exactly. I knew I wanted her the moment I saw her. I knew for sure, without a fuckin’ doubt, before I took her to my bed though. I don’t know if Foster ever mentioned it, but I don’t bring women to my house. There are definitely no overnight guests, ever.”

“Why is that?” She sounded sincerely intrigued.

“Someday when I settle down, I don’t want my girl to have to wonder how many women were in my bed, or if I took them on the couch or kitchen floor. I wanted every experience to be new and special.”

“Then why, Max? Why did you pick Sloane?” Tears were freely flowing from Bella now.

“Because I love her.”

“No, Max. Why did you tell Charlie that Sloane was a mistake, that she was just a release to you?” she yelled at him.

“What the hell are you talking about? I haven’t talked to Charlie since she left the club that night with you guys.”

“The next morning Sloane heard you on the deck. You were whispering on the phone with her.”

“I was talking to Gutter Mouth. To answer the other question, I wasn’t talking about Sloane, I was talking about
Charlie
. Gutter Mouth has the hots for Sloane. I told him Charlie meant nothing, that I was in love with Sloane.”

Max stood up and paced back and forth. He couldn’t believe it. After what they shared that night, she actually believed he felt nothing for her. Was she blind?

“Call him and ask him if you don’t believe me, Bella. I need her. Please help me.”

***

Sloane

Sloane had been in her new apartment on the opposite end of town for a few weeks. She had been working ridiculous hours as a waitress at Sully’s, a trendy bar and grill. It was tiring being on her feet all the time, but it kept her mind busy. The less time she had to think about Max, the better off she would be.

She had thought time would make the memories bittersweet, but time didn’t always heal. Every day she missed him more. She had to stop herself from wondering what he was doing. Or who he was doing. Her heart couldn’t take the answer.

Tonight would be a madhouse. A huge fight was playing on the television screens. She didn’t know the names of the guys beating each other’s face in; however, she knew her tips would be improved because of them. The crowds were already filling in. Normally she welcomed the chaos, but this damn flu was kicking her ass this last week.

“Hottie alert at your table seven, Sloane.” Donna grinned as she walked past.

“Great,” she mumbled. The other girls got excited when good-looking guys sat in their areas and flirted with them. Slone only compared them all to Max. Every one of them she found wanting. A lone man sat at table seven. With the menu concealing his face, she began her rehearsed speech to get his attention.

“Good evening. My name’s Sloane. I’ll be your waitress tonight. Can I get you something to drink to start with?”

The man slowly lowered his menu. Staring back at her were the same whiskey eyes that haunted her dreams each and every night. She was stunned.

“Max?” she barely whispered.

“Yes, you can start by sitting down and talking with me,” he said smugly. Bastard.

“I’m working, Max. What do you want?”

Sloane was getting impatient as he sat there smiling. What was he doing here? How had he found out where she worked? Did he just happen to come in here today for dinner by chance? Was he meeting a date here? That last thought soured her stomach.

“We need to talk, Sloane. Now. I’m not waiting anymore. I’ve given you more than a month. That’s all you’re getting.”

“I’m not doing this.”

Sloane turned to walk away. Donna could take his table. She would most likely be in his lap with her tongue down his throat before last call. That’s what usually happened on Fridays and Saturdays with her. The thought made Sloane’s stomach churn even more than some random date showing up…He didn’t want her, but she still loved him.

She couldn’t sit and watch him with someone new, especially not someone Sloane worked with. She felt the bile rising. Max grabbed her arm, spinning her quickly to face him. Too quickly. The whole world spun along with her. The burning sensation filled her mouth at the same time as her saliva glands decided to work triple time. She threw up on the floor in front of them.

“Sloane, baby. Are you okay?” His voice was laced with concern. He held on to both of her upper arms as she tried to get the room to stop spinning. Maybe she was sicker than she originally thought. The spinning wasn’t slowing down. If anything, it was speeding up. Before she could answer him, everything went black.

Sloane woke up in another hospital bed. This was becoming a bad habit. She had an IV needle in her hand with clear fluids running into it from the bag hanging by the bed. She didn’t feel any shittier than before, so that must be a good sign. Actually, she
did
feel a little better. She breathed a sigh of relief.

A gentle knock sounded at the door before a doctor entered the small room. He looked up from his clipboard. His smile was almost as sexy as Max’s, and his brown eyes were so dark they almost looked black. His brown hair was a little longer than she would have expected from a doctor, and the tips were dyed blond. He looked so much like an actor playing a doctor on a cable show that she scanned the room for cameras.

“Ms. Robertson, it’s good to see you awake. I’m Dr. Hutchinson, but most of my patients call me Dr. Hank.” He extended his hand for her to shake.

“Is everything all right? I feel a lot better now.” Okay, so she was stretching the truth a bit, but he couldn’t know that.

“How long have you been feeling sick?”

“I’ve been kinda tired the last two weeks or so, but this last week has been brutal. I’ll be glad when this damn flu is gone.” She let her head fall back into the pillow. A moment later she lifted her head back up. “Um, did anyone come here with me?”

Sloane had been both hoping and dreading that Max would be there when she woke up. She knew they couldn’t be together, but damn, she wanted to see him again even though she knew it would just make things harder for her in the long run.

“There was a gentleman here with you. Last I saw, he was in the waiting room on the phone. So let’s just jump right on in, shall we?” He smiled. “Are you married?”

“No.”

“Are you seeing someone?”

“Um, no. What does my relationship status have to do with why I’m he—” Her eyes widened. “OH MY GOD!” Sloane yelled, jumping up to a sitting position, the IV tugging painfully on her hand. “Did that rat bastard give me an STD?”

Dr. Hank had the audacity to burst out in a full-out belly laugh. Sloane didn’t see the humor in finding out she’d gotten a venereal disease.
Please let it be treatable.
She was gonna kill him. She was gonna cut his—

“Goodness no, Ms. Robertson.”

“Sloane, just call me Sloane.”

“I asked because well, Sloane, you’re pregnant.”

Pregnant. She just stared at him. She could feel her mouth hanging open. She wanted to close it. She just couldn’t seem to manage to make anything move at the moment. Pregnant, oh God. How did this happen? …Never mind, she knew how it happened. She remembered every delicious moment of how it happened.

What was she going to do? How was she going to raise a child on her own? No, she couldn’t think that way. Bella would be there to help her. Plus, her parents would support her any way she needed. Shit, she was going to have a baby. She was going to have
Max’s
baby.

“I take it from your expression and from my earlier questions, that this was an unplanned pregnancy?”

“It was an unplanned affair. Not even an affair, it was one night with a friend that meant more to me than him. Shit,” she blurted out.

“Well, we’re going to need a follow-up appointment to get a family history, and at that time we can do a sonogram to find out how far along you are.”

“About four weeks,” she mumbled.

Another knock on the door. Sloane looked up at it, waiting for a nurse to walk in, but no one did. Dr. Hank answered when she didn’t.