Colorado 01 The Gamble (59 page)

I tried to keep the tone light. “That’s a
lot, was your letter ten pages long?”

Max’s eyes came to me. “Curt had a natural
talent with bein’ able to be a serious fuckin’ pain in the ass in
twenty words or less, so no.”

I smiled at him, put my hot dog down on the
tray and started another one, asking, “So, he knew someone wanted
to kill him.”

“Apparently, yeah.”

“Why didn’t he go to the police?”

“Question for the ages, babe, why did Curt
do most of the shit he did?”

I had no answer for that.

“Does Bitsy know she’s under threat?” I went
on.

“Mick and I talked, we thought she should
know, we told her.”

“Oh dear,” I muttered, thinking that
probably wasn’t very fun at all.

“Yeah, she didn’t know whether to be freaked
or pissed.”

I looked from my hot dog to Max. “Which did
she settle on?”

Max grinned at me and answered,
“Pissed.”

I stopped wrapping hot dogs with gooey
biscuit dough and leaned into Max. “Is she really going to be
safe?”

Max stopped putting blankets on the pigs and
held my eyes. “Yeah, she’d be here or we’d be there if I didn’t
trust Mick. He’s got a man watchin’ her house. Burt, who drives her
everywhere she needs to go when she isn’t with family or friends,
has been told. Her folks and sister have been told. I talked to him
and her brother-in-law is spendin’ the night tonight. They got a
huge security system in that house, never use it, but Bitsy’s
promised to keep it active when she’s in or out of the house.”

I was beginning to realize why the moody Max
was in attendance that afternoon as I turned back to the hot dogs.
“That makes me feel a little better.”

“I’ll feel better when they catch this
fuck,” Max muttered.

“Me too,” I agreed and then I caught sight
of his hot dogs and informed him, “Max, you don’t put two biscuits
on the hot dog, only one.”

“One don’t cover it, Duchess,” Max informed
me and I looked at him.

“
Yes, well, this is true, but I don’t have
two hundred pounds of pure muscle to fuel. I have a behind that
likes biscuits and asks them to stay awhile in the form of
fat
. Ergo, only
one biscuit.”

He grinned at me and proclaimed, “You got a
great ass, babe.”

“I’ve got a fat ass, Max.”

Without warning, both his hands were on my
ass and the front of my body was plastered to the front of his.
Surprised at my new position and the swiftness I was in it, I put
my hands on his chest and tilted my head back.

He wasn’t grinning anymore when he repeated,
“You’ve got a great ass, Nina.”

“Max –”

“You aren’t fat.”

“Max –”

“Your whole body is fuckin’ beautiful.”

My heart skipped a beat and my stomach
melted as did my body and it did this into him and I said again,
“Max –”

“Not a big fan of my woman running herself
down, not even doin’ it as a joke. You got an unbelievably pretty
face, fantastic fuckin’ eyes and a spectacular body.”

“Max, I –”

His hands squeezed my bottom and he
interrupted me. “And I hear you say different again, Duchess, I’m
not gonna like it.”

I studied him and realized he was
perfectly serious, about
all
of
it, and I had no idea whatsoever how to respond to that.

“Yeah?” he prompted when I seemed unable to
form words because I was too busy being moved by all he’d said and
the fact that he meant it.

Then for some stupid, insane, irrational
reason, five stupid, insane and irrational words came out of my
mouth. “Why do you like me?”

His hands slid from my behind to the small
of my back as his head tilted to the side and he asked, “What?”

“Why do you like me?” I threw out a hand and
continued. “Why are you so sure about all of this?”

His grin came back and he stated, “It ain’t
because you know how I like my coffee.”

My stomach melted to non-existence at him
imparting the knowledge that he remembered what I said that morning
and my hands slid up to his neck.

“You take your coffee black, Max, that isn’t
hard to remember,” I told him and my hands gave his neck a squeeze.
“And it also isn’t answering my question.”

“Think I just mentioned your pretty face,
your beautiful eyes and your spectacular body,” he reminded me.

“That’s it?”

His eyes roamed the area of my head before
they came to mine and he added, “You got great hair.”

“Max.”

He held my gaze for a long moment then his
brows drew together and he asked, “You’re serious?”

I leaned back a bit in his arms and
answered, “Of course.”

He watched me another moment then muttered
in disbelief, “Fuck.”

“Fuck what?”

“You can’t be serious,” he told me.

“I am,” I replied.

“Babe,” he said.

And that was it. I waited for more but
apparently that really was it.

“That’s it? Babe?”

“Nina, for Christ’s sake.” Now he sounded
impatient and I started to get scared.

I drew back further but his arms got
tighter.

“Max, I asked you a question,” I prompted,
the fear becoming full-fledged as the impatience hit his
features.

“Think you were there when you got in my
face about rentin’ this house,” he told me.

“Yes, but –”

“And stomped on your high-heeled boots in
your cute little tantrum when you walked out that first night and
took me on again outside in a fuckin’ snowstorm.”

My tantrum wasn’t
cute
. It wasn’t even a
tantrum
. I was
angry
.

I let that slide and started, “Of course,
but –”

“And you’re a zombie in the mornin’ and it’s
fuckin’ adorable.”

The fear started sliding away and I started
melting back into him.

“Max –”

“You were also there when you told me you
loved my house. And when you told me beer was invented in Germany.
And when you told Cotton how his pictures made you feel. And, if I
remember, you were there when you looked at the bluff like you’d
stepped into heaven. And when you went on about some television
character’s lipstick. And you were also there when you took on
Damon for Mindy. And when you practically threw Mindy in Jeff’s
arms. And when you threw down with Kami and Shauna, both in one
night. And you were definitely there when you saved Mindy’s life
yesterday and you were also fuckin’ there when you did what you did
for Mindy today.”

I couldn’t believe he remembered all that.
Heck, until then,
I
hadn’t
remembered all that. Some of it but not all of it and some of it I
was trying to forget because it hadn’t been all that
fun.

“Max –”

“The people in this town are friendly enough
with outsiders, Duchess, but only as much as they gotta be. They’re
friendly with you because they like you and they like you because,
like me, they see all that, that’s a fuckuva lot to like and they
know that’s just scratchin’ the surface.”

I couldn’t take anymore, I wanted to, but I
couldn’t.

“Stop talking now,” I whispered because if
he didn’t I’d start crying.

“You asked.”

“Okay, I did, but you need to stop talking
now.”

“Baby –”

I looked down at the cookie sheet. “And
don’t be nice anymore, I prefer you annoying.”

His body started shaking with laughter and
he called, “Nina, darlin’, look at me.”

I kept my face averted. “No, I need to put
the pasta in the water.”

“Honey –”

I pushed against his shoulders. “Let me go,
Max.”

I felt his face in my neck. “You’re
demonstrating another reason I like you right now when you act
crazy and cute.”

Only Holden Maxwell would think my neurotic
crazy was cute.

I kept pushing his shoulders and demanded,
“Stop it, Max.”

His hand slid up my spine, his fingers
sifted in my hair and his lips went to my ear. “All that, and
there’s a lot of it, Duchess, I can hold in my arms. You wanna know
why I’m so sure, that’s why.”

I choked back my tears and this made a
girlie noise so I shoved my face in his chest.

He held my face there with his hand in my
hair and he held me close with his arm around my waist. I held back
the tears and I did this by deep breathing loudly.

Once I succeeded, Max kissed the top of my
head again and offered, “I’ll put the macaroni on.”

Then he let me go and I turned back to the
biscuits and hot dogs instead of downing the entire glass of wine
which was what I wanted to do or, better, move back into Max’s
arms.

* * * * *

We’d sat at the stools to eat the macaroni
and cheese and pigs in a blanket.

We took our slices of cake up to the loft
and ate them in bed while watching the horror movie.

The dirty plates were on the nightstand, I
had my wineglass in my hand. The pillows were piled up and I was in
the curve of Max’s body as well as his arm.

I was thinking that horror movies were a bit
less scary watching them curled into Max, though not that less
scary.

We were coming onto the climax and I was
thinking we were in the homestretch. The heroine had to survive, of
course, or how could there be a sequel? She was the only one left
of the original crew, someone had to survive.

Though it wasn’t looking good for her.

She ran into the deserted, broken down cabin
which was a mistake, seeing as the psychopath used to live there
before he hacked his whole family up with an axe and that was his
favorite haunt.

She turned a corner into a room and there he
was, him and his axe and he was ready to strike.

So he did.

At the same time, Max’s phone rang.

I jumped half a foot up from the bed and
emitted a little terrified scream, nearly sloshing my wine on the
bed.

Max started laughing.

Then he hit the pause on the remote and
leaned into me, grabbing the phone from his nightstand and beeping
it on.

Up on my elbow, I took a calming sip of wine
and twisted my head to look at him as he said into the phone,
“Yeah?” My eyes caught his and he said, “Yeah, sure, she’s here.”
Then he offered the phone to me.

I felt my eyebrows go up.

“Me?” I asked.

“Arlene,” he answered.

“What?” I asked.

He shook the phone at me. I sat up and took
it.

“Hello?” I said into it when I put it to my
ear.

“Where are you?” Arlene queried.

“Um… watching a movie with Max.”

“Watching a movie with Max?” Arlene asked as
if I said I was strapping in to take a joyride with Evel
Knievel.

“Yes,” I answered.

“You’re supposed to be at The Dog with me
getting wasted.”

Oh dear. I forgot about that.

“Oh, Arlene, I’m so sorry, I… the day kinda
got away from me.”

“Yeah, I heard, two blond English guys are
at the hotel bein’ snooty and actin’ like their shit don’t stink.
Two blond English guys, word on the street says you, your Ma and
Max faced off with this mornin’. That makes Damon, Kami, Shauna and
two snooty, blond English guys. Girl, what is it with you?”

“Um…” I answered for there was no answer to
give, I didn’t know what it was with me.

“You fight with two English guys then throw
a fit on the sidewalk outside The Mark in the mornin’, come night,
you get blotto at The Dog.”

Wow, the people in Gnaw Bone didn’t mess
around with gossip.

“Is that a rule?” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s a rule,” Arlene answered.

“I thought it would be better to give myself
a facial and relax in front of a movie,” I told her.

“You thought wrong,” she replied then
demanded, “Give the phone to Max.”

“Sorry?”

“Phone… to… Max,” she repeated.

“Okay,” I agreed, happy to give the unhappy
Arlene to Max, I held the phone to him and said, “She wants to talk
to you.”

His mouth was twitching and he took the
phone from me then he put it to his ear.

“Arlene,” he said then he paused to listen
then he said, “Right.” Then he bleeped the phone off and put it
back in its charger.

I stared at the phone. Then I stared at
him.

Then I noted, “That was quick.”

“Yep,” he replied.

“What did she say?”

“You and your Mom are meetin’ her for drinks
tomorrow night.”

“We are?”

“She says she’s arrangin’ a Girl’s Night
Out.”

“Um…”

“Jenna’s there now too, Arlene says she’ll
be there again tomorrow night. She says Jenna says she wants to get
to know you.”

“Um…”

“I’ll go with,” Max offered and I stared at
him.

Then I said, “Command performance Girl’s
Night Out with Arlene I’m guessing doesn’t include you being
there.”

“I’ll take Brody and Steve, we’ll let you do
what you gotta do and we’ll have Guy’s Night Out.”

“I don’t think Girl’s Night Out works when
it happens at the same place and the same time as Guy’s Night Out.”
I supplied helpfully.

“Babe,” he replied, grinning then said no
more.

Still being helpful, I explained, “I know
you think that word speaks volumes but, I have to tell you, it
actually doesn’t.”

His grin got bigger then it changed then my
wineglass was no longer in my hand, it was on the nightstand. I had
one second to look at it sitting there then I was in Max’s arms and
on top of Max.

“Max…” I started, his hand slid in my hair
and he rolled, taking me with him so he was on top. “Max! The
movie!”

His mouth was at my neck as he informed me,
“The police guy saves her at the last minute then he gets hacked in
the first five minutes of the sequel.”