“I’m not sure what my brothers said, but—”
“They told me you left me because of another man. They told me that you’d been hiding out in Montana at your grandmother’s ranch. All this f**king time, you’ve been alive and content in another state, happily living your life while I tormented myself with thoughts that you were dead, that I’d never f**king see you again,” Max growled, angry now that he’d gotten over feeling sorry for himself. He’d never been soul mates with this woman. Everything between them had always been a lie. “Why marry me? It wasn’t like you didn’t have your own money,” he rasped, pissed that he had ever been such a sucker for her beautiful eyes and sweet demeanor. “And where the hell is this other guy? Did you run away from him, too?”
She struggled beneath him, twisting and turning to free her arms from the bulk of his body on top of hers. “I married you because I loved you. I didn’t want anyone else.” Finally her arms came free and she grabbed him on both sides of his head, staring fiercely into his eyes.
Max stared back, losing himself in the depths of a pair of shimmering blue eyes that had never failed to mesmerize him. Always had. And at that moment, just for a brief period of time, he wanted so damn badly to believe her. Because right now…nothing made sense. His mind was whirling from an overabundance of alcohol and all he could see was Mia’s fiery eyes and tempting lips, and kissing her seemed like something he had to do, he needed to do, and to hell with everything else. Grasping her wrists, he pinned them over her head and almost groaned as her br**sts jutted out and brushed his chest. He swooped down and covered her mouth with his, sipping from her like a man dying of thirst. She opened to him immediately, like a flower that had just been waiting to fully bloom. Max allowed himself to indulge, and if he wasn’t already drunk on alcohol, he’d be intoxicated by her. Her taste, her smell, her response—everything about her enchanted him, and he couldn’t get enough. God help him, but he was completely lost.
Suddenly, sobriety prevailed. She betrayed me. She’s playing me. And I’m letting her do it knowingly this time.
“Fuck.” The curse flew forcefully from his lips as he tore his mouth away from hers, angry with himself. “What the hell am I doing? I must have some kind of secret masochistic tendencies.”
Mia squirmed out from under him, getting to her feet and leaving him laid out on the couch on his stomach, white spots starting to form in front of his eyes.
Either the couch is twirling, or I’m really wasted.
“I think you need coffee,” she said quietly, walking away and into the kitchen.
“I need you,” he whispered huskily, knowing she couldn’t hear him, and feeling more lonely and abandoned than he’d ever felt in his life. Closing his eyes from the pain he was feeling, all he could think of were the things Kade and Travis had revealed before he’d left to find Mia.
She had to leave…
There was this boyfriend…
She was at Gran’s house in Montana, and I think that’s where she is now…
She never meant to hurt you…
Yeah, I helped her disappear…
The last comment had come from Travis, and Max hadn’t been able to keep himself from trying to throttle the bastard. With the conversation still droning in his muddled mind, he gave in to the darkness that was threatening to consume him. It would give him a brief period of time in which he didn’t need to think.
Being grateful for some sort of mercy, Max promptly passed out.
“Max?” Mia poked him experimentally, and then a little harder when he didn’t respond. Sitting the cup of strong coffee on the end table, she fished in his pocket for his keys and went outside to the sporty little vehicle he had apparently rented. Opening the door, she immediately saw the partial bottle of whiskey sitting on the passenger seat.
“Not enough to kill him, but he’s going to have a pretty horrible hangover in the morning,” she mused, speaking aloud, stunned when something hurtled toward her. A sudden impact with the projectile nearly put her on her ass in the dirt.
“Tucker,” she gasped with surprise, removing his paws from her chest and cuddling him when he had all four paws on the front seat. The hound gave her a disapproving look, but he licked her hand as she scratched him, his chubby body shuddering with delight.
After the canine had gotten enough affection, he jumped down and sniffed at the ground to do his business, acting like he wasn’t entirely sure he liked his new surroundings.
“Come,” Mia told Tucker affectionately, taking him into the house and closing the door behind her.
Tucker went immediately to Max’s prone body, sniffing him first, and then positioning himself on the floor right beside the couch, shooting Mia an admonishing look.
“He’s drunk. I didn’t do it. I wasn’t there. Why didn’t you stop him?” she said defensively, and then laughed at herself for having a conversation with her dog and accusing the animal of negligence.
Mia plucked the cup of coffee intended for Max from the table and seated herself in a recliner, wondering why Max had brought Tucker with him. For a man who insisted that he and the dog didn’t like each other, they certainly seemed bonded.
She sipped the hot coffee, watching Max sleep, his eyebrows drawn together as though he were frowning while he slumbered.
As long as she’d known him, she’d never seen Max have more than one drink. He never did anything to excess, and that included not drinking more than he could handle. What had prompted him to drink that way?
Maybe he had felt he needed it to be able to look at me again.
Mia cringed, fairly certain she was the reason for Max’s sudden binge. Why else would he have to slug a ton of cheap whiskey at the end of the drive?
“He hates me, Tucker,” she whispered softly to her dog, getting only what looked like a nod from her canine as he cocked his head. “And he thinks I had another man.”
Maybe it was best for Max to think that she had betrayed him that way so he would hate her completely, but she had to wonder what her brothers had told him. She’d tried Travis’ office phone and Kade’s cell while she had been making coffee, still with no response.
I want to hate you, but I f**king can’t.
Max’s words played over and over in her mind, but she knew that had been the alcohol talking. Every word, every action since he’d come through that door had been from severe intoxication. Nothing he said or did could be taken seriously. Still, that kiss…