Page 104 of Scandalous Lover

I want to be that amazing, fun girl.

I want to be cool.

I want to just take this as it comes and not be so desperately, clingingly attached to something I cannot ever have.

But I’m not that girl.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Sam

Naomi’s not gone two minutes before someone slides onto the bench across from me. I look up from my phone into the smiling face of Max, the caretaker of the guys’ property on Merit Island, the close island neighbor to Faraday.

Max is an old sage and has been known to swoop in to help many people solve problems with his surprisingly astute insights. I know Avery, for one, makes special trips over to Merit just to seek out his council.

I haven’t had as much of a personal relationship with Max as the other guys. I don’t spend much time at the Merit mansion, but he and I have a comfortable friendship built over years of seeing each other at events and around town.

“Hey, Max. How are you?”

His big buddha smile beams on his round, happy face. “Enjoying the only day I was given.”

I laugh at the perfectly Max response and nod. “That sounds about right. What brings you to Faraday?”

“I just had a feeling I should come to this place.”

I stifle another grin. It’s hard to keep a straight face in the presence of this peacefully joyful soul. “Well, can I buy you a drink?”

“It appears you already have two,” Max observes.

“I do. I have a…a date, I guess.”

“A date he guesses. I see I chose the right table to sit down at.”

I narrow my eyes at his still smiling face. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You tell me.”

I take a long sip of my water through a straw as the bartender sets a glass down in front of Max. The old man pulls his drink toward himself without taking his eyes off me. He takes a sip and continues to watch me.

Finally, I lose the battle. “I’m sleeping with Dom’s little sister, and I think I might be in love with her.”

Max’s grin grows impossibly wider. “Fantastic.”

I shake my head. “It might be fantastic, but I know Dom’s going to freak if he ever finds out.”

“You know nothing.”

A deep sigh escapes my lungs at his answer. I was hoping for some advice, not a cryptic fortune cookie message, no matter how well meaning. “I guess.”

“Tell me about the woman.”

I feel myself involuntarily smile. “She’s amazing. She just has this essence about her, like the warm bath I’ve been searching for my whole life. Like I can relax for the first time. Honestly, I hadn’t even realized how hard I was searching for my person. How much mental energy went into worrying that I would never find her. But now that she’s here, I feel like a weight has been lifted. Like I stepped out of a fog.”

“But you would consider walking away from this to not risk upsetting your friend.”

“I don’t see what choice I have, really. If Dom isn’t on my side…” I stop, not ready to admit my greatest shame. Not even to this seemingly safe third party.

“You worry about upsetting Dominic because you’ve come to believe that you are the lesser of your friends due to your family’s financial situation. And having Dominic as a close friend and business partner offers you the financial security you feel is necessary for your continued belonging in the group.”

---