Page 10 of Maximum Dare
“Do what?”
I looked out the window as we pulled up to a terraced house. “We’re here.”
“Let me see you to the door.”
“That’s very old-fashioned of you.”
“I’m an old-fashioned guy.”
“You’re Nick’s opposite then.” As I stepped out, I realized how that sounded. I quickly met Max on the pavement. “That came out wrong.”
“Trust me, I was like him once. All fun and foolishness.”
“You’re not fun now?”
“My clients need a man who appears reliable. Being sensible comes with the territory.”
I smiled. “You must do something for entertainment when you aren’t at work?”
“I dabble in pleasure.”
My heart fluttered in my chest. I scurried on ahead down the pathway to hide the fact I was blushing again.
He joined me at the front door and waited patiently as my trembling hands fumbled for the keys in my handbag. Looking at him was half the problem. This man had me feeling all sorts of things and none of them were acceptable. He could have been my brother-in-law.
And he was so good looking, with a hint of charming, that it was hard to hate him completely. I liked knowing that Nick had a big brother to look out for him. Max would be there when things went wrong.
I pulled out my keys. “Here we are.”
“You’ll be all right?”
“Of course.” I forced a smile. “Oh, Nick left something behind. Should I give it to you?”
“Sure.”
I led him into the sparse sitting room and turned to watch his reaction. Max scanned the room as though trying to figure out what kind of life we’d lived here.
Had he visited the month before, Max would have seen how lovely I’d gotten the place. It had been a home. Now it was empty, other than the lone couch in front of us and a stack of boxes in the corner.
“Six months?” His tone sounded incredulous, as though he found it hard to believe I’d lived here with Nick that long.
“We were happy,” I whispered.
“I never came here,” he admitted. “Nick always met me at my hotel.”
This made me feel even worse.
Nick had told me he felt like the black sheep of the family and that was why he kept me out of their way. But there had been something else going on. Maybe he thought I wasn’t good enough for them? I knew his dad was the late David Banham, but he’d never made a big deal about it. Nick had always wanted to make it on his own.
“Are those his?” Max pointed to the boxes.
I shook my head. “They’re mine.”
He gave me a sympathetic look as I bent down to pick up the shoebox Nick had left behind.
I handed it to Max. “This is his.”
He gave it a shake. “What’s in here?”
