Page 5 of Maximum Dare
“Oh, I’m staying for the whole show,” he said with a grin.
“Our family is not a show.”
Itwasa show.
What with my hotheaded Brazilian mum and Nick’s side of the family, the entire evening promised to be full of entertainment—more like a horror show, actually.
Nick waggled his eyebrows. “By the way, thank you for taking care ofthat.”
“Daisy?”
He nodded. “This is out of character for her.”
“Boring as hell,” muttered Morgan.
“She’s not boring,” said Nick. “She just plays it safe. All. The. Time.”
I ignored that. “Happy birthday, bro.”
“Thanks for being here, Max.” He gave me an affectionate glance before reaching over and shutting the door in my face.
Their car pulled away from the curb.
I swore under my breath.
I’d landed at Heathrow a few hours ago and had raced to check into The Waldorf so I could change and make it here on time. So much for trying to beat the Friday night traffic and be the good brother.
I headed back to Daisy with my game face on. Negotiating with a jilted ex was the last thing I’d had on my agenda for this evening. A nice cold beer had been in my future. A quiet evening fighting jet lag and catching up. Anything but having to deal withthis.
“Hi.” I smiled at her warmly. “Nick sends his apologies for leaving.”
She looked surprised. “I think Morgan took a photo of me.”
“Nick had her delete it.”
“He did?”
“I made sure of it.” I gestured to Carl. “Can you wait in the car, please?”
We watched him get comfortable in the driver’s seat.
“Carl’s a bit overzealous, I’m afraid. Your glasses…perhaps I can give you something for them?”
She gave me a thin smile. “You must not visit often? I’ve never met you before.”
I visited frequently—every few months, at least. But Nick had kept Daisy a secret from me, even though they apparently had been living together. It made me wonder why he’d not introduced us. My mother would certainly have mentioned her.
She seemed nice enough for our family.
I glanced at my watch. There was enough time to get back to the hotel and put in a few hours of work.
“I’m so embarrassed,” Daisy said softly.
“No one saw.”
“Everyone saw.”
Not that it mattered now, but I still decided to ask. “Why did you come here?”
