Page 43 of Party Favors

But I was so scattered that I was heading in the wrong direction. I had gone down the hall that led to the bedrooms and came to a sudden stop, twirling around.

I’d only managed to say, “Whoops, wrong—” before I turned and crashed into Max, pressed flush against him.

He grabbed me by my elbows and held me in place so that I wouldn’t fall. Our faces were so close together that I could smell the minty toothpaste he must have used before coming over here. I desperately hoped he couldn’t smell the calzone I’d eaten earlier.

His sweet, warm breath caressed my face, and my heart started to pound against my ribs, like it was trying to break free. Our chests were pressed together and I prayed he couldn’t feel my reaction to him.

My skin burned where his fingers held on to me, and blood rushed into my ears so that for a few moments all I could hear were my own ridiculously loud, harsh breaths.

I swallowed down a gulp and looked up into his sparkling blue eyes. Something in his expression made the air in my lungs solidify and my lips tingle in anticipation.

I had never wanted to be kissed so badly in my whole life.

“You good?” he asked in a low voice that made all of my nerve endings light up.

“I ...” I was never going to be good again. Without my permission, my body leaned into his so that I could revel in his strength, and in the planes and ridges of his body that felt so delicious against my own softness. He made a sound in the back of his throat that had my stomach tightening in response.

This was an impossible situation. I didn’t want to waste any more time on men who were not interested in dating me. He’d just told me he was only looking to have fun. I couldn’t kiss him and recover from that. If I crossed that line, we would have to stop being friends, and I wanted to be his friend.

“I’m good,” I finally managed to breathe while disengaging myself from him. I was not a clumsy person, but his touch made me feel like he’d detached my central nervous system from the rest of my limbs and I was no longer in control of them.

I had managed to drop the food on the floor and stooped down to pick it up, grateful for the distraction from my thundering heartbeat and shaky extremities.

Unfortunately, Max bent down to help me and I miscalculated how close he was and we smacked our foreheads into each other. I yelped and we both apologized at the same exact time.

“Let me get it,” he said, and I quickly stood, ignoring the blood rush from standing up too quickly combined with the heat of him being so close. I put a hand over my forehead and wondered if that ringing feeling was from bumping heads with him or just from his nearness.

I dropped my hand when he straightened up. I didn’t need him to check in on me. I would be fine.

Eventually.

“Which way?” he asked.

“Over here,” I said, and walked quickly to Adrian’s man cave ... er, office. I opened the door and went inside.

One entire wall was devoted to Adrian’s saltwater aquarium.

Max let out a low whistle. “How big is that?”

“Hundreds of gallons? Thousands? I’m not really sure.” My brain still felt disconnected from the rest of me. I got out the step stool and opened the cabinet doors above the aquarium to throw in the food. Two of the sharks were extremely interested in what I was doing, but even if the third one was ignoring me, they’d all eat every last bite.

After I finished, I found Max studying the python in his terrarium behind Adrian’s desk. A desk that was for looks only, because as far as I could tell, Adrian had never actually used it.

I hated feeding the snake. I knew he wasn’t going to leap out and bite me on the face, but I still pictured it every time I had to open the top of his terrarium.

“Here, let me,” Max said, gently taking the package from my hands and opening it. I had no idea how he could tell that I was afraid, but I was thankful for his assistance.

After he’d put the frozen mouse in and reclosed the top, he said to me, “I thought you loved all animals.”

“I’m willing to make an exception for snakes. I have always been afraid of them. One of the two things Indiana Jones and I have in common.”

“What’s the other?”

“I look great in a fedora,” I said, and he laughed. I took the wrappers from him and threw them away in the trash.

He looked around the room, taking in the expensive stereo system, the gaming consoles, the imported Italian leather armchairs, the custom-made pool table. “Your boss has a lot of money.”

There was a disapproving note in his voice and I wondered what it was. That Adrian wasted it? It would be hard to argue with that.

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