Page 31 of Max

Dammit.

“Shay…”

“Yes?” She brought herself closer, her breasts pressed against him.

Fuck me, he thought and pushed away from her. She sat back, her face flaming with embarrassment. He didn’t want to hurt her, but he couldn’t kiss her. It went against the KSI rules of conduct with a client.

“I, uh…I’m sorry,” she blurted.

He reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “It’s okay, Shay. You’ve had a hard day. Nothing to be embarrassed about for needing some comfort.”

Her head dropped, and her shoulders shook. For two seconds, he was afraid she’d start crying again, but she didn’t. When she straightened, her expression was blank. That worried him. Even her eyes were blank. This was the actress, not the woman he’d gotten to know over the last two days. She’d drawn into herself.

“You’re right. We’d better get inside.”

He’d hurt her. Wanting to kick himself, Max got out of the truck and came around to open her door before she could, except she’d been in the middle of doing just that, and she fell out of the truck when he jerked the door open. He caught her, but lost his balance falling backward, landing so hard, the breath got knocked out of him the same time her knee crushed the family jewels.

“Oh, my God, I’m so sorry!”

He wheezed but shook his head. His fault. He should have checked her position in the truck.

Shay scrambled off him, but he lay there for a few seconds, trying to pull air into his lungs and doing his best not to cry like a girl. Damn, but his nuts hurt like a son of a bitch.

“Everything okay out here?” Jasper’s boots came into his line of sight, and he closed his eyes, not wanting to see the laughter reflected back at him.

“I didn’t know he was opening my door, and when I went…oh, my God, I’m so sorry!”

Shay ducked her head and ran for the house.

Jasper held his hand out to Max, but he shook his head. He needed a minute.

“You okay, man?”

“Her knee landed on my dick and my balls.”

“Ouch.”

Max closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing. He was going to need an ice pack for his balls.

“She okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Your shirt’s wet, and you were out here a long time after you cut the engine.”

Max sighed and sat up, accepting Jasper’s help this time. “She started crying. I guess the last few days finally caught up with her.”

“Crying makes me feel helpless.”

“Yeah.”

“You sure she’s okay now?”

“She will be once her father comes through surgery.”

“Speaking of that…what the hell was that all about in the hospital?”

Max explained the situation to him, and Jasper growled. “That puts you in a hell of a position.”

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