Page 33 of Max

Max let out a deep sigh. “She needs to eat.”

“Didn’t she eat at the airport?”

“No. She picked at her food, but I don’t think any of it ended up in her mouth. She was too worried about her dad.”

“Give her some time. She’ll come down when she’s ready.” Jasper handed him a plate. “You eat for right now.”

Max went over to the stove and sniffed the still simmering concoction. It smelled damn good. “You sure Mase cooked this?”

“Cole burns water, so, yeah.”

Max was starved, but the thought of Shay being hungry ate at him, so he took down a plate and loaded it with spaghetti. Looking in the fridge and finding a bottle of red wine, he opened it and poured a glass.

“I’m going to take this upstairs and leave it outside her door. Woman has to eat, or she’s going to be sick.”

Jasper gave him an expression he ignored.

“Which room is Cole in?”

“First door on the left.”

Thankfully, Jasper didn’t comment on his need to feed Shay before he fed himself. Sure, he could say some bullshit about her being the client, and that was why he wanted to take care of her, but they both knew it would be just that…bullshit. This went deeper. And it scared him, but still, he gathered everything up and walked upstairs. Only two doors were closed, so he assumed Shay was in the one at the end of the hall.

“Shay?” he called softly through the door.

“I’m fine!” The high note assured him she wasn’t fine, but he let it go.

“I brought you something to eat and a glass of wine.”

“What?” This time he barely heard her.

“Mason cooked before he left for the airport. It’s just spaghetti and burned garlic bread, but it doesn’t smell like it’ll give us food poisoning. I’m going to leave the plate here, and you get it when you’re ready. Why don’t you eat and run yourself a hot bath? It’ll help with the stress of the day.”

Silence was his only answer, but he hadn’t expected anything else. She felt embarrassed, and he knew enough about that after living with Desi to understand she wouldn’t want to face him right now. So he took himself downstairs to find his own dinner.

***

Shay waited until she heard his footsteps disappear before opening the door. Sitting on the floor was indeed food and wine. Tears sprang to her eyes for the thousandth time today. This was unexpected. She’d tried to kiss him, and he’d pushed her away. If that wasn’t bad enough, she’d then landed on him, not missing where her knee had come to rest. So not only had she embarrassed him, but she’d caused him one of the worst pains a man could suffer. And he’d still brought her something to eat.

Not wanting to be caught standing here basically gawking, she bent and collected her food, shutting the door firmly behind her. God, she was a mess. The food did smell good, though. She went and sat on her bed, not caring if she ruined her white duvet. The first bite of food burst over her tongue, and she moaned out loud. Dear God, it was delicious. The garlic bread didn’t look appetizing, but this spaghetti more than made up for it. Hopefully, Mason would share the recipe with her. She regularly made food and put it into the fridge to heat up when she got home. Sometimes she’d eat the same thing for four or five days in a row, depending on how long it kept once refrigerated.

It took her only a few minutes to polish off the spaghetti and the glass of wine Max had thoughtfully included. He seriously put all her past boyfriends to shame. No wonder her ovaries went and got the best of her out in the truck. She’d never felt more embarrassed in her entire life than when he’d pushed her away.

God, what was she thinking trying to kiss the man she’d hired to protect her? It might cause him all kinds of trouble with his boss, and she didn’t want to be responsible for that.

Digging her phone out of her purse, she called Desi. If anyone could set her straight, it was her best friend.

“Hey, what’s up, girlfriend?”

“My dad’s in the hospital.”

“Ohmigod!” The words rushed out of the other end of the phone. “Is he okay?”

“He has to have triple bypass surgery in the morning. I flew into Richmond today.”

“Oh, honey, I wish I could be there. I have a concert tomorrow night, or I’d fly in tonight.”

“I messed up, Desi, so bad.”

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