Page 47 of Deal Breaker
Max was already home by the time I got there. It wasn’t unusual on a Friday, when they sometimes knocked off a little early. When I walked into the apartment, two suitcases sat in the middle of the hallway.
I’d been right.
Max was leaving me.
My heart stopped, and my breath hitched as I clapped a hand to my mouth.
“There you are!” He came into the hallway and moved towards me. “I was beginning to think you weren’t coming home.”
“So you could leave me without having to see me.” I thumped my fists against his chest. “How could you, Max?”
He grasped my wrists to stop the barrage of beating. “What on earth are you talking about?”
I dropped my hands to my sides, my purse slithering to the floor. “You’re leaving me.”
“What makes you think that?” His jaw dropped.
“The way you’ve been acting lately. All those secret calls, hanging up when I come into the room.”
Max bit his lip, his gaze averted. I tried to regulate my breathing, steeling myself for what was coming next.It was over.
“One of those cases is for you, the other is for me.” He glanced back up and stared straight at me. “I’ve been planning a surprise trip for us, although it’s not so much of a surprise now.”
“You’ve what?” Relief seeped out of my pores. He wasn’t leaving me.
“I can still keep some of it a surprise.” He stepped towards me and gave me a swift kiss on the lips. “Now go and get changed so we can get on the road. You know what the traffic’s like getting out of the city at this time of day.”
Dutifully, I did as I was told and went into the bedroom. “What should I wear?” I called. “Are we going somewhere fancy?”
“Babe, jeans and a t-shirt will do. We’ll be driving for a little while first.”
I itched to call Autumn and tell her, but my curiosity about where we were going grew stronger. I could tell her later.
Half an hour later, we were in Max’s truck, heading out of town on the freeway. The sun streamed through the windows, and the radio was on loud. I couldn’t help singing along to the songs, loudly and out of tune. Max definitely wasn’t with me for my musical ability. All the journey, I bugged him to tell me where we were going, but his lips were tightly sealed. He didn’t give me the opportunity to look in the suitcases either, which could have given me a clue.
When we drove past Bart’s Bar and Grill, I had an inkling of where we might end up.
The Holiday Springs resort.
It looked much more glorious in the warm summer sunshine than it had in the crisp November air. The trees lining the driveway were in full bloom, and there were more people around too.
Max swung the truck into the car park near Guest Services.
“Surprise!” he said, turning off the engine. “Happy nine-month anniversary!”
Mentally, I did the math in my head. He was right. Not that I hadn’t been counting the days we’d been together, but I didn’t even realize a nine-month anniversary was a thing. Coming back to the very place we’d cemented our relationship was something special, something I hadn’t expected from Max. He was romantic, always surprising me with a bunch of flowers or a gift. But a gesture like this for an anniversary which most people wouldn’t have thought of celebrating?
God, I loved him.
I leaned over and kissed him so thoroughly, I ended up setting the horn off.
“Sorry!” I called out of the window to the family parked up beside us who started at the sound. “Surprise trip from my gorgeous boyfriend.”
They nodded politely, trying to pretend I wasn’t a total crazy person.
“Let’s get inside, before you scare anyone else.” Max laughed.
He took our suitcases from the trunk and headed inside. I vaguely recognized the woman at the desk from our last trip. She hadn’t exactly been helpful back then, and it seemed little had changed. It took ages for Max to get the key for our room.
