Page 33 of A Love So Sweet
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” she asked.
“Yeah, actually, it is. You’re always so on top of things. It’s nice to know you have a less perfect side to you.”
She arched a brow. “That doesn’t sound complimentary. I’m a really good work wife. Just ask your…wifewife.”
“I don’t have to. I know how great a work wife you are. Are you going to share the reason behind your beingoff, or do I have to guess?”
“I’m thinking.” She looked down at her papers, and after a couple minutes of feeling the weight of his stare, she said, “Stop it.”
“What?”
“Looking at me like a big brother who refuses to leave me alone until I give you all the juicy details.”
Chaz laughed. “Is that what I look like?”
She glanced up and said, “It’s either that, or I’ve grown a third eye in the middle of my head.”
“Let’s go with the juicy details thing.”
She didn’t want to talk about Treat asking her to go away with him, because the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to leave.
“Let’s go with the third eye thing.” She buried her nose back in the spreadsheets.
“Max.”
“Chaz,” she said without raising her eyes.
“You’re talking in circles. Just tell me this. Are you going to fall in love, get married, and move away to a tropical island?”
Max sat back and pushed her glasses up on her nose. “Is that what the stare is for? You’re wondering who will do your sponsor coordination if I’m whisked away under the guise of love?”
“Embarrassingly, no, because I know that no matter where you live, I can convince you to still do the coordination and show up for the festival. I just want to know if I’m going to lose my work wife and, more importantly, my friend.”
Max looked back down at the spreadsheets, thinking about how much that meant to her. “You could never lose me, Chaz. But no one is running off and getting married.”
A few minutes later, she couldn’t hold back and said, “But I want to run off. Treat invited me to Wellfleet with him, but I know we have all this work to do and he’s leaving today, so I told him—”
Chaz pushed to his feet and grabbed her purse. He pulled her to her feet, shoved her bag into her hands, and pointed to the door. “Go.Now.You work your butt off for me. A few days isn’t going to make or break these deals.”
“But this is our busy—”
He pushed her out the door and said, “Max, I love you like my own family, which is why I want you to be happy. Now get the hell out of here and don’t come back until next week. Got it?”
She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. “Thank you! I’m sorry! I’ll make up the time, but thank you!”
In the car, she tried to call Treat, but her call went to voicemail. Too excited to wait, she headed out of Allure and toward his father’s ranch.
SHOWING UP AT Treat’s father’s house had seemed like such a good idea when she’d first thought of it, but the sight of the sprawling brick home and several expensive cars around an enormous circular driveway had her second-guessing her plan. She parked behind a black Mercedes SLS and looked down at her clothes.Sneakers?What was she thinking? She should have gone home to change her clothes first, or just waited for Treat to call her back.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when someone banged on her window and was relieved, and confused, to see Savannah’s smiling face. She’d thought Treat had told her Savannah had gone back to New York.
“Max! Hi!” Savannah said as Max stepped from her car.
“Hi, Savannah. How are you?”
Three of the most gorgeous men she’d ever seen were heading in her direction, each one more striking than the next. Behind them followed an older version of Treat, who she assumed was his father. She felt like she’d walked into a modeling agency orGQheadquarters. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the car window and quickly took her hair out of her ponytail and shook it free. Then she scanned the grounds for Treat. Her gaze fell on the barn, and her heart squeezed with the memory of the night she’d opened up completely to him.
“What are you doing here?” Savannah asked. Before Max could answer, Savannah said to the others, “This is Max.Treat’sMax.”
