Page 78 of Primary Seduction
“‘Course.” Max kissed him again, then picked up his stuff and left with a wave and a shout goodbye to the girls.
Trent needed to make sure he held tight to Max. He was a keeper, that was for sure.
****
Chapter 16
Max
He drove home to pick up some more paperwork. He had been requested for a large job on behalf of a very wealthy couple. They wanted their whole house redecorating, a top to bottom refurbishment job, which was a substantial fee for Max, so he hadn’t wanted to turn it away. He’d already booked them in for a month later and it was a job that would take probably four to six weeks, if not longer.
As he climbed his stairs to his office, he felt his ribs pull a little. They were the only part of his incident that still pained him, and even then, it was only occasionally. All his other bruises had faded, but he made sure he would finish this week out with nothing too strenuous. Well, if you could call sex with Trent not strenuous. He laughed, realising that was probably the reason his ribs were protesting this morning, rather than aftereffects of his injuries.
He spent the next two hours listening to the couple bickering about the different aspects they wanted in each of the rooms and the prices each item should cost. Max was no longer surprised that they wanted everything that was the most expensive, even if the items didn’t even go with their theme. They believed if it was expensive, then they should have it. Max had tried to offer them cheaper and better alternatives, but they hadn’t wanted to know. Max had learned through his two years designing that if he didn’t do as the client asked then they would blame him for any minor issues that came up. Whereas, if he did as they requested, and they didn’t like it, they didn’t have a leg to stand on. He could then charge extra for having it redone as he had originally offered. Sneaky but necessary.
When Max finally left them to their twelve-hundred-pound bottle of wine, his stomach growled at him. It was lunchtime. He drove to Pop’s, which was near to where his next appointment was and grabbed the menu.
“Hey, Max, what canna get ya? Your usual?” Maria asked. She was a lovely Scottish woman with gorgeous red hair and was the daughter of the owner, who everyone called Pop; no one knew his real name. He was Pop to everyone, young and old. Maria had been here for much longer than Max had been coming.
“Yes, please, Maria. How are things with you?” Max asked.
“Oh, usual as always. Pop’s beginning to slow down though, so we’re looking to take on a new chef to help out a bit.” Max could see the worry in her eyes and wondered if Pop was doing okay, health-wise.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Let me know if I can help at all, all right?”
“You boys are always helpin’ out when we need it, no need to be doin’ more now,” she said. “But thanks, anyhow. I’ll get ya order put in. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
Max smiled as he watched her go behind the counter and do her job. He didn’t know what would happen if something happened to Pop. Maybe Maria would continue, he didn’t know. It would be a shame if she didn’t. Pop’s had been a fixture in Cambridge for so long, he knew a lot of people would be upset about it.
Grabbing his mobile, he decided to call Trent to see how he was holding up with everything. He hated having to leave him this morning after everything that had happened yesterday, but he couldn’t cancel his consultations on such short notice.
“Hey, you,” Trent said when he answered.
“Hey. How are you doing?”
“Yeah, I’m all right. I’m just helping Harper pack up the last bits and pieces she wants to take with her, then we’ll be heading home.”
“That’s good. Are you sure you’re okay?” Max was worried Trent was pushing himself too far, but he knew he’d do anything for his kids, no matter what anyone said.
He heard Trent blow out a breath. “Yeah, I’m doing okay. Trying not to think about it too much, to be honest. Every time I do, I get angry all over again, and there’s nothing that can be done about it. Might as well try and move on best I can.”
“Make sure you ring me if you need me, all right. I only have this next appointment, which will take about an hour tops, then I’m just catching up with paperwork and stuff.” Maria brought his coffee over, placed it in front of him and held up ten fingers, which he took to mean his food would be about ten minutes. He nodded and mouthed, “Thank you.”
“I know, thanks. I’m sure I’ll see you later, anyway, won’t I?” Max heard a note of uncertainty in Trent’s voice and quickly tried to remedy that.
“I’ll be there with bells on,” he declared.
“Good, though that might get a little noisy later on.” Trent’s voice had lowered in volume, probably so Harper didn’t hear.
“I can take them off then, don’t you worry.” He laughed. “So, is Harper taking over the whole bedroom?”
“And probably the living room too.” Trent chuckled. “Doesn’t matter. She can bring whatever she feels she needs to, as far as I’m concerned.”
“I know, I’m only teasing. How is she holding up?”
“Not great. She’s never been one to show too much emotion, she’d prefer to keep it inside, but even she has been crying on and off throughout the day.”
“Has Jocelyn been over?”
