Max rubbed his stinging skin and took in her tear-filled eyes. “What happened, Raine? What terrified you so much all those years ago that it would resurrect such strong emotions?”
She blinked back tears and looked away, shaking her head. “Dredging up the past won’t change a thing, and trying to do so is just making this time between us now uglier. There’s no reason we can’t be civil.”
He grabbed her shoulders. “We were a hell of a lot more than civil earlier. Don’t you dare even think of denying the fact we were good together.”
“You don’t get it, do you?” she asked, jerking free of his grasp. “You are here by chance, Max. I have a life here, a baby who depends on me. As much as I wanted what happened between us to be simple and not get to me, it has.” She released a deep, shuddering breath. “It made me remember, made me think of things I have no business reminiscing about. And when you mentioned the theater, that was the last straw, and I was taken right back to that time we met.”
Max listened, his heart clutching, as her voice cracked on the last word. Right now he hated himself. Hated how he’d upset her, hated that he’d left—even though he had done everything to get her to follow—and he hated that fate had slammed him back into her life so suddenly that neither of them knew how the hell to handle all these emotions. Shaking his head, he sighed. There was so much between them—anger, resentment, betrayal.
“Listen,” he said softly, meeting her watery gaze. “I didn’t bring that up to make you remember or to hurt you. I just wanted a friend to talk to, and you understand me. Despite all the time that’s passed, Raine, I’m still the same man.”
“The same man as what?” she whispered. “Because the man I fell in love with shared the same dream as me. The man I adored and felt safe with would’ve never hurt me.”
“Hurt you?” he asked. “You think I wasn’t hurt? You ignored me, Raine. I worked damn hard to get a place ready for us. I had a small apartment with a little balcony, and I couldn’t wait to show you.”
Raine jerked back. “What? But...I waited to hear from you.”
Max’s heart thudded in his chest as he absorbed her shocking words. “I called.” He wanted so bad to reach out and touch her, but not yet. Not when emotions were so raw. “I called every day. Your mother told me that you weren’t home or that you were sick. Finally she told me that you couldn’t bring yourself to call me because you’d changed your mind, and you were dating someone else.”
Tears slid down Raine’s pale cheeks. “She lied.”
Max watched as confusion and doubt washed over her, and that pit in the bottom of his stomach deepened. All this time he’d thought she’d purposely given him the brush-off, but, now, seeing her shock, he knew they were both victims here.
“You didn’t have a clue, did you?” he whispered, his own shock spearing his heart, causing the ache to settle in all over again.
He didn’t know what was more agonizing—Raine ignoring his plea or someone else sabotaging their dreams.
“No.” She opened her tear-glistened eyes. “You wanted me?”
Max stepped forward, closing the distance between them. “I couldn’t wait to get you out of here, Raine. I hated leaving you behind, knowing you wouldn’t be appreciated and loved like you were with me.”
“Your career took off so fast,” she said. “I kept seeing you with women in the tabloids, and, when I didn’t hear from you, I just...”
Max closed his eyes, unable to see the hurt he’d involuntarily caused. He was a coward. Knowing he’d caused even a moment of anguish for Raine put a vise grip on his heart.
Why did he take her mother’s word for it? Why didn’t he fight harder? Hindsight was layering guilt upon his shattered heart, and he deserved every bit of angst. He’d brought this upon himself for not going after what was most important in his life.
“When I couldn’t get in touch with you, I worried I’d made a mistake in leaving. I thought about coming back.” His voice was thick with emotion. “Instead, I turned reckless when your mother said you’d moved on. I didn’t care what happened to me.”
“The motorcycle wreck you were in not long after you left.” She spoke aloud as if talking to herself. “That’s where that scar on your shoulder is from?”
He nodded. “I was so angry at you for shutting me out, and all that time you had no clue how much I wanted to be with you. My God, can you forgive me?”
Raine smiled through her tears. “We were victims, Max. There’s nothing to forgive. We both know who’s at fault here.”
Anger bubbled up in Max. Fury and bitterness soon followed.
“Did your parents despise us together that much?”
Raine swiped at her damp cheeks. “My mother offered me my trust fund early if I would stop seeing you and date this boy who planned to go to law school and had aspirations of running for State Senate further down the road. Needless to say, I refused.”
This was news to Max, which just proved how strong and loyal Raine was. Too bad her parents never saw what a treasure she truly was.
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
He focused his attention back on her, on the glimmer of light at the end of this long, dark tunnel. “You need to confront your parents.”
Raine nodded. “You want to join me?”
“If I come along, things could get ugly. How about I watch Abby while you go pay them a visit?”
Raine stood stock-still. “You’ll watch Abby? Alone?”
Max shrugged. “I think I’ve got the hang of it. Feed her, change her and let her sleep. Does that cover it?”
Raine’s sweet laughter filled the room. “That covers it for the amount of time I’ll be gone.”
She reached for him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head against his chest. “I have no idea what to say. I know they’ll defend their actions, but they stole everything from me. You were my life, Max.”
How could they get over this massive hurdle that seemed to constantly be placed in front of them? Could they move past this revelation? So much time had elapsed, but his feelings were stronger now than they were when he and Raine had been eighteen.
Emotionally, if they could move on, where would they move to? He had a life in L.A., and she had a life here with her work, her baby.
Abby. He couldn’t let Abby or Raine out of his life, but how the hell did he make this work? Had they missed their opportunity?
“After I talk to my parents, where does that leave us?” Raine asked, searching his eyes for answers he wasn’t sure he had.
“It leaves us with a lot to discuss.” He reached out, stroked her rosy cheeks. “And to decide if we think this will work again.”
Her lids fluttered down as she brought her hands up to clasp his wrists. “The stakes are too high.”
“Does that mean you won’t try?”
“It means I’m scared,” she murmured, raising her gaze to his.
Max slid his lips across hers. “Me, too.”
Coaxing her lips apart, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her body flush with his. He wanted to take away her pain, make her forget all the bad between them. He worried she’d push him away, but, when her hands traveled to his shoulders and around his neck, he knew they were meeting in the middle.
With a patience he’d never known before, Max lifted the edge of her shirt until she helped to rid herself of it. He fused their mouths together once more, taking her bra straps and sliding them down her arms.
Raine arched her back, allowing him perfect access to her neck, her chest. All that smooth, silky skin waiting to be explored. He took his time, making each stroke of his tongue, each simple kiss, count.
They may have screwed up in the past, and he could very well be making a colossal mistake now, but damned if he could stop himself.
He pivoted her until they hit the wall. Sudden, frantic movements had them shedding the rest of their clothes. Garments lay all around them in random piles.
Max took his fingertips and traveled over her bare hips, into the dip at her waist and up to her br**sts. Her body trembled beneath his gentle touch. Goose bumps sprung up all over her skin.
“What are you doing to me?” she whispered, searching his face. “The things I want with you...”
“I want them, too, Raine.”
He only prayed to God they were talking about the same things, because, even though he’d be leaving Lenox in a few months, he wanted to spend time with her. He wanted to get to know her all over again. And when the time came for him to leave...well, they’d deal with that bridge when it was time to cross it.
Ten
Whoever was pounding on the door would be very sorry.
Didn’t people in this town know she had a finicky baby who didn’t sleep too well? No? Well, they should. This was the second time someone had pounded on her door, and she was about to put up a Do Not Disturb sign.
Springing from the bed, Raine grabbed her robe and tiptoed from the bedroom, careful not to disturb Max or Abby.
She nearly twisted an ankle racing down the steps, because, if whoever was at the door decided to reach for the doorbell, that would surely wake Abby. And Raine wasn’t about to let that happen.
Making sure the robe was tied and everything was tucked in, she yanked open the door.
“Marshall,” she said, jerking back. “What are you doing here?”
His eyes raked over her body, and Raine so wished she’d grabbed the thick terry cloth robe because the blast of cold air was doing nothing to hide the fact she was completely na**d underneath.
“I wanted to check in on you, and let you know that the roads have been downgraded from a level three to a level two. Which means you can go out, but only if necessary...”
Behind her, Raine heard the steps creak. She didn’t have to turn to know who was there, but she glanced over her shoulder and nearly swallowed her tongue.
If she had thought Max Ford was sexy as hell before...well, now she needed some water. The man had on only his jeans—unbuttoned—and was cuddling Abby against his bare chest. Yeah, he may not want this family life, but he looked damn good wearing it. If Abby had woken up fussy, she surely wasn’t now. She was nestled against Max’s warm, broad chest.
A sliver of sorrow slid through her. This could’ve been their life...but their baby had died along with her dreams.
And even though she and Max had uncovered a major secret last night, she hadn’t been able to confess that she’d been pregnant. Max had already been dealt a blow and was beating himself up. There was no way she was going to drop another life-altering bombshell.
They had enough issues to sort through as it was.
Marshall lifted a brow. “I see you weren’t alone during the snowstorm,” he stated.
Max came to stand directly behind Raine and she turned her attention back to Marshall. “Thanks for letting us know about the roads.”
Marshall didn’t take his eyes off Max. “I’ll be sure to let your father know you’re okay, Raine.”
With that he turned and marched off the snow-covered steps.
Raine closed the door, flicked the lock and spun around to lean against it. “Well, that was awkward.”
Max held Abby out toward her. “Awkward is not knowing what to do when she wakes crying and smells like...well, you know what she smells like.”
Raine laughed and took the baby. “Don’t be afraid of a dirty diaper, Max.”
“I’m not afraid of the diaper,” he said defensively as he followed her back up the steps. “I’m more afraid of the baby in the diaper. What if I did something wrong and hurt her or got crap all over the place?”
Heading back into the nice toasty-warm master bedroom, Raine laid Abby on the bed and grabbed a fresh diaper from the dresser.
“First, you can’t hurt her by changing her diaper.” Raine unzipped the footed pajamas. “Second, the wipes are here for a reason, and, believe me, I’ve gone through my share.”
Raine quickly changed the diaper and picked Abby back up, patting her back. When she turned to Max, he had his arms crossed over that wide chest sprinkled with dark hair. He stole her breath.
“You’re a wonderful mother.”
Needing to lighten the tension, she shrugged. “Being a good mother has nothing to do with changing diapers.”
“No, but I’ve see how loving you are with her, how patient and gentle. I’m a nervous wreck.”
Raine smiled. “I was a nervous wreck too when I brought her home for the first time. But I learned quickly, and I’m still learning. I’ll screw up at some point, and all I can do is hope she loves me through my faults.”