Page 9 of Contracted and Claimed By The Boss

‘I suppose that’s fair.’

‘I’m glad you approve,’ she observed wryly.

‘I don’t know if I approve or not. I was simply interested in your decision-making process.’

‘Why?’

He turned to face her, lifting one of those thick, dark brows, so her heart fluttered.

‘I mean, does it matter? I’m here. Anyway, I think I can help you with Amanda. But it will take time,’ she said, switching into work mode, her voice gentling. ‘I’m pretty sure I’m right, that it’s something at school.’

His hands tightened on the wheel.

‘Amanda seemed tense when Reg dropped her off this morning. You said her friendship group is changing; maybe she’s feeling excluded and that’s upsetting her. She hasn’t said anything to you?’

His grip on the steering wheel tightened further. ‘No. But I’m starting to think I’m the last person she’d open up to.’ His jaw moved as he ground his teeth together. ‘But there’s only me.’

‘That’s why you decided to hire a nanny?’

He jerked his head once, in silent agreement. ‘I need help and I think Amanda needs...a woman in her life. Some of the stuff she’s going through, I’ve got no idea how to help her. I had a brother, no sisters. My brother’s wife is great, but they’re busy with their own kids.’ He shook his head. ‘My mother left when I was twelve. Amanda is literally the female I’ve spent longest with in the world, so I have no advice or wisdom to give her.’

Paige frowned. ‘Where’s your mother now?’

Silence stretched between them. ‘Hong Kong, last I heard.’

Paige shifted a little in the seat. ‘You don’t see her much?’

He shook his head.

Paige pleated the fabric of her skirt, not wanting to pry but naturally curious. Fortunately, Max continued without being prompted.

‘She decided to live overseas, after the divorce.’

Paige wasn’t sure what to say. Her own parents were pathetic enough, but she was still always surprised to encounter other examples of maternal or paternal failure. It seemed so outside the natural order of things. ‘But why?’ she asked, simply.

‘Why not?’

‘Because you’re here. Amanda...’

He glanced at Paige then returned his attention to the road. ‘But also my father.’

‘It’s a big country,’ she pointed out.

‘And she hates him just that much.’

‘But you’re her son.’

‘I’m also his son.’

Paige sat back in the seat, mulling that over.

‘I’m too much his son,’ Max admitted grudgingly, after another moment. ‘She looks at me and sees him.’

Heaviness shifted inside Paige and she reflected on how impossible it was to really know what was going on inside a person, because her first impression of Max had been one of sheer arrogance and alpha masculinity and now she couldn’t help but wonder at the wounds his mother’s rejection must have caused him. And because it was the most natural thing in the world to do, because Paige was someone who gave the sort of comfort she wished she’d received more often when distressed, she reached out and put a hand on his knee, intending it to be a light, reassuring touch, a vote of confidence. But his leg flinched beneath her fingers and the breath that hissed from between his teeth was not friendly. It made her aware of him on a level she didn’t want to feel and, worse, it made her realise that he was dangerously aware of her too. She pulled her hand away as though she’d been burned.

‘Where are we going?’ Her voice was stilted, breathy.

‘To the farm.’

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