Page 11 of Second Chances with my Billionaire Bosses

Instead, he knelt next to me and sighed.

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be short with you, Maxine. It just feels like shit to see you hurting and not be able to do anything about it. You don’t trust us and I understand that. The way we left ten years ago was fucked up. We hurt you. What we should’ve done was stop and explain things. I can’t change that now but I wish you’d give me another chance. Even if you can’t stand the thought of us touching you again, at least let us help with whatever’s hurting you, sweetheart. We can all see that something’s wrong. You weren’t like this before. What happened while we were gone?”

I bit my lip hard and squeezed my eyes shut. How did they know? No one else knew. How could they see what my own family didn’t? It was the feeling of his thumb gently tugging my lip from between my teeth that almost undid me. The small act of kindness felt huge and how sad was that? When was the last time someone did something kind for me? Before them showing up, when was the last time someone touched me on purpose without needing something from me?

I looked up at Rhett and saw no judgment or anger in his eyes, only concern. Maybe I could tell him. Maybe I—

“Hey, where’s the—”

I jumped up at Shep’s intrusion and dusted my hands down my jeans while backing towards the door.

“I should get some air away from all these chemicals. I’ll just take a walk around the property and note down anything that needs done.”

I passed Arlo on my way out but didn’t stop. I walked the property and then I kept walking. The same path I’d ridden Bob that morning, I walked the several miles without slowing down to think about the fact that I’d just left work in the middle of the day without telling anyone. I just wanted to be inside my little cabin, safe and alone for a little while before I had to face the world again.

CHAPTER 9

Rhett

“Well, she’s not coming back.” I gripped my hands together to keep from punching the wall. “She was so close to telling me something. I could see it on her face.”

Shep held up his hands. “I’m sorry. I had no idea I was interrupting—”

“It’s not your fault.” I ran my hands through my hair and sighed. “A leaf could’ve blown across the floor and she would’ve panicked the same way.”

I quickly told them about the panic attack she’d had and the way she’d reacted to breaking the table. She’d been afraid.

“I pushed too far at the store. It’s my fault.” Shaking his head, Shep crossed his arms and leaned back against the counter.

“It wasn’t that.” Arlo stood between us, his face tense as he spoke. “I watched her at the store. She was embarrassed but she wasn’t upset. It was the same when I told her we should’ve knocked her up back then.”

My mouth dropped open.

“What?”

His grin was just a flash of teeth and then it was gone.

“Yeah. I lost my head a bit. I might’ve also mentioned that moan she made when we kissed her.”

Shep grunted.

“And I thought I was pushing.”

“She wasn’t upset. She’s not hard to read, which is why I’m fucking floored that no one else seems to see anything is wrong. Every emotion shows on her face when she’s not being the weird robot version of herself. She was shocked but she was turned on. I saw it both times.”

“So she doesn’t run from the sexual stuff. Just the emotional shit. I asked her to tell me what happened to her while we were gone and I think she was going to. She’s as skittish as awild horse, though.” My mind was already fast at work trying to figure out a way to show her she could trust us. “What do we do?”

“Do we let her hide and lick her wounds in peace or do we go after her?” Shep looked like he was leaning towards chasing after her.

“We want forever with her, right?” Arlo looked at each of us. “So we have time. We don’t need to chase her down right now. If she needs space, she can have it. For now.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that.” Shep frowned. “For ten years I was able to put thoughts of her aside most of the time but now that we’re back here, it’s like I’m addicted. I don’t think I’m going to feel okay until she’s here, with us, smiling a real smile. How the fuck did that happen so fast?”

“I don’t know but it did.” I patted my pocket to see if I had the keys. “I’m going to talk to Mills. Coming?”

“Yep.” Arlo held up the keys I was looking for and tossed them to me. “We need to get our shit here, including the other trucks. Sharing one truck again makes me feel like we didn’t just spend the last two decades of our lives making a good living.”

“Some might say more than a good living.” I stepped out of the house and my eyes naturally looked around for Maxie, just in case she had come back. Of course, she hadn’t.

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