Page 8 of Second Chances with my Billionaire Bosses

I parked in front of the general store and looked back at her through the rearview mirror.

“Are you okay, Maxie?”

Her eyes snapped to mine and for a second, her mask slipped and I saw so much sadness in her eyes that I couldn’t catch my breath. As quick as it appeared, it disappeared, though.

She nodded and pushed open her door.

“I’m fine. I’ll just go pick up what I need.”

The three of us got out and followed her into the store, much to her displeasure. She’d tried to leave us behind but I wasn’t comfortable letting her out of my sight, not until I knew if she was okay, or not.

I caught up to her in the cleaning supply aisle and rested my hand on the small of her back. I felt her shiver and smiled as a bit of hope blossomed. Maybe she wasn’t immune to us. I wanted more of that human response. Leaning down, I lowered my voice and spoke so close to her ear that my mouth brushed against it.

“Thank you for helping with the house.”

She shuddered and her knuckles went white as she clutched a broom in her hand.

“It’s my job.”

I turned my back on the cleaning supplies so I could watch her face. She’d turned pink but I still wanted more.

“Do you want to know a secret, Maxine?”

Her eyes met mine finally, her curiosity getting the best of her.

“What?”

“I remember everything.” I let the words hang in the air between us for a moment before smiling. “If you’d been a few years older, you wouldn’t have gone home that night.”

Her mouth fell open and gone were all signs of that colder version of Maxie. Her cheeks were darker pink and I could see her pupils dilate as I spoke.

“We were too goddamn old for you but that didn’t mean you didn’t fucking ruin us for every other woman who came after. You made this little moan when we kissed you that I still hear in my head.” I moved closer and gripped her hip. “You want to know what I regret about that night?”

Her eyes pleaded with me to tell her everything but she was slowly dropping that wall back into place between us.

“No.”

I squeezed her hip.

“I regret not taking you and knocking you up with our kid that night. We knew what we wanted ten years ago and we were too worried to take it. We thought you needed to live your life without being tied to three men who were too old for you. Maybewhat you needed was us, though. I know that we have a lot of work to do, convincing you we’re worth a shot again. No one has ever accused us of having poor work ethics, though, Maxine. Understand me?”

Her eyes were as wide as I’d ever seen them. Her mouth opened and closed a few times and her cheeks were bright red but she didn’t slap me so I counted it as a win.

I could sense someone behind me and I turned around to see Nellie, the youngest Hellstone sister. Her mouth was hanging open as she looked between me and her sister.

Stepping away from Maxie but leaving my hand on her hip, I smiled.

“Hey, Nellie. We wanted to say congrats and apologize for crashing your wedding yesterday but you were gone by the time we finished talking with your brothers.”

She was still staring at Maxie with her eyes bulging.

“Holy shit.”

Rhett came around me and pulled Nellie into a hug.

“Hey, kid. Congrats on the wedding. Did I see a wild little kid running around who looked just like you yesterday?”

Nellie seemed to remember herself then. She shook her head and laughed.

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