Page 28 of Craving You

Right now, he’d kill to be standing behind a bar serving drinks and listening to other people’s problems. It was a great escape for him. He missed bartending and how simple his life was. Everything seemed to change overnight.

Well, not overnight, but in a span of three months.

“Yeah, I miss bartending.” It didn’t matter that he was still doing it a bit here and there; it wasn’t the same.

Exhausted, he stood and stretched and decided he needed to get some sleep. If he was going to make a good impression tomorrow with Hailey and figure out a plan for their future, he was definitely going to need some rest.

“Max? What are you doing here?”

He was standing in his brother’s kitchen, making himself a cup of coffee. “Hey, good morning.” Smiling, he turned to face her. She looked adorable in a pair of hot pink flannel pajama pants and a clingy white T-shirt. Her blonde hair was a bit tousled, and he had to force himself to look away for a moment.

Do not ogle her and do not freak her out by coming on too strong…

“Well, I thought we could have breakfast together, so I went to the store and got some things to actually make breakfast. I hope you like omelets. I make a mean Western omelet. There’s decaf coffee and some different varieties of tea, plus apple and orange juice. And fresh fruit. I also picked up some English muffins. I’m planning on toasting a few of them as soon as the omelets are ready.”

“My goodness! This is a lot of food! You didn’t have to do all of this. I would have been fine with just the fruit, or maybe a muffin.”

“I read that eating protein for breakfast can help with morning sickness.” Pausing, he looked at her. “Are you having any of that? How are you feeling? Do you need to sit down?”

Laughing softly, she shook her head. “You’re sweet for asking, but you need to relax. I’m fine. I’ve never been much of a breakfast person. I usually just have some yogurt and maybe a banana, especially if I have a class to get to.”

“That’s pretty good, but I wanted to make sure you started the day off right.” He was moving all around, flipping omelets, toasting English muffins, and had the table set for the two of them.

“Where are Marcus and Billie?”

“Billie’s at the coffee shop and Marcus is in his office on some big call. He said we won’t see him until lunchtime.”

“Oh, okay. What can I do to help?”

“You can decide on what you want to drink and then sit and relax. I’ve got it all under control.”

He hoped he wasn’t coming off like he thought she was an invalid, but he was trying hard to put her mind at ease—well, both of their minds. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her checking out all of her drink options before settling on some decaf. By the time they were both sitting down, Max was watching her expectantly.

“Relax. I swear I feel fine and this all looks delicious. Thank you.”

“I took today off and thought we could spend the day together. We could hang out here at the house—although I should warn you that Marcus likes to roam while he’s on calls.” Winking, he added, “But he’s usually so focused on whatever he’s talking about that he doesn’t notice that anyone’s even here.”

“Oh, um…”

“Or we could go for a drive,” he suggested. “I can show you around town and we can talk without anyone bothering us. It’s a great way to get some privacy. I don’t know if you’re familiar with small town life, but we’re not big on privacy.”

Her eyes went a little wide. “Really?”

“Afraid so. And with there being so many Donovans who are involved in a lot of the local businesses, you’re bound to run into someone who knows one of your cousins. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but considering we’d like some time to talk alone…”

“I guess a nice long drive isn’t the worst idea.”

And because things were sounding a bit too serious, he threw out, “Or we can go up to my apartment, forget all of this real-life stuff, and spend the day in bed.” He waggled his eyebrows for a comedic effect, but Hailey’s eyes went wide right before she promptly started to choke.

He was instantly on his feet, patting her back, and whispering encouraging words until she could breathe again.

When he sat back down, he let out a nervous laugh. “You know, I’m beginning to get a complex. Every time I mention us doing something together, you have a violent reaction.”

Taking a few calming breaths, she shook her head. “I swear it’s not intentional, but you definitely seem to excel at shocking me.”

“Okay, I’ll admit that last suggestion was just to lighten the mood. I didn’t mean to make you choke.” He took a sip of his coffee and met her gaze, realizing that maybe now wasn’t the time for joking around.

Pushing her plate back slightly, she looked at him with some apprehension. “How are you doing? I know I threw a lot at you yesterday, and if you’re having second thoughts, we don’t have to go out driving anywhere. I’d completely understand.”

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