Page 12 of Charlie Takes a Chance

It’s awkward silence while the two of us eat soup loudly, glaring at each other and listening to Jim’s tail thump on thewood floor while he waits for one of us to realize he deserves his own bowl of soup.

I reach out and pat his head. “I like you, buddy, but you can’t have my soup.”

“Do you have a dog?” Max practically grinds out. If this is his attempt at starting a conversation, he’s not doing a good job.

“I thought about stealing my ex-boyfriend’s dog.”

Max chokes on the bite of soup he just put in his mouth. “Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me. Is that why he’s your ex?”

I make a face at him. “It’s the only reason I stayed so long.” Not true. I stayed that long because I wanted a relationship to finally work.

“Yeah, I’d imagine anything over two weeks would feel like an eternity to you,” Max says thoughtfully.

I set my spoon down and sit up, tucking my legs underneath me. “Based on what knowledge?”

“You’ve been here for an entire day and done nothing on the house and instead chose to use your time to make my life miserable.” He grins and takes a big bite of the soup I so nicely shared.

“What did I do? I haven’t even seen you all day! And how do you know I haven’t worked on the house?” I wonder at what point giving someone a black eye is legal. Because no one has riled me up this much in years. I didn’t even feel this level of emotion when Bryce and I broke up. But I come to a ranch in eastern Oregon, and a man I’ve never heard of suddenly has the power to turn me into a rage monster.

“I’m not about to waste time arguing with you about the renovation. But in the short time I’ve known you, you’ve been a menace,” he continues, not realizing how his life is barely hanging in the balance.

“Well, for your information, Max St. James, in the short time I’ve known you, you’ve been nothing but a bully. And—and agrump!” I shake my head at the last insult, like I couldn’t have come up with something better in the heat of the moment.

“Well, now you’re just crushing me.” He pats his chest, then lets out a hearty laugh.

I stand up quickly, knocking a pillow from the couch to the ground. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to put an order in.”

I give him a jaunty one-finger salute, put my dishes in the dishwasher, and head outside, both dogs coming out with me. They tear off toward the treeline, barking happily.

If Max locks me out, so help me I’ll knock a new door into this house. The dogs are my insurance. He’ll have to open the door to let them back in, and I’ll be there, waiting.

I have to walk down the gravel path around to the front of the lodge where I parked my Honda. I already took a trip into town today, and I technically could have parked my car in front of the bunkhouse…but I didn’t want Max to see it when he came back from work.

Plus, it would be better to park it close to the lodge. My trunk is full of power tools and it’ll be easier to carry them inside from here.

I’m tearing into a bathroom tomorrow. It will be fine. I’ll have all day to gut it and see exactly what I’ll need to get this place fixed back up.

I grab my second duffel bag and carry it back to the bunkhouse.

I pull my phone out and try to get a call to connect. It drops twice before it finally connects as I step onto the porch.

After I place the order for some supplies that may or may not get delivered in a timely manner, I open the door and step inside.

I don’t see Max anywhere and can’t help but feel like he’s avoiding me. That makes me smile. It’s kind of fun to have that power over someone.

Now I just have to find a room to sleep in and take a nice hot shower. Because despite what Max thinks, I really did work on the house today. I spent the whole day tearing into walls, looking into the plumbing, and assessing the damage before driving into town to see if they had any sort of supplies I could work with.

I make my way down the hallway on the other side of the stairs. There’s a large picture of a shaggy cow. “Good grief. This is a monstrosity.” The cow is practically life-sized, the picture is so large.

“You get the upstairs.”

I jump far enough that I bump into the wall. “Do you have any other level of moving around other than sneak mode?” I yelp as I drop the duffel bag. “You have got to stop sneaking up on me like this.”

I turn to look at Max, and my breath catches. He really does have a gorgeous smile.

Is it there at my expense? Of course it is, but wow. Itisa nice smile.

Such straight white teeth and even two dimples. Sheesh. It isn’t fair.

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