Page 33 of Shattered Dreams
Max’s mouth dried out. Damned if the man didn’t look appetizing, even with the dark circles under his eyes. “Ah…I guess you can’t.” He answered, barely resisting the urge to reach out and touch the man.
“Got it from here?” Storm asked Elliot.
“Sure thing.” Elliot nodded.
“Good.” Storm turned his attention back to Max. “I’ll be right back with your stuff.”
“Don’t forget my hat.” Max replied absently. “It’s my favorite.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Storm shook his head. “Never seen a man as obsessed with fedoras as you.”
Max swallowed hard as Storm disappeared back through the garage, leaving him alone with Elliot. “Ummm.” He found himself tongue-tied now that they were alone.
Elliot arched a brow, then crouched down in front of him, so they were at eye-level. “It’s good to see you.” He reached out and cupped Max’s chin, tilting his head up to look into his eyes. “But you looked tired, Maxwell. Why don’t we go in and get you settled in your favorite recliner?”
“Seriously?” Max bit his lower lip. “You’re not going to demand that we have our talk right now?”
Elliot shook his head. “No. In fact, I think we need to put that chat off for a bit. You look like you could use a nap, and I need to run home and check on Rancho.”
“Rancho?”
Elliot gave him a crooked smile. “Yeah, my dog. I don’t usually leave him alone at night, but with everything that happened with Elizabeth, I figured he could survive one night without me home. It’s not like he doesn’t have a doggie door and self-feeding food dishes.”
“Sh…take mushrooms.” Max caught himself as Elliot straightened. “Don’t let Lizzie know you have a dog, she’ll be at your house more than at home.”
“Dog lover, huh?” Elliot moved around him, and gently pushed him through the mudroom and into the kitchen, where the most welcome sight in the world filled his vision. His wife sitting in the breakfast nook with a cup of coffee and doing the crossword puzzle – in pen. This was one of the things he missed more than anything. Little things like his wife starting her day with coffee and a crossword. Watching the news with her curled up next to him. All those things that he’d taken for granted because they were so minor in what was the big picture of their life together.
“I can’t believe she does it in pen,” Elliot whispered. “How does she not make a mistake?”
“She has an IQ of a hundred and forty-eight,” Lizzie replied, as she scribbled another answer on the paper.
“Damn,” Elliot muttered, half under his breath.
“Language,” Max reminded him.
Elliot exhaled loudly. “This is gonna be harder than I thought.” He leaned down and brushed a kiss to the top of Max’s head.
Max froze at the whisper soft caress.
“Did I overstep my bounds?” Elliot asked.
Lizzie laughed. “Oh Master, if you could only see your face.” She set down her pen and sprang to her feet to cross the kitchen and kneel in front of his chair. “You look like someone just hit you with a two by four.” She smiled up at Elliot. “Good going, Daddy.”
Max groaned. “I don’t stand a chance between you two, do I?”
“Probably not.” Lizzie placed her hands on his knees. “But we won’t gang up on you too much.” She winked at him. “Unless, of course, you decide to not follow the doctor’s orders. Then all bets are off. Daddy agrees you need to do what the doctor recommends.”
“Does he now?” Max tipped his head back to look at the man behind him. “And what else have you and my sub decided upon when it comes to me?”
Elliot flushed a bit, but otherwise managed to look unruffled. “Nothing for you to worry about at the moment, Maxwell.”
“Maxwell…” Lizzie squeezed his knees. “Better get used to that, Master. He doesn’t do nicknames.”
“Oh, really?” Max pursed his lips. “And what if I make that a hard limit, oh Daddy?”
“Then I guess, I’ll be forced to resort to calling you young man, whipper snapper, and any other variety of things.”
Max narrowed his eyes. “You wouldn’t dare.”
