Page 23 of Sugar, Sprinkles, and Secrets
Max and I waited for the plane to touch down at Lux’s private airport—a place I didn’t even know existed just outside of Forrest Falls before today. Thankfully, Liam also arranged for a doctor from the emergency department in town to check over the kids. I explained what happened to me, and the doctor confirmed the sweet smell just before I passed out was most likely chloroform. When the small private plane arrived, two very large and muscular men carried Dante and Mila off the plane, and I quickly met the men that I would owe for the rest of my life.
Ace and Colt waited for the doctor to sign off on the kids, then they left just as fast as they arrived.
After the doctor started the kids on some IV fluids and said they seemed okay, we loaded into Max’s SUV and headed back to his place with instructions to go to the clinic for a follow-up visit the next day.
The last time I saw this guest room, it had a large king bed, but at some point in the past ten months since we dated, Max switched the large bed for two twin-sized beds, and my traitorous heart hopes he did that for Dante and Mila, but I shove those thoughts aside.
I close my eyes as I listen to Dante’s sweet snores and Mila mutters something in her sleep. I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to hear those little noises they both make in their sleep again, and I can no longer hold back the tears that have been threatening to fall since I saw them. My head is buried in my hands, so I didn’t even notice Max slip into the guest room and sit next to me on the floor until he’s picking me up and putting me on his lap. With his strong arms around me, for the first time in almost two years, I finally feel safe.
Now that Max knows everything, I’m not sure what it means for us, but for right now, I’m going to cling to the hope that we may be able to find our happily ever after—together.
Once my tears subside, Max taps my hip, and I slide off his lap. He stands and extends a hand to pull me up. I follow him out of the guest room, but he doesn’t let go of my hand. There’s a guest room across from this one that I assumed I would be sleeping in, but Max walks right by it and leads me to his bedroom.
“Don’t worry, Cara. I know we have a lot to talk about, and nothing will happen right now. I just need to hold you and have you with me, okay?” The expression on his face is bracing for me to argue, but the fight is completely drained from me—for tonight anyway.
“Please, Cara.”
I nod and he doesn’t try to hide his shock at how quickly I acquiesced to his request. We walk into his room, and he leadsme to the bed, nudging my arm to have me sit. He emerges from his walk-in closet in his boxers and carrying one of his T-shirts.
It may have been months since I saw him naked, but Max is a work of art. His six-one frame is muscular and strong, even if his muscles aren’t defined like an online thirst trap, but he is real and here—not some fantasy online. He has a spattering of chest hair, and a delightful little trail of hair that travels from his abdomen into his boxers. I remember tracing that very path with my tongue more than once.
“Up.” He softly taps my arms to snap me back to the present.
I slowly shake my head. “I can do this, Max.”
“I know, Cara, but right now? Right now, I need to take care of you, okay? Even if it’s as simple as getting you changed into something comfortable to sleep in and holding you all night.” His eyes swirl with emotions I can hardly read, but I recognize frustration, anger, desire, and … well, I’m not going to name that last one, but I really hope that four letter word is indeed what I saw. I hum and lift my arms, letting him lift my shirt over my head. He unhooks my bra, and slides each strap down, but his touch is incredibly gentle. He leans down and kisses each of my shoulders before sliding his T-shirt over my head.
“Lay back, baby.” And apparently, I’ve lost my ability to argue or speak as my body obeys his commands. He tugs down my pants before walking over and pulling back one side of the bedding. Max reaches for my hand and pulls me up off the bed, leading me to his ensuite, where he already has two toothbrushes set up with toothpaste. He must have done that before he came to get me from the guest room. We silently brush our teeth before he leads me back to bed. There isn’t anything erotic in his movements, but I don’t know if I’ve ever been as attracted to this man as I am right now.
As we lie down on the bed, he pulls my back to his front and wraps his arms around me. “Sleep, baby. We’ll tackle everything tomorrow, but for now, just sleep.”
“Max?”
“Yeah?” His voice is groggy with exhaustion.
“Thank you … for everything … and for this,” I whisper into the darkened room.
He hums. “You’re welcome, but you don’t ever have to thank me for taking care of what’s mine.”
Wait. What? I turn my head as much as I can in this position to look at him over my shoulder. “What … what do you mean?”
“I said we’d talk about it all in the morning, but Cara? You, Dante, and Mila? Y’all are mine.”
“And what does that make you?”
“Makes me yours, baby. Now, sleep.” He kisses the top of my head like he didn’t just tilt the axis of my world.
With Max’s arms holding me firmly, and the steady rise and fall of his chest to my back, I quickly fall into a deep sleep as the man of my dreams holds me tight.
Chapter eighteen
“Do you need to get up right now?” I grumble as Cara’s alarm on her phone goes off for the second time.
“No, I took Betty up on her offer to run a skeleton crew with a smaller menu today. I really don’t want to be anywhere else other than with you and the kids today.” She snuggles deeper into me, and I run my hand up and down her back. It’s a little after five a.m. so we maybe got four hours of sleep, if that.
“How late do you think Mila and Dante will sleep?”
“The doctor said they may sleep longer today as their bodies process everything. I was planning on just letting them sleep as long as they needed before we go in for that follow-up exam.” Her voice is hoarse with exhaustion.
