Page 21 of Yo Ho Ho
"Thanks again for the interview," she said as she dug into her bag. "This really is going to help me out."
She wasn't looking at him when he said what he did next, which is probably why he didn't have any hesitation saying it.
"We should go out for a drink sometime."
Max triumphantly pulled her keys out of her bag and held them up. "Found them!" she announced. Then her smile turned into a scowl. "Wait, did you say a drink?"
He tried to give her a flirtatious smile. "Yeah, a drink," he said. "We didn't have a chance to talk after you found out about your job, and I just figured it would be nice to take you out."
"So you want to take me out for a drink because I'm losing my job?"
Logan sighed. Of course Max would make this hard for him.
"I would like to take you out for a drink because I would like to take you out for a drink."
Her eyes narrowed and she put her hands on her hips. "Howkindof you."
This was definitely not going the way he planned at all, and Max was making it even worse.
"I'm trying to be nice, Max."
His voice was a little more agitated than he wanted it to be, and he could immediately tell that it had an effect on Max. She stood there staring at him, making him shift uncomfortably from one foot to the other.
"No thanks," she spat out bitterly.
She turned and stomped off to her car, the snow loudly crunching under her boots. Logan didn't know why, couldn't explain what he was doing, but his instinct was to stomp after her.
"Max, stop." Her hand was on the door handle of her car, but she was standing still, just like he asked. "Listen, I'm sorry if it came out wrong. I just want to have a drink with you."
She turned at looked up at him, her eyes fiery, her hair wild.
"Why?"
He stared back at her. "Why?"
"Yeah, why?" Her hand fell from the door and she turned to fully face him. "Because you feel sorry for me?"
"Or I could just want to go out with you as a friend."
"We're not friends!" she yelled. "We have a professional relationship, that's it. A professional relationship that won't last much longer so let's just leave it at that."
"Professional what?" Now it was Logan's turn to raise his voice and set his feet into the snow. "Because I can tell you that the night we had in Denver was not a professional relationship."
Max stared at him with a look of shock on her face. Yeah, he wasn't the only one who could yell, and he had no problem doing it now that she had him wound up.
"I told you that was a one-time thing."
"Yeah, I heard you, but we both know I'm not a good listener."
Max smirked bitterly at him. "That's true."
Logan rolled his eyes in response. "You told me it was a one-time thing because the paper wouldn't let you have a relationship with a player," he said. "Well, you won't have a job for much longer, so what's your problem?"
Max recoiled from him, her face crumpling into a mix of emotions. He had pushed too far. There was something more than a professional relationship between them. There was something personal there. But his words had been too personal.
She stood there staring at him, trying so hard to keep her emotions in check. All he could do was focus on his breath as it froze every time he exhaled. Dammit, he was such a jerk. If there was any way he could take it back, any way he could make it better, he would. Because right now in this moment, he felt completely awful for what he just said.
Logan took a step forward, reaching his hand out for her arm, but Max pulled back away from him. Then she looked back up at him, her eyes damp but still tough, giving him a glare that cut straight to his heart.
