Page 22 of The Ruthless and the Strong

Lizzie

We gotto the dealership in no time, with me in the front seat and Hunter in the back of Max’s black Genesis G90. It was pretty roomy in the luxurious car. I always knew Max made good money. He was the CFO at Kinsley Financial, a lending company that I knew was growing every year. They had opened more than thirty more offices across the country since, and I knew Max was a shareholder and board member of the company, owning a decent amount of stock there, so he wasn’t really hurting for money.

I never really thought much about his money. Mostly because when I was a teenager, things like this didn’t matter much to me, and mostly because my parents had money.

When I married Sam, we didn’t have to struggle or worry about money, because his family had money also, and most of our expenses were taken care of by his dad and sometimes by my parents.

Things like money only mattered to me now in the sense that I worried I might not be able to provide for my child the way I felt he deserved. I had done well for myself in my writing career, but my income wasn’t steady. Sometimes I would make money and sometimes I wouldn’t.

It hadn’t mattered before because I knew we would be okay.

Now that Sam and I were divorced, I wondered how long I could actually keep pursuing such an unstable career. I didn’t want to have to resort to asking my parents for money to take care of my kid.

Seeing Max like this, seeing that he had done so well for himself while I still felt like that lost little girl I had been at nineteen, made the distance between us seem too far, too wide. Like I couldn’t ever catch up.

I always knew he was out of my league.

Now this was like a harsh reminder of it, telling me to remember why I had decided so many years ago to bury that fantasy I had of being with him in the first place.

“Are you okay?” Max asked. He turned briefly toward me when he came to a stoplight.

I managed a small smile before looking back out the windshield. The sun was out today, and though it was a little cooler than what I was used to, I was excited for the spring in Chicago.

It had always been my favorite season, but I hadn’t been here for it since Sam moved us to California.

“Thank you for doing this,” I said. “Even though you don’t have to.”

The light turned green and he drove on. “I volunteered for this,” he answered. “You don’t have to thank me.”

“Still, I’m sure you had better things to do with your time than this.”

I watched his profile from the corner of my eye, watched as he controlled the powerful car, watched the way his large physique seemed to take up so much space, yet not be overwhelming at the same time. Watched as the muscles strained every time he turned the steering wheel through the fitted gray T-shirt he wore.

He brought me out of my daydream when he said, “There’s nothing I’d rather be doing right now.”

I looked to the side window and watched as the cars passed us by in a blur. My cheeks warmed. I knew without looking in the mirror that my fair skin was an unattractive shade of red. I shouldn’t read too much into this. I still didn’t know why he’d decided to take Hunter and me on an errand run instead of going to work.

I was sure being a CFO to a thriving company meant he had much more important things to do.

I looked back at Hunter to see he was fully engrossed in the book I bought for him on the ride over. It wouldn’t keep him entertained for long, but for now, he was enjoying it, and he wasn’t throwing a tantrum for being in the car, so I called that a success.

I looked back at Max to his gaze on Hunter in the rearview mirror.

I wondered what he really thought of my son.

I knew he loved kids. He had spent a good portion of his life taking care of Olivia, but how did he feel about Hunter? Even if he hadn’t forgotten about me during my six years of marriage—just like I hadn’t forgotten about him—being involved with someone who was a single parent was something else. I knew that, just like me, being in a relationship with another man would be different. It wasn’t just me I had to worry about anymore, and perhaps I was being too paranoid, but I had a feeling Max was holding back because of Hunter.

I was sure there were other reasons as well, but Hunter was probably a big part of it,and I didn’t know how I was supposed to feel about that.

We pulled into the dealership in no time at all. Max pulled into one of the many available parking spots near the front, and turned off the ignition. We didn’t make any move to get out, both of us sitting in the car in silence for a moment.

Then Hunter kicked the back of Max’s seat, threw his book on the seat next to him, and said, “Are we here, Momma?”

Max and I shared a smile. I turned back to Hunter and said, “Yeah, sweetheart. We’re here.”

I unbuckled my belt and Max did the same. He stopped me from getting out with one large warm hand placed on my thigh. I looked down and watched his hands, and even though I was wearing jeans, I felt his touch as if he had touched my bare skin.

He slowly moved his hand away. “Sorry. I was just going to tell you I’ll grab Hunter and you can grab his bag. Is that okay?”

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