Page 23 of The Ruthless and the Strong

A part of me wanted to refuse. Hunter was my son, after all, and I was used to doing everything for him. But I didn’t have a good reason to feel so possessive over my son when it came to Max, so I mutely nodded and got out of the car.

We opened the back doors at the same time, our eyes meeting for a brief second before I looked away and grabbed the bag I bought for Hunter, filled with his toys and snacks, and quickly moved out the car. I waited for them at the back of the car, hearing Hunter say something to Max before he quickly responded, and Hunter’s giggles filled the car. I smiled a little at the sound.It wasn’t long before Max walked over to me, Hunter in his arms.

Hunter had his little arms wrapped around Max’s neck, a wide smile on his face. The image of the two of them together made my heart beat frantically in my chest for some reason, and before I could really say anything, Max indicated with his head toward the front door.

“Ready?”

I cleared my throat a bit. “Yeah.”

I followed behind them, and I knew I shouldn’t, but I sneaked a glance at Max’s tight ass on the way.

The man was seriously fit.

No matter how many years had passed, he still had the physique of a professional athlete, and I really, really loved the sight of his body. The fact that he looked like a Greek god didn’t hurt also.

As superficial as it sounded, his pretty face was one of the first things I’d noticed about him when we first met. That, and his kind smile. Of course, when we first met, he was twenty-six, and so unlike any of the boys at school.

I had been infatuated at first sight, and I thought he knew, because he had kept his distance from me whenever he could in the years that followed.

He had always been nice to me, of course, but that was just the kind of man he was, but it was a distant politeness.

We were greeted as soon as we walked through the doors—or, at least, Max was greeted. I was given nothing more than a polite nod before the car’s salesman turned his attention back to Max and asked what he needed help with.

I could feel a small tinge of temper starting to work its way up my spine, but I didn’t say anything.

Max frowned at the man, and I smiled a little when the much smaller man fidgeted a bit.

“Actually, my friend here is looking for a car.”

The salesman was forced to turn his attention my way. He shot me a sleazy smile. I didn’t smile back.

“Hello, Miss. My name is Randy Wilson. What kind of car are you looking to buy today?”

His brown eyes glimmered a bit, and I knew he thought I would be an easy sale. Randy had an oily look about him that I didn’t like. He was average height and average built, with a protruding beer gut and an obvious toupee that laid a little lopsided on his brown hair.

I resisted the urge to let out a small sigh. “I need a car. At least big enough to fit a family of four. Perhaps an SUV, and my budget is twenty-five thousand. I’m not willing to go over the budget but going under it is fine. I am already financed through my bank.”

He blinked at me. “Of course. Right this way.”

Max shot me a smile when I walked past him, and I worked hard not to show how happy I was that I pleased him.

* * *

We drove home,and though I had found the car that I wanted and had made the purchase, I wasn’t getting it for another week, and I wondered if I should have settled on my second choice instead of listening to Max. Now I was stuck waiting for the car to arrive because I wanted a white car.

I looked out the window.

“Do you think that was smart?” I asked him. Hunter was watching a show on my phone with the volume on low. The voices of the characters had been the only thing we’d heard in the car for a while.

“What was smart?” Max asked. I turned to him and took in his profile. He looked a picture of ease.

“Waiting for the car. Maybe I should have gone with the red one.”

“You didn’t want the red one. Besides, this one has better gas mileage and isn’t as high maintenance. You’ll feel better driving this than you would with the red one.”

“I know. But this one will take a week to come.”

We had decided on a white Nissan Rogue. It was only a year old with hardly any mileage on it, and had been owned by one person before. There weren’t any problems with it, and it had never been in a crash. I liked it at first sight, and it had enough room for my little family. It was perfect. But it was at a sister dealership about six hours away from the city, and they couldn’t get it delivered until next Monday.

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