Page 46 of The Ruthless and the Strong

I looked down.

Black. Just the way I liked it.

“Thank you,” I said, grabbing the mug and my hand and bringing it up to my lips, taking a small sip, savoring the strong taste on my tongue. It was the best cup of coffee I had ever drank in my entire life.

“What are you up to today?” Max asked, watching me as he leaned against the counter behind him, adopting a casual pose. He made casual look good.

I envied that.

Most of the time, I felt restless.

Messy and all over the place.

I offered a small shrug. “I don’t really have anything planned. I finished my word count today, so there’s not much for me to do.”

“How is that going? What are your plans with your career now that you’re back in Chicago?”

I smiled at him, because that was the one thing I didn’t feel lost on. “Olivia’s going to produce Cato’s Rapture,” I said. Cato’s Rapture was a play I wrote in high school. It found a small success when I was in my first semester of college at the University of Chicago, but like all things that revolve around Chicago, it was put away when I moved to California with Sam.

I hadn’t even thought about it until Olivia brought it up the other day, saying she was in the process of looking for investors. I still couldn’t believe it was happening.

“That’s awesome, Lizzie. I’m so proud of you.”

My smile widened at that, showing teeth and all. Even after all these years, I wanted to live my life to make him proud of me.

“We’ll see if the play is successful. Right now we’re still in the beginning stages. So I don’t really know.”

I looked down, my cheeks warming a bit. Despite people telling me they like the plays I wrote over the years, I still felt like what I was doing wasn’t worthwhile. For so long, my mom had been against my dreams to become a playwright. She thought for sure I would never be able to raise a family with that career choice. That I would fail.

Things got better when I married Sam, because Sam had been on track to become a surgeon. I didn't need to have a successful career to raise a family then. Now I wasn’t sure what she was thinking anymore. It was one of those things we didn’t talk about.

“I’m sure you’ll do great,” Max said quietly, as if he could tell what I was thinking. He probably could. Max had always been perceptive. Even more so when it came to me, even if I wasn’t as open as Olivia.

I didn’t think a man like him missed anything.

“What about you?” I asked when the silence got a bit too unnerving.

Max cleared his throat before answering. “Nothing. I’ll probably just hang around the house.”

“You’ve been home a lot lately,” I said speculatively. I imagined a man in his position would normally be busy with work, which was why it was so surprising that he had been home most of the week. Olivia said Max was taking a little break, and that he had been working from home.

I didn’t know if that was really the case or not, only I didn’t know what other reason there could be.

A look flashed across his eyes, but it was gone so quickly, I wasn’t sure if I had imagined it or not. He still looked casual, standing there and looking perfect in his kitchen, and I still felt like a preteen going through her awkward stages in life in his presence.

Maybe because I had had a crush on him since I was a preteen.

He tapped his finger on the counter behind him three times, and I followed that movement with my eyes. “Should we talk about last night?” he asked.

My eyes widened in surprise, having been caught off guard. “What?”

“We should talk about last night,” he said, rephrasing the sentence. I placed my mug down on the table and crossed my arms over my chest.

“Now?”

“I don’t see why not now.”

Because even though I’d hardly slept last night, tossing and turning, thinking about the kiss and about him, I still hadn’t gotten anywhere. Technically, I was still married. My divorce hadn’t even been finalized yet, and we were waiting to hear from the lawyers.

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