Page 197 of Big Duke Energy

“Well, if all you were eating was beans on toast and Pringles, it was probably a good idea to run on a regular basis.”

“That’s true.” He sighed. “Are you going to leave today?”

I shook my head. “No. Probably tomorrow.”

“That’s probably wise. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No, thanks. I actually did a bunch of packing yesterday after I finished. I want to read through the draft before I leave, so I’ll probably spend today doing that before I finish up packing. I’d like to leave by lunchtime tomorrow if I can.” I toyed with the empty glass in front of me.

“It’s a long drive,” Max replied quietly. He paused for a second, then smiled at me. “I’ll leave you to work. I have a meeting with the estate agent about one of our tenants moving out, so I have to go.”

“Sure. Of course.” I forced a small smile. I knew it didn’t meet my eyes, but how could it?

Maybe this was goodbye.

Maybe it wasn’t.

“Um… this is weird, but do you think I could say goodbye to the goats tonight? Just in case I do leave tomorrow?”

Max stopped in the doorway and turned around. His lips curved up into the tiniest of smiles, the briefest of smiles, and laughter flashed in his eyes for a hot second. “You want to say goodbye… to the goats.”

“Yeah. I’m annoyingly fond of them, actually.” I frowned. “I’m not sure how it happened.”

His face broke out into a huge grin, and he clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “All right. Why don’t we have dinner together and walk over there after?”

“Like a date?” I teased, trapping my tongue between my teeth as I smiled playfully.

“Not like a date,” Max said, turning away and heading for the front door. “A date.”

My breath caught in my throat, and I dipped my head, then slowly let it out through the most ridiculous tiny smile.

A date.

Sure.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

ELLIE

Goat To Tell You

“Icannot believe that, after all this time, you’re categorising us having dinner together as a date. And it’s pizza.”

Max looked over at me and stilled, then bit into a slice. “What’s wrong with pizza?”

“Nothing is wrong with pizza. It’s the food of the Gods. I just think it’s funny.”

His lips curved to one side. “I considered going out somewhere for dinner, but I thought you’d ultimately prefer to sit on the sofa in your leggings without a bra.”

I grinned. “You’re smarter than you look.”

“I… Thanks.” He paused for a second, and the briefest of frowns furrowed his brow before he shook his head as if he couldn’t believe I’d just said that.

Like it was the first time.

“I shouldn’t be surprised anymore.” Max snorted. “Didn’t you say something to that affect right after we met?”

“Oh, you mean back when you were a rude, grumpy, dismissive, intolerable—”

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