Taking Chances: Tangled Up Part 35

"And karaoke," Max affirmed.

"Dang. Was hoping for more charades," Bree said. "I kick a.s.s at charades." Which she had, indeed, proven last night. She linked her arm through his and grinned up at him. "I guess we could go to my house and play dirty charades, just the two of us. I kick even more a.s.s at that."

Max felt hot blood rush south even as his heart swelled at her flirtation in front of Jake and Dillon. The last three nights she'd been right beside him, whispering in his ear, running her hand up and down his arm, linking her fingers with his, all as if they'd been doing it for years. He'd loved every second.

"There's always dirty karaoke," Jake said with a chuckle.

Bree laughed. "That would go over so well in the middle of the town square with the Boy Scout troops all over." She squeezed Max's biceps. "But I would definitely rock dirty karaoke."

Max's body tightened.

He wasn't an idiot-dirty charades and dirty karaoke, especially a private show of both, sounded like a h.e.l.l of a good time.

But there was a bit of trepidation that wiggled through his gut. It was stupid, but part of him just couldn't let go of the idea that Bree doing regular things like a regular couple meant more than her playing dirty charades. Bree was definitely a dirty-charades kind of girl. No doubt. She was not really a regular-charades girl. So the night before, playing charades with their friends, had meant a lot to him. It had been exactly what he'd been looking for all the times he'd tried the romantic, typical-couple thing with other women. Except that this time it was right. It had never been right before. Because it had never been with Bree.

But how did a sane, heteros.e.xual man who got turned on just thinking about her say no to her offer? Especially in front of the two men who wouldn't hesitate to hara.s.s him relentlessly for turning her down?

"I was thinking-"

"Max!" A booming voice interrupted, and Max sighed with relief.

Relief that was short-lived when Max realized it was Roger Swanson coming toward him.

"Hey, Roger," Max greeted as his pulse began to hammer. Yesterday, he and Roger had outlined the details of a deal for Max to buy Roger's construction business. Roger had wanted to run it past his lawyer and talk to the bank.

"It's a go," Roger said enthusiastically. "Everyone's thrilled."

Max's heart flipped even as he felt Bree shift to look up at him.

"What's a go?" she asked.

"Max!"

Max turned to find his parents heading toward him now. "Hi, Mom. Dad."

"Roger just told us."

Jodi grabbed him and pulled him into a hug, and Max felt Bree slip away from him.

"I'm so excited, honey," Jodi said, pulling back and smiling widely, her eyes sparkling with tears. "I know you probably wanted to tell us, but I couldn't be happier."

"Such great news," Sam agreed, thumping Max on the back. "Good move, son. Good move."

"What's going on?" Jake asked, looking from one person to another.

Max searched for Bree and found her standing behind Roger, looking confused. No, not confused. Worried.

The sliver of unease grew in his gut.

"Max bought the business from me," Roger said with a wide grin. "Well, we haven't signed the papers, but everything is a go. I'm retiring the first of the month, and Max will move up here and take over."

"Awesome." Jake pulled Max into a one-armed hug. "Happy for you, man."

Max hadn't taken his eyes off Bree. She was biting her bottom lip and watching everything unfold, detached from the group and, Max feared, detached from the excitement of the news.

But she'd known he was thinking about buying the business. She'd heard Jake's proposal for the training center. She'd heard Max himself say how much he wanted to come home. She couldn't be shocked.

And no, he had to admit she didn't look shocked. She just looked concerned.

That p.i.s.sed him off.

So they'd only started sleeping together and admitting they had feelings that went beyond their longtime friendship a few days ago. This was still nothing to be concerned about. Bree McDermott could do anything she set her mind to. Challenges fired her up, fed her soul. This was not a concern; it was a challenge. And she would rise to it.

But it also bugged him that he was a little concerned.

"It's going to be great to be home," Dillon said, also pulling Max into a brief hug.

It was. It was going to be great.

"We need to celebrate!" Jodi exclaimed. "Dinner at our house? Roger, you and Sue need to come. And Jake and Dillon-I want you to invite your parents. Does tonight work? Or should we do this weekend?"

Max moved through the little crowd, letting them work on the plans for dinner. He took Bree's arm and steered her away from the group.

Once they were at the gazebo, he turned her so her back was against the wooden slats and moved so she was boxed in. "What's going on?"

"Really?" she asked, eyes wide.

"I was going to tell you. Things weren't finalized, and I had no idea Roger would get everything done today."

"I'm just . . ." She trailed off and lifted her shoulder. "It's really real. Just letting that sink in."

"That we can have what we've had for the past week all the time now?" he asked, unable to help the frown he felt pulling his brows together.

It would be okay. It had to be okay.

The past week had been exactly what he wanted. Forever. Her in his life. Seeing her during the day, spending time together with friends and family, curling up on the couch together to watch The Late Show while sharing a bowl of Sweet Cream Dream, then going to bed to make love until they fell asleep wrapped around each other. A normal, happy life.

She nodded. "You'll be here all the time now. For real."

Max leaned in, bracing a hand on the wooden railing just above her head. "Don't freak out on me. You can do this."

Bree pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and nodded again.

"You can, Bree. I know long term is new for you, but I need you to face this the way you've faced every other challenge-straight on. You just need to dive in and know I'm here beside you."

"You're not scared?" she asked him softly.

He considered that as he looked into the blue eyes he wanted to be gazing into on his hundredth birthday.

Was he scared? Definitely. In part because he was putting everything on the line and trusting that Bree would still want what they'd had for the past week fifty years from now.

But there was more. Something bigger.

The past week had been comfortable and easy. Things had been his way. Everything had been his way since he'd pulled her through his bedroom window.

Because he was afraid to do things her way.

It was like high school all over again, and that irritated the ever-living h.e.l.l out of him. He'd never been truly afraid. Not in basic training, not during Katrina, not during rehab, not in the path of an EF4 tornado.

But this woman, and what she could do to him, scared him.

"Yes," he admitted. "Sometimes the stuff we've done together has hurt. But," he added before she could respond, "I bailed out of that first airplane because of the look on your face. Because I love being a part of that thrill and that happiness for you. And believe it or not," he said, cupping her face in his hand and brushing his thumb over her bottom lip, "you've had that same look this past week."

This might be pushing. But he didn't care. He'd been clinging to this. And he needed her to acknowledge it.

She swallowed hard. Then said, "I know."

"Do you? You know that you've looked as happy this week as I've ever seen you? As happy as when you're flying down a mountain or flying through the air?" Doing things his way.

Bree didn't even blink. "Yeah, I do know that."

"And do you have any idea what that does to me?" he asked her, his voice suddenly gruff. Seeing her happy, knowing he was the reason, had made this the best week of his life. Better than the Grand Canyon week. Hands down.

She put her hand against his cheek and rubbed over the day's worth of stubble. "I know what it does to you, because seeing you that way does the same thing to me."

Max's heart turned over. "So you know this is going to be the greatest adventure we've been on together?"

Her lips finally curved up into a small smile. "Yeah, I know that, too."

The knot in his gut eased. He leaned in and kissed her. When he lifted his head, he said, "Dinner with everyone tonight to celebrate?"

Her gaze jumped to the group over his shoulder. "Any way we could celebrate just us tonight?" she asked. "Big dinner tomorrow?"

"Yes," he said without hesitation. "Just us tonight." Bree to himself, doing the couple thing, would always be his pick.

"Okay. I'll see you at my place later? When you're done with everything?"

"Definitely."

She gave him another quick kiss on the lips and then ducked under his arm.

He caught her wrist and pulled her back to face him. "How about dirty charades?" Maybe they could celebrate Bree-style this time.

She gave him a smile that went straight to his heart. "Something better."

Max watched her go, love and hope filling his chest. But he couldn't shake the d.a.m.ned sense of worry. And guilt.

She was letting him do this all his way, too. But her words from the other night, about him wanting to change her, nagged at him. Had he really wanted that? Maybe. But how could he want it now? Bree was . . . Bree. The only woman he'd ever loved. He had to let her be her.

There was no parachute here.

He never jumped without a parachute. No wonder he was twitchy.

He blew out a breath. f.u.c.k.

"Let's go, lover boy!" Dillon yelled. "I'll put you on graham-cracker duty tonight if you don't get over here and help finish these benches."

Max turned. His parents and Roger had dispersed, and Jake and Dillon were starting on the last four benches. Max strode toward them, more than ready to be finished now. He was almost afraid to give Bree too much time alone to think about the huge life change coming her way. She was more a seat-of-her-pants kind of girl. Which had been part of the reason he'd been waiting to tell her until everything was finalized. h.e.l.l, he'd considered saving the news until he had all his furniture in the back of a moving truck sitting in her driveway. Spontaneous. That was the way to go. She was planning on celebrating together later on, but he thought showing up unexpectedly early was definitely a better idea. Surprise was a good thing with Bree.

"You're just jealous that I got some time with my girl," he told Dillon, shaking off the feeling that reminded him a lot of how his gut felt when a storm was pending.

Dillon scowled. "I don't have a girl."

"Even more reason for you to be a grumpy pain in the a.s.s." Max got back to work, sawing and hammering more quickly than he had before.

Forty-five minutes later, all the benches were done. Max had his tools packed up and was headed for his truck.

"Hey, where are you going?" Jake called.

Max glanced back. "Bree's."

"Great, let's go." Dillon started toward him.

"You're not coming," Max told him.

"You're going to bring everything back? I figured you'd want to stay once you got there." Dillon looked very put-upon as he said it.

Max frowned. "I am going to stay. What is everything?"

Dillon looked irritated. "Kit texted me and said that all the supplies for the s'mores are at Bree's. Evidently, Bree called and told her she wasn't going to make it to the party tonight." Dillon gave Max a "This is your fault" look. "So she asked if I could go grab the stuff."

"And you're going to do it?" Max asked, amused by Dillon jumping at Kit's command.

"What's the point of irritating her?"

It seemed to Max that there had been years where Dillon hadn't minded irritating Kit a bit. In fact, he'd seemed to thrive on it.

"Fine. Let's go." Max tossed his toolbox into the back of his truck. "But bring your truck. I'm not leaving for a while."

"Yeah, yeah, life is perfect, you're in love, whatever," Dillon muttered as he rounded the front of Max's truck and walked to his, which was parked right behind Max's.

Jake came jogging over. "I'll help."

"Help with what?" Max asked.

"Whatever you guys are going to do," Jake said with a grin.

Max pointed a thumb at Dillon's truck. "You're with him."