“Really, I’m good,” Mindy said to Jeff and I looked back into the kitchen.

“Yeah,” Jeff replied firmly. “We’ll see you stay good.”

My smile came back.

The steely arm gave me a tight squeeze that pushed the breath out of my lungs.

I gave a quiet but happy wheeze when Mindy grinned shyly at Jeff, tucked her hair behind her ear and turned back to her skillet.

Max’s arm loosened but didn’t go away and I heard him call, “What’d I say, Mick?”

Mick’s eyes were moving between Max and me, Mindy and Jeff.

“Yeah, Max,” Mick grinned in Max and my direction. “You were right, Nina’s somethin’ else.”

“I still don’t know what that means,” I complained.

“Trust me,” Mick said, still grinning. “It’s definitely a compliment.”

“Well,” I muttered, “then I guess that’s all right.”

Then the toast popped up.

***

I was making the bed upstairs and I could hear Mindy in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast when Max came up after walking Mick and Jeff to their SUV.

I looked at him briefly but didn’t pause as I smoothed the covers and then my head bent to watch what I was doing as I rearranged a pillow that was slightly askew.

“Everything all… oof!”

I stopped speaking when I was hooked at the waist, pulled up, twirled round then I was falling back, Max coming with me. I hit the bed, his big body hit me, the breath evacuated my lungs but I didn’t have time to process this predicament because his mouth came down on mine and he kissed me.

He did it hard and he did it long.

My body was liquid under his, my fingers in his hair, my other hand under his t-shirt at his back and I was breathing heavily when his head came up.

“What was that?” I asked on a mini-gasp.

“It was either kiss you breathless or tan your ass. First is quieter with Mindy in the house.”

All the delights of post-Max-kiss with his hard body on mine in a bed and my hand experiencing for the first time the planes of his muscled back evaporated at his words, my brows went up and I asked, “Sorry?”

“Your intention was sweet, babe, and the way you went about it fuckin’ hilarious, but my girl down there was raped three weeks ago and her man publicly proved himself an ass last night.”

“Yes,” I snapped quietly so Mindy wouldn’t hear, “I was there.”

“Yeah, so, fixin’ her up with the first guy that strolls in maybe ain’t such a good idea.”

“The first guy who strolls in who has a badge, carries a gun and looks at her like he wants to build a fortress around her so no one can ever hurt her again.”

Max’s head jerked and he asked, “What?”

“In other words, Max, he’s sweet on her.”

“Gotta be blind not to see that, Nina, and, by the way, it’s the whole damn reason Mick brought him up here in the first place, seein’ as he coulda done his business alone or he coulda just called me and they both knew Mindy was here. But it still ain’t a good idea.”

“You’re wrong,” I snapped softly.

“No, I’m not.”

I was so angry and Max was being so annoying, I didn’t pause to consider my next words. I just said them and in saying them inadvertently I shared.

“Trust me, I know, you get messed up by a man, it’s important to learn right away that there are good ones out there or you might find yourself so far down a very lonely road that you’ll never be able to find your way back.” His face changed, he hadn’t been exactly angry, just wanting to make his point, but now his eyes were hyper-alert and intense but I also had a point to make, I felt it was important, so I kept talking. “I’m not saying he’s going to heal her wounds, watch her walk down the aisle to him in a month and they’re going to grow old together. I’m just saying he seems like a nice guy, there aren’t many of those around and she needs all the reminders she can get that even a rare breed can be found.”

“You get messed up by a man?” he asked and I grew confused at his question for I found this a change of subject and I was intent on the last one.

“What?”

“You get messed up by a man?” he repeated and my mistake dawned.

“I’m a woman,” I covered quickly. “That happens.”

“How’d you get messed up?” he was Max therefore he didn’t let it go.

“Usual stuff, now get off me, I should go help Mindy.”

“How’d you get messed up?”

“Max, get off.”

“Nina, answer me.”

I went silent, stared at him and I considered my approach to this current dilemma. Then I decided, what the heck? I’d tried everything else, why not just lay it on him?

Still, I tested the waters before diving in. “You’re not going to get up unless I answer, are you?”

“Nope,” he responded immediately.

I nodded and said, “All right then, Max, you name it, it happened.”

“What?”

I brought my hands up between us and counted them down. “My first boyfriend cheated on me with my arch nemesis, the homecoming queen no less, which was humiliating. My second boyfriend was just a jerk. Third and fourth, both cheated, the fourth with my best friend. The fifth stole from me, not much but not much is enough when it’s stealing. The sixth got drunk a lot and got mean when he did it and he didn’t care who he was mean around and, since a lot of the time he was around me, I got the bulk of it. The seventh beat me. The eighth asked me to marry him and two days from me telling him it’s over, he hasn’t called. I haven’t been raped, thank God, but that’s enough for a girl, don’t you think?”

“The seventh beat you?” Max asked quietly.

“Twice.”

“Beat you?”

My body tensed under his, which I realized belatedly was solid as a rock, as the tone of his words penetrated and, again, my mistake dawned.

I mentally made note that the sharing strategy might not be the right one either.

“Twice,” I whispered in the face of what appeared to be his building fury.

“What happened?” he demanded, his voice getting loud.

“Max,” I was still whispering.

“What, the fuck, happened?” Max was getting louder.

“Mom told Charlie, Charlie flew to The States and paid him a visit and I took a prolonged vacation in England while Mom moved my stuff out,” I answered quietly.

“Fucking hell,” Max murmured.

“Max –”

“Fucking hell!” Max shouted and then I stared in terrified horror as his torso twisted away from me, he reared an arm back and slammed his fist into the bed at my side.

“Max,” I breathed through frozen lungs, his hand instantly moved to cup my cheek and his face was hard but his voice was suddenly soft.

“Never hurt you, baby,” he whispered and tears hit my eyes.

“Don’t –”

“Never.”

“Is everything all right?” Mindy asked and my head twisted on the bed as Max looked up and we saw Mindy standing at the top of the stairs.

“Give us a minute, darlin’,” Max said to her.

“Is everything all right?” Mindy repeated.

“We’re fine, sweetheart,” I said softly. “Down in a minute.”

“Max?” she called, her eyes on him, her face pale.

“We’ll be down in a minute.”

She studied us a second, whispered, “Okay,” then turned and ran down the stairs.

“So that’s the reason for the shield,” Max said, my head twisted back and my eyes hit his.

“Max –”

His gaze unfocused and he muttered, “Fucking hell.”

“I made those choices, Max, I wasn’t exactly blameless,” I told him and his eyes refocused so much my breath caught at their intensity.

“Don’t you dare,” he ordered.

“Sorry?”

“Don’t you fuckin’ dare take on that blame. Cheats, thieves, abusers, it’s their problem. You take on that blame you got no choice but to build a shield.”

“Max –”

“This guy now, the one you’re shakin’ off, he drink?”

“No.”

“Say shit to you?”

“Max –”

“Does he?”

“No!”

“Lift his hand to you, without your brother around to have your back?”

“Of course not.”

“Just doesn’t fuckin’ care.”

I couldn’t deny that.

“Max, please, get off.”

“Lonely path,” he said and I didn’t reply but he wasn’t looking for one, he kept talking. “You hate it.”

“I –”

“Searchin’.”

“Max, please –”

His hand at my face slid into my hair and his face got close before he said, “I know this, those assholes are assholes because they did what they did and because they did it to a good woman. Learned some things in my life, Duchess, one of the most important, you find a good woman, you take care of her.”

“Please.”

“This happens between us, Duchess, I’d take care of you.”

“Don’t.”

“Die doin’ it,” he vowed.

My breath stuck in my throat as his words wrapped tight around my heart and I made a noise, half gasp, half moan.

“That’s what I’ve learned,” he finished.

“Please stop talking.”

“You don’t believe me?” he asked.

“Can we stop talking now?”

“You’re so far down that path, you think you can’t find your way back.”

“Max –”

“Baby, wake up and look around, that path brought you straight to my fuckin’ house.”

I could take no more. I closed my eyes and turned my head away. If I couldn’t escape him physically, I had to escape him mentally.

His thumb slid along my cheekbone under my bruise and his next words penetrated my mental evasion.

“Shoulda fucked him up worse.”

I gulped back tears and pressed my cheek into the bed.

“I knew a man laid his hands on you, I would have.”

I shook my head but kept it averted. Max fell quiet but his thumb slid back over my cheekbone then his fingers trailed through my hair then down my neck.

“See you’ve had enough,” he whispered and I nodded.

His weight left me but he wasn’t gone but a second when I was on my feet in front of him.

I opened my eyes and tilted my head back to look at him as both his hands settled at my neck.

“I gotta go into town,” he said. “It’ll give you time.”

I nodded again.

“I wanna know what’s happenin’ with Damon before Mindy gets near town. I need to leave her with you.”

“We’ll be all right,” I assured him and his forehead dropped to mine.

“Nina, I get Mindy sorted out, tonight, I want you to talk to me.”

“Max –”

“Think about it, honey.”

I bit my lip then said, “Okay.”

“All right.” His thumb swept my jaw then his hands brought me closer and his lips went to my forehead. “Be back as soon as I can,” he muttered there, kissed me sweet then let me go and walked away without looking back.

The minute I lost sight of Max, I ran to the bathroom, closed the door, put my back to it and lifted my hands in front of me. They were shaking.

I closed my eyes and tried to blank my mind.

I like him, Charlie said to me.

“Be quiet,” I whispered.

Nina? Charlie called.

“I said, be quiet.”

Sweetheart, see that light? he asked.

“Please,” I begged.

Neenee Bean, it isn’t a train, Charlie told me.

“Shut up.”

You’re almost there, he finished.

I closed my eyes, slid down the door, pulled my legs to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, putting my cheek to knee.

A knock came at the door and I jumped.

“Nina?” Mindy called.

“Be right out!” I called back.

“You okay?”

“Great, just going to take a shower.”

There was a hesitation then, “All right.”

I waited for Mindy to come back, say something more, knock again, for Charlie to invade my mind.

When nothing happened, I took a shower.

***

Feeling the need to be prepared for what came next, I not only took a shower, I did my hair and makeup too. Then I dressed in jeans and a thin, violet, boat neck sweater that had a wide dip at the top of the back and a tie across my shoulders holding the sides together.

Dressed and ready to face my next ordeal, I wound my way down Max’s stairs and saw Mindy sitting at his computer. All buoyant, skip-dancing Mindy gone, what happened the night before had worn her innate cheerfulness clean away.

Last night she’d cried all the way to Max’s house then she’d pulled herself together when we walked in then she starting crying again when Max got me some ice for my eye.