I tried to step back, but his arm encircled my waist. As I lifted my gaze, my eyes connected with the most profoundly sincere expression I had ever encountered in my life. The feeling of being trapped in his embrace should scare me after what I’d been through, but I knew I was safe with him.
“Stella… when I saw that man put his hands on you earlier…”
“Don’t, I was fine.” I reprimanded, placing my hand on his chest in comfort. I could feel the steady beat of his heart under my palm. The powerful, rhythmic thumping of his racing heart echoed the frantic beat of my own, creating a synchronized rhythm of anxiety.
“I knew you were fine.” He took a fortifying breath as he tipped my chin up so that our eyes would meet.
“I knew you could handle yourself if you got uncomfortable. I knew you were strong enough to fight your own battles. You won’t allow yourself to be trapped by another man. I knew that. It wasn’t that I wanted to save you. It was that I couldn’t stand the idea of another man touching the woman that I hadn’t gone thirty seconds without thinking about. There was a neanderthal part of me that wanted to stomp over, plop my hat on your head, throw you over myshoulder, and take you home.” His smile was tender as he looked into my eyes.
“Might as well have pissed on the floor in a circle around me, because even though you didn’t do any of those things, I’m sure no man will get anywhere close to me tonight,” I said with a chuckle.
“That was the fucking point, Stella. I don’t want another man close to you. I want to be the man that’s close to you.”
My breath hitched, a desperate, ragged gasp in the suffocating silence. What had begun as witty banter and slow dancing was now a tense conversation, the air thick with unspoken words, far from the boisterous music and flashing lights of the dive bar’s dance floor.
“Max, we can’t…” I said, as I again attempted to extricate myself from his embrace.
“Let me take you out,” he said simply, loosening his hold just a fraction.
He wasn’t keeping me caged, and he wanted to make sure I knew anytime I needed to leave, he would let me go. The truth was, I didn’t want to go. I reveled in the comforting, secure feeling of being held in his arms.
“Max, I don’t think this is a good idea. You know all I’ve been through, I’ve got Charlie to think about, and I don’t know how long I’m going to be in Firefly Cove.”
I surveyed the dance floor carefully, trying to see if anyone had been close enough to overhear our argument. Lost in their individual worlds, each person was absorbed in their own thoughts and actions, including Ray, who was joyfully dancing away.
“One date,” he pleaded. “Let me show you what it’s like to have someone fall at your feet and worship the ground you walk on. I want to show you the power of having someonebelieve in you. Let me show you how much I want you…and Charlie.” He said, pulling me back into his embrace.
I felt myself melt at his words, but words were just empty place holders for the actions that I’d been shown would never happen. With a history of letdowns, I worried Max might also end up hurting me.
I wasn’t worried that he would hurt me physically, but this man could obliterate my heart and my child’s.
I hesitated, not knowing what to say. I wanted to open my heart and let Max in, to embrace him fully and completely. The fragile hope of happiness felt like a candle flickering in a storm.
I deserved to go on living my life, not knowing how things were eventually going to pan out. Charlie deserved to know that not all men were like her shit-bag father. The thought that Max could be the perfect person to give us the fresh beginning that we deserved swam through my mind, but my fear was, unfortunately, overwhelming and paralyzing.
“Can I think about it?” I asked hesitantly, not daring to meet his eyes.
He insisted, once again, that I raise my chin and meet his gaze directly, so that I might fully appreciate and feel the sincerity of his words.
“Take all the time you need. From the moment we bumped into each other again at the coffee shop, I’ve been fighting an attraction to you. I know that you’ve been hurt deeply. I wish I could take back all the damage that fucker did to you, physically and emotionally. Showing you that you deserve to be happy will take as long as it takes. You deserve people in your corner, Stella.”
I sighed. He was right. I knew deep down that I deserved to move on.
We’d been in Firefly Cove for over two weeks now and we hadn’t seen or heard anything out of the men who killed Dean. I was aware that the probability of them ever locating us was incredibly low, bordering on nonexistent, but the fear was still there.
I deserved to move on with my life and eventually stop hiding behind the shadow of my past.
I knew that regardless of if I wanted to or not, there was an undeniable attraction between Max and I. One date couldn’t hurt, could it?
“Okay...” I mumbled, looking at him directly this time. The confidence he had in the fact that he could do right by Charlie and I was giving me the second hand confidence to let him. “One date.”
A wide smile spread across his face as, taking my hand, he twirled me around before gently dipping me at my waist.
The combination of spinning and tequila wasn’t the best idea, but I honestly didn’t care enough to be concerned about the consequences. I felt so free and light when I was with Max.
I giggled as he pulled me back into his embrace and I lifted his hat off his head and deposited it on top of mine. Wide with desire, his pupils revealed the intensity of his lust. Apparently cowboy hats and women were an aphrodisiac round these parts.
“Do you know what it means to wear a man’s cowboy hat?” he asked gruffly, his voice coming out tinny and strained.
