DAWN
I don’t get butterflies. That’s not a thing that happens for me.
But when Max Stinton pins those icy cobalt eyes my way, I swear something starts fluttering in my stomach like a raging tornado.
We’re in an ice cream shop after the career day, making far too much noise for a group of four adults and two children.
Beth and Max are deep in conversation about cars, of all things.
He glances up.
I look away before he catches me staring at him like some kind of creepy fan girl with a juvenile crush.
Why is this happening to me?
It can’t be a Stinton.
It just can’t.
I don’t even need to list out the reasons, but if I did, it would fill one of those ancient scrolls that roll out to the length of a building.
Ugh.
Staring at my ice cream, watching the cold treat slowly turn into runny milk, I coach my heart into behaving.
“… and that’s why I never used to drive Black Beauty around. That is until I got Red Beauty. She’s vintage, and she never leaves my garage. Unless it’s for special occasions,” Max says.
Beth leans forward, stars in her eyes. “How old is she?”
“She’s an eighties baby,” Max says proudly.
Beth squeaks and jumps into a list of all her favorite cars from the eighties. I’ve never seen her get that animated with anyone except Bailey. Whenever she’s around strangers, she’s shy and reclusive. It’s hard for her to get comfortable around new faces, especially when those faces are much older than her.
Seeing her now, you’d think I’m a liar.
She’s talking loudly, gesturing with her hands, and jumping in to interrupt Max whenever she gets too excited.
Even Bailey is looking at her like he’s never seen her before.
“Dawn, you okay?” Sunny whispers to me. She’s sitting at my right. For most of the past hour, she’s been holding hands with her fiancé, Darrel, and trying to cheer up Bailey, who is noticeably dismayed that Elizabeth is more focused on Max than anyone else around the table.
I startle when I realize she’d been observing me.
I hope she didn’t notice me staring at Max.
“I’m fine.” My lips arch up in what I hope is a convincing smile.
Sunny pops a trim eyebrow. She’s a gorgeous woman with an impressive sense of style. Her Mayan ancestry shows in the reddish undertones beneath her brown skin as well as the bridge of her nose and the slant of her eyes. Her shiny black hair falls straight and flat, shining beneath the sunlight.
Sunny gives me an unconvinced look and then plants her hands flat on the table. I’m surprised she can move her hand given the giant diamond weighing it down.
Pressing up, she smiles at me. “I need to use the lady’s room. Do you mind coming with me?”
“Uh…”
She grabs my hand before I can say anything and tugs me to my feet.
Max swings his gaze around, his pale blue eyes twinkling, mischievous, and gentler than I’ve ever seen them. Softer. It’s like Beth softens all his hard edges.
I blink.
It’s the first time I’ve seen him that approachable and tender. The mask of arrogance is missing, allowing a different side of him to shine through. A side where the rich, cocky rogue prince of Stinton Group is outdone by the quiet, caring uncle.
Uncle. He’s Beth’s uncle, Dawn. Get yourself together.
It’s sleazy to think about him in that way.
But I’m locked in.
I can’t look away from the gentleness in his eyes.
I can’t resist falling deeper into his cobalt-blue gaze and wondering if this is the real Max Stinton or if it’s just an illusion.
Does that softness only come out when he’s with the people he considers family?
Does he apply that gentleness elsewhere? Like when he’s kissing whatever supermodel of the month catches his fancy, holding her body tightly to him as he rakes his lips against her skin—
I choke on my own breath and start coughing.
Max scrambles to his feet, leaning over in concern. “Dawn, are you okay?”
“She’s fine.” Sunny tugs on me. “Let’s go.”
I stumble behind her, completely mortified.
My head is full of cotton and all kinds of sticky thoughts about Max Stinton are getting caught in there.
I’m not allowed to have feelings for this man.
I don’t care if he’s ambitious enough to turn a giant PR mess into gold for his company.
I don’t care if he’s responsible enough to take his brother’s sins on his own back and pay for them, take the blame and the anger for them, without complaint.
I don’t care that he keeps looking out for me in quiet ways and that arguing with him is something I’ve been missing for the past few weeks.
Nothing will change the fact that he’s a Stinton and thus, it can never happen.
Sunny charges into the bathroom, kicks every stall open to make sure we’re completely alone and then whirls on me. “Okay, spill. I thought you hated Stinton Group and everyone with that last name. What’s going on?”
“What are you talking about?” I retreat from her. Since I’m in the bathroom, I might as well wash my hands, splash my face with cold water and pull myself back together.
A slow, knowing smirk transforms the worried frown on Sunny’s face. “Oh my gosh. You like him.”
“No, I don’t.” Crap. I spoke too fast. I know I sound guilty.
“You’ve been giving him goo-goo eyes for the past hour, Dawn. Please give me a reasonable excuse if you’re going to lie to me.”
I suck in a shuddering breath, grateful that my lungs are still capable of filtering oxygen. My mind is teetering on the edge of a breakdown and Sunny is not helping.
She stomps closer. “When did that happen? While you two were working together?”
“No.” I lean over the sink and grip the edges of the counter. Shoulders hunched to my ears, I struggle to stay upright. “He’s off-limits.”
“Why? What exactly do you have against Stinton Group?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Now you sound like Alistair.” She rolls her eyes. “Dawn, you look like you’re falling apart. Holding back the truth isn’t helping you and it certainly isn’t stopping you from feeling the things you do.”
“I’m telling you. I can’t, Sunny.”
“Why not?”
I pace the bathroom. “He… he’s the enemy.” I fling my arms out. “Everyone in his family is toxic. Do you know…” I can’t catch my breath. “Do you know that before Beth was born, Stinton Group lawyers came barreling into my apartment. They offered money to—they wanted me to get rid of Beth.”
Sunny’s jaw drops.
My own heart smashes against my ribs.
Saying the words out loud only emphasizes how ridiculous I’m being. How unsuitable Max is for me and for Elizabeth.
“Wait.” Sunny blinks slowly. “If Stinton Group tried to pay you to terminate your pregnancy, that means that Elizabeth is…”
“Yeah.”
“Max?” Sunny gasps.
“No, his brother. Trevor.”
She covers her mouth. “Oh, this just got complicated.”
“You see?” I pace to the other side of the bathroom. “It doesn’t matter how I feel. What matters is keeping Elizabeth far away from that company. Max is Stinton Group. There’s no separating him from it. Caring about him is too dangerous.”
She stumbles back. “Okay. Let me think for a moment.”
“Think?” I shriek. “What is there to think about? This shouldn’t be happening. The fact that I even let him get close to Beth was a huge miscalculation. That’s what he does to me. He messes with my head. I’m already making big mistakes. I can’t let him get any closer.”
“Do you know if it was him?”
“What?”
“Was it Max who ordered the lawyers to try and pressure you into getting rid of Beth?”
I swallow hard. “I-I don’t know.”
“Maybe you should ask him.” She puts her hand on my shoulder. “Before you go around blaming an entire company for what Beth’s irresponsible father did, maybe you should find out if Max deserves all that hatred or if he’s just the closest target because he’s here and his brother isn’t.”
Her words stop me dead in my tracks.
Sunny tucks a lock of her shiny, straight hair behind her ear. “When Trevor ran off with Stinton Investment’s money, he took off with my pay too. I was so mad about it. I wanted the entire company to go down. But then Max called me personally and apologized on his brother’s behalf. He paid what was owed to me and told me it was his fault that Trevor messed up. That one phone call showed me the kind of person he is. Someone responsible to the point of crucifying himself.”
“It could have been a publicity stunt—”
“It wasn’t. Max called me privately in my car. No cameras. No recordings. Nothing. I was the least of his worries and he still did it personally.”
My throat is tightening to an uncomfortable degree.
Sunny’s brown eyes turn contemplative. “Max is used to being the scapegoat when anything goes wrong. It really didn’t sit right with me when I heard him apologizing for something he didn’t do.” She shakes her head. “And Dawn, you might be doing the same thing. Does it sit right with you?”
I think about Max taking responsibility for Mila Dubois’s car. He really is the kind of person who’d take all responsibility. It’s almost second nature. “I…” My heart thunders in my chest. “It can’t be that simple.”
“But what if it is?”
“He’s still a Stinton,” I snap.
“Yeah, but he’s not Trevor.”
That shuts me up.
“You want to snap at Beth’s father, but you can’t because he’s gone. He ran off long before Stinton Group sent those lawyers. But you can snarl at Max because he’s here. He didn’t run when he found out he had a niece. He stayed and he’s trying to be a part of her life.”
Tears press the back of my eyes and I wilt against the sink. It feels like Sunny’s grabbing my insides, tearing them out and scattering them all over the floor.
Max isn’t all that benevolent.
He used Beth to get me to work with Stinton Group.
But he also set up a college fund for Beth, tried to work around your rules and spoil her with catered breakfasts, and he showed up to her career day when you know he has a million more important things to do with his company. On the other hand, Trevor knew I was pregnant and he disappeared.
I shake my head to quiet that voice.
It’s still too risky.
“Look, I’m not telling you what to do. And I wouldn’t even have this conversation with you if you didn’t seem so obviously torn up about Max. I can’t say whether or not he’s a good man and only you know whether he’s a good man for you, but I challenge you to think about him—not as the representative of Stinton Group, but as a man on his own merits. I think that’s the only way to be fair to yourself and to him.”
I won’t go there as Max Stinton. I’ll go there as Max.
It’s what he told me on the phone when I capitulated to my daughter and allowed a Stinton to come close to her.
Sunny steps toward me and pulls me into her embrace. She smells like sunshine and safety. I’m flooded with gratitude to have her, Mama Moira and even Kenya and Alistair in my life.
“It’s okay.” She rubs my back soothingly. “It’s okay if the answer is complicated. It’s okay to move slowly and test every step before you take the plunge. No one is rushing you. And if they do, that means you should slow down even more and take your time to make sure you’re certain in your own heart.”
The bathroom door opens.
Another customer walks in and gives me a curious look.
I step away from Sunny. “Thank you.”
She winks. “Girl, it’s what I’m here for.” Her phone buzzes and she looks down at it with a smile that only shows up when she’s around Darrel. “Are you ready to go? Darrel is wondering if we got kidnapped.”
“Yeah.” I take a step and then stop. “Actually,” I squeeze her hand, “do you mind taking Beth to the farmhouse after this?”
“Of course. But why?”
“I want to have a conversation with Max.”
“Is this a sleepover kind of conversation?” She wiggles her eyebrows.
Heat pools in my cheeks. “We’ll see.”
“Atta girl.” She pats my shoulder, links our arms together and propels me out of the bathroom.
As I step closer to the table, Max’s eyes leave my daughter and lock on me.
My heart resonates on impact.
Mayday.
I’m not even sure if giving him a chance is a good idea or a colossal mistake, but I can’t deny that there’s something about him that dares me closer.
I also can’t deny that exploring that connection is terrifying.
He’s still a Stinton.
He will always be a Stinton.
But judging him based on the sins of his family is denying that he’s a man with his own thoughts and values.
There’s a reason Max Stinton keeps plucking on the strings of my heart and making me tremble in ways I never have before.
I just hope I have the courage to dig up the truth buried beneath those cold eyes and killer suits.
And I hope that when that truth appears, I’ll be able to believe it.
“Can we talk?”
I’m stunned when Max asks me first.
I’m stunned he’s capable of asking and not ordering.
And I’m stunned by the way my heart slams into my ribs when he gives me an intensely hopeful look.
“Yeah. I just…” Shoot. Why am I so nervous? It’s not like he’s stopped being evil overlord Max Stinton. It’s not like he’s any less lethal and dangerous. “I need to change first.”
“Bye, Mr. Stinton.” Beth waves at him from where she’s leaving with Bailey, Darrel and Sunny. “Remember your promise.”
“What promise?” I raise an eyebrow, already on edge.
“Relax, Mama Bear. Beth wants to see Red Beauty. I told her to ask you first. She felt quite certain that you’d say no if she asked. I told her you’d definitely say no if I did. We played rock-paper-scissors and I lost.”
My lips twitch in spite of myself. That story is not what I expected at all.
“Red Beauty? Did you call your car that because the other one is Black Beauty?”
“They’re equally beautiful, so I needed a distinguishing factor,” he says crisply.
I snort out a laugh.
His eyes twinkle at me.
Max Stinton is capable of making jokes. And teasing. And being sweet to seven-year-old girls.
I fight off the admiration that flows over me and open my mouth.
Before I can say a word, a group of teenagers walk up to the ice cream shop. They catch one look at Max and start giggling in hushed tones, throwing him meaningful looks.
I start scowling immediately.
What are they looking at?
Then I pull my eyes back to Max and realize that I can’t even judge them.
He’s gorgeous.
Max isn’t wearing a suit today, but he might as well be because he looks just as imposing in a button-down and a pair of jeans.
I bet those jeans are designer. I bet those fancy sneakers are too.
I’d judge him for being shallow, but I have to admit that his clothes have a certain class. The dark grey shirt is painted over his muscular chest, allowing his beastly pecs to have their moment in the limelight. The jeans are dark and crisp, hugging his hips just right and held in place with a leather belt that probably costs as much as all four tires of my car.
The fit and quality is exactly what I would expect of any rich guy.
But on Max, there’s an elegance to the way he wears his clothes that makes it hard to look away from him.
“Dawn?” he whispers, arching an eyebrow.
I checked him out and he knows it.
The wind picks up and ruffles his hair to one side. I catch my breath when I notice how well that disheveled look fits him. How much I want to drag my fingers through his hair and mess it up myself.
There’s no stopping the pounding of my heart that wants to fly right out of my body.
Stripped down to the bare essentials, Max still looks like a devastatingly dangerous prince. Confident, gorgeous and roguish.
Yeah.
I’m definitely in trouble.
“I’ll ride with you.” His voice holds a crackle of amusement. “I gave Jefferson the afternoon off.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m taking the afternoon off.” He checks his watch. “Where’s your truck?”
My jaw drops and I stalk behind him to the parking lot. “You know how to take a break?”
“Don’t look so shocked. It’s insulting.” He arches an eyebrow. “And didn’t you take the afternoon off too?”
I wonder why he knows that. “Yeah, but I’ve been prancing around on non-stop press tours because my jerk of a boss doesn’t know what balance is.”
He chuckles.
My heart stalls.
Okay, no more looking at Max Stinton when he smiles.
I can’t think straight.
He takes up too much space in my car. In my apartment.
He makes me keenly aware of things I never cared about before.
Like clothes.
I’m staring at my closet full of T-shirts and jeans and panicking because I have nothing nice to wear.
We don’t change for anyone, remember? Especially not a Stinton.
I reach for a regular T-shirt and shorts, but I’m still a woman so I refresh my lipstick, spray water in my afro so it’s nice and moisturized and add a bit of perfume too.
I’m doing this for me, not Max.
Right.
“Wow.” His gaze falls over my body when I walk into the living room. I almost buckle from the intensity of that stare.
“What?” I ask harshly.
“You own something other than jumpsuits and over-alls?”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“I’ll find a way to get over it,” he says dryly. “I’m surprised. I thought you slept in your work gear.”
“Oh please. What about you? Do you own anything other than button-downs? Wouldn’t you feel naked without your three piece suits?”
“I feel naked when I’m naked, Dawn.” He reaches for a button. “Want me to prove it?”
My mouth drops open.
He’s flirting with me.
My heart is beating so fast it can power a hot-air balloon.
I scowl because the alternative is giggling like one of those teenaged girls who got a glimpse of his handsome face. Yeah. I’m not going to do that. “I’d rather spare my eyes the trauma.”
Despite my harsh words, heat spreads all over my body as I imagine Max Stinton without his shirt on.
He props his arm on the chair handle and sets his chin in his hands. “Why are you so nervous?”
“Why do you want to talk to me?” I redirect the conversation, narrowing my eyes and donning an I couldn’t care less attitude, hoping he can’t see to the trembling woman underneath. “What’s so important that you’d crash my peaceful afternoon with your annoying face?”
And by annoying, I mean beautifully sculpted, gorgeous, GQ worthy.
But he doesn’t need to know that.
“Maybe I just want to check up on my asset. Make sure we’re not over-working you.”
My eyes narrow.
Oh, right. This is why I hate him.
“Who are you calling an asset…” The rest of the words drift away when Max lumbers to his feet and prowls toward me.
“You, Dawn. You’re the best thing that ever happened to Stinton Group.” His voice drops. “To me.”
Crap, crap, crap.
I don’t understand.
Is he talking from a business standpoint or… a personal one?
“We just have to work on that temper of yours.” One side of his lips arches up. “I hear you’ve been snappy with a few of the hosts. There was even a segment that couldn’t air because you told off the interviewer.”
“So this is an intervention?”
“Are you disappointed?” he whispers, leaning in. “Did you expect us to discuss something other than work?”
I scowl at him, my body seizing up. “One of these days…”
“You’ll tie me up and torture me?” He tilts his head. “I don’t think I’d mind.”
“Scum.”
“I’ve heard that one.”
“Jerkwad.”
“That’s new.”
My eyes narrow on him.
“You want to throw another punch, wolverine?” He wraps his hand around my fingers that I hadn’t even realized had clenched into fists.
“Don’t you ever stop being obnoxious?”
“Don’t you ever stop being so tense?”
“Again, that’s hypocritical of you. You’re not exactly Mr. Zen. Why else would you micro-manage every detail of my press tour?”
“Maybe it’s because I can’t take my eyes off you for a second.”
Holy chimo-le.
I try to breathe, but my lungs decide it’s not worth the fuss.
My heart is committing its own mutiny, crawling all the way into my throat and refusing to get down like a baby monkey running from a tiger.
I don’t know what words are when his eyes burn into mine, glowing with mischief and something else. Something different.
So I don’t say anything at all.
“Elizabeth’s an automotive genius. Just like her mom.” His eyes turn tender again.
The topic throws me off my game.
Makes me want to be soft in return.
“Right now, she says she wants to be a mechanic.” It’s why she was so amazed by Max’s speech at the press conference. He made me into a hero who saved the day. And she saw that. Appreciated it.
“I bet it was decided from birth.”
“Maybe. She doesn’t know anything else. I had her reading auto mechanic magazines since she was two. She spends most of her time in garages, waiting for me to get off work. It’s her world.”
“And she’s thriving in it. One look was all it took for me to see that she’s well-loved and well-taken care of.”
It’s a big compliment and it means something coming from him.
“I’m sorry Trevor wasn’t mature enough to be there for you two.”
A weight settles on my chest and just won’t leave. “Why are you apologizing? It’s not like you were the one I slept with that night.”
Would things have been different if I’d met Max instead of his brother? Would he have taken responsibility for that stupid, drunken mistake all the way? Would Beth have a father who showed up instead of one that keeps bailing on his responsibilities?
“It doesn’t matter. He’s gone now.”
Max pinches his lips. “Actually, he’s not.”
“What?”
“The press made up the story. The police think they have a lead on him. They’re following it now.”
I blink.
Max takes my chin in his hands. “Does that bother you? The fact that he’s alive?”
Yes.
No.
Maybe?
Thorny, complex emotions are clawing at my stomach. If Trevor’s still alive, that means there’s a chance he’ll try to bully his way back into Beth’s life. That means Beth will have proof that her father is alive when I always told her he was dead.
She’ll also have proof that Max is her uncle.
Her uncle.
And if I give into these feelings between me and Max…
It’s not right.
None of this…
I step back. “You could have told me sooner.”
“Was never a good time.”
“Is there ever a good time to admit your brother is fake dead?” I move back again.
I don’t get far. Max wraps his arms around my waist and draws me back to him. “Before you get skittish, let me take you somewhere.”
I let him whisk me to my car. I let him take the driver’s seat. I let him drive me to the racetrack and I should have known he would go there. After everything Hadyn told me, I should have known that would be the place Max Stinton feels the most like himself.
Like Max.
Just Max.
He stops the car on a hill that overlooks the city. The night sky sprawls low over the land and twinkles brighter than the lights from a hundred skyscrapers.
“This place is where I go when I need to think.” He glances over his shoulder at the backseat. “You got a blanket in here?”
I hand it over and he climbs out of the car, opens my door and gestures for me to get out. When I move too slowly, he slips his hands around my waist.
The heat of his palm against my back makes me gasp. “What are you doing?”
“Helping you out of this big truck.”
“I can get down on my own.”
“Trust me. I’m aware.” He continues to pull me against his body and swoop me down to the ground.
Lovely.
Max Stinton is still a rogue, but there’s a hint of tenderness underneath it and it’s totally disarming.
The bulk of him crowds me on the blanket. His muscular forearm brushes against mine as we both try to lie on the giant square fabric that’s meant for my tiny frame and my even tinier daughter.
My heart is pounding like crazy.
I can’t even blame it on anger this time.
Awesome.
When I glance over, trying to sneak in a peek, Max catches me and smiles. I quickly avert my gaze, feeling like a high school girl out with the bad boy senior.
“Did you bring me out here just to look at stars?” I sound like I’m complaining but, when I get a good look at the heavens, it takes my breath away.
I haven’t seen a view like this in a long time.
Stars twinkle everywhere, pressing in on all sides so it feels like we’re practically being showered in light. A quiet hush of wind fills the air with music. It’s almost like we’re the only two people in the world right now, and there’s an intimate sense of awe that falls on me.
Max’s voice drawls low and close to my ear. “My mother worked for Hadyn’s family. She was the receptionist at this track.”
My eyes widen and I whip around to face him.
He’s lying on his side, looking at me the way I was looking at the stars. With something close to gratitude and a hint of reverence.
He leans in close, so close I can feel the scratch of his beard against my dark skin. He stares me right in the eyes as if he wants to see himself in them. As if he needs that connection.
“It’s where she met my dad. Where they fell in love. She didn’t know he was married.”
My heart slams against my ribs. There’s a riot in my chest, a storm building inside me.
Why is he being so honest?
Why is the cold, imposing leader of Stinton Group showing me all his scars?
I don’t understand.
I can’t get a read on him.
“She found out when she went to tell him she was pregnant, but by then it was too late. I was already on the way. So she buried her love for him. I saw it steal the light from her eyes. I saw the way she died a little every time dad kept us a secret. I hated him at first. She was the one who convinced me not to. Said that life isn’t always black and white. Said that I should focus on what I could control. Like being ready to take what belonged to me. She truly believed that when the time came, he’d make me a part of his family.” He frowns darkly. “Dad was a ghost until my thirteenth birthday. That’s when his first wife, Trevor’s mother, died. He finally thought Stinton Group was ready to meet his bastard child.”
I curl my fingers into fists.
“I wasn’t always a Stinton.” He looks up at the stars. “For thirteen years, I was just the receptionist’s kid. I was Hadyn’s playmate when he stopped by to visit. I was a nobody. But that ended when I came to Stinton Group. I had things to prove. I had people who hated me because of the way I was born and never let me forget it.”
I lean close to him. Eye to eye. Nose to nose. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not telling you to gain sympathy, Dawn. I want you to know that I understand what’s happening with you and Elizabeth, maybe more than anyone. I understand why you want to keep her away from Stinton Group. I’m not trying to stop you from protecting her. I just don’t want you to think that you have to protect her from me.”
Every inch of me throbs like crazy as I meet the eyes of this beautiful, complicated man.
It’s hard to remember why I should stay away when he’s this close. Close enough that his breath is starting to become my own.
His eyes drop to my lips for a second.
I reach out and press my hand to his face, running my fingers over his scruff. The tension that sizzles between us is a quiet thing, but just because it’s not loud doesn’t make it any less powerful.
All this time, I’ve been holding myself back by remembering who he is.
But now I’m starting to wonder if I know this man at all.
Is the cold, cruel king who held my daughter for ransom the real Max Stinton, or is it the gentle, open and vulnerable man in front of me?
I can’t make sense of it.
Of him.
As the darkness presses in on either side, I realize that I want to believe the man I’m seeing now.
Max’s gaze is smoldering.
The faint sounds of the night fade away as I lose myself in his eyes.
“I never got to thank you for what you did with the Mila Dubois situation,” I say quietly.
“It was nothing.”
“It was something. And whether you want to admit it or not, Max, you have a heart beating somewhere underneath here.” I place a hand to his chest. “You could have easily thrown Henry under the bus and you didn’t. You take responsibility, even to your own detriment. It’s a strength, but it’s also a weakness. And it makes me wonder,” I lick my lips, “what if I said I wanted to take responsibility for you too?”
“What are you doing to me, Dawn?” His words are a groan. “I can’t stop thinking about you. I can’t stop worrying about you.”
I shudder.
“You ruined me,” he whispers.
Just like that, I decide I’m not going to hold back anymore.
Surging over the blanket, I grab his face and latch on to his lips with a desperation that takes even Max by surprise.
He goes still.
And then he wraps his arms around me and kisses me back.
