“And for the advice?”
“Not so much for that.” I waved as I backed toward the house. “See ya.”
She honked her horn as she reversed out of the driveway like she was trying to set some record.
As I climbed the porch, I glanced at Nathan’s house. Ever since that night Max and I’d had pretend make-up sex, I hadn’t heard a word from him. I guessed the message had been effective.
After unlocking the door and slipping inside, I tried not to make a noise, which was pretty much impossible in a house this old. Hopefully, Max was still asleep and had gone to bed early, as he’d promised. He was wearing himself out, expecting too much of himself, and I didn’t want to see him keep driving himself into an early grave.
The thought of my warm bed sounded so good after being awake for close to twenty hours, but my gaze drifted to the spot where I’d seen Max in the hall earlier. In his tuxedo, grinning at me as I paraded down the hall in that ungodly expensive dress that had made breathing a chore.
Damn, that man looked good all dressed up.
I’d gone from hating the guy to liking him to liking him. Not that it mattered because I couldn’t act on it, but I was aware of it at least. The more aware I was of my feelings for him, the more I could be on the lookout to keep them from manifesting.
Something was on the kitchen table we usually sat at every morning for breakfast. A little square box covered in black velvet and lined with gold metal.
My heart jumped into my throat as I moved toward it. I already knew what it was. I was surprised, with how rigid he was about all of this, he hadn’t had it last night, but I supposed even a person like Max Sturm erred every once in a while.
When I opened the tiny box, a folded white note popped out. After unfolding it, I found nothing more than a question mark scratched down.
It made me smile. So Max.
Then I saw the ring.
Wowza. It was huge. I was going to have to turn it around when I worked at the coffee stand. At least if it did get ripped off, Max wouldn’t be out a lot. I’d finally managed to convince him to get me one of those cubic zirconia stones instead of the real deal. It had taken a while and a few heated arguments, but I’d gotten my way.
I thought it was crazy that people would spend thousands on a diamond when they could get something that cost a fraction of that and looked the same. This stone was every bit as sparkly and shiny as its diamond counterparts.
I pulled the ring out of the box, wondering if the darn box had cost as much as the ring. Apparently Max adhered to “the bigger, the better” when it came to engagement rings, because yeah, it took up a quarter of my finger when I slipped it on. Other than the size, the ring was simple. Round solitaire, gold band, that was it.
Max had asked a few times what kind of ring I wanted, but I’d never given him any clues. I just told him to surprise me. He had. With the same exact ring I probably would have picked out on my own. Save for the size.
I was still admiring the ring on my finger, letting it catch whatever light it could find and throw prisms across the room, when I heard the door at the end of the hall whine open. So much for him catching up on his sleep.
His footsteps echoed down the hall, the sharp tap of his dress shoes telling he was in a hurry.
“Coffee?” I asked when he came into view, before I lifted my left hand. “Thank you for the ring. It’s perfect.”
All it took was one look at his face to tell me something was wrong. Really wrong. His jaw was already set before he glanced at my hand. It set a little more when he did though.
“What’s the matter?” Setting down the black velvet box, I approached him. As soon as I did, he started backing away, so I stopped. The hollows beneath his eyes were dark, his eyes were bloodshot, and his tie was a little crooked. “Max? What the hell’s wrong?”
My heart stalled for a moment while I waited for his answer.
Finally, he moved, glaring at the front door. “My parents. They’re coming.”
I was tired, so my head was running at half speed. It was taking a minute to catch up to what Max was saying and why he was acting like this was the end of the world.
“What?” was the first brilliant thing to spill out of my mouth. “When?”
“Tonight.” Max’s gaze lowered to my hand, where the ring was in place. His forehead creased.
“Why the sudden rush?” I asked, catching up to why he was stressed.
“Apparently the news about our engagement spread quickly. They’re concerned.” His hand curled tighter around the briefcase he was holding. “And they might be under the impression I’m not exactly marrying you for love.”
My mouth fell open. “Shit.”
“Exactly.”
I didn’t know a lot about Max’s parents, other than what I’d read in his biography. He didn’t talk about them much, and I didn’t ask. I felt like there was some silent agreement between us that we left each other’s pasts alone.
“What are we going to do?” I asked, feeling his panic spread.
“I don’t know.” He shook his head and started for the door. “I don’t have time for this right now. I’ve got to get to the office. I have a few big trades going through today and I just can’t deal with this right now.”
When I heard the front door open, I rushed to the freezer. “Wait!”
“Nina, I’m in a hurry.” He sighed, but he stayed where he was.
After grabbing the Ziploc baggy, I jogged toward the front door he was hovering just inside of.
“Breakfast. You need to eat.” I held out the packaged breakfast burrito and waited for him to take it. “I’ll stuff it in your pocket if you don’t take it. You can’t not sleep and not eat. I won’t allow it.” I let a smile form when he reached for the bag. “Not under my roof.”
“When did you do this?” he asked, looking at the homemade frozen burrito like he didn’t know what to make of it.
“Yesterday morning. I made a bunch, for these types of situations.”
“There types of situations?” he echoed.
“The ones where I have to take care of you because you won’t take care of yourself.”
When a certain expression fell over his face, I felt heat spill down my spine. I didn’t know what to make of those kinds of looks. They seemed like they were intended to invite me closer, but it was Max behind those looks, the very man who couldn’t possibly think of me the way I did of him. He’d said he wouldn’t let feelings get in the way. He’d promised.
“Thank you, Nina,” he said softly as his fingers curled around the baggie. Then he turned and walked down the front porch stairs.
“What do you need, Max?” I asked, following him to the top of the stairs. “What do you need from me?”
He paused with his hand on the handrail. He glanced back at me over his shoulder. Whatever he saw made him look away. “Just hold up your end of our agreement. That’s it, Nina. Nothing more.”
I watched him walk away. I watched him climb into that ugly car of his. I watched him drive away. I watched the spot where he’d disappeared minutes after he had.
I watched.
He never glanced my way once.
This was wrong. All of it.
My parents being here in Nina’s living room. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. They were supposed to find out about the engagement, send their conventional congrats, then possibly fly in for the wedding. They weren’t supposed to show up twenty-four hours after Nina and I’d gotten engaged.
Maybe I should have been expecting this though. Maybe I’d been a fool to think they wouldn’t try something when they found out about my sudden engagement to some girl they’d never met.
Of course it was about money. That was what it always came down to in the end. I had some. A lot of it. And they did not.
The Sturms had done well for themselves for generations, growing that wealth with shrewd investment deals and commercial developments. That trend changed when my dad came along. He sold next
to everything to put together enough money to start his own automobile company.
It couldn’t have come at a worse time during the international economic downturn, and what had once been a family fortune was squandered in a foolish business venture that bankrupted my parents.
Of course they’d never mentioned any of that when we talked on the phone every few months, but it had made the news. It didn’t take long for word to get to me. Millions of dollars that had taken generations to make had been wasted by one man’s selfish desire to see his last name on the back of a sporty car.
It was part of the reason I’d moved to the States. The main reason I’d gotten into investments and, one day soon, commercial development. I was going to do right by the Sturm name and get back to what my ancestors had excelled at. It might have been in a different country during different times, but I was giving something, instead of just taking it all.
My family didn’t know how much I’d made in my years of investing, but I guessed if they knew what half of that total was, they’d tie me up and swim me back home if that was what it took to keep that wealth in the family.
That was why they were here now. In Nina’s living room. Glancing around it like they were almost afraid to touch anything. They didn’t want this American girl to get half of what they deemed rightly theirs.
“Wann wird sie zu Hause sein?”
I shook my head firmly at my dad. “This is Nina’s house. You’ll speak English in it, so she doesn’t feel left out.”
My dad was a big man. Tall as me, but wider thanks to years of overindulgence. He spilled out of the chair Nina liked to sit in at night, sipping her tea as she swung her legs over the side and seemed lost in her thoughts.
I wished he wouldn’t have sat there.
“But she’s not here right now, Max. What does it matter if we speak German when she isn’t around?” Mom was sitting as far away from Dad as she could and still be in the same room.
It appeared their marriage was just as strong as ever. Kind of what happened when Dad had a reputation for screwing anything female that fluttered her lashes in his direction.
“Because I’m here. And it matters to me.” I was pacing in front of the big window looking out over the front yard, on edge and waiting for Kate to bring Nina home.
She had been scheduled to work the afternoon and had offered to see if she could get it covered, but I’d told her to continue on like nothing had changed. It was just after eight, so she should be here any minute.
“So how long have you two been together, Max?” Mom asked, stroking the clasp of one of her gold bracelets.
“Almost three months.” My tie had long ago been loosened, but I pulled at it again.
“And engaged already? Isn’t that moving a little fast?” Mom pressed.
My teeth ground together. “Not with the way we feel about each other.” Not with the way I feel about her, I corrected myself.
“If this girl’s already managed to get you to put a ring on her finger, there’s only two possible explanations.” Dad shot me a wink. “You got her pregnant or she gives better—”
I broke to a stop and leveled him with a lethal look, cutting him off. “Nina is my fiancée. The woman I care deeply about. Please treat her accordingly.”
Mom was glaring at him too, and with the two of us on him, he raised his hands and backed down. “Or you could just be madly in love with the girl.”
I turned to look out the window again. There were headlights in the driveway. I could just make out Nina as she crawled out of Kate’s car.
“I am,” I answered. “I am madly in love with her.”
She must have seen me in the window because she waved as she jogged across the yard. She looked so at ease, so unconcerned about what was waiting for her inside. I loved that when she was about to jump into a tank full of sharks, Nina’s response was a smile and a wave.
“She’s coming,” I said, moving toward the door. “Be nice.”
“Please, Max. We only wanted to meet the girl. To celebrate with the two of you,” Mom said in her tsk-tsk tone.
Restraining my grunt of doubt, I met Nina at the door, pulling it open before she could get her key in the lock.
She was still smiling. “Hi, handsome.”
She popped up on her toes and planted her lips on mine right when I was in the middle of saying hi back. The suddenness of it made me fall back a few steps. The feel of it made me want to keep falling, until I landed wherever she was taking me.
My hands found their way around her waist and my mouth found her rhythm, until I felt every nerve in my body surge in response.
When she leaned back from the kiss, her eyes opened on mine. They were wide, like she was surprised by something. Her lips were parted from the shallow breaths she was taking, then her body shivered.
“Get inside. It’s freezing out there.” I waved at Kate when she blasted the horn before peeling out of the driveway. “Where’s your coat?”
“I kind of forgot it because I was busy with other things.” Her brows lifted at me before she stepped inside the living room.
My lungs collapsed in on themselves for a second. I didn’t want her around them. I didn’t want them around her. But it was too late. I’d dragged her into it, and I’d make sure she came out on the other side.
“Nina, how wonderful to finally meet you.” Mom’s voice filtered from the living room.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be here sooner, but I’m so happy to finally meet you both.”
When I stepped back inside, I found Nina coming around the couch and wrapping my mom up in a hug. Mom looked like she was being attacked, her face frozen in shock, her arms stiff at her sides.
“Max has told me so much about you.” Nina gave her one final squeeze before bouncing over to my dad, who was checking her out in a way that made my fists curl.
He didn’t have much of a moral code when it came to getting what he wanted. He’d cheated on his wife; I was sure he’d have no qualms getting into bed with his son’s fiancée.
“Mr. Sturm, so nice to meet you.” Nina held out her hand for my dad instead. Probably had something to do with the way he was eyeing her. “You must be so proud of Max. He’s such a wonderful man.”
“Yes, I am. He’s done very well for himself.” Dad shook Nina’s hand, his eyes dropping to her engagement ring. “As I’m sure you’re well aware.”
“Can I get you anything to drink?” Nina pulled her hand out of Dad’s hold.
My parents shook their heads.
Nina’s eyes landed on me. “Max?”
I shot her a soft smile. “I’m good.”
“Where are you staying?” Nina asked. “Somewhere close by hopefully?”
I groaned internally. Somewhere far away hopefully. After picking them up from the airport a couple of hours ago and bringing them here so they could see the house and meet Nina, we’d spent the day in relative silence. I was still trying to catch up with the sudden turn in events.
Mom exhaled, shooting Dad a look. “We don’t know yet. Hans failed to make hotel reservations when he booked the airfare yesterday.”
“My firstborn son had just gotten engaged. I wasn’t thinking straight. I just couldn’t wait to get here.” Dad’s half-smile went into place. It was one I was familiar with. It might have been a half-smile on the surface, but beneath it was all disappointment.
“You don’t have a hotel booked?” Nina looked between my parents.
Again, I kept my sigh to myself. Of course they didn’t. They’d been too busy getting here and making sure we didn’t exchange I Do’s before they’d managed to talk me out of it. Or at least talked me into a watertight prenup.
Tired of pacing, I moved toward the chair I usually sat in at night, watching Nina swing her legs and chew life out on her lip. I loved the view from this chair normally. Not so much tonight.
I’d barely gotten comfortable before Nina collapsed into my lap.
When I sat there, kind of
frozen, she pulled my hands off of the chair arms, one by one, and wound them around her waist. I had to adjust beneath her so she wouldn’t feel something that was not so frozen in surprise.
“Well, you can stay with us, of course.” When I gave Nina a little pinch on her side, she backpedaled. “At least until you’re able to find a hotel. There’s plenty of room.”
Mom’s smile almost looked convincing while Dad looked like the only thing on his mind was securing his son’s fortune.
“Thank you, Nina. That’s very kind of you,” Mom said. “Isn’t that a lovely gesture, Hans?”
Dad took a moment before answering. “Yes, very generous. Are you okay with this, Max?”
My arms tightened around Nina. When I stayed quiet, she gave my hands a squeeze.
“I’m okay with it,” I said.
“Then it’s settled.” Dad clapped and leaned forward. “Besides, this house seems as nice as any hotel we’re likely to find around here.”
Nina forced a smile, but she didn’t miss the undercurrent of the insult.
“So, Nina, Max hasn’t told us much yet.” Dad leaned forward a little farther. “Does your family live around here too?”
Her pinkie tangled between my fingers. “They used to.”
“But not anymore? Did they move?”
I opened my mouth to change the subject, but Nina cut me off. “My grandma died last year. This was her house.” She wet her lips. “And my mom ran off when I was seven. I haven’t seen her since.”
Dad and Mom exchanged a look. I knew what they were saying to each other.
“And your dad?” he pressed.
Another finger of Nina’s dug between my fingers. She shrugged in answer.
Another shared look between my parents.
“It’s late—” I started.
Dad cut me off. “What do you do, Nina?”
“What do I do?” she repeated the question like she didn’t understand.
“For work.”
“Oh.” She exhaled like she was relieved this wasn’t a loaded question. Even though it really was. “For my day job, I walk dogs.”
Dad’s face flattened. “You walk dogs?”