A Reason to Kill (Reason #2) (28 page)

Still reading the list, he pulled out his phone and then pulled up the text that Mia had sent him while on the road escaping Trails End.

<
Max, sorry to leave like this but I’ve had a crisis of the heart. Even though I think you’re a great guy, I can’t see myself EVER being happy in Trails End. I need excitement, a nightlife, a mall for goodness sakes. Sorry, but Smith’s Mercantile isn’t my idea of haute couture. I know my cartoon tees may have led you to believe I was laid back, but the truth is, I find flannel and Pine trees boring. You’ll find someone who can handle being isolated year round, I, for one, am not her. Give me Starbucks, rush-hour traffic and dirty air any day over all those bugs. Seriously, have you seen the size of them? If you ever want a real adventure, one that doesn’t include yelling “TIMBER,” give me a call. I know a nice little resort where they’ll wax and massage you to your heart’s content . . . That’s MY idea of a great life. Take care, Max. I hope you find what you’re looking for, Mia.>

When he finished reading that ridiculous text Max mumbled, “Christ, she’s cute,” then pulled up his mother’s number and hit call.

“I need to be in Seattle by Monday morning,” he told her when she answered then he hung up. He had shit to do and men to line up while he was gone, he didn’t have time to listen to her gloat. He’d been so fuckin’ busy the last week with Mia, and keeping track of his mother, he’d let shit slide and he had work backing up on him. Nevertheless, he’d have to put it off a few more days. First, he needed to head to Seattle, set Mia straight, and then haul her ass back where she belonged—right by his side.

“As you can see, gentlemen, though my actions may have seemed on the surface, extreme, I hope those of you with wives and daughters can understand my reaction to being violated, be it by an officer of the law or not, was justified.”

I’d spent the past two days since returning home searching YouTube for copies of a video that showed my arrest and subsequent kneeing Stetson in the nuts. I needed proof that my actions were justified, and I’d finally found one taken by a teen who’d been standing on the same side as Stetson’s wayward hand. It wasn’t a clear shot, but it showed enough, and I hoped it would put enough reasonable doubt in the minds of the board.

More than anything, I needed this nightmare behind me so I could go back to my office, continue my work, and then try to find a way to move forward. To say I hadn’t had much sleep between video hunting and crying over ending things with Max wasn’t an understatement. It was
the
understatement of my life and I was running on fumes. I don’t know how Max weaved his way under my skin in one short week, but he had. I just didn’t know how much until I returned home to my lonely loft.

I hadn’t heard a word from him since I left, not that I thought I would, and it was just as well. I couldn’t move on if he kept in touch. I needed a clean break and I got my wish with the carefully crafted text I sent.

After hearing what Kelly had written to Max, that Trails End wasn’t for her, that she needed a more exciting life and that Max hadn’t gone after her when she left, I knew what I had to do. Jess thought I was wrong, said if the whole thing with Annie was a misunderstanding that I’d be ending things with a man who hadn’t done anything wrong, but I sent it anyway.

And there was a reason why I had.

Misunderstanding or not, I realized I couldn’t uproot my life for someone who didn’t want me and only me. Whatever was between Max and Annie, be it friendship or some sort of love, I wasn’t equipped to share him. I was a one-man woman and wanted to be with a one-woman man. Not three quarters, while a quarter of his attention went to a woman he felt more than friendship for. Maybe that made me selfish, and it probably did, but I didn’t want to spend my life watching Max run off every time Annie cried or got drunk. So, I sent a text and ended things with him the only way I knew how, permanently. Now, all I needed was my heart to understand so I could move forward and forget about Max and Trails End.

As the men and woman on the board of SIOZ conversed quietly, deciding my fate, I reached forward, grabbed a bottle of water, and poured a glass while I tried not to panic. As I lifted the glass, my eyes still on the board, assessing their expressions, there was a knock on the door behind me. Mr. Springer, CEO of SIOZ, lifted his head and then motioned whoever was there to come in. As I turned my head to look, Springer asked me to “Run the video again, please,” before I could see who had entered.

Nodding, I hit replay and then watched the board again for any signs they believed me. Just as Stetson’s thumb brushed across my breast, I heard a sharp intake of breath behind me and then a rumbling voice growled, “Play that again.”

I knew that voice, had memorized its gritty quality, dreamt about it in my sleep, and it shouldn’t be here in Seattle. Heart pounding, I looked over my shoulder and found that my hearing wasn’t playing tricks on me. Max was standing behind me, dressed in a dark gray, double-breasted suit, crisp white shirt and a bold red tie. His hair still looked like he came straight from a salon, even though I knew he didn’t, and his beard was gone. Dammit, now I have to add Clean-shaven Max and GQ Max to my late night fantasies. He looked like Thor, God of Style, and the shock of seeing him at my work, dressed as if he’d just stepped off the New York fashion circuit no less, left me stunned and a little turned on.

His eyes pinned mine as he clenched his jaw, but after the initial shock wore off, and his angry eyes registered, I panicked he’d make a scene. Standing quickly, I knocked over my chair and then stumbled in my haste to calm his temper.

“You can’t be in here right now,” I whispered as I approached him.

“He fuckin’ touched you, didn’t he?” Max asked as he ignored my attempts to show him to the door.

“Max, you have to leave, please.”

“Answer my fuckin’ question, Mia. Did Stetson touch you?” he growled again.

“If I tell you, will you leave?” When he didn’t answer I sighed and nodded, “but I kneed him so it’s over, just let it go.”

“A man violates any woman, let alone mine, he doesn’t get kneed in the nuts, he gets them ripped off,” he seethed.

“Well, lucky for him I’m not your “woman” so his nuts are safe,” I countered.

“Don’t kid yourself, you’ve been my woman since I pulled you out of the water,” he ground out.

“Sorry? You must have me confused with Annie,” I bit back because really, this was beyond the pale. He can’t sleep with another woman and then come here beating his chest as if I was in the wrong.

“Ms. Roberts, Mr. Hunter.”

I whipped around and put my finger up to stall, though I had my doubts he’d actually leave.

“Please excuse me for one moment while I escort this gentleman out. I apologize, this will only take a minute.”

When I turned back, Max had moved from behind me and taken a seat at the table. I felt my job slipping away by the second as moisture welled in my eyes. Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, knowing the board was watching me, I set my shoulders to show I could handle pressure under fire. Then I moved towards Max, determined he would listen. When I opened my mouth to reason with him, Max pulled out the chair next him and ordered, “Sit and listen.”

I ignored him of course.

“You can’t be in here. Please leave so I can attempt damage control,” I begged.

“Is this how it’s gonna be for the next fifty years? Me askin’ and you arguin’ about every fuckin’ thing?” he oddly asked.

“I’m not— oomph.”

“Do I have your attention now?” Max bit off after he tugged my arm and sat me down beside him.

“I hate you,” I hissed, trying to move my chair far away from him.

“You’ll get over it. Now be quiet and listen,” Max replied as he grabbed my chair and stopped me.

Beyond pissed and close to tears, I narrowed my eyes, gave him my best glare, but he just smiled that damn smile of his then looked up and asked, “Which one of you is Springer?”

“That’s me Mr. Hunter. I’m glad you could make the meeting after all.”

“Do we have a deal?” Max asked and Springer turned once more to the board.

“Deal, what deal? Do you know Springer?”

“Nope.”

“But he just thanked you for coming. Have you been talking to him?”

Confused, I turned my attention back to the board. Of course, Max ignored this and continued our earlier discussion like my life’s work wasn’t on the line.

“We’re gonna have a serious talk when this is over about you keepin’ shit from me,” he whispered in my ear.

“I didn’t keep “shit” from you, I chose not to see you go to jail for manslaughter,” I defended under my breath.

“We’re also gonna have a discussion about your fuckin’ list. Near as I can tell, there are no cons to a life with me.”

“Oh, my God, she told you about the list?”

“You think I flirt with you?” he chuckled.

“I’m
so
gonna kill your mother,” I groaned completely mortified.

“Well, Mr. Hunter,” Springer broke in, saving me from more humiliation. “Seems the board is unanimous in their decision, consider Ms. Roberts on loan to oversee the handling of your wildlife preserve. Mia, as of today, Mr. Hunter is your boss.

“I’m sorry, say that again?” I asked confused.

“Mr. Hunter has generously donated a portion of his land to the bears and allowing the institute access whenever we want. You’ll still be on our payroll, of course, but you’ll be heading up the transfer of the bears and settling them into their new habitat, then overseeing our continued research from Alaska.”

My head shook no like a bobble head doll and I rose from my chair. No way could I handle working side by side with Max. It was cruel and unusual punishment, no matter which way you sliced it. So, self-preservation kicked in and my fight or flight response had me shouting “I quit,” as I bolted for the door.

Before I made it five feet, a strong arm wrapped around my waist, plastering me to a broad chest, as a rumbling voice announced, “We’ll be in touch,” and then hauled me out of the room.

“Put me down,” I begged as Max kept walking down the hall.

“Where’s your office?”

No way was he getting me alone so he could weave some kind of Max Magic over me and convince me to work for him.

No. Freaking. Way.

When I didn’t answer, he stopped, looked around, and then headed towards a supply closet at the end of the hall. Once in, he dropped me on my feet, shut the door, locked it, and leaned against it with his arms crossed, scowling at me.

Two could play that game, so I crossed my own and raised his scowl with a hip tilt and a foot tap.

“I am not working for you,” I explained snottily.

“Works for me,” he answered, “we can concentrate on making those ten kids.”

Seriously?

“I’m not making ten kids with you. I’m not doing anything with you. I told you in my text—”

“Annie’s a recovering alcoholic,” he broke in, stunning me silent. “I had no fuckin’ clue how she felt until I broke things off with her and it drove her to drink.”

“What?”

“I fucked up with both of you, Mia.”

I didn’t know what he was admitting to so I asked him.

“You “fucked up” with me by sleeping with her?”

“Christ, is that what you think happened?”

“Well, yeah,” I admitted.

“I fucked up with Annie because I thought it was casual on both sides. If I had known she had feelings for me, I never would have—”

“Ended things with her because you have feelings for her too?” There, it was out in the open now and he could admit to his feelings without worrying about my reaction.

However, Max looked stunned by my statement, but he didn’t stay that way long. He moved from stunned to pissed off in a blink of an eye.

“You haven’t heard a fuckin’ word I’ve said,” he bit out pushing off the door and advancing on me. His face was a portrait of anger as he closed the distance between us, backing me towards the wall.

“Max?” I squeaked, a tad worried by his approach.

When he reached me, I grabbed his jacket to stop my descent as I stumbled against the back wall. Trapping me to his chest, I tried to push off to gain distance, but he held me in place. Jaw clenched, eyes hot with anger, he took a deep breath and then let it out slowly while my own breath picked up its pace.