“Oh goodness. How big is your brother?”
Max laughed. “I’m one of the smaller Yearwood boys.”
“Wow.”
“So…did I scare you away yet? So far you’ve had me admit I had a hookup recently, got arrested while naked hula hooping, have an addictive personality, and sometimes forget the world exists when I’m focused on hockey. What’s next? Me telling you I have an irrational fear of lizards and that I once peed my pants when I was nine because my brothers brought home six chameleons and hid them in my bed?”
“Oh my God. Is that true?”
Max hung his head. “Yeah. But in my defense, you shouldn’t show a four-year-old Godzilla. It can leave scars.”
The thought of this enormous man being afraid of a tiny lizard was absolutely hilarious. But he’d won me over with the open way he’d answered my questions. He still had my hand locked in his, so I squeezed and decided honesty was a two-way street.
“You were right. I was fishing for a reason to not see you again.”
“And did you find one?”
I shook my head. “Flaws don’t scare me. You not knowing you have them or refusing to admit they exist would.”
“So does that mean we’re heading to Vegas?”
“Not quite.” I laughed. “Is it my turn now? To tell you my worst qualities, I mean? Because I’m not sure I stressed how annoying my competitiveness can be when I mentioned it earlier. Like, I threw that napkin at you, and you caught it, and it’s killing me that you didn’t throw it back so I could catch it, too. And now I also want to tell you all my other bad qualities so mine can be worse than yours. But I’m thinking maybe I should finish my drink before I continue with my laundry list, in case you make a run for it.”
Max shook his head. “Nah. You don’t need to tell me anything. I already know your worst quality.”
“You do, huh? I’m almost afraid to ask. What is it?”
Max’s eyes met mine. The intensity in them was undeniable, and it set off a fluttering low in my belly.
“Your worst quality? Easy. I believe you said his name was Gabriel.”
CHAPTER 3
* * *
Georgia
“So how was your blind date?” Maggie held out a Starbucks coffee cup and a bottle of Motrin.
There was a reason she was my best friend and head of marketing at Eternity Roses. “Are those both for me?”
She nodded. “I know you’re trying to cut back to one coffee a day. But I’m hoping you need it this morning because your date kept you up all night.”
“What are the Motrin for?”
Maggie smiled and brought her own coffee to her lips. “In case your head was banging against the headboard. I told you to get rid of that fancy wooden bedframe and get a cushioned one.”
I laughed and waved off the bottle. “I’m good. No banging headboard last night. Though I will take the coffee. Thank you.”
She twisted the cap off the Motrin and shook the bottle upside down. “Oh good. Because there are only two left, and my head’s killing me. There’s definitely no cushion on those stalls in the courthouse bathrooms.”
I stopped with my coffee halfway to my mouth. “You didn’t…”
She grinned. “Oh, but I did…twice.”
I chuckled. Maggie might’ve lost a little of her mind. For almost a year now, she’d been embroiled in a messy divorce. A few months ago, her soon-to-be ex-husband, Aaron, didn’t show up for a settlement conference at his lawyer’s office. Rather than reschedule, she decided to make good use of the time by seducing his attorney. Since then, she’d made it a sport to have sex with the guy in every inappropriate place possible. I was pretty sure he could be disbarred if anyone found out.
“Was Aaron at the courthouse?” I asked.
Her eyes sparkled. “Sure was.”
“What if he’d walked into the men’s room?”
“Then he could have watched—same as I got to do when I walked in on him and our neighbor.” She plopped down in the guest chair on the other side of my desk and sipped her coffee. “So your date was a dud, huh? I warned you that letting Frannie fix you up was not the best idea. Did he bore you to death over drinks?”
“Actually…drinks were the most exciting part of my date.”
“Oh? Delicious cocktails?”
I shook my head and grinned. “Nope. Delicious man who pretended to be my date before my real date showed up.”