Max smiled. “Your eyes light up when you talk about your business. It’s sexy.”
Gabriel had always had a problem with me working too much. In fact, I’d come to question my own priorities because he made me feel flawed for being as dedicated as I was. I suppose Max understood dedication more, since he’d had to give up so much for his own career.
I smiled back. “Do you ever regret the things you might’ve missed out on for your career?”
He shook his head. “Regret? No. Have I missed out on things because I spend half my life at the rink? Yeah, of course. But it’s easy for me to say I don’t have regret because the things I did, the chances I took, have paid off. Not everyone is so lucky. If I were standing here today having given up so much over the years only to not make the cut, maybe my answer would be different. But I had to try, because while I might have regrets if things hadn’t worked out the way they did, the one thing I know for sure is that I would definitely regret not having taken the chance to go for it.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.” I moved closer and wrapped my arms around his neck. “By the way, do you know what I find sexy?”
“What?”
“A sweet man, and that’s what you are.”
“Oh yeah? Why is that?”
“I love your friendship with Otto. When you said you wanted to stop by and check on a friend, I didn’t realize it was an older man who worked there.”
“Not sure you’d think our friendship was sweet if you heard the way we usually talk to each other. He was just on his best behavior this morning because you were with me.”
“How did you two become friends?”
Max shrugged. “He called me out about the chip I had on my shoulder when I first joined the team. I’d never tell him, but he actually reminds me a lot of my dad. He has the ability to see through clutter and simplify things, if that makes any sense. He’s grounded and gives good advice. But if you ever tell him I said that, I’ll deny it.”
I smiled. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
Susanna, the store manager, walked into the back. “Sorry to interrupt. But we’re going to order some lunch. Do you want us to order you guys something?”
“No, I think we’re okay. But thank you.” Though the mention of lunch made me check the time on my phone. “I didn’t realize it was so late.” I looked over at Max. “We should get going.”
He held his hand out for me to walk first. “Lead the way.”
The place I was taking Max was only a block away. When I stopped at the storefront, he looked up at the sign. Lift Aerial Yoga.
“Shit,” he chuckled. “This is gonna be ugly.”
I laughed. “I got us a private class, so you don’t have to worry about pictures of you getting out. Though I might snap some photos and use them to blackmail you into servitude as my sex slave later.”
Max opened the door, but when I went to pass, he hooked an arm around my waist and pulled me flush against him, planting a kiss on my lips. “No blackmail needed. I voluntarily accept the position.”
? ? ?
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laughed so hard. Max was absolutely a disaster at aerial yoga. At the moment, he’d gotten himself tangled in the silks for the third time and was hanging with one leg suspended in the air, holding his weight in a handstand as the instructor tried to unravel him. I shouldn’t have been laughing. Lord knows I wasn’t moving gracefully in this contraption either, but I couldn’t help myself. It wasn’t his inability to get into positions that amused me, it was how frustrated he got when he couldn’t conquer something.
“I’m going to kick your ass if you don’t stop laughing,” he grumbled.
His threat only made me cackle harder. I actually snorted. “You’d have to be able to get out of that lock the silks have you in.”
“Why don’t you give the swan another try?” the yoga instructor said to Max as she untangled him. “You’re very good at that one.” Considering the swan was the most basic position—leaning forward and balancing across the fabric, without any twisting or turning—I thought that was a good idea.
“Yeah,” I said grinning. “You do a mean swan, Yearwood.”
He pointed at me. “You just wait.”
By the end of the class, Max did start to get the hang of it. The instructor had said he needed to make friends with the silks, instead of fighting them. And I had no doubt that given another class or two, he’d surpass the people who’d been practicing for years. His determination made him unstoppable.