“Feel better?” Derek asked.
“Not sure,” Lucas muttered.
Derek’s smile was grim. “Let’s grab a beer. Kade might be too much of a pussy to leave his wife and join us, but we can have a drink and talk you down.”
“Kade’s got it good and you know it.” Lucas pulled off the large gloves and hung them on the wall, then slowly unwrapped his hands.
“Yeah. Still want to get that drink?”
“I need to grab a shower first.”
A little while later, they were seated in a small bar near the gym, each drinking a Highland Ale. “I still want to kill him,” Lucas muttered, speaking of his brother.
“Unfortunately that’s already done.”
Lucas winced. “And that’s what makes this so damned hard. I can’t confront him. I can’t get closure of any kind.” He tipped the bottle back and took a sip of the malty brew.
“You’re going to have to come to terms. Nothing else you can do.” He pulled a sip too. “Did you talk to her about anything else? About the two of you?”
He shook his head. “Once she realized she’d been deceived, she was so thrown and upset, I couldn’t. Truth is, she freaked out when we got close. I can’t push her.”
“At least you’ve got her under your roof. That’ll buy you some time.”
Lucas hoped so. “I’m going to head home.” He threw money on the scarred bar to cover both tabs and a tip. “Thanks for working out with me tonight.”
“Always,” his best friend said.
A little while later, he walked into his quiet house and tossed his keys onto the pass-through near the kitchen.
As he walked toward the bedrooms, he heard the sound of the shower running. Great. Just what he didn’t need, the vision of Maxie in a steam-filled bathroom, naked, water running over her bare flesh. He only had his imagination to go by, but he envisioned her standing under the spray, head tipped back, eyes closed, rivulets of water running over her full, rosy-tipped breasts.
He swallowed a groan and adjusted his cock, knowing he was torturing himself for no good reason. He walked to the big TV room and sat down, flicking on the big screen and letting the news flood the room. He was trying to immerse himself in anything but the woman under his roof when he looked down at the table in front of the sofa. Maxie had left her laptop open, a notepad beside it.
He’d be lying if he said he didn’t read what was on the paper. A list of civil law firms and research notes. Apparently she wasn’t relying on the resumes she already had out. He admired her tenacity.
He glanced at the paper. And wouldn’t you know, he’d worked with one of them when he and his partners were starting out, needing legal advice. Which meant he could help her get a foot in the door. He had no doubt she’d hold her own in an interview and if she obtained the position. But he also knew how difficult it was to stand out on paper alone, especially since she had no direct experience in civil law.
He could help her along. Just enough to let her step in and shine. He couldn’t bear to see her get shot down before she had a chance to even prove herself.
One phone call. A favor called in. The rest would be up to her.
* * *
A few days later, Maxie returned to Lucas’ apartment after a quick trip to the grocery store for ingredients to bake cookies. She remembered chocolate chip were Lucas’ favorite, and she had time on her hands since the boutique had cut her hours because business was slow and she was the last hired. So what else did an unemployed woman do but make cookies?
She entered the lobby and ran into one of the older neighbors in the building who had always been lovely to her. “Hi, Mrs. Fielding, how are you and your husband doing?” Maxie asked.
“I’m fine but Mr. Fielding’s acid reflux has been acting up,” the white-haired woman said.
“I’m sorry to hear that. I hope you’re cooking him bland food?”
Mrs. Fielding smiled. “But of course. And how are you holding up?”
Maxie forced a smile. “I’m okay.” It wasn’t a secret that she’d moved from her apartment to her brother-in-law’s, and Maxie had had to admit to financial difficulties when people asked why. And neighbors being neighbors, they did ask.
“I think it was very kind of your brother-in-law to help you out during your time of need.”
“I agree,” Maxie murmured. “I’m baking him cookies,” she said, somewhat inanely, as she was uncomfortable with the conversation.
“You’re a sweet girl. And at least you weren’t living there when the place was broken into.”
Maxie blinked, startled. “I’m sorry … what?”
“Oh! The note was under all our doors this afternoon. I guess you haven’t seen yours yet. Apparently your old apartment was broken into. Mr. Potts found the place ransacked,” she said of the head of maintenance for the building.
Maxie shivered. “Well, that’s scary.”
She nodded. “Keep your door locked. That’s what we’re doing. You can’t be too careful these days.”
For a building with a lock on the door, it was rare for someone to be able to walk in uninvited. Unless they followed another tenant inside. “Well, thanks for the heads-up. You be careful,” she told the older woman.
“Thank you, dear. Talk to you soon.”
“Bye,” Maxie murmured. She headed up to Lucas’ apartment as Mrs. Fielding strode out the door.