For the Love of Max

Excerpt

I gave her a light tap, and she called the cops. Said she was going to press charges, so I ditched the bitch. Who needs that shit? 

Bitch? 

The word resonated in Dodge Vasilius' mind while standing on the sidewalk in front of Maxine Reeves' cottage. 

Definitely not a bitch. 

In fact, she was as far from that vulgar epithet as a woman could be. She possessed style, grace, and class. He had always wondered why she'd dated Asshat Garth. Now, she was free from the lying, substance-abusing, loud-mouthed moron, and Dodge was proud of her. Would it have been better if she had left months ago? Yes. But she was free of him now and that was what mattered, right? 

Right. ...or not. 

Because only few days had passed, and here he was, knocking on her door. Would she think he was horning in? Looking for leftovers? Coming to console her, wink, wink? Looking to hit her up on the rebound? 

Truth was, a compulsion to check her welfare drove him. A bead of sweat trickled down his temple. A light tap by a guy like Garth didn't resemble anything of the sort. Garth, like Dodge, was an ironworker who hauled hundreds of pounds of steel rods and made ties with sheer brute force. Theirs was a tough and dangerous profession. Dodge took safety seriously, no cavalier attitude for him, but guys like Garth didn't follow that quaint notion. More than once, the idiot had shown up stoned or even a little drunk. Dodge, who had always given the jackass a wide berth, gave him a wider one now. 

Procrastinating was getting him nowhere. She was either home or she wasn't. She was either going to kick him off her property or she wasn't. She was either going to let him in or she wasn't. 

Wiping his damp palms against his jeans, he sauntered up the steps and knocked. 

The door cracked, but the safety chain prevented it from opening fully. He glimpsed a veil of long, black hair. "Maxine?" 

She squinted. Shit. The sun behind him was bright in her eyes, casting him in deep shadows. 

"It's Dodge. Remember me? I brought you home after the company Christmas party?" After Garth got wasted and abandoned you? Happy to step in, Dodge had driven her home, trying not to look at her gorgeous legs encased by her tight silver skirt and sheer pantyhose. Red-blooded man he was, he'd adjusted himself when she looked away and had done his best to hide his erection when escorting her to the door. 

"Wait." Say something that'll keep her talking. 

"I—" 

The door closed, opening a moment later.

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