Janet Evanovich - Full Speed

Jamie opened the door to her truck and reached behind the seat for the bags she'd stuffed behind it. One held her new underwear and toiletry items, the other her dirty clothes, and a separate bag held Fleas's dry dog food and bowls. She made a note to buy more slut-wear.

"By the way, how is Muffin?" she asked once they started back toward the cabin. As odd as it sounded even to her, she had missed Max's computer.

Max opened the door and waited for Jamie to enter. "She's not very happy with me at the moment, thanks to you."

"What did I do?"

"You refused to get back in my car. You just took off on us." Max closed the door after them and locked it, then punched a series of numbers on an alarm panel. "Naturally Muffin missed you and was worried."

Jamie would not have thought Muffin capable of feeling emotions had she not witnessed it for herself. Muffin also had attitude. She did not mind telling Max where he could get off. Jamie had liked her right away. And to think, she had doubted Max the first time he'd told her about his computer; in fact, she had thought him crazy. Hell, she had doubted her own sanity in her earlier conversations with Muffin. Now, as strange as it sounded, Muffin felt like an old friend.

"And you weren't worried about me that I took off?" Jamie asked.

Max shrugged. "I knew you could handle yourself."

They stood there for a moment, simply looking at each other. Jamie studied the handsome olive-skinned face, gazing into those dark eyes that seemed as if they had been created to turn a woman's stomach to mush. She had run her fingers through his hair. She had kissed those delicious lips, tasted him, run her fingers along the strong stubborn jaw.

She knew he was attracted to her, he'd said it plenty of times, and she supposed he cared about her to an extent, but neither of them was clear about their feelings after only two weeks of knowing each other.

Not that it had been an ordinary two weeks, she reminded herself, and she had been engaged to another man during that time. Still, they had come mighty close to having sex one night — and it had been a night Jamie would never forget. Max had never mentioned it, but Jamie knew she, for one, was still thinking about it.

Now, as he gazed back at her, Jamie wished she knew what he was thinking. Max was not one who shared his thoughts easily. Sure, he'd made it plain more than once that he would have enjoyed a rumble beneath the sheets, but where his feelings were concerned he was about as close-mouthed as they came.

"Hey, you're awfully quiet," Max said. "Is something wrong?"

Jamie gave an inward sigh. By meeting up with Max she had once again placed her heart in a precarious position. "I'm just tired. Maybe you could show me where I'm sleeping."

"Right this way."

She followed him down a short hall. He paused at the door, reached inside, and flipped on the light, then motioned her into the room as he set her bags down. "The bathroom is right across the hall. While you get situated, I'll start the eggs."

"Thanks."

Jamie stepped into the bedroom and sat on the old four-poster bed, testing the mattress. Max was right; it was stuffed with feathers. She could do some serious sleeping on this bed. A cool breeze rustled the curtains and fell softly on her skin. Jamie suddenly felt more relaxed than she had in days.

She glanced at the oak dresser against the wall and frowned at the woman in the mirror. She pulled off the wig, unpinned her blonde hair, and finger-combed it. Much better, she thought. Now she only had to scrape off an inch-thick layer of makeup.

Jamie could hear Max cracking the eggs into a bowl in the kitchen as she crossed the hall to the bathroom. She grinned at the old claw-foot bathtub and imagined herself sitting inside it with bubbles up to her ears. A metal hoop had been positioned over the tub, hanging from it a floral shower curtain. A porcelain sink was perched on one wall; someone had attached a skirt to it that matched both the shower and the window curtain. A wicker basket beside the tab was stuffed with fluffy bath towels.

Max was in the process of chopping green peppers on an old-fashioned butcher block when Jamie entered the kitchen for her suitcase. "I thought you were just going to scramble a few eggs," she said, peering over his shoulder. "I should help."

He turned and held his hands out, blocking her. "Actually, I don't permit anyone in the kitchen when I'm preparing my secret recipe."

"Why is it a secret?"

"Because of all the special ingredients that go into it. Why don't you just rest for a few minutes?"

Jamie noticed Fleas standing beside Max as though waiting for something. "Have you been feeding my dog?"

"I gave him a little cheese. Dogs like cheese."

"He should be eating real dog food." Jamie pulled his food and dog dishes from a bag.

"I'll feed him," Max said. "Just go back to what you were doing. Oh, I wrote down the alarm code. It's on the table."

"OK, I'll get out of your way, but don't give Fleas any more cheese. He'll get fat."

Jamie grabbed her suitcase and returned to her room. Inside she found her favorite cutoff jeans. She stepped out of her short skirt and high heels and pulled them on. She unpacked her bag, put her newly purchased shampoo, toothbrush, and toothpaste inside the bathroom cabinet, and hurried back into the kitchen, where she found Max, scooping eggs onto plates.

"That looks wonderful," she said, noting that Max had added ham, onions, and cheese to the eggs. He'd even made toast. Jamie grabbed napkins and flatware and went about setting the table as Max poured orange juice.

"This is good," Jamie said after tasting her food.

"My cousin Nick taught me how to run a newspaper; his wife Billie taught me how to cook." Max looked up from his food. "I've always wanted to take a gourmet cooking class."

"Why haven't you?"

"My schedule doesn't really permit it."

"Who takes care of your horse farm in Virginia while you're away?"

"I have a guy who looks after things. He's been with me for years now."

"Don't you miss being home?"

"Yeah. I'll probably go back for a while once I'm done here."

"Isn't Holt Industries based there?"

"Uh-huh. I have offices in other locations, but the home office is in Loudoun County, Virginia."

"And what do you do in those offices?"

Max regarded her. "Mostly technological research, but I've expanded over the years. We're doing some biomedical research, and I'm putting out bids soon to build a lab to study viruses."

"Isn't that already being done?"

"Not fast enough."

"You're amazing," Jamie said.

"Yeah?"

"You've got your fingers in everything."

"Keeps boredom at bay."

"But you could afford to retire anytime you like."

"What would I do, Jamie?"

She laughed. "With your money? Any damn thing you wanted. You could travel the world."

"I already have. Several times."

"Isn't there anything you haven't done?"

Max sat back in his chair and looked thoughtful. "Until today I'd never ridden in a pickup truck with a redhead and a hound dog."

"Seriously, Max."

"If you could retire tomorrow, would you?"

Jamie hesitated. "I'd probably still want to write a few articles. It's sort of in my blood."

"You'll never stop working, Jamie. You're too much like me. When you do what you love, it never feels like work. That doesn't mean I don't like to take off and play. I'm big on vacations. But I need direction. A reason for being."

"Your marriage to Bunny didn't provide that?" She tried to hide her smile.

Max scowled. "That was not her real name. And no, the marriage was all wrong from the start."

"Why'd you marry her?"

"Because I was dumb and infatuated. End of story."