Free Keeping Her Guilty Secret (Forever Yours Trilogy) by Anna James

in the illegal trafficking. “What were you doing there?”
    He sighed. “Angela chaired the fundraising committee. She put the show together.” He waved a hand, dismissing the subject. “Tell me more about your internship.”
    “There’s not much to tell. I interned over the summer between my junior and what should have been my senior year of college. Christina liked my work and we got along well. She offered me a permanent position and I took it. Unfortunately, my parents were not as thrilled by my new job as I was. They got angry with me for leaving school. So much so that my father and I didn’t speak for months.”
    “Then you had to come home after the accident?”
    She shook her head. “I came home two months before the accident happened. Ashley seems to forget that part. The truth is things didn’t work out in New York the way I’d hoped they would. So I came home. End of story. What about you?”
    “What do you want to know?”
    “For starters, tell me how Paradis and McNamara came to be.”
    Max shrugged. “I worked my way through college doing construction and when I finally graduated I opened my consulting company. It was slow going for a lot of years. Then, with Reed’s help, I landed a major contract. Business continued to boom and I made Reed a partner.”
    “Reed said you sold him your share of the business a year ago.”
    A muscle in his neck jerked. “Yes.”
    Max sighed. Why had he started this conversation? He should have realized she’d ask about his past when he’d asked about hers. So what was he supposed to tell her? He’d sold out and gotten the hell out of town because after making the deal with Angela he couldn’t handle facing Eve every day or the reminder of what a fool he’d been?
    He’d kept his end of the bargain. Eve had quit on her own. He hadn’t fired her. And Angela . . . He shuddered. If the kiss she’d planted on Eve the other night at the college was any indication, he didn’t think she’d stay quiet about the real reason for the divorce much longer.
    He’d be humiliated. Again. Bile roiled in his gut. Not going there.
    “Will you come back to Paradis and McNamara now that you’re home?” Nicole asked.
    He shook his head. “I’m looking for a new business venture, although I agreed to help Reed out when the wedding comes around and while they’re on their honeymoon.”
    “Do you have anything in mind?”
    “I’ve got a few possibilities. I’ll have to see where they lead.” He didn’t want to talk about this anymore. “In the meantime”—he reached inside the breast pocket of his suit coat and pulled out two vouchers—“These came in the mail today. I’m wondering if you might join me?”
    She gazed down into his hands and her eyes widened. “How did you get these? Tickets don’t go on sale for another week or so.”
    “Not if you’re a baseball season ticket holder. They’re for Opening Day. What do you say?”
    A smile lit her eyes. “Are you kidding me? I say yes, I’d love to join you.”
    “I’ll walk you to the door,” he said when they arrived back at Nicole’s house several hours later.
    She grinned. “And here I thought gentlemen were a lost breed.”
    “Not at all.”
    They walked up the short flagstone path that led to the front porch. When they reached the front door, she said, “I had a great time tonight.”
    So had he. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed himself as much. Pulling her into his arms, he dropped a kiss on her lips. “I want to see you again, tomorrow night.”
    She sighed. “I can’t. I have to work at the restaurant.”
    Damn. “Tomorrow afternoon then.”
    She shook her head. “I need to spend tomorrow working on Ashley’s dress. Reed is taking her back to school on Sunday night.”
    “Then have dinner with me on Sunday night.”
    “Sunday is family dinner day. I’m making a leg of lamb.”
    He sighed. “Right.”
    “Maybe you can come over and I can teach you to cook?”