She spun at the sink and beamed at him. “You serious?”
“Of course. I told you if you got your skills up on code I’d take you on as a partner.”
She handed him a glass of ice tea, even as she shook her head. “No, we’ve been over this before. I can’t be a partner. I’ve got nothing saved up to put into the business. I’m thrilled to work with you, but hire me, okay?”
They moved to sit outside in the old rattan chairs he’d found at a garage sale earlier in the summer. He’d pictured relaxing here with Tasha, the sun setting behind the trees. Damn it, mind on the present. “Yeah, yeah you keep saying that, but I think you’ve got tons to contribute. I loved what you did on the Turner Networking Team website. Very cool graphics on the TNT banner, by the way. How about this? I’ll set you up as a partner based on a buy-in system. As you work projects you’ll get so much in pay and so much in partnership credit. Would that make you feel better?”
Maxine nodded slowly. “Next year when we turn twenty-five, part of the Turner legacy funding will come through, and I can add in whatever the business needs as a full top-up.”
He laughed. “What? You’re actually planning on spending some of the Max money?”
“Goodness knows we deserve it. It would have been bad enough to have the same initials as all your cousins, but the same name?” She grimaced. “Although I’ve very grateful that Mom and Dad came up with decent Max names to meet the requirement of the legacy fund. Auntie Maxamule—I can’t say her name without wanting to giggle.”
“Maximilian is bad as well.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Is it terrible to admit I don’t like our cousin very much?”
Max leaned back in his chair and stretched his legs, letting the sun warm his face. Was Tasha asleep or thinking about his proposal? “He’s a fake, that’s why. You’re too sweet to like someone who’s a phony.”
“I’m not sweet.”
He guffawed. “Yes, you are.”
“I’m not.”
“Are too.”
She narrowed her eyes and he made a face at her. “Oh, you’re so grown-up.”
They smiled at each other, their conversation having digressed back to twin-speak. Max looked his sister over as she sipped her tea. She was sweet, and innocent, and he was glad to be able to work with her. She had a soft heart, and he didn’t mind watching over her, like any good brother would. In a family as big as the Turners, there was something happening all the time, and Maxine was usually right in the middle of it. He’d learned to withdraw a bit from the constant clannish demands, partly because he’d been working for himself since he’d discovered computers. Maxine never seemed to have learned to say no.
He opened his mouth to tell her about Tasha, then took a quick gulp of tea instead. Until he had something concrete to tell, he wasn’t going to share. And until Tasha made a decision, there was nothing to convey.
It felt kind of strange, to keep a secret from Maxine. Not that he told her everything, but they were close. She chatted about something going on with a couple of their younger cousins over the past week, and he nodded and listened as best he could. All the while his thoughts drifted. Back to the soft touch of Tasha’s skin under his fingers when he’d kissed her. To the taste of her lips. He could hardly wait to make love with her.
“What do you think?”
He jerked upright guiltily. “Sorry, Maxy, lost my train of thought for a minute.”
She laughed. “Didn’t get much sleep last night, hey? I heard you ended up driving Cousin Lila and her drinking buddies home. I thought I was the only one sweet enough to get suckered like that.” She batted her eyes and he groaned.
“I didn’t mind.” No, he hadn’t. Hadn’t minded one bit. In terms of charitable acts, it ranked right up there as one of the most self-serving activities he’d ever taken part in.
He sat back and concentrated harder on Maxine. Tasha wouldn’t be calling any time soon, and until tomorrow, his life was in limbo.
There was something hard poking her in the belly, and the most god-awful taste in her mouth. Tasha rolled over, tossed the shoe she’d found to the floor and winced as the sunshine pouring in the window stabbed her in the eyes. Okay, officially not the best way to spend a day. She levered herself vertical, fearful her head would spin, or her stomach.
It was her heart that did back flips when she spotted the file folder on the side table.
Maxwell Junior had proposed to her.
She wasn’t sure which rose faster or higher—confusion or anger. He hadn’t done anything on purpose to upset her, but damn it all, she’d had everything figured out. She was happy with her plan for artificial insemination. All the arguments he’d gone through she’d fought out with herself over the past months. There was no doubt in her mind that she’d be a fabulous mother, and any baby that did come along would be well loved and cared for. Still, she wasn’t about to argue that two good parents couldn’t provide even more, and she loved the thought of having extended family for her child.
But it wasn’t possible. She’d tried the regular route of getting involved with a partner. She’d had no luck finding anyone she wanted to spend a year with, let alone long enough to raise a child.
I like Max.
Her mind darted everywhere. It wasn’t acceptable for him to come in and tear her world apart. Intoxicating kisses and magical orgasms aside, she had to do the right thing for the long run.
She poured herself into the shower and turned the heat up as hot as she could handle. The headache from the previous night’s overindulgence had faded, exchanged for the dull ache of stress. She soaped her body, trying to ignore the tenderness between her legs from where he’d rubbed her to an orgasm. It was too easy to slip her fingers over the sensitive skin and daydream about what Max would do to her when she had her clothes off, his fingers touching her more intimately. Stoking and sliding over her skin…
Dammit, no. She would not fantasize thinking about Maxwell Turner. Tasha forced her hands away from her sex and did the fastest wash ever of her breasts, the tightness of her nipples taunting her.
Even when he was nowhere in the room, Max tormented her.
She dried herself, rough with the towel, then yanked on track pants and a T-shirt before stomping to the kitchen.
He had proposed to her.
Three glasses of water and an orange juice later, Natasha sat on her balcony in the sun, her eyes closed. Every deep breath she took in she mentally wrapped up one of her concerns and breathed it out. She needed to make a decision, but totally uptight and upset wasn’t the way to go into anything.
She grabbed the notepad from the chair beside her and started another list.
He’d given her three reasons for them to be together. She listed them, neatly, in order. Made two columns to the right of each with room for pros and cons. There was no way to get to the bottom of this without some solid information. Knowing Max, if she phoned him right now he’d insist on far more than a simple yes or no. He’d want to know why.
She laughed in spite of the situation. Yeah, he’d said she knew him better than to simply say he was too young. He hadn’t been too young mentally since fifth grade. The damn man was borderline genius. She couldn’t accuse him of not having thought out all the angles.
Tasha blew out a long slow breath. Fine, then it was only right she do the same thing. She’d gone through this before when she’d made the decision to become a single mom. Once more wouldn’t hurt.
The first item seemed the easiest, and safest, to deal with.
#1. Having a baby w/ Junior