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M axwell’s storm-colored eyes glinted beneath the overhead light and Lily felt the piercing gaze to her core.

So what if he’d overheard her? She tipped her chin, daring him to say one word.

Max lifted one eyebrow as if to acknowledge her silent challenge. A smirk played at the corner of his firm mouth.

Oh, good God, Maxwell Deckman should come with a warning sign.

Abruptly, Lily turned toward Sara.

“Did you find me a good leave-in conditioner?” Lily murmured, grasping for anything to take her mind from Max.

“I sure did,” Sara whispered and pulled her phone out.

Lily gazed at the photo of a popular conditioner on Sara’s phone.

But nothing helped. She couldn’t get her mind completely off of Max.

And she didn’t like the fact that she was more aware of Max than she was of Blake.

It really was strange, Lily thought. But no matter how long she had been away from Max, that spark of awareness remained—that instant attraction still lingered.

It was sexual chemistry, pure and not so simple. There was no denying it. It happens and Lily imagined every human on earth had experienced it a time or two.

But sexual awareness or not, that didn’t mean she had to act on it. She could admire a man without jumping into bed with him.

“Look at this one,” Sara said, drawing her attention to another hair product.

“I’ll try both.”

Blake nudged Lily’s arm and held out the menu. She turned back to her husband to pick out what they would have for dinner. The others settled in around the table and pored over the menu, their quiet choices drifting into the room.

It was also Saturday evening and families had gathered so the place was crowded. The staff had placed three wooden tables together to accommodate the size of their group.

Lily had taken a seat that faced the windows of Elliot Bay. She hadn’t been out like this in so long and she wanted to enjoy every minute.

Blake sat to the right of her and Sara on her left. Chris settled in next to Sara and the remainder of their group took the seats opposite with their backs to the windows.

William and Michelle sat directly across from Lily and Sara. Jennifer and her brother, Ryan, sat next to Michelle, while Max settled his large frame into the chair next to William.

That put Max almost directly across from Blake.

Jennifer kept firing glares toward her and Lily realized the woman didn’t like her. Perhaps Jen’s breakup with Blake had been a bitter one? Whatever the case may be, Lily refused to give Jennifer, or Jen, as Blake called her, the time of day.

The waiter came around and took their orders and collected the menus. Lily had ordered the lasagna and it smelled and looked to die for.

William turned to Max and asked about his business, and Michelle leaned over and asked Max if the work was dangerous.

“Sometimes it can be,” Max admitted.

It was Lily’s plan to ignore Blake’s ex-girlfriend, but it didn’t work out that way.

Best laid plans and all went to hell when Jennifer opened her mouth.

“Do you and Blake have any children?”

Something in the woman’s tone of voice let Lily know that Jen knew damned good and well that she and Blake didn’t have any kids.

“Not yet,” Lily returned smoothly.

“Blake and I have one. He’s three. Stays with my mother most of the time.”

Lily sat in stunned silence.

Sara sucked in a gasping breath, and Lily heard it as if from far away.

Blake’s hand closed over Lily’s beneath the table. His face had turned pale, his eyes filled with worry.

I bet, she thought and yanked her hand free.

His touch suddenly disgusted her.

Blake had a child.

And he hadn’t told her about it. Not one hint in the past year.

Right at that moment, Lily realized that she didn’t know her husband at all.

When did he visit the child? Did Blake pay child support and if so, how? He was unemployed. Had he used her money? He must have.

She was wealthy in her own right, but the majority of the Snow fortune was locked up under the control of her grandfather.

Jethro Snow didn’t like Blake. Now Lily was starting to suspect why. Her grandfather was a very shrewd man. And not for the first time, Lily wished she had listened to his advice.

“You don’t know him that well. Wait to get married,” Jethro had told her.

“Please Grandpa, I love him,” Lily had pleaded.

“If you marry him, I’ll have to postpone the rest of your inheritance.”

Lily had smiled at the time. “We don’t need money, grandpa, we’re in love.”

Blake hadn’t seen it that way and money was one of the things they frequently fought over.

And now this.

Blake had a son.

Her husband was a god damned liar.

Lily clenched her hands into fists to keep from screaming and dumping her water glass over Blake’s head.

“That’s nice,” Lily told Jennifer, the words spoken from between her teeth.

Jennifer smirked, her eyes gleamed with satisfaction beneath the overhead lights.

“Excuse me,” Lily shoved up from her chair and made her way through the room, down the hallway, and into the bathroom.

She was tempted to keep walking out the back door and take a cab home, but she didn’t. She locked the door behind her and stared at her reflection.

Blake had a son.

Was that the reason he hadn’t wanted kids?

Or perhaps, Blake just didn’t want kids with her.