Page 248 of The Maxwell Brothers

Her breath caught. "Yes."

"It was predictable yesterday that it would be worse today if you keep working. You chose to ignore it." I looked at it closely, noticing it was still a bit swollen.

"It didn’t seem so bad," she whispered. Her voice was uneven because I was touching her wrist. Fucking hell, this woman was going to be the death of me.

I looked up at her. She swallowed hard.

"When the body's under attack, it needs rest."

"Please don't say 'I told you so.' We're in no-man's-land here, right? Peaceful territory?"

"Yes, we are. You looked worried before when I went into the house."

Clearing her throat, she pulled her hand back. She seemed vulnerable looking at me. "What do you mean? You picked up on that?"

"Yeah. You were smiling one moment, but when I went up to the house, you weren't. So why don't you tell me what you were worried about?"

She pointed at me. “You have that look in your eyes again.”

“What look?”

“Where you think I’m gonna do whatever you're asking just because.”

“Youdidadmit I have hidden depths.Andthat you like me.”

“Damn, I should have kept quiet. I have a feeling you’ll use that against me.”

I grinned. “That’s absolutely correct. And I promise it’s going to be alotof fun.”

“Ha! I’m sorry, fun is not a word that comes to mind when I think about you.”

“And I’m going to change that.”

CHAPTER 6

LIZ

Living nextto Declan Maxwell was like receiving an advent calendar in December. Each time you opened a door, you found a surprise.

I rose from my chair, intending to gather the empty plates. He hadn’t even touched the food while I’d devoured everything.

He rose too, coming up next to me. He smelled absolutely delicious, fresh out of the shower. Of course, he’d been sex on a stick before too, in that rugged, sweaty handyman way. Clearing my throat, I focused on his question.

“I’m not exactly worried, just wondering if I’ll be able to keep to my timeline with the bakery.”

“You have a timeline?”

“I gave myself one year to open it since moving to Chicago.”

“And how long has it been?”

“Seven months.”

“You’ve still got five.”

“I know, but the search foraffordablespace is going nowhere, honestly. My realtor keeps sending me emails, but most places are far too big for what I need and too expensive. Or they’re in areas with low foot traffic.” I pasted a smile on my face. “But I know it’ll happen. I have to be persistent.”

“What did you do before moving to Chicago?”