Page 75 of The Maxwell Brothers

"Wow. I didn't hear you."

"You were sleeping soundly. You're not an early riser, are you?"

"I need coffee. Until I have at least one cup, I don't even notice anything around me."

He smirked. "Clearly."

I narrowed my eyes, not really understanding, and followed his gaze to a spot next to me.

I gasped. He'd brought breakfast. A wooden tray lay in the middle of the bed, and I saw ham and cheese and a hard-boiled egg along with sliced avocado and tomatoes.

"Wow. Oh my God. This was here before?" I asked unnecessarily.

"Of course it was. Clearly you didn’t notice it."

"Hey, I did notice you," I said, exaggeratedly blinking, trying to bat my eyelashes. I wasn't sure it was working. I probably looked ridiculous.

"Fuck, you're cute." He leaned in and kissed my forehead.

He brought the tray next to me. We split everything, except the hard-boiled egg, which I ate all by myself.

"You are the greatest guy. I like everything about you. How can I not find even one fault?" I mumbled, putting the tray back to one side.

“Not even one?” His tone was playful, but something in his gaze told me he was doubting my words.

“Oh yeah.”

“I have scars, Lexi.”

His wife had cheated on him and wasn’t a big part of their daughter’s life. Of course he had scars. I’d have plenty if that happened to me.

“You told me that. But I happen to like those too.”

“You do?”

I nodded, trailing my fingers up his arm. I was startled by the deep vulnerability in his gaze. I wanted to mend those scars. If I was really honest with myself, I was already falling for this amazing man. And that was frightening because this was new,and I wasn’t sure what the start of the school year would bring. We’d never spoken about the after.

Was there going to be an after?

ButI didn’t have to figure that all out now. I just had to drink enough coffee to spur my neurons into working.

I kept my voice playful as I said, “You’re like one of those superheroes. They all have scars, you know?”

“Superheroes? That’s your point of reference?”

“You know what I mean.”

“Not really, but if it makes sense to you, I’m good.” He chuckled, flashing me a genuine smile that reached his beautiful eyes.

I shimmied on the bed, doing a small happy dance. I was getting through to him, even though I was still half asleep. What better way to start the day?

“And I came up with the perfect way to describe you. And just so you know, I usually don’t have a single ounce of inspiration in the morning.”

“I inspire you?”

“Absolutely.”

“So, how would you describe me?”