To Die For - Davidson King Page 0,24

the wig down on my desk and stepped out to see who he was talking to, though I suspected I knew.

“How am I a stalker?” I heard Max’s voice before I turned the corner.

“You can’t just show up here,” Nolan said, his arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t like Max, and where people would think I didn’t like him, I did. I realized after I came home from the vet and was putting Tank to bed that Max wasn’t a horrible guy, and I might have misjudged him. I’d been comparing him to the person I was years ago.

“It’s okay, Nolan.” I smiled at Max and waved him over. “Max helped me out with Tank the other day. He’s probably just checking up on him.”

Max totally gloated in Nolan’s face as he headed my way. “How is Tank the Mighty?”

“I actually have him in the office with me. He couldn’t be alone, but I had to teach.” We walked into my office, where Tank was asleep in his plush pink doggie bed.

“I gotta ask, why such a tiny dog? Aren’t you afraid you’ll sit on it? I mean, look what happened when he was just walking. A big dog like a German shepherd wouldn’t get their paw stuck in an AC vent.” Max leaned closer to Tank and tenderly petted his head. There was a softness in his eyes as he looked at Tank. I knew he wasn’t being cruel, just curious and honest.

“I intended to get a big guard dog, but Tank was there at the shelter when I showed up, and I fell in love. What can I say? I’m a sucker for those puppy eyes.” I sat in my chair and grabbed the brush to comb my wig.

“And then you named him Tank, so he’d think he was big and tough?” I shrugged as an answer. “Is that a wig?”

“Do I really need to answer that question?” I held up the obvious wig. “You’re far from dumb; you know it’s a wig.” Narrowing my eyes, I realized Max was nervous. “You came here to ask me something, didn’t you?”

“How’d you know that? Did Atlas call you?”

Okay, this was very intriguing now. “Atlas? Why would he call me?”

Max plopped onto my small couch and pinched the bridge of his nose. I gave him a moment and continued brushing my wig. His leg was jumping, and I was so curious as to what he was up to.

“Okay, so, I came here today to ask you something. You’re right.”

“As much as I love being right, the suspense is killing me, so just say it.” I put the wig down and gave Max my complete attention.

“Fine.” He released a breath and made eye contact with me. His expression was so serious, I became nervous he was going to ask me something horrible. “I came here to ask you if you’d go out to dinner with me.”

“Dinner?” He was asking me out on a date?

“Yeah. I mean I know we have the charity thing tomorrow night. And I don’t know when you have time off or whatever. We can work it out, though…I mean if there’s even something to work out.” He was so nervous that he was fidgeting, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was endearing.

“How often do you ask people out?” I had to know if it was him asking me out that was making him act this way or the fact that he probably didn’t ask people out at all, just to hook up.

“I don’t.”

I nodded and sat back. “But you want to go out to just dinner with me?”

He lifted his shoulder. “I mean, maybe there’d be a kiss or something. I dunno, but yeah, dinner.”

A huge part of me wanted to laugh and say no. I didn’t date. Hell, it wasn’t Max I didn’t trust, it was that I trusted no one. Every person I met was a potential threat against everything I’d built. And with Dorian finding me, I knew he wasn’t going to let me go quietly into the night. But there was this tiny, little part of me that whispered that it was just one dinner. No promises being made. Food, talking, and maybe a little teasing. I could think about it like going out with a friend.

“Okay, sure. I’ll go to dinner with you.”

Max’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

“Was I supposed to say no?” I laughed.

“No, no, I just assumed you’d say no, is all.”

“Well, surprise.” The moment got slightly awkward