Page 17 of Yours, Forever

"Very unhygienic. I'm in the service industry!"

"Kissing your temple is a compromise, then. I simply must find a cute way to say hello. We have to seemintimate. Head over heels, and all that."

She studied me with her serious brown eyes. "Okay, then. Kiss on the temple is allowed, but nothing more. And no endearments!"

"They're going to slip out. I can't promise that. Remember, I have to seem smitten."

"You show you're smitten by using endearments?"

"Only for my wife. It's my nanny's fault."

She groaned. "I'm sure there's something Freudian about that."

"No need to psychoanalyze me. We'll settle into things and it'll get easier, you'll see." I sipped more coffee, still warm and delicious. "Now, since we have privacy... My lawyers will come soon to have us sign things. I got you your own representation; her name is Anika. Don't worry, I made sure there is no conflictof interest. She wants to talk to you later today, and they will come as soon as all documents are ready. Sounds good?"

She groaned again.

Eva

At some point in the past few days, Max had looked into my schedule with a focus on my closing times, and had scheduled a meeting with our lawyers on one of my early days.

He waited for me as I closed shop. "Can I help?"

"No, thanks. I have this routine choreographed. You'll slow me down."

"All right." He followed me around as I made sure everything was in place for the next day. "So, you close early Sunday to Wednesday, and late Thursday to Saturday. That's a lot of work. At least I know you take time off, since you went to Vegas."

"Ale has helped me with that. I didn't have time off for a year and a half, until Vegas. It's one of the things I want to do with the money, get more people so I can stay open for longer and take time off."

Once I was done, he opened the door for me and guided me out with a hand on the small of my back. In only a couple of days, Max had gotten used to all these kinds of gestures; a kiss hello on my temple, a hand on my back. Unfortunately, I had quickly learned to expect it.

I tried not to like it. I hadn't been lying— PDA was not my thing. Yet Max seemed to love it. I'd be better off focusing on the overwhelming presence of him in my life, rather than allowing the confusion of letting me find comfort in his little touches.

He let me lock the coffee shop and led me to his car as I put the keys back in my pocket. "I'll make sure to transfer a first lump sum if that will make it happen faster. A lot of it is going to be tied up to lawyer stuff, but I can always give you an advance from my personal everyday account."

"I'd rather you didn't. Let's keep it all professional."

"As you wish."

This time he'd found a parking spot half a block away. He left me at my side of the car, and rounded the vehicle to the driver's door.

I ran a finger along the shiny chrome detailing around the window. "This car is really impractical."

"Should I get an SUV? You don't have a car, do you?"

"If you plan to drive around. I don't really need one. I like to walk, and I mostly go home and to work and that's it."

We got into the car.

Max pushed the on button and began the short drive home. "I'll walk more, then. Get more into the Laguna Island culture. It's different in each city. When I'm in LA, it's impossible to walk around, but in New York? It's the best. Vancouver is a mix."

He continued to chat with me, filling the space between us until he parked near the porch. I'd given him a copy of my keys two days before, and he opened the door for us.

"You're always a little quiet," he said, "but you're particularly so today."

I followed him into the house. "It's the meeting with the lawyers. It's fine."

He gave me a few pensive looks as we moved around the house, like he wanted to know how I felt underneath our superficial conversations. I pretended not to notice. Keeping people away was the only way I knew to be careful, and Max was hard to hide from.