He exhaled heavily. “I know.”
Bonnie patted him on the shoulder again. “Take off the ring, Max. Screw Miss Legs. Make her your girlfriend and do all your usual romantic crap for her. Fuck what people think. You’re already divorced at thirty-three, what do you have to lose?”
“Gee, thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Max stared down at his beer. “I think I’ve screwed things up.”
“Just go to her without the fucking wedding ring and say you weren’t sure before but you are now.” She paused. “And flowers never hurt. Neither does going down on a girl and if I remember correctly you have limited skills in that area…”
Max smirked. “I try.”
Bonnie leaned back on the couch. “This is nice actually. Knowing you’ve got someone else. Now that the shock has worn off.”
“I’m glad.”
They drank their beers in silence for a while and then Bonnie spoke. “Ms. Legs is designing a video game, you say? Have you thought about giving Jeremy a call? You know he owes you a favor.”
Max shrugged. “He’s more your mate than mine. I didn’t want to step on any toes.”
“Are you kidding? Call him. Try and get your girl a connection. I’m sure she’ll never stop blowing you once she finds out.”
Max grinned. “You think?”
“Hell yeah. I was talking to him the other day and he mentioned something about looking for new projects.”
“I’ll call him when I get home.” He looked down at his hands. “Once Dean and I cut off the ring.”
“Glad to hear it. Now does this chick have a website or something? I want to see her stuff.”
Max grabbed his phone and looked up the website. “Here.”
“Scarlet Woman. That’s cute.”
She scrolled through the pages as Max patted Sparky behind her ears. “I should get going, Bon. Thanks for the beer.”
“Sure, no problem—” Bonnie sat bolt upright. “Maxie? Have you gone through this website? Like thoroughly?”
“Not really. Why?”
Wordlessly Bonnie held up the screen. For a second Max had no idea what she was on about and then he realized the source of her shock.“What?Is that? Am I…?”
Bonnie burst into peals of laughter. “Oh, champ. I don’t think you need to worry about getting into this girl’s pantsat all.”
Max stared at the phone in disbelief. “That’s gotta be me, right?”
“Unless you’ve got an evil twin out there, I’d say yes.” Bonnie started giggling madly. “This is amazing. Julia gets my full approval. When are you seeing her again?”
“There’s the work party tomorrow night but I don’t know if she’s going…” Max’s eyes were fixed on the phone. “God, I can’t believe she did this. It’s amazing.”
Bonnie squeezed his shoulder. “You need to find something to wear.”
“You’re right,” he muttered. “You’re so fucking right.”
Max seized his phone, trying not to grin like an idiot.She wants me. She fucking wants me.He grabbed his motorcycle jacket and slung it on. “I’m off. Say hey to Scott for me.”
“I will. Ride safe, don’t split lanes at any traffic lights.”