He snorted at that, but it didn’t seem to be an amused thing at all, then his smile faded away as he looked back down the plane, where the other men were sitting.
“Why would they?” That gaze swung back to me. “If the three of them agree, that’s the way it will be.”
“Max…”
I reached out for him, but he grabbed my hand, holding it hard in his before placing it over his chest.
“Don’t waste your time worrying about me, Sage.”
“Too late.” I flexed my hand in his grip, moving my fingers to stroke them across his shirt. “That’s not fair and…” I sucked in a breath, knowing I needed to address this but really not wanting to. “And you only just broke up with someone.”
“Crystal?” He seemed almost shocked I’d bring her up, then he smiled and shook his head. “That…” His focus was drawn back to his brothers. “They’d kill me if I talked to you about a previous girlfriend. Can’t do anything to put Sage off, Max. Don’t fuck this up for us.”
“Honestly?” I stepped closer so I felt the warmth, the solid presence of his body, and now I was this near, I was treated to a very visceral reminder of how much bigger and stronger than me he was. “They’re much closer to fucking things up than you are. You talk to me and treat me like I have a brain, not just an omega pussy.”
“Oh, I’m aware of that too.” Max was mercurial, I realised, something that was disguised by his self-effacing attitude, because right now, he was all alpha. His eyes were silvery blue and staring down at me, as if he could peel every piece of clothing away and reveal me to him.
And I’d let him.
I let out a little shuddering breath, something that had him tipping his head to one side, but when I went to take a step backwards, his free hand shot out, landing on my arse and pulling me closer.
“Crystal was a distraction. Crystal was me reaching for something, anything to make me feel, even though I knew why she was with me. She tried to rekindle things, to ensure the relationship continued out of the workplace.”
My head jerked up so I could meet his gaze head-on, a small growl trickling out from between my teeth as my fingers clawed at his chest. He shot me the cockiest damn smile right then.
“But Joey intervened and had me send her a text.”
I stiffened, went to pull away, but he refused to allow that by moving closer, herding me until my back hit the side of an empty seat.
“She’s smart, Joey, and she gives me advice about women, not that I always listen to it, but this time, I did. Crystal was blowing up my phone, begging and pleading for me to continue things, so I replied with a proposal.”
“Which was?” I bit the words off, something that made his smile widen.
“That I could be with her—”
I jerked myself away from him, seeing Crystal and just how beautiful she was, even as she sobbed. How could I ever compete with—
“If I resigned from the company and gave all of my shares to my brothers.”
I stared up at him, then frowned, trying to puzzle out exactly what he was saying.
“I’d be moderately wealthy,” he said, pulling out his phone. “Enough to live comfortably for the rest of our lives, but… Well, you should look at her reply.”
He unlocked his phone, then brought up the texts and handed it to me to read, that in itself refreshing. Right or not, it felt like he had nothing to hide.
Then I read through the message stream.
Tension returned and multiplied as I read what she had written, everything from sultry suggestions to outright explicit offers, from gentle attempts to persuade to strident pleas. Crystal deployed every damn weapon in her considerable arsenal, and I felt beaten down before I’d even entered the fight.
Then Max dropped Joey’s ploy, presenting to her the life they could have together if she could accept the terms, which made me frown.
“She didn’t reply,” I said, looking at him quizzically.
“More,” he said with a sardonic smile. “Try and call her.”
“What? We can’t make a call on a plane!”
He reached across and tapped on the contact icon, then again on the call icon.