“Really?”

He lifted a chip heavy with meat, cheese and fixings and replied, “Really.” Then he stuffed it in his mouth and after chewing but before swallowing, he noted, “Your nachos are better than your fish pie.”

“You think?”

“Absolutely,” he swallowed and finished, “fuckin’ great.”

I smiled, pleased beyond reason that he liked my nachos. It felt like he’d told me he thought I could rule the world while carrying on a successful career as a supermodel.

“Thanks,” I muttered, suddenly feeling timid though still pleased and I looked at my plate and scooped up a chip.

“Duchess,” he called and my eyes went from my chip to him to see he was grinning at me. “Honey, you gotta know you can cook.”

“Um…” I mumbled and he shook his head.

Then he turned his attention back to his plate, murmured, “Cute,” and scooped up his own chip.

I decided, since he was being nice and I still wasn’t used to that, to change the subject.

“So, why does the drywall put you off the idea of Shauna doing the deed?” I asked and put my chip in my mouth.

“Woman isn’t stupid,” Max muttered after swallowing and while digging out another chip.

“You found out she was fooling around with Curt while she was with you,” I reminded him.

“She wanted me to, thought it’d make me jealous,” Max told me.

“Oh,” I whispered and picked up another chip.

“Shauna wouldn’t be sloppy. That’s sloppy. Clearin’ out her house and not cleanin’ away evidence?” Max shook his head, grabbed his beer and muttered, “Sloppy.” He took a drink, I twisted to get my beer and twisted back.

“So who did it?” I asked.

“Who knows? Someone who hated Curt, someone who hated Shauna and town’s full of them.”

This was true and one could almost feel sorry for the both of them.

But only almost.

I sipped beer then queried, “And Kami?”

Max looked at me. “Kami, I figure, got f**ked. For whatever reason, Shauna was ready to move on, maybe with this Robert guy and, seein’ as he stands to lose everything he hitches his star to hers, Shauna wouldn’t care who she ripped off to keep livin’ the good life without workin’ for it, ‘cept on her back.”

“Even Kami?”

“She’d take advantage of Harry, who isn’t my most favorite person right now but he’s always been a good guy, she’d take advantage of Kami.”

“But Kami’s her friend, has been for years.”

“If you think about it so have I and so have Bitsy and Harry, she f**ked us all without blinkin’.”

“Did you ever give her money?” I blurted and only his eyes sliced to me, his head still faced his plate and I whispered, “Sorry, dumb question.”

“I ain’t stupid either, Duchess.”

“I know that,” I said quickly.

“I know you do.” He scooped another chip, shoved it in his mouth, chewed, swallowed and continued, “Though, we went out, she never reached for her wallet.”

I bit my lip and twisted to put back my beer.

When I righted myself and studiously turned my attention back to my plate, at the same time vowing the next time we went out to dinner that I’d at least reach for wallet, Max spoke.

“Different, babe, totally.”

My eyes went to him. “Sorry?”

What he said next told me he’d read my face again.

“I was just f**kin’ her, you’re my woman, totally different.”

“I wasn’t your woman when we had buffalo burgers… or steaks at The Rooster for that matter.”

“Yeah you were, for both. Especially The Rooster, babe. We fought about you movin’ out here on the way there.”

Okay, I had to give him that one.

“But I’d practically just met you when we had buffalo burgers,” I pointed out.

“Yeah? So?”

“I wasn’t your woman.”

“Babe, you were.”

“How’s that?”

“You just were.”

I stared at him and he returned my stare. Then he calmly turned back to his plate and dug out another chip.

After he chewed and swallowed, I asked, “So, you’d let a woman pay for dinner?”

“Nope,” he stated firmly. “But don’t mind she goes for her wallet. She won’t use it but I don’t mind it.”

“So I should have gone for my wallet?” I pushed and his eyes cut back to mine.

“Did you not get my earlier point?”

“Max –”

He turned slightly toward me and dropped his plate to hold it at his thigh.

“All right, we should talk about this anyway and you’re obviously twistin’ this in that head of yours so we’ll get this straight. This works out, babe, I’m not gonna give a shit if a woman goes for her wallet because there won’t be another one I take out, ‘cept you. And you never go for your wallet. How we work out the money shit, we work it out private, at home. We go out, I pay, always. That work for you or do we have to talk about it for half an hour?”

“That isn’t the point, the point is –”

“The point is, you’re worried you’ve been rude when I’m sayin’, Duchess, it woulda pissed me off you went for your wallet. Shauna, I didn’t give a f**k because she didn’t matter. You matter.”

This was a really good answer, so good I wasn’t breathing properly so I kind of wheezed, “Okay.”

“You get my point?”

I was still wheezing when I said, “Yes.”

Max watched me wheeze awhile then when I controlled it and turned my attention back to my nachos, he queried, “How is it you can be irritating and adorable at the same f**kin’ time?”

“Just me, I guess,” I quietly told my nachos.

“Yeah,” he muttered and I looked at him to see he’d brought his plate up and was digging back in but he was doing it grinning.

“Max?” I called and he looked at me, chip held suspended.

“Right here,” he replied and put the chip in his mouth.

“About that job –”

He didn’t swallow before he said, “Yeah, about that.” He finished chewing, swallowed and turned to me again to state, “It’s happenin’.”