27. Sunny

"And then,when I brought him my 50 Clubbin" State project, he just said, "The profit margins in nightclubs don"t warrant further investment outside our brand." So, I ended up having to scrounge up the investment money myself. Do you know how embarrassing it was to have to walk around with my hat in my hand when I"m the scion of a major hospitality brand?"

Sigh. I glanced toward the Mexican restaurant"s patio doors, hoping the waiter would return to the alfresco dining area with our orders so I"d actually have something interesting to do.

I didn't want to use the word"boring"to describe Cole's brother, but if the description fit...

Our food hadn"t even arrived yet, and I was already beginning to deeply regret skipping lunch with Cole. This meal with Max Benton, who"d been talking nonstop about himself since we sat down, was the opposite of afternoon delight.

When I'd knocked on the door to Nora"s house, Max—not his grandmother—had opened it.

"Aw, man, this is all my fault. Father Ted slipped down some stairs, and Grandma insisted on rushing him to the emergency vet."

"Oh, no! I hope he"s alright!"

"Father Ted"s going to be fine."Max waved a dismissive hand."That yapper"s too mean to die. He'll probably outlive us all."

I smothered a smile because it was true. I'd never wish ill on any animal. But Nora's Jack Russell had to be at least 100 in dog years, and he was still more than a little yappy—and bitey. I'd learned after the first time I"d visited Nora at her casita-style mansion in Summerlin that dressing defensively was the best way to avoid getting ankle-nipped by the small dog.

But I had to ask,"How is it your fault?"

A terrible thought occurred to me, and I raised a hand to my chest to cross myself if I didn"t like Max"s answer to my next carefully worded question."You didn"t have anything to do with his fall, did you?"

"Should have thought of that,"Max answered with a considering look."But no.Grandma gave me your number and asked me to call you to cancel your visit. But I got distracted with a video call about this new club I just opened in Paris, and it must have slipped my mind."

"Oh,"I said, agreeing that it did sound like Max was at fault for me making this unnecessary trip. But I wasn"t one to complain—especially to the grandson of the woman whose generous charity fund had been emptied.

"Well, that's okay. I'll just head home. Please tell Nora I'm thinking about her and Father Ted."

With that, I"d started to go, but then he"d tempted me with an offer to take me to lunch someplace, where he promised to give me all"the dirt"on Cole.

I"ll admit that my curiosity won over my good sense.

And by the time our food arrived, I was beginning to suspect that the"good dirt on Cole"Max had promised me was really just a laundry list of complaints about his much-more-responsible half brother.

Most of his tales ran a predictable pattern of Cole warning him not to do something and Max going on ahead and doing it anyway, usually with disastrous results. He'd been telling me these stories for nearly an hour, and judging from the way he laughed at the end of all of them, Max thought they were great.

Somehow it was just hilarious to end up in jail in a foreign country or having to climb out of some married countess's window naked. The list went on and on and convinced me Max wasn't exactly a mysterious international playboy, as he'd been painted in the press. More like a self-centered, rich prick with a knee-jerk need to rebel.

"So you don't work, like, at all?"I asked.

"I told you, I"ve launched my own series of nightclubs."Max narrowed his eyesas if he suspected I was purposefully trying to rain on his parade. "I also receive a monthly salaryfrom Benton Worldwide."

"To do what?" I asked as I tucked into my paella dish. "Party all over the world?"

Max proudly pulled out his card and handed it to me."The official title is brand ambassador. I live the glamorous life all over the world, and that reflects well on the hotel."

I inwardly grimaced. That wasn't what Cole had insinuated. Obviously, Max had a much higher opinion of what he did for the company than Cole.

But I kept my opinion to myself and said,"It sounds like you're putting your degree in marketing to good use. Could you pass the salt?"

Max slid the hen-shaped container across the little table."How about you, then? You got your degree in dance from UNLV and became a Benton Girl, then what? Decided to get all buddy-buddy with my grandma, make sure you got a piece of the Benton fortune?"

The bland food turned to dirt in my mouth. So, Max had looked me up? And apparently found my background more than a little suspicious.

I choked down the bite."Actually, I was planning on finally retiring this year and moving to New York to pursue a graduate degree in Dance Pedagogy."

Max nodded sagely at the same time he told me, "No idea what that is."

"It"s basically learning to teach kids dance. Manhattan University has a special two-year program that combines the regular dance curriculum with mindfulness practice. I"d been wanting to apply since before my grandma died...."

"What stopped you?"

I shrugged."At first, Iwas scared to pursue my dreams someplace where dancers didn't learn all their choreography in high heels. But then my grandma died, and I thought, ‘Wow, life really is short,' so I applied, and I got in, but then..."

I stopped there, trying to come up with something less dramatic than my life blew up.

"Cole got to you with this plan of his,"Max guessed before I could. "Yeah, he has a way of ignoring what you want if it doesn"t improve his bottom line."

"In all fairness, he doesn"t even know that I was thinking of moving to New York."I felt defensive of my fake fiancée for some reason."And, it kind ofsounds to me like you're running all over the world, acting like an ass, blaming him for anything that goes wrong in your pampered life, while he holds down the fort here, making sure your yearly brand ambassador salary gets paid."

The laughter disappeared from Max's eyes, and he went still—so still I could finally see some of his brother in him.

"You sound like Cole,"he finally said.

I shrugged."Okay, if making your brother the enemy helps you feel better about wasting your life, go with that. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"So you think I should be like Cole?" Max took a swig of the beer he"d ordered with lunch. "Work all the time, never have any fun?"

"I think you and Cole are on two opposite ends of the scale." Another shrug. "He uses work to run away from his demons, and you use fun."

Max glared at me."What do you know about our demons?"

"Not everything,"I admitted."But they've got to be some kind of powerful to have you two both running scared like this."

Max jutted his chin forward."You've said that? You've actually said that to my brother, and he's still with you?"

I laughed."No, not exactly. But I hope our relationship is helping him with his stuff. You know, like he's helping me with mine."

"You have stuff? I find that hard to believe."

"Why? Everyone has something going on. Some of us are just better at hiding it. But you know, I was raised by my grandma, too, just like Cole."

Somewhere beyond the street-facing patio fence, a car"s tires screeched to a stop.

"Yes, poor Cole, who lost his mommy when he was a kid while I got to keep mine."Max cut his eyes away from me, staring off into space with a bitter expression."What he doesn't get is that sometimes it's better if they die."

Recognizing a familiar bitterness in Max's words, I reached across the table and took his hand."I get that,"I said softly."I was raised by my grandmother because my mom?—"

I cut off when Max"s gaze suddenly shifted to something going on over my shoulder. He scrunched his forehead."Wait a minute, is that Cole?"

I turned to look over my shoulder, too.

Just in time to see Cole leaping like a Duke of Hazzard over the patio's low wrought-iron fence.

Everything happened fast after that. Cole got to our table in an instant, and the next thing I knew, he was yanking Max out of his chair by the front of his T-shirt.

"No, Cole, don't!"I screamed.

But it was too late. Before I could stop him, Cole hauled back and punched his brother.