Beyond the Breaking Point (44 page)

Fortunately for Cassidy, her new rotation began with Saturday and Sunday off. She and Max lazed away the morning, alternately snoozing and making love until the need for sustenance drove them out of the room.

Later they showered—separately at her insistence—and ran errands together, which included grocery shopping for both homes. Max took every opportunity to point out how much simpler it would be and how much money they’d save if they shared a residence. Cassidy tried her best to ignore him, but it was impossible. He made too much sense.

That night they went out and enjoyed a leisurely meal. Then Max took her to a favorite jazz club of his and they danced the night away. The evening ended as the day had begun, with them making love until sleep cradled them in its arms.

Sunday morning, Cassidy finally let Max drag her to early morning Mass with him. Usually, she made him attend alone. Cassidy was highly uncomfortable, both at the unfamiliarity of the ceremony and the pointed looks cast her way by Max’s sisters. It felt as though she had a large sign with bright lights and flashing letters hanging over her head with an arrow pointed at her reading: W
ORLD
’
S
BIGGEST
SINNER
.

After Mass, Max introduced her to his priest. “Cassidy, this is Father Murdock. Father Murdock,
this
is Cassidy.”

“How do you do?” Father Murdock asked. The way he stared at her made Cassidy wonder if Max’s mother had been telling tales, but despite what he might have been thinking, his eyes were friendly enough.

“Fine, thank you. I enjoyed the service,” she said awkwardly, but truthfully. It had been interesting.

“Come and visit us again,” he said. Then it was time for them to move on and give someone else a chance to speak to the priest.

Max invited Nicco to join them for breakfast and he accepted. Once again the antics between the two men kept her laughing. While they waited for their food to arrive, Max excused himself to go to the restroom.

Nicco turned to her and said, “He really loves you. Don’t hurt him.”

She met his steady gaze and confessed what she hadn’t even told Max. “I love him too. So much it scares me. There’s so much that could go wrong.”

“Like what?” he said sharply, his gaze narrowing. Of Max’s siblings, Nicco and Max looked the most alike, though Nicco had dark-brown eyes instead of Max’s vibrant blue. They both had the same lean build and wavy black hair.

She debated for all of a second. The desire to defend herself to one of Max’s family members won out over her natural reticence. Still she was cautious. “You have to promise not to say anything to Max. I don’t want him any more involved in this than he already is.”

“I’ll reserve judgment on what not to tell Max,” Nicco countered.

Cassidy nodded, accepting his terms, and then filtered what she’d been about to confess. “My husband’s fighting me on the divorce.” Something Max already knew.

“Fighting you how? He’s arguing over the settlement?”

“No, he doesn’t want the divorce at all. He wants us to go to counseling. He’s certain if he can get me to agree, it will fix our marriage,” she explained. “We just discovered the baby isn’t Max’s, which only gives Phillip more ammunition. Things are…tense between them as it is. I don’t want to be the cause of more conflict.”

Nicco threw back his head and laughed heartily. “After what Phillip did, there’d be conflict anyway. Don’t worry so much. My brother can take care of himself, especially when it comes to the important stuff and for Max, you’re right at the top of the list.”

Cassidy could feel her face flushing. “So’s your family. It disturbs me, this distance between them. He walked right past your mother and sisters like they weren’t there, and I didn’t even tell him what your mother said. Just asked him to take me home. It hurt your mother and angered your sisters.”

Nicco smiled and his expression was sympathetic. “She upset you. For Max, that was enough. What
did
momma say?” he added, his head tilted to the side.

Cassidy nibbled her lower lip while she debated. There was no guarantee Nicco wouldn’t tell Max, but she needed to know if what his mother said was true. “I’m paraphrasing, but she said our relationship was jeopardizing Max’s soul and even if we were to marry, the church wouldn’t recognize the marriage because I’d been divorced. That any children of our marriage wouldn’t be recognized either and he’d basically be…” She searched for the right term. “…excommunicated?”

Max’s brother fell into his chair and whistled soundlessly. “Boy, she laid it on thick. Max is going to be livid when you tell him.”

“I don’t intend to.”

Nicco scowled. “And why not?”

Cassidy sighed. “Because I understand how your mother feels. I’m a married woman and even though I’ve filed for divorce, filing is not the same as being. It’s easier to think of me as a seducing adulterer, leading Max astray than to think of Max as a home-wrecker, although neither are true.”

Nicco flinched. “Ouch, I see what you mean.”

“So…is it true what she said?” Cassidy asked hesitantly, hoping desperately it wasn’t.

“Oh yeah, for the most part it’s true. Kind of a worst case scenario perspective, though. She
really
doesn’t like the idea of you two together,” Nicco mused. 

“I know,” Cassidy agreed soberly, then fell silent as she noticed Max approaching.

Their food arrived soon after. The rest of the meal was uneventful and they left an hour later and as they were departing, Nicco said, “Remember you owe me a rematch. I want it today.”

Max glanced at her and said, “He wants me to whip his ass again in the boxing ring. You mind?”

“No, not at all. It’s his ass,” Cassidy said.

Both men laughed.

“Okay, I’ll meet you at the gym later this afternoon. Try not to cry this time,” Max said and Nicco shot him a bird as he walked off.

They returned to the apartment, and Cassidy went into the bathroom and gathered her laundry together.

“Here, let me get that for you,” Max offered when she reappeared in the living room with the clothesbasket.

“It isn’t heavy,” she said quickly, dodging his grab for the basket. Lovers they might be but she wasn’t comfortable with the idea of Max seeing her dirty panties.

His grin said he suspected why she’d said no, but all he said was, “I’ll get the door for you.” He unlocked it and held it open. As she proceeded down the hall to the elevator, he called out, “You know, if you were living with me, you wouldn’t have to cart that basket down into the basement.”

She ignored him.

An hour later her clothes were clean and put up. Feeling a little stiff, Cassidy decided now was as good a time as any to try out her new yoga DVD for expectant mothers. She changed out of her sundress and into a tank top and a pair of black yoga pants, grabbed her stick mat, and went into the living room.

Max was seated on the couch, bare feet propped up on the ottoman, his laptop in his lap as he surfed the Net. A baseball game was playing on the big screen, wall-mounted television. Since he didn’t appear to be watching it, she went over and slid in her DVD.

“Hey! I was watching that,” he complained as she rolled out her mat.

Cassidy slapped her hand over her mouth and widened her eyes in mock surprise as she glanced at him over her shoulder. “Were you?” she asked guilelessly as she picked up the remote and started the DVD.

“You interrupted my game to do yoga?” he asked dryly.

“It’s baseball,” she said as she got into position. “It has like fifty innings. It will still be on when I’m done. Besides, baseball is boring. I’m doing you a favor.”

Max must have decided watching her was more interesting than his computer. Not only did he stare, but he kept a running commentary.

“Your butt looks good in those pants.”

“Are you trying to make yourself taller? I don’t think it will work.”

 “How do you balance on one foot like that? Bet I could tip you with one finger and you’d fall over. Let’s see, shall we?”

“Max, stop!” she said, laughing. “You’re ruining my concentration.”

She went into a standing half-forward bend, which left her bent at the waist with her butt up in the air as she stretched her hamstrings.

“How long can you hold that pose?” he asked.

“You’re horrible,” she gasped.

“I never realized you were this flexible. It has…interesting possibilities.”

From that point forward, all of his comments were sexual in nature. Cassidy tried not to laugh as his comments got more and more outrageous. Some were amusing. All were arousing. After a few moments typing on his laptop, he said, “Did you know they have Kama Sutra for pregnant couples? You should see this stuff.”

Dang it! Now he had
her
thinking about sex.

Suddenly feeling naughty, she whipped her top over her head and tossed it to the side before transitioning into the next pose. “You know, some people believe yoga is best done in the nude,” she said as she casually slipped off her pants and underwear. “Supposedly, it puts you more in tune with nature.”

She could feel Max’s eyes on her body like a physical caress.

“Naked yoga? You know, I haven’t had a good stretch in weeks. I think I’ll join you.”

Cassidy sensed movement, heard him stripping off his jeans and shirt, and felt the heat of his body as he moved into position behind her. True to his word, he did a few of the poses with her, but when the instructor had them get on the floor, Max pounced.

 Twenty minutes later when the closing credits rolled, a sweaty Max collapsed beside her on the floor and panted, “I think I like yoga. We need to do this tape more often.”

Cassidy could do nothing but laugh.

Hours later, after she was sure Max was gone, Cassidy called Erika. “You got time to talk?” she asked when her friend answered.

“Sure. Dave is watching some game and Macey’s with her grandparents. What’s up?” She could hear Erika settling down and getting comfortable for their chat.

“Max wants me to move in with him.” She stood at her window in the apartment, overlooking the street.

“That’s…” Erika trailed off. “Okay, you got me. I don’t even know what to say.”