Lovers at Heart (The Bradens, Book One: Love in Bloom Series)

Chapter Thirty-Five, Lovers at Heart

Chapter Thirty-Five

“KAYLIE, I NEED YOU.” Max was almost back to Allure when she realized what she needed to do.

“Why, Max, I never knew you were into blond women,” Kaylie joked.

“This is serious. I need help, and I need it now. I know I’ve been a big old pain lately, and I’m sure Chaz is not going to be pleased, but I need your help, Kaylie.”

“Oh my God, you’re serious.” Kaylie’s voice softened. “What happened?”

“Nothing. Well, something. Something big. But I can’t go over it now. Can you meet me at the mall?”

“You hate shopping.”

“No shit. That’s why I need you. Please, Kaylie? I hate myself for sounding like a desperate, needy woman, but I am, so will you meet me before I change my mind?”

The situation with Ryan could not have been anticipated, but, Max realized as she drove home, it couldn’t have gone any better, either. The pieces were starting to fall into place, clearing a path for her to understand what she had misconstrued years earlier. Ryan hadn’t been in control of his actions when he’d hurt her, and he hadn’t made a cognitive decision to do so. And although she felt horrible for what he’d gone through, the fact that he hadn’t been in control made her release from the guilt even more clear.

She’d been nurturing self-imposed guilt for all these years. The reasons that he’d hurt her had nothing to do with compromises they made in their relationship. She could no more take responsibility for causing his actions than she could for Treat wanting to change the way he ran his business in order to make their relationship work.

She’d messed up big-time, and now she was dead set on making things right.

“Be there in fifteen,” Kaylie said.

“Meet me at Victoria’s Secret.”

“WHO ARE YOU and what have you done with Max?” Kaylie looked around Max’s right side; then she peered around her left side. She spun in a circle with her hand shading her eyes; then she lifted up Max’s arms and looked beneath them. “Max? Where are you?” she teased.

“Shut up before I change my mind.” Max had purposely never stepped foot in a Victoria’s Secret store before. She’d stayed away from places that encouraged the idea of women being seen as playthings. But now, as she walked through the brightly lit, far-too-pink shop, with half-naked mannequins donning barely there, sexy lingerie, she saw it all much clearer. The lingerie wasn’t about being a plaything; it was about owning—and enjoying—her sexuality, not exploiting it.

Max was bound and determined to own Treat-worthy, seductive, take-me-all-the-way attire.

“Max, I’m scared,” Kaylie teased.

“I’m getting Treat back, and I want a wardrobe that will turn him on. All of it, from my head to my toes.” She looked at Kaylie with a serious face and said, “Kaylie, make me hot.”

“Girlfriend, just saying that makes you hot.” Kaylie dragged her to the rear of the store, where she fingered through racks of lacy lingerie, holding up corsets and camisoles, lace bras and barely visible thongs. “What are we talking here, a few nights, a weekend? Seasonal?”

Max held up her credit card. “Whatever it takes. Whatever you would wear, I want to wear. Then we’re going to buy clothes to go on top of the naughty bits.”

“Max, you’re talking about a lot of cash. Are you sure?”

Max rolled her eyes. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in all my life. Besides, I’ve had the same jeans and shirts for years. I have a five-digit savings account that I’ll never spend. For Treat? Definitely worth it.”