Taming Mad Max Read Online Free PDF Page B

apple, ready to throw it at the man, but Max took the fruit from her hand and put it back with all the other apples. “Come on,” he said, leaving the cart behind and grabbing her arm. “Let’s get out of here.”
    The cameraman stayed on their heels, following them through the produce section, up the cereal aisle, and outside into the parking lot.
    Customers stopped to watch her and Max run for their lives, or at least for the car.
    Max ignored the guy holding a camera in his face as he opened the passenger door and waited for Kari to climb in.
    “That’s rude,” Kari told the photographer, prompting him to point the lens at her instead and click away. “Very rude,” she repeated, frowning at him.
    Click. Click. Click.
     
    Max shut her door, then walked calmly past the cameraman as if the photographer wasn’t even there. Not bothering with his door, Max jumped over the side and slid under the wheel. Within moments they were back on the road, the wind blowing her hair away from her face.
    Twenty minutes later, Max pulled the Porsche into a reserved spot behind a building on Camden. He got out and came around to open the car door for her.
    She looked around the parking lot and tried to figure out where they were. “What are we doing?”
    “We need to eat. I don’t know about you, but I’m starved.” He gestured with his chin toward the back door of a restaurant. “My friend, Vincent, is the owner of La Taverna, the best Italian restaurant outside of Italy. He’ll set us up while you fascinate me with a captivating story about the benefits of eating legumes.”
    She opened her mouth to protest, but his sarcasm made her chuckle. And besides, she was hungry.
    “Come on,” he said taking advantage of her lightened mood. “They’ve got the best Shellfish Risotta in the world and a Chianti with a wild rustic edge to it that will have you begging for more.”
    She raised a brow. “If I agree to have lunch here, you have to eat whatever I order for you.”
    “It’s a deal.”
    He took her hand.
    She tried to ignore the tingles racing up her arms as he helped her out of the car. The pad of his thumb brushed over her knuckles. She wondered if he’d done that purposely. Obviously, it had been way too long since she’d been with a man. As soon as she had her balance, she pulled her hand away.
    A frown creased his brow.
    “I’d prefer we keep this professional.”
    His hand cupped her elbow as they walked. “Are you married?”
    She sighed. “No.”
    He knocked on the back door to the restaurant. “Boyfriend?”
    “Not at the moment.”
    “But for some reason we can’t be friends?”
    “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
    The door opened. A man in his late fifties with dark silver-tipped hair and a white apron tied about his generous waist, looked from Kari to Max, and then grinned. “Buon vederli il mio amico. Dove siete stati? E chi è questa signora bella sul vostro lato?”
    “Questo è Kari. Rifiuta di essere il mio amico. Forse potete cambiare idea con alcuno del vostro Risotto,” Max answered.
    Kari watched the exchange, surprised to hear Max speaking Italian as if he’d been born and raised in Italy. It was hard to believe the cocky football player from her high school days, the boy everybody knew as Mad Max, the guy she’d spent the first half of her life pining for, was standing before her now, fully grown and still way too charming. His house, the Porsche, and the fact that he could speak Italian, told her he hadn’t spent all of his time partying after all. His successes should not have surprised her. For years she’d watched him from the sidelines. Truthfully, she had always known he would be great at whatever he set his mind to. He had always been active in the community. He still had the same killer smile...and damn it all, she still lusted after the man.
    “Kari,” Vincent said, taking her hand and brushing her knuckles against his lips. “Welcome to La Taverna.”
    “Thank