To the Max Read Online Free PDF Page A

without those. As a matter of fact, he might even thank you. And we can’t have the owner puking all over the patrons. They may take offense.”
    “I know. Still…” She sighed, not looking that excited about closing up and getting the hell out of there. “Staying home is almost as bad,” she confessed. “My condo is being renovated, and those smells are killing me too.”
    “The fire in the clubhouse. The faulty wiring, right?” Max remembered Cole talking about having to shoehorn that job into their already busy schedule. The complex where Annie lived had been in dire need of a face-lift and some new plumbing, but the management had been dragging their feet for a while.
    Annie nodded. “They had an origami lecture that evening, and the whole place was full of paper, so a spark and it went up in flames. On the plus side, the fire got management into gear. And it was about time. Last week, my next-door neighbor almost fell walking down the stairs when the step gave way. Thank God Thelma had great reflexes. If it had been me, I would’ve killed myself.”
    He tried to hide his amusement. “You mean Thelma from the gift shop? The lady in her late sixties with a knee replacement?”
    Annie rolled her eyes, and suddenly Max noticed how expressive they were. “I know. But it’s true. All the seniors in my complex are in great shape. They take Mike’s self-defense classes. And they’re constantly organizing dance marathons. I’m not even sure they sleep; that’s how someone noticed the smoke in the clubhouse. Me? I was totally out. Anyhow, now I find myself in the middle of a rather massive renovation, throwing up all the time.”
    “You can’t be sick day in and day out.” He had no clue about pregnant women, but barfing her guts out nonstop couldn’t be good for her or the baby.
    “Yeah, I know. I’m going to get a room in the motel. My place should be ready in a month and a half. Two months tops.”
    The hell she would. Two months in Alden’s only motel was too long. The place was clean but not really comfortable. It was located outside of town, close to Bottoms Up, a strip joint in a deserted lot, and it saw a lot of action of the dubious kind. Annie there? No fucking way.
    Alden’s cute B&B was temporarily closed, so the only other option was the upscale club resort several miles away, but that hotel was always booked to the max with conventions and other activities for clients from Boston who wanted to escape from the city without being too far away from its amenities. Not to mention that a couple of months there would cost a mint. Scratch that. Two months there would make four years’ worth of student loans look like a joke.
    Annie, oblivious to his thoughts, kept talking. “Christy asked me to move in with her and Cole, but no way am I going to be a third wheel. Sophie’s trying to reconcile with her ex-husband, so that’s a no go, and Holly lives in my complex too. She’s moving in with her cousin and asked me to go with her, but Holly, bless her heart, is a total slob. After two days I’d be ready to hang myself.”
    “How long does this morning sickness last?”
    “Supposedly only the first trimester. I’m two months pregnant, so just one more month.”
    “I may have a solution for your accommodation troubles.”
    She scowled at him. “I’m not moving in with your aunt. She’ll smell my condition a mile away.”
    Probably. Max shook his head. “Move in with me.”
    “What?”
    “In a couple of days, I’ll be off filming, first at the studio and then on location. After that I plan to go to the Rocky Mountains for several weeks. I miss the action. I spent the whole summer here. I’m getting itchy.”
    She frowned. “Weren’t you somewhere just a couple of months ago?”
    “Yes, ma’am. I was in Pamplona, Spain. Running in front of the bulls for the San Fermín festival.”
    Annie lifted her eyebrows. “What?”
    “ Los Sanfermines is a festival that lasts a week starting