All she wanted was to pick him up bodily and throw him out her front door, but (a) she didn’t think she was strong enough for that, and (b) she was pretty sure that was a federal offense. Honestly, right now, (a) was the more significant issue for her. Note to self: take some weight lifting classes.

But as she glared at him, her rage faded. Slightly. He looked so contrite, so eager to say whatever it was he wanted to say. She still felt like this was a trick, that the politician in him was going to come out and give her some bullshit speech he’d given a million other women. But he’d asked if he could explain, without just launching straight into his “I don’t want to sleep with you” stump speech, and maybe that was part of the act, but it was just enough for her.

She sat back down on the corner of the couch and pointed to the opposite corner.

“Sit there. You have exactly three minutes.” She dug her phone out of her pocket and opened the timer. “Starting . . . now.”

Max sat down where she’d pointed.

“I just thought maybe we should get to know each other better, that’s all,” he said.

Olivia rolled her eyes and stood back up.

“I lied, you don’t get three minutes after all. That’s seriously all you can do? Didn’t you just tell me you were good at talking to people? I get it, you’re not interested, and this whole night was some bullshit, but you don’t have to keep bullshitting me just to protect your reputation or whatever. Trust me, I won’t tell anyone about this.”

Max leapt off the couch and reached for her hand, but stopped just short of grabbing it.

“No, I swear, that’s not it, that’s the opposite of it. I’m really not lying, I do want to get to know you better, but . . .”

This man clearly thought she was as gullible as every other woman he’d done this to. That whole listening-to-her-and-taking-her-seriously thing had just been an act.

Max looked at the undoubtedly skeptical expression on her face and stopped.

“You’re not buying this, are you?” he asked.

She shook her head. Why had she even given him a chance to “explain” anyway?

“Okay, okay.” He took a deep breath. “The real story is that . . . shit, I only had three minutes and it’s probably closer to two now so I’m going to rush through this, but the short version is I really like you. That’s why I want to get to know you better. I like you so much that . . . oh God, it’s so embarrassing to tell you this, but I should have figured out something else to say in advance and I didn’t and I’m wasting my minutes, and I think you probably won’t believe anything but the truth right now so I just have to say it: I told a friend of mine—a congressman, he’s my roommate in DC, anyway that’s not important—I told him about you, and he made me promise not to sleep with you yet.”

Olivia dropped back down on the couch.

“He what?”

That was definitely not the bullshit answer she’d thought she was going to get.

“I know, I know.” Max sighed and sat next to her. “We’ve been friends for a long time, he knows me well, and when I told him that I really liked you and I thought we might be able to have something real, he said . . .”

Olivia held up a hand to stop him. This was . . . not what she’d expected to hear. It was not what she’d expected of Max at all, as a matter of fact.

“You really like me? You told him we might . . . I didn’t think . . . We met at a bar! I thought this whole thing was just a prelude to get me into bed! Are you looking for a girlfriend?”

He looked down, his cheeks pink.

“Yeah, actually. I mean, I wasn’t exactly actively looking—I wasn’t scouting the bar that night for girlfriend material, if that’s what you mean. But yeah, that’s something I want to have in my life.”

She’d been sure he just wanted a fling. One night, maybe a few more, nothing serious.

“Anyway, when I met you, I was immediately interested. I went back to the bar the next day to look for you, but Krystal said you were gone.”

“You did?”

The timer went off. Olivia picked up her phone and silenced it.

“I did,” he said. “That’s one reason why I was so happy to see you at the luncheon. I don’t just send cakes to anyone, you know!”

All Olivia could do was stare at him. This night was not going the way she’d expected. On so many fronts.

“As I think I’ve mentioned, I have a tendency to be kind of impulsive sometimes,” he said. “And so I thought—Wes thought—I shouldn’t get in too deep, too fast. But if that’s not what you’re looking for, if you’re not interested in me like that, I get it.”

He stood up, but Olivia reached for his hand and pulled him back down.

“I wasn’t saying that . . . I mean, I wasn’t not saying that . . . I’m just surprised, that’s all. I didn’t realize . . .” She threw her hands in the air. “I just thought you were trying to get into my pants! Which, if it wasn’t clear, you were succeeding at!”

Max dropped his face into his hands again.

“Please, don’t remind me, or I’ll lose all of my willpower here.” Then he looked straight into her eyes. “Not that I don’t want to get into your pants, because good God do I ever. As I assume you noticed.”

Olivia smirked at him. She had noticed, as a matter of fact, but when he pulled away, she’d sort of forgotten all about that.

He grinned back at her, and then his smile faded.

“If this isn’t what you want, I completely understand, and no hard feelings. It’s especially tricky because of my job—I don’t know if you want to sign up to be a senator’s girlfriend. And hell, I don’t even know if you’re interested in me like that.” He paused and looked at her. Shit, she’d sort of forgotten about that part. She was only really thinking about the Max in front of her, not the senator part of him.

“Anyway, I’m not asking you for anything huge now, or any sort of commitment or anything like that. But I am telling you that I like you a hell of a lot, Olivia Monroe. I like everything about you, I like spending time with you, I like laughing with you, especially when you’re laughing at me, I like eating pie with you, and I really, really liked kissing you. Do you . . . will you give me a chance?”

Olivia looked at him for a long beat. His hair was still tousled from their kisses, his shirt had a lipstick smear on it, and his eyes were the puppiest of puppy dog eyes. Damn it, how could he give her those eyes and still look so sexy?

“Can I think about this?” she asked. “I didn’t expect any of this, and I’m just . . . I need to think.”

He leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips before he stood up.

“I understand,” he said. “But I’m going to hold next Saturday night for you. Just in case.”

When she closed the front door behind him, she could still feel the pressure of his lips against hers.

She had a hell of a lot to think about.

Chapter Six

Olivia got to work on Monday morning and walked straight into Ellie’s office.

“If this is about the Dewan case, I just sent you an email about it,” Ellie said, without looking up from her computer.