The relief of absolute certainty was sweet. Of course, Max wouldn’t take on anything he didn’t choose himself. She should have known that. The formidable drive of the man was based on pursuing his will. The master of control. Although he didn’t seem so absolutely in control of himself right now.

‘Is that how Tony excused his infidelity?’ he shot at her, brows beetling down over a dark blaze of anger in his eyes.

‘It doesn’t matter, Max.’

‘It matters to me if you think I’d act like that.’

‘No.’ She offered an apologetic smile. ‘I realise now you wouldn’t. I’m sorry for bringing it up.’

‘I’m not like Tony, Chloe,’ he stated fiercely.

‘I know.’ She heaved a sigh. ‘This whole messy business muddled up my mind.’

‘Which is why I want you free of it.’ A few quick strides and he was sitting at her side on the bed, one arm curled around her shoulder, turning her towards him, his other hand tenderly caressing her tumbled hair away from her face, his eyes intensely commanding surrender to his will. ‘Come home with me, at least for tonight, Chloe. You’ve had more than enough to deal with today. Let me take you back to Hill House. Let Elaine pamper you with a fine dinner. Give yourself this time to relax and not be hassled by anything.’

He kissed her forehead, as though imprinting his words on her mind. ‘Say you will,’ he murmured, drawing back enough to give her a self-mocking little smile. ‘If only to save me from worrying about you.’

She couldn’t help smiling back. ‘Well, that’s something I can rescue you from. So yes, I will. Go ahead and call Edgar while I have a shower and get dressed.’

It was an easy decision to make. Max did care about her and she loved his caring, wanting to bask in it as long as she could. And maybe he would want her to belong with him forever. She had to give it a chance. It was impossible to imagine ever meeting another man as wonderful as him-a man in a million, Maximilian Hart.

CHLOE stood under the shower, growing slightly uneasy about her impulsive decision to go with Max to Hill House. It began to feel too much like the beginning of their relationship when she’d taken refuge with him, letting him keep her safe from the same three people who had once again caused her distress. Though she had stood up to them this time-turned them all away from the life she was making for herself. It was really their references to her relationship with Max that had upset her.

But they were wrong about him only wanting her for sexual pleasure. Max cared about her. He’d helped her develop into the more confident person she had become under his guidance-capable of managing by herself, choosing what answered her needs. There was nothing selfish about that. And he worried about her well-being, which surely meant she was much more to him than a throw-away woman who merely served the purpose of satisfying him for a while.

You belong with me now.

Chloe hugged those fiercely spoken words to her heart as she stepped out of the shower, dried herself, and began to get dressed. They felt as though they held a promise that Max would never throw her away. If that was true, letting him take her home with him was okay-a step into a future she hadn’t allowed herself to envisage before. Although maybe she was hoping for too much.

Anyway, it was only for one night. The chance that it might mean what she yearned for was worth taking, even though it was going to hurt if it came to nothing apart from removing Max’s concern for her.

It wasn’t until she automatically checked her appearance in the mirror that she realised her hands had chosen the same blue-and-white polka dot dress she had worn to Hill House the first time Max had taken her there. It shook her for a moment. Was it some psychological slip back into the past?

Then she remembered feeling that electric connection between them when Max had walked into the hotel room and seen her dressed in it. Perhaps it had been more than an unspoken mutual sexual attraction-possibly a subconscious recognition that they would become deeply significant in each other’s lives. Chloe wanted to believe that. She kept the dress on, wanting it to be a good omen for the future she couldn’t help hoping for.

Having brushed her hair and livened up her face with some make-up, she took a deep breath to settle the nervous flutters in her stomach and walked out of her bedroom to the top of the staircase. Max was in the hallway below, in the act of carrying Luther’s transportation basket to the front door, ready to go.

‘We don’t have to take Luther with us, Max,’ she called out. ‘He’s used to staying here alone when we go to functions.’

He swung around, looking up at her, his dark eyes blazing with determined purpose, battle-tension making his strong, male face all hard angles. ‘This isn’t a function,’ he asserted. Then as he took in her appearance, his expression changed, softening, warming into a smile of pleasure, his eyes transmitting an intense satisfaction that shot a bolt of happiness through Chloe. Clearly she looked right to him. Maybe he was even thinking she was right for him.

‘Luther will be happier with us, Chloe,’ he said.

With us…the two of them…the three of them together.

‘I’ve promised him chicken for dinner,’ he added persuasively. ‘Elaine is already cooking it for him. You know how he loves chicken.’

She laughed, needing some outlet for the bubble of bliss that had bounced around her mind. ‘Okay. I can’t do him out of that treat,’ she replied, telling herself not to attach too much meaning to everything. It would be too big a letdown if she wove a fantasy that had nothing to do with reality.

He watched her walk down the stairs, making her acutely aware of his physical effect on her-the tug that grew stronger with every step she took towards him. He told her he’d locked up the house apart from the front door, which he proceeded to open, ushering her outside. Once they were in his car and on their way, he reached over and took her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers in a strong grip.

Warmth flooded up her arm and tingled through her heart. He wanted connection with her. It definitely wasn’t just sexual. She stared down at the physical link he’d just made, not a seductive, sensual one but powerfully possessive, reinforcing those wonderfully sweet words-you belong with me.

Please let it be true, Chloe wished, her whole being aching for it to be so. What she had once felt with Tony-being in love-had been such a fluffy, insubstantial thing compared to the depth of her love for Max. She knew there could never be another man to replace him in her life. If he didn’t love her as she loved him…but she didn’t want to think about that tonight. She simply wanted to soak up all Max’s caring for her-caring she’d never had from her mother or Tony.

They arrived at the gates to his property at Vaucluse. He released her hand to operate the remote control to open them. As they drove in and Hill House came into view, a sense of homecoming seared her soul. This was why she had stayed away. It was a magical house with its classical perfection, promising a happy life inside its stately walls. Max had shared it with her. She had loved being here with him.

He parked the car in the courtyard adjacent to the front entrance of the mansion. He didn’t immediately alight from the driver’s seat, turning to her instead, taking her hand again and studying her face intently as though he needed to see every shade of her response as he said, ‘It wasn’t only the three E’s who’ve missed having you here, Chloe. I’ve missed you, too. I hope you feel right about coming back tonight. It feels very right to me.’

For a moment she felt too choked up to speak. His fingers were dragging on the flesh of her hand as though wanting to dig inside her, feel what was going on in her mind and heart and soul. It was impossible to hide how much his words meant to her. She tried not to answer him too fervently.