Excerpt of Maxed by Raven Morris

"I'm just thinking about how much has happened in the past year," Nicole said, needing the reminder as Max took a small step closer.

"An entire lifetime."

"True." The press, the money, the divorce, the celebrity... and Max. Always Max. He'd been her rock. And he didn't have a clue.

But what if he did? What if he knew what standing behind her with his arm lightly around her was doing to her? She swore she could feel heat spiraling from his fingertips to her belly, a feeling she hadn't felt in far too long.

He took a swig of his drink. "The reviews have already started. People were tweeting during the first half. It's a hit."

She smiled. "I'm glad."

"You sure? You don't seem it. You seem... I don't know. Sad, maybe? Indifferent?"

She definitely was not indifferent. Sure, she wanted the movie to be a hit, but the loss of her marriage had put success in perspective. Her writing had gone from being a fun, hopeful, semi–hobby that she'd done around her day job, to being her day job while severing her relationship with the man she'd thought she'd have babies and grow old with. It'd opened her eyes to the fact that Kevin hadn't been the person she'd thought. And it made her question herself and her judgment—one of the many reasons she'd steered clear of acting on what she felt for Max even though he was as different from Kevin as, well, as she was.

Max knew who he was. One of the most sought–after agents in the business who knew his worth and his clients,' and didn't compromise on either. "Shark," "barracuda," "tenacious," "hard as steel," were all terms used to describe him. And they were true. But she'd seen the other side of Max. The one only his clients saw, and even then, she didn't know how many had seen him like she had.

When she'd fallen apart the night Kevin had finally left, she'd called Max. Why, she'd had no idea, but she hadn't wanted to cry with her girlfriends. Man–bashing only worked if you hated men and regardless of what Kevin had done, she didn't.

No, what she'd needed that night was someone to affirm her worth. Tell her that she hadn't made the wrong decision by going after her dream. That it was Kevin's insecurity that was the problem, not her wanting to succeed.

Max had done all of that. He'd listened and had let her cry. He'd held her hand and taken that last glass of wine from her, and when she'd finally given in to the exhaustion of the tears and the emotion and the drama, he'd put her to bed. Alone.

How could she not fall a little bit in love with him?