"No," she answered a little too quickly. "What Max and me share can't possibly be love."

"Could have fooled me," Richard said. "Did I see him slap you on the ass?"

She laughed at the sound of a curse word coming out of Richard's mouth. "If I didn't know better I'd say you were jealous."

He stopped at the light and looked over at her. "I'm insanely, wildly jealous, but you've already made it clear where I stand. I just don't know why you're lying to yourself. Women swoon at the man's feet on a daily basis. Why would you be any different?"

"You'll just have to take my word for it."

He smiled-a handsome smile. Richard had straight white teeth and a nice strong line to his jaw. There was some definite intensity in Richard's chocolate brown eyes. But her heart didn't pitter patter when she gazed at him, and no matter how hard she tried to conjure up feelings for the guy, it just wasn't happening. Turning her gaze to the window, she watched the trees pass by in a blur. Every time she laid eyes on Max her body hummed like a well-tuned car. Her body was still humming.

God, Richard was right. She'd fallen for Max all over again and she'd fallen hard and who the hell was she trying to fool?

CHAPTER 17.

From her upstairs bedroom window, Kari watched Max climb out of his SUV and make his way through the gate and past the newly planted rosebush. He stopped to smell one of the blooms. She couldn't help but smile at seeing a big man like Max stopping to smell the roses. She sighed. A part of her wished Max had invited her to the lake because he enjoyed her company and because he wanted to start over and give them a fighting chance at happiness...not because he needed her help with Molly. But even if Molly wasn't involved, she needed to remember that this was Mad Max; the guy on the front page of nearly every sports page. The guy who was often quoted in interviews, listing the pleasures of single life: coming and going as he pleased, answering to no one.

"He's here, Mom," Molly shouted from the kitchen.

Kari was still in her bedroom packing. She turned, surprised to see Lindsay standing in the doorway of her bedroom, leaning casually to one side, a folded newspaper in one hand. "They're called stringers," Lindsay said, her voice thoughtful.

"What? Who?"

Lindsay unfolded the paper and handed it to her. "I wrote Patti Bertram a letter about men like Cole and Max."

"You wrote a gossip columnist about our problems?"

"Don't worry, I changed the names to protect the so-called innocent. Besides, she's an advisor not a gossiper."

"What a relief."

"Patti Bertram says that Weasel and Jerk have all the signs of a stringer."

"You're giving me a headache, Lindsay. Who is Weasel and Jerk, and what is a stringer?"

"Weasel and Jerk are the names I used for Max and Cole in the letter I sent Ms. Bertram. A stringer is a man who has relationships with women, but never marries them. A stringer strings women along. He likes having a woman, sleeping with a woman, eating with a woman, all without ever making a real commitment. He often tells women up front that he never intends to marry, so, if and when he decides to leave the relationship, the woman he's dating has no reason to complain because she knew from the start what she was getting herself into."

Kari grinned into the mirror, making sure nothing was stuck between her teeth. "There's nothing going on between Max and me, so I'm really not sure why you're telling me all this."

"I know you have feelings for him and I don't want you to get hurt again."

"You're over-analyzing," Kari said. "Not every man can be easily categorized. A stringer to one woman might be the perfect man to another. It's all about chemistry and timing. If you ever stopped condemning every man you met, you might have a chance at having a future with someone."

Kari handed Lindsay her newspaper back and then grabbed her things. "Ready to go?"

Lindsay wagged a finger at her. "You can't say I didn't warn you."

Kari answered with a smile. "Are you coming, or not?"

"Give me five minutes."

At the top of the stairs, Kari stopped for a moment and listened to Max and Molly as they tried to hold a conversation.

"How are you, kiddo?"

"Good."

"Do anything interesting this week?"

"No."

"Nice weather we're having."

"Yeah."

She'd heard enough. Max was right. He needed help.

Kari trotted down the stairs. Through the front window she could see Cole getting out of his car and coming up the walkway toward the house. "What's Cole doing here?"

"He's joining us for the weekend. Is that okay?"

"Fine with me," Kari said. "But I don't know about Lindsay."

"I thought they were hitting it off."

"They were until he failed to call all last week. The picture in the paper of Cole and some actress didn't help much either."

Another car pulled up behind Cole's.

Molly's best friend, Amanda, climbed out of the car. Kari excused herself, then went outside to talk to Amanda's mother, waving to Cole on her way to Amanda's car. A few minutes later Kari headed back toward the house.

"You invited Amanda?" Molly asked Max.

He nodded.

"Thanks!" Molly said to Max as she ran out the door to greet her friend.

"You're welcome," he called after her. "Why don't you and Amanda put your bags in the back of my car while we wait for Lindsay."

He turned to Kari. "That was a good idea to have me ask her friend to come along. Thanks."

"That's why I'm here."

After Cole transferred his bags to Max's car, he headed their way. "Did you see today's paper," Cole asked as he handed Kari a folded newspaper.

Kari was relieved to see that it wasn't the same page Lindsay had shown her five minutes ago. On the front page of the entertainment section was an eight by ten picture of Kari and Max running from the grocery store. On the upper right hand corner was another smaller picture of Kari yelling at the paparazzi. Her eyes were narrowed and her nose was scrunched up. "I look like a monster," she said.

"Not a monster," Cole assured her. "More like a tiger." He put out his claws and mimicked the face she was making in the picture. Kari didn't laugh because another picture caught her eye; a picture of Max and Molly at the bowling alley. The headline read: Mad Max: The Family He Never Knew He Had.

"I never saw paparazzi at the bowling alley," Kari said, looking at Max.

"One of the kids' parents must have sold the picture to the media," Cole offered.

Kari groaned and handed the paper to Max.

"We better bring this with us," he said. "Molly needs to know what she's up against."

"I'll go see if Lindsay needs any help," Cole said but before reaching the front door, Lindsay stepped outside, stopping when she saw Cole. "What are you doing here?"

"Max invited me along. Why, is that a problem?"

"I guess not, but it would have been nice if certain people would have clued me in."

Max and Kari both reached for Kari's bag at the same time and headed for the car.

Cole crossed his arms over his chest and stared Lindsay down, determined not to let her get the best of him. "We've still got a few moments if you want to run back upstairs and grab a negligee," he said.

"In your dreams."

He gave her a devilish smile. "How did you know?"

"I bet every woman you've ever met is in those same dreams."

"Only you, kitten."

"If you think I'm going to start purring over endearments like that, don't hold your breath."

Cole smiled. "I think you've underestimated me."

"I think I've got you pretty well pegged."

"I think you're angry with me because I haven't called."

"I think you've lost your mind."

"I've been out of town. I would have called, but I didn't have your number."

She plunked a hand on her hip. "Let me get this straight. You think I've been waiting by the phone, hoping you'd call me?"

He put a hand on the stucco wall behind her, trapping her. "You haven't been?"

"Nope. Sorry."

"That can only mean one thing."

She arched one eyebrow.

"I haven't been doing my job."

He lowered his head and a millisecond passed before she realized he was about to kiss her. She ducked under his arm and escaped toward the car. Looking over her shoulder she said, "You may have hundreds of females lusting after you, but I'm not one of them."

He put a hand to his chest in mock pain. "You sure know how to hurt a guy."

"Save it, Cole. I know how men like you work and I'm not interested, so give it a rest."

Despite a rocky start, the sun and the sand gave Kari high hopes for a relaxing weekend. The cabin slept twenty and offered a breathtaking view of the lake surrounded by trees and water. A large party deck, a private dock, and a small strip of beach made it the perfect getaway for a large group. Most of Max's family had arrived the day before.

After lunch, Dan, Cole, Fred and Max took four of the five kids, since Sally's baby was too young, out on the boat to water ski while the women sat on the beach and waved whenever they passed by.

Sally's infant was asleep, but the baby monitor was attached to her beach chair. Every once in a while they would hear static when the baby moved. Sally checked on the baby and then came out of the cabin carrying a tray of tall drinks.

"Passionate Peach iced tea for everyone," she said, passing a tall glass to Jill, Lindsay, Kari, and then Breanne.

"Where's Nicole?" somebody asked.

"She took a walk."

"Do you think she's ever going to get over Jake's death?" Breanne asked Sally.

Sally sat down with her iced tea. "I don't know if Max mentioned it, but Nicole lost her fiance two years ago."

"He died of a brain aneurysm," Jill added.

"That's horrible," Lindsay said.

"Max told me," Kari said. "I think he blames himself for the accident."

Jill nodded. "Max has a habit of taking on our burdens and making them his own."

"How can he blame himself for another man's brain aneurysm?" Lindsay asked.

Sally adjusted the volume on the monitor before she said, "Max, Fred, and Dan had taken Jake to a basketball game when they were hit by a drunk driver. The doctors say that the impact caused the wall of an artery to burst. Jake died instantly, but Max has convinced himself that Jake would still be alive if they hadn't pressured Jake to go to the game."

"The thing is," Jill continued where Sally left off, "the doctors told us that Jake's aneurysm had gone undetected for too long. It was a time bomb waiting to explode."

"Poor Nicole," Lindsay said.