Page 40 of Maxwell

Something shifted in his expression, and he tilted his head sideways. “What is it?”

“What do you mean?” Jasmine asked.

“You’re different all of a sudden.”

“I want to go upstairs and fall into bed and go to sleep,” she spoke in a calm, reasonable voice.

Slowly, he nodded, as if he had suddenly learned new information. “I know what the problem is. You’re thinking about the exact same thing that I’m thinking about, which is what happened the first time I came to your apartment.”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“You don’t trust yourself,” Maxwell said with confidence.

Jasmine let out a loud laugh to make sure he understood how ridiculous his statement was, even if it wasn’t ridiculous.

Maxwell simply stood there. Not a hint of a smile on his face, watching her as if he had already made a decision and was waiting for her to catch up.

“Tonight, two coworkers went out and had fun. That’s all,” she said.

“Whatever you’re feeling, I feel it too.”

Jasmine wrapped her arms around herself. “Whatever you think I’m feeling, you’re mistaken.”

Maxwell studied her with an assessing gaze, his tall body casting a shadow over her in the parking lot. “I don’t make mistakes like that.”

Before Jasmine could respond, one of her neighbors rushed from the back of the lot toward the building in a short dress and heels, her arms wrapped around her body in a vain attempt to protect against the cold night air.

“Hi, Jasmine,” she said, her eyes taking in Maxwell with an appreciative glance.

“Hi,” Jasmine responded.

“Cold enough for you?”

“Way too cold. I’m looking forward to warmer days,” Jasmine joked.

She waited until her neighbor had gone inside before she returned her attention to Maxwell. “Whatever you’re thinking, get it out of your head. Tonight was⁠—”

“Platonic,” he finished for her.

He tossed the jacket on the hood of the car and rested a hand on the door beside her. He was too close, and though she wasn’t actually trapped, she felt trapped.

“I get it,” he continued in a low voice. “We’re coworkers. Friends. Except I don’t imagine my friends naked when I hang out with them, and the things you and I did the night we spent together, I don’t do those things with my friends. So, forgive me if I’m having a hard time right now.”

“I’m sure you’ll get over it eventually.”

“Are you over it?”

“It’s been three weeks.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“And I’m not going to, because I won’t dignify your question with an answer. You might have been expecting a replay of what happened after NV Lounge, but that’s not going to happen. Not now. Not ever.”

Maxwell rested his other hand against the car. Now she was trapped. Caged in.

“So if I kiss you, you’ll push me away, right?” He asked the question with quiet confidence, as if he knew she wouldn’t.

“Yes. That’s exactly what will happen,” Jasmine said, the breathlessness in her voice killing the finality she had been going for. “Good night, Maxwell.”