Arms crossed on her chest and a satisfied smile gracing her lips, Sofia looked on at her diner extended to the outdoors. It had been open now since this evening, and some customers already had coffee and snacks. All of them seemed to be enjoying settling outside in the refreshing evening breeze. That was a good start, she believed.

They had also gotten some more catering orders for a couple of business parties and a wedding anniversary today. She was looking forward to leaving her mark on all of them. Giving examples of splendid work was the best sort of advertisement. But it was not easy. Secretly, her nerves were all over the place.

Her mind drifted back to this morning when she'd woken up alone in bed. Never had she ever felt so disappointed in waking up to loneliness. It had strangely felt like isolation finding the vacant spot near her feet, where Max had fallen asleep last night.

But, the very next moment came as a surprise, as her eyes fell on the pillow next to hers. She could clearly remember putting it beneath Max's head, but somehow it was now resting next to her own pillow and looked slept on. There was an evident dent on the pillow. Also, the empty side of the bed—the sheet was rumpled there as if someone had slept by her side and had stealthily sneaked away before she woke up. Not feeling disturbed by it. However, Sofia shocked herself by leaning in and inhaling a lungful of his familiar scent from the pillow. Her temporary husband was sly, alright.

A car smoothly pulled over at the side of the road behind her, where she stood by the fancy fence at the perimeter of her extended diner.

Sofia sighed. Not even turning back, she could tell who it was.

Firm thuds of footsteps approached her with long strides, and the spellbinding scent of the familiar cologne surrounded her again. She inhaled a long breath while trying badly to hide a different kind of smile that began spreading on her lips.

How could a person smell so good even after a whole day in the office? One of these days, she was so going just to ask him straight off!

"So," Max began conversationally. "You've expanded Mary's, I see."

Sofia lifted her shoulders into a soft shrug and glanced at him sideways. "I guess so."

"And you've launched the catering business as well."

"Um, hmm," she hummed in response.

"And it's running quite nicely too."

"Looks like it."

"Good to know my wife's on her way to becoming a successful, big-shot businesswoman. Do you have plans on making it more large-scale and getting some investors?"

There was just something in the way he referred to her as his wife each time that made her lose focus on everything else and hold onto how those words sounded coming out of his mouth.

Sofia gulped, looking away as a couple of new customers went in, the new servers she'd hired rushed to usher them in.

Anyways, was he insinuating that she should go for starting a restaurant chain?

She replied, a bit guardedly now, "I've got ideas. Maybe someday they would see life."

"They will," Max said earnestly.

Sofia turned to look at him with a playful smirk. "You seem way too sure about it."

"I am," Max said, reaching out to tuck a hair behind her ear and making her halt her breath in the process. "There's nothing my Sof-the-hell dog can't do if she makes up her mind."

My Sof-the-hell dog!

Why was he often bringing forth the name he had given her back at school?

And he was making it quite the custom calling her his. Did he know how that every time made her feel all over the place? Despite when he was probably just saying it out of innocent friendship. But he wasn't aware how his Sof's brain had turned into a stinky gutter. It reeked of all the mature stuff parents hide their little children from.

"If you're done ogling me, can we leave for castle Hayden now?" Max said with a devilish smirk, running his hand through his messy hair, flexing his biceps that his tight office shirt hugged intimately.

What a showoff!!

Sofia narrowed her eyes, trying like hell not to blush at his teasing. "I wasn't ogling."

If possible, Max's smirk only grew bigger. "Of course, you weren't. I trust you."

Sofia pressed her lips and turned to stomp away to her car. There was no point in arguing with him.

However, Max stopped her mid-way. "Don't you think it would be convenient if we ride in the same car as our destination is the same?"

Sofia nodded. "You're more than welcome in my car. Come on."

Max frowned, but royally disregarding him, Sofia went in the driver's seat.

Placing his palms on the roof of her car, he leaned down and looked at her through the rolled-down window. To grab her attention, he cleared his throat. "I was talking about my car, Sof. I doubt all your belongings will fit into that purse you call a trunk and that little cookie container you call the backseat. And this is not to mean any offense but to present plain reality."

Sofia glared at him, clearly offended.

No one insults her car. No one!

"Listen, if you want to ride in the same car with me, you're more than welcome to hop in," she pointed her thumb towards the passenger seat. "If you don't, then please drive after me on your own damn elephant car. But don't say a single shit about mine. I won't allow it."

Max raised a brow, amused.

Sofia raised her chin, defiant.

Then she faced away and turned the key expecting the proud roar of her car. But what she got was the deflating gurgle of the engine's betrayal.

What! No, no, no! Not bloody now!

The next two attempts provided the same result, and the next four too. Her spirit and her pride sank. Max was still in the same position, leaning in through the window.

"Sof...," he began indulgently.

She looked up at him again, and she knew she looked as defeated as she felt. Defeat–not because she lost their little fight, but because of the occurring knowledge that soon she would really have to give up on her car. That she would have to give up on another of the things that belonged to her mother.

Sofia was unable to let go of her mother's memories, just like she was unable to let go of her father's depravity.

Yes, she lived in the past. It was probably her biggest downfall that she didn't know how to let go. And right now, it all pathetically showed on her face.

She was not like this, never like this. She never wore her emotions on her face, especially not vulnerability. It had always been considered as a weakness of character to her, but then, why it seemed normal now, that too, only around him!

By the look on his face, she knew he was going to make a sarcastic remark and talk her into transferring into his car, and Sofia would have done just that this time around, that drained she felt suddenly. But the moment he looked at her face, unblinking, it looked like he suddenly changed his mind, as though in a span of a moment, he had sucked in all that she felt.

Surprising her, he stalked around to open the hood, saying, "Let me see."

After ten long minutes of him shuffling behind the hood while Sofia had half her body out the car window trying to sneak a peek, he asked Simmy to get a screwdriver and then a gallon of water. Simmy, who had come out to see the operation of her boss's car, happily obliged.

And in no time, a fascinated Sofia found her tall husband sitting weirdly hunched beside her and ten of her staff, all women, pushing the car, making wild faces of strength and determination. "Haiaaaa..."

Max said aloud over the women's screaming voices and bellows, "Start the engine now."

Sofia did as told. It roared and then stopped.

"Again," Max encouraged.

"Hrrrr... Haiaaa...," women screamed.

Sofia twisted the key.

And the engine roared to life.

She spun her head towards Max and beamed the biggest of grins. And the grin she got in return, with his soul shining in his eyes, captivated her very heart that moment.

--

Max had let the Hayden clan know beforehand that they were coming that evening, and so, the second their car was parked before the house, the door was thrown open, and grinning people came pouring out to welcome them. Only grampa was missing as he had fallen victim to one of his odd-hour naps.

Max had been holding her hand during their short walk out of the car to the front doors. The familiar warmth of his hand only got separated from hers when Sam came flying and collided with her, giving a furious hug. Next was, of course, Skyler and then even her aunt too.

In between hugs, they were somehow shoved inside the house and sat in the living room. There, they chatted cheerily to the Haydens a bit. Mostly, it was Sofia who chatted while Max stared at her, engrossed in whatever she said, smiling weirdly whenever she threw her head back and laughed.

Noticing the intense attention, she couldn't keep the blush away from her cheeks which was quickly spreading out to her neck and ears. If stares contained heat, Max had perhaps a very much awakened volcano inside his eyes. Sofia was burning.

"Ah...," Sofia sprung up on her feet suddenly. "I'm going to go and start packing now, or we'll get late."

Marla smiled and nodded. "Go ahead. Everything's exactly where you left them. I better start making dinner."

What! Had her aunt begun cooking these days?

Sofia's brows raised in surprise. When her eyes fell on Skyler, she saw the girl winking with a grin.

Winds of change.

"Skyler, come with me. I'll need some help in the kitchen," Marla called out while turning to leave.

Sofia stood for a long minute, flabbergasted. And then a sort of realization started to descend upon her.

For so long, she had been holding this entire family together with a strong hand. For so long, she had been providing for their every need, protecting them from every possible trouble, sheltering them as a parent would. She was so engrossed in doing everything right that she failed to understand that they needed their own wings to fly. What her family needed was that push out of their comfort zone to stand on their own.

Sofia went after her aunt and Skyler into the kitchen.

It was a miracle seeing the mother and daughter working side by side. She could see they were still not entirely comfortable around one another, but there was obvious progress.

When Sofia approached them and gave Marla an envelope with some money inside it, the woman's face fell.

"I'm looking for a job," Marla said, her eyes narrowing slightly. It gave Sofia a glimpse of the woman's past with failed love, then searching for it in all the wrong places, and lastly, getting glued to drugs.

"I'm glad you are," Sofia said genuinely. And she watched the crinkles around Marla's eyes relaxing. Soon they turned glassy.

The darkness was still inside, but there were obvious struggles against it.

When she came back from the kitchen and saw Max standing up from the sofa, she said, "You can stay here in the lounge. It won't take long. I'll be back soon."

"I'm going to help my wife with packing," he announced firmly.

What was it with him calling her his wife so persistently every time and so unnecessarily?

Max jogged forward to walk side by side with Sofia as she stormed toward her room. The back of his hand continuously brushed against hers. She had a feeling it was intentional.

"You're flushing, Sof. Are you alright?"

Damn!

"It's sweltering inside the house," she tried to cover up.

"But the windows are open wide, and besides, you were shivering as well back there when you were sitting beside me." Max was just not going to let it be.

"So! What is your problem with it all?" Sofia snapped back, feeling embarrassed beyond limits and praying that he had dropped the topic already.

Raising both his brows, Max clucked his tongue. "Chill. I was just looking after my wife, who's probably coming down with something."

And she began flushing even more.

Oh, darn it all to hell. 

Why was he always calling her his wife? Did he just love transforming her into a red, shivering mess of a tomato all the freaking time?

She stalked over to her room quickly with Max in tow.

"Should I lock the door?" he asked casually.

Not looking back at him, Sofia went to get the chair from her study table. "It's not like we're going to make out behind the locked door. So leave it be."

She took the chair in front of her ancient almirah. Her suitcases were on the very top.

There was absolute silence behind her for a long minute, as if Max had stopped breathing for some reason. Then she heard the unmistakable sound of a shaky release of breath. He muttered something incoherent.

His behavior was so weird at times!

Sofia climbed on the chair and, still not looking at him, said, "If you're done muttering stupid things, can you come over here and help with the suitcases?"

Wordlessly, he came up next to the chair.

Raising her arms and standing on tiptoes, Sofia grabbed the first suitcase. She brought it down and was about to give it into Max's hand when she finally looked at him properly after entering the room—big mistake.

Because of being on the chair, she stood taller than him. His face was just below her chest, and apparently, he was in the middle of raking his eyes openly throughout the entire length of her body.

His gaze went up... up her thighs, her hips, stomach, and then it halted onto her breasts which were pushed up because of her raised hands holding the suitcase above her head. The evident lust and the incredible amount of it in his eyes caught her off-guard the moment they finally looked up at her eyes directly.

But then, the next second, his hooded eyes popped open in alarm.

Suddenly, she realized she was losing her hold of the suitcase.

In lightning speed, one of his hands went to catch the suitcase, and the other rested on her hip firmly. As he slowly took the damned suitcase from her hand and kept it down on the floor, they stared at each other, bound by something ardent and inexplicable.

Her chest was heaving with heavy breaths now, so close to his face that if he even leaned forward a bit, then...

It made the twin tips of her breasts pebble. She hoped he wouldn't notice.

"The other suitcase," her voice came out as a weird croak. She cleared her throat, then bit her bottom lip nervously.

Removing his hand from her hip, Max just faintly nodded and reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear before she could move away.

This time, Sofia was highly aware of his keen eyes raking all over her, and she made sure not to look at him while handling the second suitcase.

"Is that all?" he queried in a husky voice that had her knees almost turn into jelly.

"There're some bags under the bed too."

Before she could step down from the chair by herself, making her surprised and tremble feverishly, his hands again went to grab her hips. She gasped, her palms instinctively resting on his shoulders as he lifted her up effortlessly. She held her breath while he slowly put her down on the floor.

And even though her feet were firmly set on the steady ground, it strangely felt like moving water beneath her feet. She held on to his shoulders as the tides threatened to float her away. He began leaning in towards her excruciatingly slowly, his breaths fanning her face.

The lightest of whisper was how he took her name, "Sof—" but before he could add more to the sweet distress, someone had barged in through the slightly ajar door.

Both of them snapped out of the trance they were in and spun their faces to look at Marla standing by the door with mouths wide open. "Oh! I..., actually." she left soon after the meaningless stammering, muttering something like—lock the bloody door.

Sofia looked back at Max with a panicked face only to realize they were still in the same position, his hands around her hips and hers on his shoulders as they stood literally pressed against each other.

Looking shocked, she swatted his hands away and jumped back.

Max, however, didn't look even a bit bothered by the embarrassing moment. Instead, he had the gall to look smug.

What a jerk!

He was finding it all funny when it was clearly not.

Sofia glared at him and stomped to drag both the suitcases near her bed. She then yanked open her Almira and began emptying all her clothes on the bed. She heard Max sigh and walk up to her.

"Hey, let me help with these," he said, chuckling as if he was amused by her. And not waiting for her to reply, without a warning, he dug in.

Sofia gasped, looking at where his hands went in. "Don't! Max...!" But she was way too late. He already had a handful of her lacy panties. One of her red, flimsy bras dangled from his pinky finger. With an embarrassed hiss, Sofia covered her squeezed-closed eyes with one hand.

"Wow!"

Sofia peeked through the gap of her fingers, hearing that, and curled her mouth immediately at the sight. The bra was spread open by his hands before her face, and she could see his shit-eating grin through the sheer material.

"Nice color, huh."

"Shut up!" Sofia barked, moving her hand off of her eyes. There was no unseeing this utterly bewildering, shameful reality. "Give it to me, you jerk."

Max looked at her comically, and when she tried to snatch it away from him, he had the gall to move it away from her reach.

"Argh," Sofia fumed, going for the bra again. "Max, stop it."

"Stop what?" he asked innocently while taking the advantage of his height and pulling the damn bra way above her reach. He snickered, backing off. "Tell me, what it is you want me to stop, honey?"

"Max, I'm going to fucking kill you!"

"Language, honey-bun!"

At this point, totally out of her mind, Sofia pounced upon him and kicked him on the leg.

Max fell on his back on the bed behind him, screaming, "Damn, Sof! You'll hurt your ankle again!"

"Ankle, my foot!" Sofia growled and, taking the chance, climbed on top of him quickly, her focus on that red bra still clutched tightly in his fist above his head.

Max stayed spread out on the bed, his composure relaxed and eyes mischievous as Sofia came up to straddle him. She was completely unaware of what she was doing at this point.

"It's mine. Give it to me," she huffed, trying to pry open his fist, stretching her upper body on his chest, leaning in as far as she could. "Max!"

"Hmmm..."

Her hair had fallen to spread as a curtain on both sides of his face, and as she looked down at him, she noticed—it was back—the unhindered amount of desire in his eyes. And soon, like a domino effect, she noticed how she straddled him, the most intimate parts of their bodies grinding literally.

Sofia's mouth fell open. She didn't know if it was for shock or for the fact that she could feel the very