She was nervous about this event, though. She’d said yes immediately when he brought it up in Hawaii, but that had been because of way too much of whatever was in that pineapple. When he’d brought it up in passing again, she felt like she couldn’t say no after having said yes. But the press had just relaxed on them, she hadn’t gotten a weird phone call all week, and part of her hoped she could stay out of sight and they’d forget about her. The problem was, if she and Max were in this for the long haul—and after that conversation on the beach in Hawaii, it seemed like they were—she couldn’t stay out of sight forever. So here she was.

Had he been about to propose? She thought so at the time, but had she been imagining things? Had she forced an awkward conversation with him for no real reason? He hadn’t brought it up again, and neither had she, but she’d thought about it every day since it happened. Maybe now that he was home for a few days, they could talk about all of that. But first, she’d need to make it through tonight.

At least Jamila was going to be there, and probably a few other people she knew from the food pantry. It would help to have friendly faces around, and hopefully even someone to sit with during the town hall, since she wasn’t sure if she wanted to be surrounded by Max’s staff.

When she pulled up to the community center, her status as The Girlfriend was clear. One person waved her into the reserved parking area, and then another person escorted her to the “greenroom” to wait for Max.

He and his whole entourage—it was a big one this time—walked in ten minutes before the event was scheduled to start. And for the life of her, Olivia couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face. Max immediately crossed the room to her.

“Hi,” he said under his breath. “I missed you.”

There were people all around them, and she knew they were all looking at them, even if they pretended not to. She and Max couldn’t touch or even stand that close to each other. But the way he looked at her felt like a caress.

“I missed you so much,” she said. His Hawaii sunburn on his nose had faded, and he was wearing that pale blue shirt and striped tie combination she particularly liked. And …

“I like the shoes,” she said.

He glanced down at his new shoes and blushed.

“I hoped you might.” They grinned at each other. It was so good to be with him again.