Read Playing For Keeps for Free Online

treating you?”
    â€œIt’s kicking my butt. I’m really starting to feel like I’m too old for all this,” he said with a deep chuckle.
    Miss Maxine laughed with him. “You don’t know old yet!”
    Malcolm nodded as he moved to the back side of the desk and took a seat in the leather executive’s chair. “Other than feeling twice my age sometimes, I really can’t complain. The club is thriving and you’re holding things together here. What more could a man ask for?”
    She smiled. “So how are my grandbabies?”
    â€œThe girls are doing very well. Both of them made the honor roll and Claudia was chosen to do a solo at her dance recital next month. Shanell will have them with her this weekend.”
    Miss Maxine frowned. “Shanell was just here in Baltimore. She came by the house the other night wanting to borrow some money. I got the impression she was planning to be here for a while. She didn’t say anything about driving back to Raleigh to get the girls.”
    Malcolm blew a low sigh. “Well, I haven’t heard that she doesn’t plan to pick them up but if I do, I’ll let you know.”
    â€œI miss my girls. I like that we can do that video chat during the week.”
    Malcolm laughed. “They get a kick out of it, too. But I have to keep my eye on Cleo. She’ll chat all day and all night with anyone and everyone.”
    The matriarch chuckled warmly. “I’m glad she’s got you to keep her in check. You’re a good man, Malcolm Cobb. I wish my daughter could have seen that.”
    Malcolm didn’t bother to reply and his former mother-in-law didn’t expect him to. She continued, “You have a meeting with the design team in thirty minutes and with the rest of the staff at one o’clock. There’s a stack of papers on your desk that need your signature and we have a new client coming in at three.”
    He nodded. “I was planning to fly back tomorrow but something’s come up. I really need to fly back this evening. Can you please . . . ?”
    Holding up her hand she stalled his comment. She gave him a smile and a wink of her eye. “I’ll take care of it. What time do you need to be in Raleigh?”
    â€œBefore eight if we can swing it,” he answered.
    â€œDo you need reservations on that end?”
    Malcolm hesitated, his eyes shifting as his mind suddenly raced. His gaze finally rested on the woman’s face and he felt himself blush under the stare she was giving him. Despite his best efforts his intentions showed all over his face. He suddenly felt like he’d been caught red-handed, with his arm trapped deep in the cookie jar.
    She laughed, the wealth of it feeling like a warm embrace. “I’ll take care of everything,” she said. She moved forward and hugged him one more time. “It’s good to have you back, even if it is just for a hot minute,” she said as she moved back out of the office.
    Watching her shuffle back to her own desk, Malcolm blew a soft sigh. Maxine Perry was one of his favorite people in the whole world. The day he’d met Shanell he’d fallen head over heels in love with her mother. It had taken some time before he felt that way about Shanell. Few women had as kind a spirit as Maxine. She was always encouraging and confident and optimism prevailed despite the hardships handed to her. Born and raised in Maryland the woman had not had an easy life. She’d been a single mother who’d managed to put herself through college and had been determined to do the same for her children. Of her six kids she’d buried all of her sons, the five young men having succumbed to the streets of Baltimore. Shanell was all she had left and the matriarch had given up everything she had to keep her daughter on the straight and narrow, despite Shanell’s insistence on walking a crooked line.
    Malcolm would always be in Maxine