Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Max left the District Attorney’s Office, biting the inside of his cheek. What had he been thinking? Asking Lana to have dinner with him, like that was something they did? Like it wasn’t the worst idea he’d had since… Jeez, since the last time he’d gotten too close to her.
Wayfair had accused them of having an inappropriate relationship. Hell. The man didn’t know the half of it.
Max couldn’t believe he’d gotten so embarrassed in front of her. He was usually unflappable.
He’d spent over a decade in the military, many of those years in Army Special Forces. Getting accepted among their ranks had been the honor of his life, especially since he’d done it at a younger age than the typical Green Beret.
For the last few years since his discharge, he’d been building a multi-million-dollar company, not to mention a lucrative commercial real estate portfolio. He wasn’t easily intimidated. Not by terrorists with guns, not by hot-shot investors, not by arrogant clients or mouthy lawyers.
No one.
But there was something about Lana that made him a touch unsteady. She’d always had that effect on him. Usually, he managed to hide it better.
He’d been babbling like an idiot, just because some sleazy lawyer made up a story about them being…
God, even thinking the word made his skin flush with heat.
Lovers. About them being lovers.
He hadn’t allowed himself to think about Lana that way for a very long time.
At least, not for more than a moment or two, and not in any detail.
Because those kinds of thoughts would lead to daydreams, and then to outright fantasies.
Which was pointless, since it wasn’t something he could ever act upon.
Not again, anyway.
Three nights. They’d shared three incredible nights back when she was nineteen. It had happened a decade ago, while he was on leave. Not something he was proud of. Then he went back overseas, and she got on with her life, just as she should. He hadn’t done too much damage, thank god.
He got into his car and drove back to the Bennett Security headquarters, determined to put Lana out of his mind for now. She would let him know when he needed to do anything else for her case.
A few hours later, he was seated at his desk, elbows resting on the surface, fingers tented together.
“So, where do you see yourself in five years?” He blinked at the man across from him, drawing a complete blank when he tried to come up with the guy’s name. He glanced down at the resume sitting in front of him. “Albert,” he added, even though there had already been a conspicuous pause.
Albert launched into an explanation of his ambitions. But Max could hardly concentrate on a word the man was saying. He really didn’t give a shit about Albert or his career path, no offense to the poor kid. It was nothing personal. But his resolve not to think about Lana was proving ineffective.
Lana had been really upset, and for good reason.
Paxton Wayfair was trying to make a fire when there wasn’t even smoke.
He’d already tried to argue that Max didn’t follow the proper procedures when he’d secured the evidence against Ryan Hearst. A necklace that had belonged to the woman Hearst killed.
That necklace was the key to Lana’s entire case.
Wayfair had struck out on his first attempt to suppress the evidence, so he’d concocted this absurd conspiracy theory that Max and Lana were secretly plotting together to frame an innocent man.
It couldn’t possibly work.
Max had half a mind to call up that asshole lawyer and tell him where he could shove his opinions. But Lana probably wouldn’t appreciate that.
She’d frown at him with that lush mouth of hers.
Then she’d narrow her large brown eyes. He didn’t like to see her worried, but angry?
Angry Lana was extremely sexy. She’d been assertive even when she was younger, but she’d really come into her own since graduating law school and joining the DA’s team.
Sometimes Max wondered if she’d taste the same. If she’d moan the same way she did all those years ago.
I want you, Max. I want you inside me.
“That’s why I think I’d be a great fit here at your company,” Albert said.
“Huh?”
Max remembered where he was—in the middle of interviewing the most nondescript job candidate in history. He’d zoned out thinking about Lana.
And now he had a semi. Wonderful.
“Yes, thank you, Albert.” Max stretched a hand across the desk, which was slightly awkward. But no way was he going to stand up and raise the flag. “Why don’t you head downstairs and see if Sylvie has any more questions for you? If not, you’re free to go.”
Get ahold of yourself, Bennett. Max closed his eyes.
After a few minutes had passed, Max went downstairs to find Sylvie, his top data analyst and computer expert. She was also his resident hacker, although they never used that term in mixed company.
“What did you think of Albert?” he asked. “Please tell me you were paying attention when he was talking, because I only got about a third of it.”
“He’s smart, and he did well in school. Knows how to code. And we do need someone. Desperately.”
His company had been growing fast, and his employees couldn’t keep up with all the work. They had multiple positions to fill.
“But?”
“Albert seemed a touch sensitive when I quizzed him about his weaknesses. And he mentioned ‘work-life balance’ more than once. This place will eat him alive.”
Max laughed. “I’m not that hard to work for, am I? We all have lives outside this office.”
Sylvie fixed him with a wry stare. “You’re my boss, so I’m not going to answer that.”
He rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. Have someone send Albert his rejection and schedule the next interview. We’ll find a new coder. Or we’ll clone you.”
“A plan A, and a plan B. I like it.”
Max left Sylvie to her work. He walked around the open workspace, checking on the rest of his team.
He was proud of what he’d built here. Bennett Security had three main divisions: Sylvie’s group, which handled coding, technology, and data analytics.
Then his sales team, which designed custom security set-ups for wealthy clients all over West Oaks and the wider Southern California area.
And finally, his bodyguards, who provided in-person protection for those same clients when needed.
Sylvie helped on the research side. Max himself had a private investigator license, and he consulted with local and state law enforcement on occasion.
Not because it made the company any money, but because Max wanted to give back to his community.
He had tremendous respect for the West Oaks Police Department and District Attorney’s Office, especially since Lana had become the second in command there.
If Max could help make their limited resources stretch further, he’d do it.
Max never expected any of his employees to work harder or longer hours than he did.
But Sylvie was right. He was a demanding boss, and if he wanted to keep the amazing team he’d built, he would have to make sure they didn’t get overworked.
They needed to fill those open positions soon.
And he would have to take an updated look at their salaries compared to the market, and maybe allow an extra day off here and there. It wouldn’t hurt.
He didn’t need days off, but not everyone was like him.
Max didn’t take vacations because he couldn’t stand to be still. He always had work on his mind, and he felt useless if he wasn’t pursuing a goal.
Unfortunately, despite his company’s success—or even because of it—Max wasn’t sure lately what his next goal should be.
Back when he was in the military, he’d spent his leave times worrying over his sister Aurora. But now that Aurora was grown, she didn’t appreciate his interference. So, he was keeping a more respectful distance and trying to trust her to manage her own affairs.
Maybe that explained his lack of focus lately. Aurora didn’t need his help anymore, and the company had met this year’s projections already.
He needed a new project. Something challenging that would keep his interest.
Max’s phone dinged. It was their front-desk receptionist. Max’s own assistant had recently gotten married and moved across the country. That was another of the positions he needed to fill.
“Call for you on line two,” the receptionist said. “Mrs. Haber.”
Haber. Max had a quick flash of memory from the last time he had seen the woman. She was one of those clients who paid enough to get him to make house calls, instead of someone else on his sales or tech team.
He jogged up the stairs to his office, which sat above the open workspace. He had glass walls so that he could check on his team below, and enjoy the panoramic ocean landscape in the windows that took up one side of their building.
“Mrs. Haber,” he said after pushing the button for line two. “Always a pleasure. How can I help?”
“A pleasure indeed. But why so formal? You had no problem calling me Julia before.”
True. He’d let himself get informal in other ways with her, too. Which had been a terrible idea. But Max had an impulsive streak, especially when it came to women. He’d always had trouble thinking straight when all the blood rushed out of his head and into his dick.
He wasn’t completely out of control, of course. He never slept with women who were otherwise attached or under the influence. And like any successful entrepreneur, he’d learned how to work around his weaknesses.
“Are there any problems with your system?” he asked.
She laughed breathily into the phone, which she probably thought sounded seductive. She was a lot more enticing in person. And extremely clear about what she wanted, which had always been a turn-on for him. That explained how he’d ended up screwing the divorcee against her kitchen counter.
But only after making sure that she understood it couldn’t happen again. He was a no-strings-attached kind of guy. And from the minute she had unzipped his pants, he’d already known that no more than once would be the best policy with Mrs. Haber.
Would zero be better? Absolutely. But he couldn’t be a saint all the time.
If he didn’t allow himself the occasional impulsive decision, he would probably never get laid at all.
His schedule didn’t allow for going out to bars or clubs.
He had no patience for apps, either. When he met a willing and attractive partner, he usually jumped on the opportunity.
He wasn’t going to apologize for it. He had no regrets.
Well, except where Lana was concerned… But he’d been younger then. More reckless.
“My system could use a tune-up,” Julia said, with more innuendo than you’d find in the beginning of a porno. “I was hoping you’d be able to stop by again for a visit.”
Inwardly, he groaned. He would have to be careful. Even though she had readily agreed to his terms, some people thought they could renegotiate.
“That is very tempting, Julia.” He threw in her name to soften the blow. “But as I told you before, I can’t get involved with clients. You were the single exception, but it was a one-time deal. Our lives are both so complicated. I’m sure it’s for the best.”
She sighed. “Yes, you’re probably right. But if you change your mind…”
He extricated himself from the phone call as quickly as possible after confirming that her security system was working just fine. But he went ahead and scheduled a tech to check up on it. One of the women who was already married. He didn’t want Mrs. Haber to get her claws into anyone else.
Max prided himself on knowing what other people wanted and figuring out how to deliver it. That was true whether he was making a business deal, working with a client, or on his knees in the bedroom.
Yet he knew his limits.
He’d told Mrs. Haber what she needed to hear. But he’d been honest about having rules.
He called it the “rule of three.”
No more than three nights with any woman, ever. Sometimes it was two, and often he allowed only one. As he had with Mrs. Haber. But after three nights, that was it. The end. Hard stop.
Otherwise, things got messy. People developed feelings.
Drama started. His selfishness and unavailability would rear their ugly heads.
Three nights guaranteed that he wouldn’t mess things up too badly.
There were never any tearful break-ups because there was nothing to break.
His partners knew what they were getting ahead of time.
All in all, Max was comfortable with his life. He wasn’t cut out for extended romantic entanglements, and that was okay with him. He wasn’t capable of giving himself to another person the way a relationship required.
Besides, three nights were usually all he needed to get even the most alluring woman out of his system.
Except for Lana.
Lana.
Just her name made his breath skip.
He still wanted her, even all these years later. But it was no coincidence that he’d only spent three nights with her—because she was the inspiration behind his rule in the first place. The exception that proved its necessity.
So many times, he’d wondered what might have happened if he’d tried with her. If he’d given a real relationship a shot. Back then, he’d been in the service, but the long distance wasn’t the issue.
The real problem was, he never should’ve slept with her in the first place. He’d known in his gut that he could end up hurting her. He would have if he’d kept seeing her. And hurting Lana was something he never could’ve forgiven himself for.