Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
When was the last day Max had taken off work? Sylvie could probably tell him. But he didn’t want to see or hear from anyone today but Lana. As if Bennett Security didn’t even exist, and she was the only other being in their tiny, perfect universe.
They had coffee and breakfast. Lana insisted on eating leftover lasagna, which Max thought was both hilarious and ridiculous. He made himself an omelet and would’ve made her one, too. But she claimed that his spinach lasagna was great cold. So, he left her to it.
They were more than a little sweaty and sticky, overdue for a shower.
They got each other off again under the hot water.
Her hands were like magic on his dick. He hadn’t given and received this many orgasms in close succession since…
God, he had no clue. Since his twenties?
With a soldier he’d met on base. She’d been a fan of no-strings sex, too, and she’d had some major stamina.
But Lana was proving she could hold her own in the bedroom. Or the shower. And later, every other room in his apartment, if Max got his way.
One night down, he found himself thinking as they toweled off. Two more to go. Then he cursed himself. His rule of three was dead. He didn’t have an arbitrary limit with Lana, not anymore. But that habitual thinking was proving harder to break than he’d expected.
They both had to go back to work tomorrow, and he had no idea where this—whatever it was—would go, anyway.
But he vowed to have the same philosophy he’d had last night: he would get as much out of this time with Lana as he could and make their happiness last as long as possible. Even if it couldn’t last forever.
“Were you serious about walking on the beach?” Lana asked after they were dressed.
“Absolutely.” Max didn’t usually spend time taking beachside strolls, but it seemed like the kind of thing people did to relax. It was romantic, wasn’t it? There had to be a reason that he saw so many couples walking hand in hand from his rooftop.
Jeez, he was becoming a softy. He’d never spent time picturing romantic dates before. But Lana was bringing out new sides of him.
“We should put on bathing suits,” he said. “We’ll go swimming. Grab some lunch later.” Max doubted the stalker would be on their trail, but in any case, he would be near Lana the whole time. There was absolutely no danger.
She was nodding, though she still looked skeptical. “Okay, that sounds nice. But I don’t have a bathing suit here. All I’ve got are work clothes and pajamas.”
“Then we’ll go shopping.”
Max went to his closet to find his own swim trunks, which had to be around here somewhere. He had a membership at a fancy athletic club with a pool, and sometimes went there when he was bored with his usual workout.
“Who are you? What did you do with the real Max Bennett?”
He looked back over his shoulder, grinning at her. “It’s all your fault. You must’ve cast some sort of spell over me, making me break my rules and shirk my responsibilities. You should be enjoying this.”
Lana had stopped at the entrance to his closet, watching him as he dug around through his various shelves and drawers. He had an elaborate closet organizing system, but usually couldn’t figure out where the housekeeper had stowed things.
“But you’re enjoying it, right?” she asked. “This isn’t some guilt trip you’re on. Like you feel you owe me?”
He slammed a drawer shut and went over to her. Max put his hands on Lana’s hips, looking deep into her eyes. “Today, there is no place in the world that I’d rather be than next to you. So, grab your stuff, and let’s get out there and make the most of it.”
“Try this one.” Max handed Lana one bikini after another. “Oh, and this.”
“I am not wearing this in public. This is all strings and no bikini.” She held up the offending item in question, squinting at it.
“I know. But who said you have to wear it in public? You could wear it in my bedroom later.”
The little old lady who owned the boutique appeared at his elbow, smiling angelically up at him. “Shall I get a fitting room started?”
“Yes, please.” He took the pile of swimsuits from Lana’s arms and gave them to the shopkeeper.
They were in a boutique that Max had passed any number of times on Ocean Lane, though he’d never been inside.
The mannequins all wore sexy swimwear, and the place had chandeliers and soft lighting.
It had seemed like just the sort of shop to take Lana because Max doubted that she’d come to a place like this on her own.
She always looked well dressed, but he doubted she spent a lot of money on herself.
DAs didn’t get paid what they were worth.
Lana sighed, though she was smiling. “All right. Anything for you, Bennett.”
She went into the dressing room to change. The boutique owner sidled up to him. She looked to be about ninety years old, with tight white curls forming a helmet around her head. She adjusted her glasses, which had a thin chain running around her neck.
“We have some lovely coverups as well. Would your wife be interested in anything like that?”
His chest seized at the word wife. But just as quickly, the shock passed. He didn’t bother to correct her. He’d never cared what anybody thought. Why start now? “I’m sure she would. Why don’t you grab a few for her to choose from?”
She bustled away.
Lana came out in a black two piece. The top was a push-up, which lifted her breasts nearly to her chin.
“I feel like one of those billboards for a gentleman’s club.” Lana turned to the side, giving him a view of the back. The bottoms covered far too much of her ass.
“You’re right, this isn’t the one. Less padding on the top would be better. You don’t need that. You’re perfect as-is, no need for enhancement.”
Lana rolled her eyes, as if he wasn’t being perfectly sincere.
The next suit was midnight blue, the top just two triangular pieces of gathered fabric that let her natural beauty speak for itself. The bottom could’ve been skimpier, but it had sexy bows at the hips. Some cheeky action in the back. He could see her underwear peeking through underneath.
“What do you think?” he asked.
She studied herself in a three-way mirror. Max enjoyed the view, as well. It was Lana in stereo. What he wouldn’t do to be alone with her in here, with that mirror at their disposal. He was imagining all sorts of creative choreography.
“I like it.” She spoke decisively, and she didn’t ask for his opinion. But then she looked at the tag attached to the bottom half of the suit.
“Max,” she hissed. “This thing costs $300! That’s robbery. I’m not buying this.”
“Whoever said you were buying? It’s my treat.”
He’d never bought her a gift before, at least not something this intimate. Back when they were younger, Lana’s family didn’t blink an eye at spending money to take care of Aurora, and even him, when he was visiting.
Now that he was the one with the funds, three-hundred dollars was an embarrassingly small amount of money to spend on her compared to what he owed this woman.
Not in the sense that Lana had used earlier, like he was doing her a favor that he didn’t otherwise enjoy.
This was a gift that he wanted her to have because she deserved something special, and it would bring him joy to provide it.
“I can’t accept this. It’s too much.”
Max slid his arms around her. “Then consider it a gift for me since I’m the one who’s gets to see you in it. I’m just thinking of myself here.”
She harrumphed, but she didn’t issue a comeback. “Just for that… I’d like something for myself, after all.”
She walked across the shop and grabbed a different bathing suit from the rack. She held it up. “I want you to buy this, too.”
It was a men’s suit. A tiny set of swim shorts.
“I think you’d look good in it.”
She had to be kidding. “I am not wearing that.” He doubted he could even fit his various parts into that miniature rectangle of shiny black fabric. It was made for some European swimwear model, not a real human.
“At least try it on. For me.” She smirked because she knew she had him there. She’d been indulging him, so he figured that this was fair turnabout. Even though there was no way in hell he was going to step out of the shop with that thing.
He’d let her have her fun. Max had an ego, but he was finding that he didn’t mind when Lana laughed at him. Just so long as he could keep her smiling.
Max went into another dressing room, while Lana went back into hers. He’d thought briefly about sharing a single room, but there was no way they’d both fit, and they’d probably give the poor shop owner a heart attack.
He quickly stripped off his T-shirt and his set of swim trunks, laying both carefully on the little seat inside the dressing room.
He unhooked the black suit from its wooden hanger, stretching the fabric in his hands.
He couldn’t believe he was actually doing this.
How was this thing even going to fit? It said one-size-fits-all, which seemed to him the height of absurdity.
But when he slid the fabric over his legs and tucked his package inside, he had to admit that it was pretty comfortable. The stretchy fabric hugged him, but it wasn’t too tight. Instead, it melded to his body like a second skin.
He glanced at the price tag. Four hundred bucks. No wonder. He checked the small mirror and confirmed that he did look pretty damn good in it.
Max pushed aside the curtain and stepped out into the shop, just as the boutique owner emerged from the back holding an armful of coverups. The woman’s eyes went round.
“Oh, my.”
He tilted his head at Lana, who was dressed back in her street clothes. He held out his hands, slowly spinning around.
“What do you ladies think?”
The shopkeeper made a small, strangled sound.
Max glanced at himself in the huge three-way mirror.
Yep, not bad. He didn’t work out for vanity, but it certainly hadn’t done him any harm.
The suit left very little to the imagination, and he found he didn’t actually mind it so much.
And he definitely liked the look on Lana’s face.
Her smile was absolutely devious. “I think we’re ready to go swimming.”
A few minutes later, they both wore their new swimsuits, sans tags.
Max had put his regular clothes back on top, but Lana had consented to adding one of the coverups that the shopkeeper recommended.
It was a long dress of almost transparent material.
You could just make out the shape of her bikini underneath.
At the register, Max grabbed a summer-weight scarf on a whim and added it to their purchase. After they stepped out of the shop and onto the street, he pulled the scarf out of the bag and circled it around Lana’s neck.
“What’s this?”
“Just another part of that gift for me. I thought you’d look good in it.” And she did. The perfect touch of elegance for an elegant woman.
She touched the silky fabric, pleasure clear in her expression. “Who am I to deny you?”
Max kissed her, took her hand, and they crossed the street toward the ocean. When they reached the sand, Lana pulled off her sandals and walked barefoot. For a while, they strolled hand-in-hand along the damp shore, waves lapping at their feet.
They stopped at a stand for fish tacos, eating at a counter. They didn’t talk about anything important, yet the conversation wasn’t slow or awkward, either. They kept coming up with new topics to discuss, the pauses easy and their banter effortless.
Max couldn’t believe they’d wasted so many years holding back from one another. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d felt so relaxed. So happy.
After lunch, they found a secluded spot way down the beach, far from the boardwalk and the most popular tourist swimming areas. They shed their outer clothes, piling their belongings onto the sand with Lana’s sandals placed upside down to keep anything from blowing away.
Then they ran down to the water, splashing and laughing like teenagers. Like they had nothing else to worry about except this beautiful summer day. Max wished he could stop the clock and make it last forever.