Chapter 34 #2
He shakes his head silently in refusal before saying, “No. I would never hear the end of it if I did. Doesn’t mean they won’t figure it out, though. We talked about you—well, Bunny—together. We made a list.”
“You made a list?”
His eyes widen as he nods, mischief flickering across his lips. “I was getting their help to figure out who you were. They knew it was you before I did. The clever fuckers. Once they see your tattoo, well, then the bunny will be out of the trap.” His smirk is diabolical and full of trouble.
“No way.” This is terrible. Then another thought hits me. “Then they’d know I went to a sex club?”
“Correction. It was one time; you’re not a regular.”
Which means they also know I haven’t had sex for four years too. How embarrassing. I’m the practically-a-virgin woman they were talking about in Max’s office when I walked in.
World, swallow me whole.
Annoyingly, compared to my drama-filled monologue, he’s a wall of calm when he tucks my wet hair behind my ear. “Now, will you relax? You’re overthinking it. Just chill out, switch off your brain, and let me take care of you, please.”
Well, when he says please like that, he makes it difficult for me to refuse.
In silence, he washes my hair twice before he lathers my body in soap.
I luxuriate in the way he leaves not an inch of my skin untouched.
From my arms to my legs and stomach, and yes, he even washes me down there too.
The weird thing is I let him. I’ve been running about like a headless chicken for as long as I can remember and it feels nice to be taken care of for a change.
It feels good. I might want this every day.
I close my eyes and bask in the warmth of the water that makes me feel all fuzzy and renewed, the citrus scent of the shower gel filling the air and the kindness of his touch adding to this new experience.
He’s surprisingly gentle, and when he respectfully rinses the last of the soapy suds from my body, he kisses my shoulder, then along my collarbone, moving up my neck.
He’s bold but not too daring and simply cares for me like he promised.
Throughout our shower, his cock remains hard and it’s difficult not to look, or touch it.
I mean, it’s right there, and for the life of me, even though I’ve been sick, I still want to drop to my knees and suck him dry to thank him for helping me and Alfie while I’ve been laid up in bed.
I didn’t think Max was capable of thinking about anyone else other than himself.
Turns out I was wrong about him, although he could be doing all of this to simply get inside my panties again.
Then why would he stay here for three days taking care of Alfie, cook soup from scratch—which he did yesterday, though I couldn’t stomach it—and hold my hair back when I puked?
Why would he do all that when no one was watching, when there was no one to impress but a sick woman and a kid who barely knows his face?
Shockingly, it sounds like they’ve become firm friends in my absence, and it doesn’t sound like Alfie has missed me at all.
However, I’ve missed his snuggles and the silly way he sneezes then laughs at himself like he’s the world’s top comedian.
“How has Alfie been?” I ask, staring at him in awe.
“He’s amazing,” Max replies with such a genuine heartfelt tone I know he means it. “Tomorrow you can give him all the cuddles you missed out on.”
“I don’t want to give him my stomach flu,” I groan.
“If he gets it, we deal with it together.”
We deal with it together.
Max is blowing my mind over and over again.
He adds, “It’s doing the rounds at our firm.”
“There’s no escaping it. Emma gave it to me. Sharing is caring.”
“I never get stomach bugs. I already told you, I’m immune.” He pats his stomach.
I thought he was joking but clearly Max has a strong invulnerable body as well as strong abdominal muscles; figures.
“Never?” I ask curiously.
“Nope.” He sways his head in protest. “Alfie likes me by the way.”
“Keep telling yourself that.” Alfie likes everyone.
“Your mom said I was a natural with him.”
“I’m sure she did.” Handsome is very difficult to disagree with, and Max is the epitome of it.
“He loves Buzz Lightyear.”
“He’s obsessed with him.” If Max keeps this up, I can see myself becoming obsessed with him; that’s if I’m not already. I might be. Just a smidge. More like a lot, but whatever.
Max adds more observations. “And Cars. He loves that too.”
“That boy is either going to be an astronaut or a Formula 1 driver.”
“Sounds like my kind of man. Fast everything,” he says with a twinkle in his eye.
“Does that include fast women?” Jealousy punches my gut.
While Max has made his intentions clear with me, us, that he wants to dive into what’s unfolding here, there is no escaping his past. He’s had a couple of serious relationships, one of which was years ago.
And kids? He’s far from the settling-down type.
What kind of spell did Alfie cast to win him over?
Maybe it was his smile that did it, or his giggle, or maybe it was his full-on gibberish he does with perfect inflection that makes him sound like he’s giving an in-depth TED Talk that won Max’s heart.
He’s not just here for Alfie, I know this. It still doesn’t stop me from doubting him.
I’m not his usual type. I have a kid. What we were before, rivals with benefits, has totally changed. We’re no longer hooking up in hotels just to get whatever it was out of our systems. Now, I’m completely head over heels for Max and can’t stop thinking about him.
I also admire how ballsy he’s been, inserting himself into my life because he likes me and wants to explore whatever this is. He’s crazy.
What’s even crazier is he quit the Youngs’ case. Without asking me first. It’s as if he already knew I wanted him. Not that I’ve admitted that to him because this could fizzle out as fast as it started. However, this feels different, feels right. Perfect.
He wraps his arms around my waist. “You’re wrong about me liking fast women. The type of woman I like is feisty and comes with a side order of takes no shit.” He pats my ass, something he seems to love doing.
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah, I like one in particular. She doesn’t put up with my bullshit, and she challenges me to be better.” Confusion wrinkles his brows.
I think that comes as a surprise to him, and I don’t think he knew what he wanted until now.
“For the first time in my life, you, Paige Bradshaw, are all I want.”
“That can’t possibly be true,” I whisper, disbelieving.
“Well, believe it, baby, because I’m here right now, with you, with Alfie, and there’s no place I’d rather be.
Although it would have been an epic sleepover if it hadn’t been for the sickness stuff, because that was…
well, at one point I thought you were going to puke your internal organs up.
” He grimaces and shudders as he recalls how unwell I was. “It was fucking brutal.”
“Trust me, I know. It felt like the purge.” Like a demonic sickness expelling my body.
He’s seen me at my worst and yet, he’s still here.
What a head fuck.
“It’s time for bed. You need to rest.” He kisses me on my forehead again. It’s going to take some time getting used to how caring he can be.
I let out a huge yawn that makes Max turn off the shower and wrap me in one of my cream fluffy towels, cocooning himself around me in a giant hug.
I’m so tired I could sleep for a month.
“Now, where is your hairdryer?”
I look up at him. “I can dry my own hair.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” He doesn’t need to do everything for me. I feel much better now.
“Okay, well, while you dry your hair, I’ll change the bedsheets. Where do you keep them?”
I didn’t realize billionaire playboys knew how to change bedsheets, and that’s why I’m still staring at him in disbelief.
“Will you sleep with me tonight?” I ask. I don’t want to be alone.
A flash of humor crosses his face.
“I’d love to.”
And for the first time since our secret affair began, he sleeps in my bed, wrapping me in his arms and snuggling close all night, and it’s the best sleepover a girl could ever wish for.