14. Theo
14
THEO
“ T his is incredibly special,” Max said as she followed the hostess up the spiral staircase to the rooftop.
“Told you.”
I had a dozen perfect restaurant options to impress women, but I had a feeling that the view of Miami would mean more to Max than the cost of the wines on the menu. Blue Olive was another undercover treasure that I didn’t share with many people, but it felt right to bring Max.
She was different.
We settled into the table, but Max only had eyes for the horizon.
“It’s so beautiful.”
I watched her face, lit by the glow of the candles on our table. “I agree.”
She turned to me abruptly, catching me admiring her. She frowned. “What?”
“What do you mean ‘what’?”
“Your face … you look … weird.”
I chuckled at her perceptiveness. If Max only knew what I was thinking. “Maybe I am weird—have you considered that? Though I’ve got enough money to be automatically upgraded to ‘eccentric.’”
She scoffed at me as she grabbed the menu. I picked up my own menu and pretended to study it even though I knew what I wanted. I didn’t like to tempt fate with creative ordering. I knew what I enjoyed and I stuck with it. No surprises, no disappointments.
“I can’t decide!” Max exclaimed. “Everything looks good.”
The waitress appeared tableside. “Welcome back, Mr. Barnes. Chef would love the opportunity to prepare a special tasting menu just for the two of you.”
I started to say no, but then I saw the way Max’s eyes lit up. “That sounds amazing!” she exclaimed before turning to look at me. “If it’s okay with you?”
“Sure,” I said, putting down my menu and making myself smile. I wasn’t honestly wild about the idea of winging it, letting go of the reins, but she seemed so excited, how could I say no?
“We know your preferences, Mr. Barnes, but is there anything we should know about yours, Miss?” the waitress asked. “Any allergies or sensitivities?”
“None. I’ll eat anything you put in front of me, and I love being surprised.” She paused. “No, scratch that. No octopus, please. They’re smarter than a fifth grader.”
The waitress nodded. “Understood. Wine to start?”
I glanced at Max and was again struck by how beautiful she looked. “She prefers white. Chef’s choice on the vintage.”
Max’s smile widened. “You remembered.”
The waitress disappeared into the shadows, then reappeared faster than I thought possible carrying a bottle of wine in a chilling bucket and a small bowl of olives.
“Off to a great start,” Max said, helping herself to one with her fingers.
“Just wait.”
Max grinned at me as she munched on the olive, and it struck me how refreshing she was. How real . The women I usually dated were self-conscious in the way professionally beautiful women tended to be, aware that they were always being observed, like fine art in a museum. It made them circumspect, wary of doing anything that might present them in an unflattering light. Max was one hundred percent Max. A little brash. Unapologetic. And breathtaking, whether she was licking her salty fingers or sipping a glass of wine.
The meal unfolded like a choreographed dance, with new plates replacing the ones we’d finished almost immediately. We laughed and talked our way through hummus and pita, salt roasted beets, shrimp skewers, fried eggplant, herbed falafel, pan seared salmon, and tzatziki lamb. The portions were generous enough that we each had our fill, but not so much that we felt stuffed.
Max fell back against her chair and held her glass up to me. “Thank you for an incredible meal. I’m in heaven.”
“Agreed,” I said, tipping my glass against hers. “Best meal I’ve had here.”
It wasn’t lost on me that it was also the first time I’d let go and tried something unexpected—and that I wouldn’t have done it without Max’s urging.
“So tell me what to expect at our next events together,” she said, eyeing me over the rim of her wineglass. “What’s your family like?”
“Noisy and nosy,” I laughed. “You met my mom, that should clue you in a little.”
“I loved your mom,” Max laughed with me. “She seems to know what she wants.”
“Yeah, and she also thinks she knows what I want.” I titled my head and sighed. “She’s something. But yeah, I adore her.”
“And what about the bride?”
The waitress stopped by to drop off our check, but I handed her my card without even looking at it.
“Jess? She’s the sister I always wished for. Jess is the kindest, most generous person you’ll ever meet. Her fiancé Tim is terrific, too. They’re a great match—and they’re going to love you just as much as my mom does. But you should know going in that they’re a lot. We’re not going to have any quiet, relaxed meals like this once the wedding events start.”
“Dinner was great. Thanks again,” Max said softly, as if she could sense the charged air between us.
“I should be thanking you. You saved me.”
I was talking about my business deal. But I was also talking about something else. Something I wasn’t quite ready to put a name to. Being with Max…it was making me look at my life differently.
I snaked my hand across the table to gently grasp hers. She curled her hand to the side and laced her fingers into mine.
Her skin was velvet. I rubbed my thumb along the back of her hand, surprised by the fact that it felt so natural to be holding her.
Our eyes met. Was this a good idea? I honestly didn’t know—but I knew that I wanted to see where it would go, especially when it felt so damn good.
The spell was broken when I had to sign the check, and we both seemed to realize it was time to leave. But I was reluctant to let the night end.
“Do you have time to walk off that meal a little?” I asked, pointing to the boardwalk.
The corner of her mouth kicked up. “Yeah, that would be nice.”
We set off together side by side and I swore I could feel electricity bouncing between us. Once again, I followed my heart, reaching out to grasp her hand. She squeezed it in response, still staring ahead.
It struck me that I never held hands with anyone. Not even back when I was a lovesick teenager, and especially not once I grew up. But holding Max’s hand felt so right, almost necessary, like it wouldn’t make sense for us just to stroll close without doing it.
“I had fun tonight,” Max said in a soft voice. “Thank you.”
“We seem to have a knack for turning a bad situation into something good.”
“And a good situation into something better.” She laughed, a beautiful, melodic sound.
Maybe it was the night air, or the way Max was looking up at me, or the way her hand felt in mine, but something came over me and I couldn’t hold back any longer—I couldn’t even remember why I’d want to. I turned to face her, stopping her in her tracks, then gently raised my hand to palm her cheek. I wanted to give her a moment, to see if what I was feeling was one-sided or if she was as desperate to kiss again as I was. Max held my gaze and tilted her chin up, ever so slightly, telling me in no uncertain terms that yes, she wanted it too.
I lowered my lips to hers and brushed her mouth, gently at first, not wanting to overwhelm her with the intensity I was feeling in the moment. But Max didn’t give me much of a chance to prove that I was a gentleman at heart, raising up on her tiptoes and circling her arms behind my neck. Her tongue brushed against mine, sending a shockwave down my spine. We kissed like no one was watching even though the boardwalk was crowded with people.
All I could think about was what was going to come next. What had to come next. But then Max pulled away abruptly and brought her hand to her mouth, frowning.
“Are you okay?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m … I’m fine. But we shouldn’t have done that. We agreed not to complicate things, right?”
She looked up at me with a guilty expression, like she was the one who’d crossed the line.
“We did,” I sighed, trying to calm my racing heartbeat. “And if you think we should stop, then we’ll stop.”
I left out the part where I most certainly didn’t want to stop. All I really wanted to do was invite Max back to my place to see what happened when I peeled her clothes off. We could do that without things getting complicated, right? Or was I just trying to convince myself of that because I wanted her so badly?
“We need to be smart,” Max continued. She gestured between us. “That can’t happen again, right?”
I could’ve sworn she sounded hopeful that it would … but I had to take her at her word.
“Right. We made those rules on the Brilliance for a reason.”
Max glanced around the boardwalk then back up at me. “I should probably go now … it’s getting late.”
I realized I hadn’t looked at my phone once the entire meal, and I had no sense of what time it could be. I pulled my phone out to check.
“It’s almost midnight,” I said in shock.
“Yup, time flies when you’re eating falafel.”
With you , I wanted to add.
We turned to go back to the parking lot, and I remembered we’d taken separate cars. Our next few minutes together would be the last until the engagement party.
After a night of easy conversation, I felt like I was struggling to find something to say as we got closer to the lot. All I could think about was how amazing it had felt to kiss her again.
Max pointed to a red Fiat in the front row. “That’s me. Thanks again,” she said.
“My pleasure.” I sounded so formal. “Let me know if you need anything else before the engagement party. Just text me. About anything, really. Do you want me to schedule hair and make-up for you?”
“Why, are you worried?” she laughed at me. “It might come as a surprise given how I usually look but I’m actually really handy with the hairdryer and spackle. You’ll be surprised. I promise you, I’ll look like the perfect nice girl to bring home to your family.”
“I didn’t mean to suggest that you?—”
“Stop, I know what you meant,” she said, placing her hand on my arm. It felt like static electricity prickled along my skin. “You were being generous. Too generous, as usual. I’m fine. But thank you.”
She didn’t move her hand away for an extra beat, and I had to hold myself back from swooping down to kiss her again.
“We’ll talk soon,” she said as she backed away from me. “Figure out times and all that.”
“Yup, you got it.”
I was impressed that I managed to sound normal, because all I could think about was how I could still taste the sweetness of Maxine Simon on my mouth.