CHAPTER FIVE
Frankie
Waking up was a slow, heavy descent into a reality that was way more intense than any dream I’d had in the last six months.
I was on my side, staring at the blurred edges of the hotel curtains, but I wasn’t alone. Far from it. Max’s chest was a broad, unyielding weight against my back, his breath slow and rhythmic against the sensitive skin of my neck.
When I moved my hips, trying to ease off the bed without him noticing, I froze.
He was awake. Or his body was, at least.
He had morning wood and it was pressed directly against my backside.
I had to stifle a groan because calling it wood felt like an insult to the entire forestry industry.
I tried to slide forward, my heart hammering against my ribs, but his arm clamped around my waist, hauling me back with one easy, effortless tug, pinning me flush against him.
“Stay,” he rumbled. Max’s voice was even deeper in the morning, a warm, scratchy bass.
I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly bone-dry. Words tumbled out before I could even think of stopping them. “Max, I... you’re really poking me. Like, I knew you were a big guy, but this feels like you’re hiding a piece of galvanized pipe in your shorts.”
I felt the low, dark vibration of a chuckle against my shoulder blades. Max didn’t pull away. Instead, he shifted, his hips grinding a slow, deliberate circle against me. The friction sent a jolt of pure, unadulterated heat straight to my core, making my breath hitch and my thighs tremble.
“That’s what happens when you spend the night with a curvy brunette wrapped around you like a vine.”
I swallowed hard. “I didn’t mean to... I must have moved in my sleep. I usually stay on my side.”
“I liked it,” he said. “I liked the way you sighed when I pulled you closer. I liked the way your skin felt against mine.”
My nipples were aching, rubbing against the fabric of my t-shirt as my chest heaved. I felt so small with his arm wrapped around me, so soft and vulnerable.
“Is it always like that?” I blurted out. “In the morning? It feels... substantial.”
Max pushed my hair back, his mouth gazing the curve of my shoulder. “Substantial? That’s the word you’re going with?”
“I’m a hardware girl, Max. I appreciate solid construction,” I snapped back, finally regaining some of my composure, even if my heart was trying to leap out of my throat.
He let out another one of those guttural chuckles, his lips leaving at rail of wet kisses along the side of my neck. “Yeah, it’s always like this lately. Ever since I started wondering what it would take to get you under me. This is six months of looking at you and wanting to stake my claim.”
He didn’t wait for me to process that. He flipped me over, his weight crushing me as he kissed me.
His tongue swept into my mouth, demanding everything.
I let out a broken moan, my fingers tangling in the thick hair at the back of his head.
I was a goner. I’d walked into this thinking I was doing a favor for a grumpy mountain man, but as Max ground his hips against mine, letting me feel the absolute power of his need, I realized this had been what I wanted all along.
“We have to go to that brunch,” I whispered against his lips.
Max pulled back just enough to look at me, his eyes half-lidded.
“Fuck the brunch,” he growled. He dipped his head again, his teeth catching the soft spot where my neck met my shoulder, a sharp, biting pressure that made me moan out loud.
“I’ve spent months watching you walk around that store, wondering if you’d feel this good under me.
You think I care about some half-assed brunch right now? ”
My body arched into his against my will. I wanted him. I wanted to wrap my legs around his waist and find out exactly how substantial he really was. “They’ll come looking for us. If we don’t show up, Leo will think he won. He’ll think you’re up here hiding.”
Max stiffened, the name of his cousin acting like a bucket of cold water. He let out a long, frustrated hiss through his teeth, his grip on my hip tightening until it was almost painful. For a second, I thought he was going to ignore me and take what he wanted. What we both wanted.
“Get dressed, Frankie,” he commanded, levering himself off me and getting off the bed. He stood there, his arousal still prominent. “We’ll go down there. We’ll play their game. But don’t think for a second this is over.”
I could only nod, my voice gone. I’d thought I was the one doing him a favor by pretending to be his girlfriend. But as I watched him walk toward the bathroom, his body still hard, I realized I may have misread the situation entirely.
“And Frankie?” he stopped at the door, looking over his shoulder.
“Yeah?”
“Wear something that shows off those curves. I want Leo to spend the entire brunch looking at what he can’t have. I want every man here to know exactly why I’m not looking at anyone else.”