Chapter Seventeen
Max
“Lauren can sleep in any of the guest bedrooms upstairs,” I told Jake and Wade as we entered my house. “She’ll be safe here. No one will be able to get to her.”
Not only was the house that used to belong to my grandfather miles away from Jake’s house, it was also equipped with the latest security system. It had valuable paintings hanging in it, after all, and my grandmother’s diamonds in the safe.
Lauren gasped as she looked around the great room. “This…is yours?”
I didn’t answer. We still weren’t exactly on speaking terms again, anyway. I only brought her here upon Jake’s request. As angry as I was with her, I didn’t want her to get hurt.
I still cared about her deeply, I realized as my eyes followed her, absorbing her expressions of fascination as she took in her new surroundings. A part of me wanted to give her a tour and explain every little detail, but I reminded myself we weren’t a couple anymore.
Were we ever even a couple?
“Wait,” she said as she stared at my grandfather’s portrait above the mantel. “Sylvester Shelton owned this house?”
Then she looked at the smaller framed pictures, her eyes growing wide.
“Max is a Shelton?”
“Yes,” Jake answered the question. “And he’s the current CEO of Xosmo.”
Cat out of the bag. Then again, I was getting tired of keeping secrets, anyway.
Lauren’s eyes grew even wider. “That huge tech company? But…”
Her words seemed to falter as she looked at me.
“But what?” I asked her. “I don’t look like a billionaire like your ex?”
She frowned.
Jake patted her shoulder. “Let’s just be glad we found a safe place for you. Like Max said, Clyde Roarke won’t find you here. Now, let’s get you settled in.”
I watched as Jake ushered Lauren up the staircase. At the top, she glanced over her shoulder at me, and our eyes met briefly, but I looked away. Then I headed to the study.
I sat back in the large leather chair behind my grandfather’s oak desk, my gaze on the Van Gogh on the wall. At least, here in this house, I had my own office as well as my own bedroom, though I still missed Jake’s. I had gotten used to that gray living room couch and the smell of his black coffee waking me up in the morning.
A knock on the door jolted me out of my thoughts. Wade peeked in.
“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” he asked.
I snorted. “When have you ever been so polite?”
He shrugged as he stepped into the room. “Well, you’re a big shot now, aren’t you? Though I suppose you’ve always been.”
I exhaled. “I’m sorry I never told you.”
“It’s fine. Everyone has secrets. And I had my suspicions. But you know me. I don’t pry.”
“I know.” It was one of the reasons we were able to get along well.
Wade sat down. “I just hope you don’t start acting like one of those spoiled jerks now.”
I sat up straight, placing my hands on top of the desk. “Will you punch me if I do?”
“Absolutely.”
I chuckled. Of course, he would. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“To be honest, I feel like punching you a little right now.”
He rammed his fist into his palm. My eyebrows arched.
“Is it because of Lauren?” I asked him.
He looked at me. “Do you plan on continuing to ignore her?”
I very well could, especially in this big house. I had a feeling Wade wouldn’t be very happy with that, though.
“You really care about her, don’t you?”
“I do,” Wade confessed to my surprise.
I knew he did, but I wasn’t expecting him to admit it out loud so readily. This, from a man who hardly talked about his feelings, if at all. Lauren had really gotten through to him.
Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised. I knew just how much of a force Lauren could be.
“God knows I tried not to,” Wade added. “But I do.”
“I’m happy for you,” I told him. “You’ve found another woman you can put ahead of yourself.”
He shook his head. “I’m worried I’ll mess up again, though.”
“You won’t,” I assured him. “This time, Lauren is the one in a tough situation. Since you know how it feels to be haunted and not have control over your life, I’m sure you’ll be able to support her. And she’ll be grateful for it.”
Wade gave a slight smile. “Thanks.”
“Lauren has you, and she has Jake. She doesn’t need me.”
Wade shrugged. “Maybe. But she still wants you.”
That I couldn’t refute, and I couldn’t deny that I still wanted her, too. I was just still too upset about everything to take her back into my arms.
“Now that you know about my background, surely, you can understand why I don’t like it when people use me,” I told Wade. “It’s just happened so many times before.”
He leaned forward in his seat. “I can see how that has happened a lot. But did Lauren really use you? Weren’t you the one who asked her to be your fake girlfriend?”
“I didn’t ask her.”
“No. You just told everyone that she was. And now you blame her for going along with your lie?”
“I never thought it would become real. I only said that because…”
“Because you didn’t want to get in trouble for hitting her with your bike,” Wade finished the sentence for me. “Which you did. You seem to have forgotten about that.”
“I haven’t,” I told him. “You have no idea how bad I felt about hurting her even before I got to know her. I was at a loss when the doctor said she had amnesia. I was worried that she’d lost everything because of me.”
“So, now, you don’t have to worry about it anymore. Shouldn’t you just be glad she’s fine?”
“I would have been if she told me about it, but she kept making me believe I’d done something terrible.”
“Did she? Or was that your own guilt?”
I didn’t answer. Maybe Wade didn’t speak much, but when he did, he usually made sense.
“Everything you did for Lauren, you chose to do because of your own guilt,” Wade pointed out. “At least, at first. Then it became something else. I know because I’ve seen the way you look at her. Girlfriend or not, I’ve never seen you look at any woman that way before.”
Damn it. Why did he have to be so observant?
He stood up, his hands in his pockets. “I’m not telling you to forgive Lauren. That’s your decision alone. What I’m telling you is to think things over carefully, and think about what you really want, or you might end up losing it.”
Wade headed toward the door, leaving me to mull over his parting words.
And I couldn’t help but do just that. The more his words sunk in, the more I knew that he was right. Why was I acting like some kid who was throwing a tantrum after falling from the monkey bars? I was a grown man. I was responsible for my own actions and their consequences.
And I wanted Lauren. Regardless of what I knew about her now, and the danger she was in, I still wanted her. I didn’t want to lose her.
But how was I supposed to tell her that after pushing her away and after all the hurtful things I said to her?
I slapped my forehead. I’d never been in this position before. I’d never had to ask for something or had to work hard for something I wanted.
How exactly was I supposed to make things right with Lauren again?
I was still trying to come up with a solid plan when I went to my bedroom that evening. To my surprise, Lauren was waiting for me, sitting in the chair by the window in a silk robe, her face glowing in the lamplight.
When she saw me, she stood up and faced me. I almost ran to her and put my arms around her, but I remained where I stood.
“You have the wrong room,” I told her.
She shook her head as she walked towards me. “I was told this is your room. I’ve been waiting for you because I want to talk to you.”
I, too, shook my head. “You don’t have to say anything more, Lauren. I…”
“But I do. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. Just listen.”
I gazed into her eyes, listening.
Lauren drew a deep breath. “First, I want to thank you for bringing me here, even if it was just because of Jake’s request. Second, I understand now, after coming here, why you were so upset with me. Growing up rich, you must have been surrounded by people who tried to use you, people who told you lies just to get your favor. I promise I never intended to make you feel used. I only lied because I really felt so lost and terrified.”
And I offered her a safe haven. Yes, I was the one who offered it to her even though it was Jake who ultimately invited her into his home. How could I get mad at her for accepting it?
She looked away, fidgeting with her fingers. “And I understand if you don’t want to have anything to do with me anymore. I mean, I’m a nobody. An orphan college dropout on the run. You’re a Shelton. You have an image to uphold. You have companies to run. You have people relying on you.” She shook her head slowly as she rubbed her elbow. “I’ll only bring you trouble.”
“You’re wrong,” I told Lauren as I pulled her into my arms, unable to hold back any longer. “I don’t care about being a Shelton. And I didn’t mean to push you away. I was just hurt and…”
“You have a right to feel hurt.” Lauren touched my cheek, her gaze soft as she met mine. “After all, you were supposed to be my boyfriend.”
I shook my head. “I told you I don’t care about labels.”
“Still, you treated me like a real girlfriend, and I failed to trust you and tell you everything. I’m so sorry, Max.”
She buried her head in my chest. I held her tight and stroked her hair.
“It’s fine.”
For a while, we stayed like that, Lauren in my embrace. She fit right into my arms, convincing me that she was meant to be with me. As I relished the sensation of her soft body against mine, of the scent of her hair and her skin that I’d missed, I felt at home. When she pulled away and looked into my eyes, I knew that I belonged in them as well. They gleamed with tenderness, acceptance, longing. Love?
I cupped her cheek and lowered my face to hers. She tilted her chin, her lips meeting mine, gently at first, as if we were savoring each other after being apart for so long, then with a burning hunger. I gripped her hair and pulled her waist closer to me. Her hands caressed my cheeks.
As our tongues became entwined, I ran my fingers through her hair and stroked her nape, then her shoulders, slipping my hand under the silk. When I didn’t feel cotton or the strap of a bra, I stopped, eyebrows furrowed.
“Are you?”
“Naked?” Lauren finished the question for me, then answered it as she stepped back and pulled on the sash around her waist.
The robe she wore dropped to the floor, the silk forming a puddle around her feet. My breath escaped me.
My gaze lingered on her supple breasts before wandering lower, past her belly to the small patch of curls between her legs, knowing well what they guarded, then they moved back up to her face, to her succulent lips that were still moist from my kiss and her emerald eyes now sparkling with excitement and desire. Heat simmered in my veins.
I swallowed. “Did you come to my room to seduce me?”
She grinned. “Is it working?”
I didn’t give her an answer, though if she glanced at my crotch, she would know it.
Lauren stepped forward, standing right in front of me. Her fingers brushed against my arm.
“Actually, I came to offer myself to the man I love,” she said.
Love? So she felt the same way I did?
“You know all about me now,” she went on. “I have nothing more to hide. I know it may be hard for you to trust me again, but I want you to know that I trust you. Completely. You can do anything you want.”
My eyes narrowed. “Anything?”
Lauren nodded. “You can even tie me up and blindfold me if you want.” She stepped forward to whisper in my ear. “I’m all yours, Max.”
And I knew exactly what I wanted to do with her.
I gripped her hair as I kissed her again, tasting her, devouring her. I stroked her breast as I backed her up against my bed. When the edge of the mattress hit the back of her knees, she sat down. After our mouths parted, she moved to lie down in the middle of the bed, waiting for me, offering herself up to me as she said. I wanted to take her there and then but instead, I picked up the sash of the robe from the floor.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” I asked her.
Lauren nodded, offering me her wrists. “Like I said, I’m all yours.”
Other women had said something similar to me in the past, but I wasn’t the least bit interested. Only Lauren aroused my interest. Only she stirred my heart and my entire body.
I climbed on the bed, then turned her to her side so I could bind her wrists behind her, securely but not so tightly as to cause any pain. I was about to use my necktie to blindfold her when I heard a voice behind me.
“I guess this means you two have made up?”