Chapter 24
CHAPTER 24
D ecember 20 th
How is it possible I didn’t get to have the talk with Max? I showed him to the cottage but my dad showed up and asked Max for help getting the sleigh onto the trailer. We ended up hardly seeing each other during the play as Dad began introducing Max to his friends and he became part of the set construction crew while Mom and I helped set up chairs and the hot chocolate station, then helped the kids with some last-minute costume mending.
Max high-fived the kids after the performance and then he and his new dad and granddad buddies broke down the set. Mom made me go back to the inn to help make more cookies to sell tomorrow and Dad promised to bring Max home. By the time I stumbled into bed at two in the morning, talking was the last thing I wanted to do.
Max simply reached out, pulled me against him, and muttered that I smelled good enough to eat. Do you know how embarrassing it is to have a sex dream with the main star of said dream in the same bed as you? I’m pretty sure I woke up humping his leg.
Paige made a pot of coffee as Max showered. She could do this. It was time to have the talk. But then Max walked out of the small bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist and her thoughts dropped and scattered like the pages of a book when the binding failed. Holy bookmarks but Max was built . Like completely ripped under those button-down shirts and jeans. Strong muscles were carved out leaving ridged abs and a chiseled chest.
Max bent over his bag and pulled out a pair of jeans before disappearing back into the bathroom. A moment later he reappeared with towel dried hair and wearing only those jeans that hung low on his hips.
“Do we have a moment to talk?” Max asked.
Talk? What was that?
Paige nodded, her eyes finally moving back up to his face when he slid on a sweater. Max joined her in the kitchenette, poured a cup of coffee, and leaned his hip against the counter. “I acted like a jackass the other day when I raced into your apartment. Paige, I honestly thought you knew I had broken up with Sierra. It was in the gossip columns and well, most of the women I know religiously read those columns. I thought all the times I came over to see you, all the times I rescued you, I was waiting for you to show any interest and you never did. I thought you only saw me as a friend.” Max set down his coffee and reached out, taking her hands in his. “When Jack called and told me, I bolted from the meeting because, if that was true, I thought I might still have a chance with you. Do I, Paige? Do I have a chance to win your heart?”
Paige almost forgot to answer. She was so surprised and so happy that instead of saying anything, she flung her arms around Max and hugged him tight. His arms came around her and pulled her against him. “It was always you, Max,” she whispered against his neck.
Max pulled back and cupped her face with his hands. She looked into his smiling face as he slowly bent down, giving her time to back out if she wanted. That was the last thing she wanted though. Paige rose on her toes to meet Max’s lips with her own.
The kiss started off slow, but then his tongue ran along the seam of her lips, and when she opened to him, slow was the last word to describe it. The kiss turned hot. Powerful. Demanding. Surrendering.
Max slowed the kiss back down and slowly pulled away. “Come on, jailbird. Let me take my girl out for breakfast before I help you save the bookstore.”
Paige laughed, her heart soaring. “That’s the most romantic thing a man has ever said to me.”
And boy, did Max help. Max worked in the booth selling cookies. He even visited the sheriff’s station and convinced them to donate a thousand dollars to the cause. At Paige’s lunch meeting with Nick, Max joined, handing the check over to Nick.
“I’m reaching out to some other contacts to see if we can get any more donations,” Max told them.
“I heard back from Jack,” Paige said. “He’ll donate a hundred thousand dollars.”
Nick blinked. “Who are your friends?”
“Jack is my boss. He owns Griffin Publishing,” Paige reminded him. Did he not listen?
“Told you Paige was a big deal,” Max said. “Kitty! You know she’ll donate. I’ll call her now.”
“So, you and him?” Nick asked the second Max left the table.
“Yup,” Paige said, knowing she had a sappy smile on her face. It felt freaking fantastic. Better than your favorite author releasing the next book in the series early type of freaking fantastic.
“Then, I’m happy for you. The Kringle Mansion said we could come and start setting up. How are the ticket sales going?”
Paige pulled up the sales. “Made another two thousand.” Paige let out a sigh. “Even with everyone donating for the ball, I don’t know if we’re going to make it.”
Max joined them again with a smile on his face. “Kitty is donating fifteen thousand.”
“That brings us up to a hundred and fifty thousand. Where else are we going to find the money?” Nick asked with a frown.
“What about the people who own that fancy mansion that overlooks town?” Max asked.
“That’s the Kringles. They’re already donating the use of the mansion for the ball,” Paige told them.
“Why don’t we go ask them for an actual donation? And who owns the building the bookstore is in? Can we stop the sale?” Max asked.
“I know the Kringles well. I’ll ask for a donation,” Nick said, standing up. “The building was owned by Missy Tolls. She passed away and her kids, who moved to the big city, sold it to the developer. Sale is already done.”
Nick left and Paige leaned over and kissed Max. “Thanks for helping. The bookstore is so important to the town and to Christmas.”
“Anything for you, jailbird.”
Max was pulling out all the stops. For days, he helped to collect donations. He worked hard setting up and decorating for the ball. He was always checking in on her, sneaking in panty-melting kisses, and taking her out on dates. Tonight, he’d told her to dress warmly. He’d even helped her mother out with serving dinner to her guests the other night. However, each night, he did nothing more than pull her to him and kiss her goodnight.
“What’s going on?” Paige asked, walking up the path hand in hand with Max.
“I thought we could have a little date tonight,” Max told her. When they reached the back of the inn, a horse-drawn sleigh was waiting for them. “My lady.” Max bowed and held out his hand to help her step up into the sleigh.
Max climbed up after her. He pulled a thick blanket out and set it over their laps as the driver clucked his tongue and the horse trotted down the drive. “I haven’t done this in years,” Paige told him. “I feel as if I’m in a Christmas movie.”
Max reached down once more and brought up a sprig of mistletoe. “Then let’s live out your Christmas adventure.”
Max kissed her then. Her hands reached up to grab his coat as the mistletoe was forgotten and the kiss turned way too hot for a Christmas movie. She was pretty sure in those movies a leading character didn’t slide his hand along the side of her breast and tease her nipple with this thumb. Freaking winter coats. She needed more.
“We’re home, Paige,” Max whispered, pulling his hand that he’d been using to massage her inner thigh with out from under the blanket.
“Oh no,” Paige sighed. “I have to make more cookies. I’m consistently making a couple thousand a day off of them.”
“Then let me help you,” Max said, jumping down and turning back to help her out of the sleigh.
“Really?”
“Yeah. Don’t say anything, but I kinda love spending time with you,” Max whispered as if it were a secret.
And so, they baked. Paige’s mom laughed and helped teach Max what to do. Even her dad joined them and together, they finished shortly after midnight. Max held her hand as they walked down the path to her cottage.
“I like your parents. They have your sense of humor.”
“What are your parents like?” she asked Max.
“Stuffier, more formal. They wanted me to take over part of the company being their son and all, but I never wanted to do that. Mary did though. I convinced them that she was the best one to lead the family company. Then I became a detective.”
“I hope they’re as proud of you as I am.”
“They are. They just wanted me to find something fulfilling. I think they want more grandbabies though. They’ve been dropping hints that I should settle down and find a less dangerous job.”
“Is that what you want?” Paige asked as they entered the cottage.
“It wasn’t until I met you,” Max admitted as he unzipped his coat. “With you, I want it all. Does that scare you?”
Paige shook her head. “No. It doesn’t. It sounds perfect.”
Max’s hand wrapped around the back of her neck, pulling her to him. The kiss was hard, fast, demanding, and consuming. It was as if Max had dropped the restraint and she was there for it. The slow, sensual, panty-melting kissing was lovely too, but this kiss burned her panties off.
Max dominated her senses, yet he pushed her to fight to take control back. “Tell me what you want. What feels good and what doesn’t? Okay?”
“Okay,” Paige said, a little shiver going through her body.
Max grinned when he felt it. “Relax, jailbird, we’re not losing your virginity tonight. You don’t just skip the bases on your way home. Let me show you how much fun we can have not having sex.” Max pulled her sweater off and unhooked her bra. Paige felt the cold air hit her breasts and heard the inhale of breath from Max. “I’ve been dreaming of your breasts, Paige. Do you have any idea how many times I jacked off thinking of doing this?”
Ohmigod. That was page-scorching hot. Max kissed her hard, his hands coming up to explore her breasts. He gently brushed the underneath with his thumb before moving up and teasing her nipple. All the while his tongue wreaked havoc in her mouth and his hips pushed into hers.
As his kiss went deeper and turned wild, his hands cupped her breast, his fingers pinching her nipples until she was squirming against him. Only then did he lower her to the bed. He kissed his way down her neck and when his tongue circled her nipple a second before he sucked it into his warm mouth, Paige found herself arching off the bed and gasping his name.
His other hand worked the button on her jeans and soon she was splayed out naked before him. Paige kept grabbing at him, trying to remove his clothes. Max shook his head. “Paige, do I have to handcuff you?”
“Yes,” she said so fast it caused him to laugh.
“Well, if that’s what my jailbird wants, that’s what she gets.” Max reached into the back of his jeans and pulled out the cuffs. He clipped one on, leaving it loose, and then threaded it through the iron rod of the bed before clipping the other. He pulled off his sweater and moved down the bed. “Now, let me show you what a man who wants more than a single adventure can do. I believe this was from chapter eight of Sale .”
Paige sucked in a breath because she knew exactly what was in chapter eight. Her book club had discussed it at length because it was so hot. Max came back to her and kissed her jaw and her neck and then lavished attention on her breasts until she was squirming. Chapter eight was about the tease and Max executed it perfectly.
Paige was begging him to make her come by the time he finally was between her legs. Instead, he just smiled at her as he tossed her legs over his shoulders and dove down. He teased. He played. He kissed her inner thighs, licking them and even giving them little bites until her entire body was shaking. Then, finally, his fingers skimmed her lips and slid inside.
“You are so fucking wet. I can’t wait to taste you,” Max said, his voice deep and gravelly.
“Please!” But she knew chapter eight practically by heart. Begging wouldn’t work.
Max chuckled and went back between her thighs. One slow lick from bottom to top followed by a soft breath of air and another lick, this one even slower than the first. He was torturing her and she loved it and hated it in equal measure. She could have freed her hands from the cuffs, but she didn’t. She grabbed onto them and hung on as Max toyed with her, bringing her slowly near orgasm and then cooling her off again until she was near frantic.
Only when Paige was almost crying from frustration did he unhook her cuffed hands, lie on the bed, and pull her over him. “You’ve been such a good girl. Use me for your orgasm.”
Max guided her up to his face and Paige grabbed onto the iron headboard and rode his face. His hands grabbed her ass, grinding her against his face as he worked her. There was no holding back and the orgasm struck hard and fast. Max’s arm pinned her in place, forcing her to ride out every wave of it as she screamed his name until she was practically hoarse.
When the last wave receded, Max pulled her down onto his body and tucked her against him. Paige didn’t think she could move. Her body had given its all. Max held her to him and her eyes closed as she listened to his heart. She didn’t mean to, but her eyelids slid closed and she slept.