Chapter 17
Max
I watch as Lila slides into the back seat of the car.
She's wearing a white T-shirt, which is pretty transparent, and I can see she's got on a pink sports bra underneath.
She's wearing tight black leggings that accentuate every curve of her body.
I try not to stare at her juicy ass as she plops it down next to me.
Her hair is up in a high ponytail, and it looks like she's put on a little mascara.
She eyes me and puts her finger to her lips.
I frown as I stare at her. "What is it?"
"Don't you dare say anything, Max Spector."
"What would I say?" I glance at her lips curiously. Has she put on a different color lip gloss?
"Don't say that I look like a peppy cheerleader or—"
"I wasn't even thinking it," I say, which is true. I hadn't been thinking it until she brought it up, but now that she has, she really does look like a cheerleader. Only, I wish she had on a short skirt. I grin to myself. We’d be in trouble if she had on a short skirt.
"Henry, will you drive us to my place?" I ask the driver. "And then I'll change." I look over at Lila. "I can't believe that I'm doing this, you know?"
"Why? Because you're a stick in the mud?" she asks.
I shake my head, not answering her. Maybe to her, I'm a stick in the mud, but I do feel like I'm quite close to crossing the professional lines of the code of conduct.
But I suppose if I'm not going to be engaging Mrs. Whittington in any ex parte communication, then it should be okay.
Plus, I quite like the idea of going on an adventure with Lila.
She swept into my life like a hurricane, and I'm definitely along for the ride.
We pull up outside my place all too soon.
"Would you like to come in with me?" I ask her.
"I guess it's not really fair," she says. "Seeing as I didn't let you come into my place."
"It's okay," I say. "You can come up. We won't be long."
"Are you sure? I would really like to see how someone super rich lives."
"You keep saying that, but I'm not Bill Gates."
"You might not be Bill Gates, but you're certainly not Lila Haversham either."
"Now you make me even more curious about your place."
"Trust me. You wouldn't believe it even if you saw it," she says, laughing.
I watch as she rushes out of the car before me and chuckle. "I'll be right back, Henry."
"Take your time, sir," he says, grinning with a slight nod. "I'll pull around, so just text me when you're coming back down."
"Sounds good." I nod, then get out of the car and see Lila standing there. "Eager, are we?"
"I want to see your place, Mr. Spector."
"Ooh, because you want to…?"
She holds a hand up. "You know I just want to see how rich you are."
"You think that sounds better than saying you want to bang me?
" I ask, and she throws her head back and laughs, her ponytail bobbing up and down.
I picture her on my lap, bouncing up and down, and me pulling that ponytail hard.
Shit, I'm going to make myself horny if I don't stop it. "Come on, let's go inside."
I take her up to my apartment; she looks around and oohs and ahs at everything I take for granted. "I'm just going to go and change," I say, pointing toward the kitchen. "Feel free to help yourself to a drink."
"Maybe I'll grab some bottles of water if you have some," she says. "If you don't mind. I forgot to bring some with me."
"No worries. Go ahead." I head toward my bedroom and leave the door open as I change my clothes.
A part of me hopes that she'll walk in, catch sight of me naked, and change her mind about wanting to go to the gym.
I wouldn't mind having a workout right here and now. Unfortunately for me, I don’t hear any footsteps heading down the hallway to my bedroom.
I pull on a T-shirt, some shorts, and my tennis shoes and head back out.
"Make your way around my entire place?"
"No, but close enough," she says. "It's really beautiful. You have an amazing view."
"Thank you," I say.
"How many bedrooms do you have?"
"Three bedrooms, two baths. You know, if I have company and whatnot."
"Of course. I mean, if I could afford it, I'd have three bedrooms and two baths, as well," she says.
"How big is your place?" I ask her.
"It's a studio, but it's really cute, and I love it. I'm not complaining."
"I didn't say that you were."
"I just didn't want to come across as one of those people that was envious because I was in a studio and you were in a three bedroom, two bath, and we're both single and living by ourselves." She pauses. "Well, I assume you live by yourself."
"I live by myself, Lila. I do. Let's head back down." I grab my phone and text Henry to let him know that we're coming back.
"So, what's the plan of action?"
"I'm not sure yet," she says. "I just want to have a conversation with her. I want to see what she's like. I need to feel good about what we're doing, and I'll know better once we get to the class and I sense her aura."
"Once you sense her aura, huh?"
"Why am I already regretting this? I'm not trying to say I'm a psychic or anything. I don't have any sort of powers, but I feel like I can read people."
"True. You did read me, and you were pretty accurate."
"See?" she says, grinning, her blue eyes sparkling. "And I even know what you're thinking right now."
"What's that?" I ask her.
"You're thinking that you would love for me to grab your hand, take you to your bedroom, and say forget the workout at the gym."
I stare at her with wide eyes and a huge smirk on my face. "Are you a mind reader?"
She giggles and shakes her head. "No, I'm not, but maybe the thought did cross my mind for a second."
I gasp at her words, and she gives me a little wave as we head out of the apartment.
Holy shit. Lila is unlike any woman I've ever met in my life. Most women are not open enough to tell me that they want me sexually. It’s usually much more of a game, and while I enjoy the game, sometimes I really like straightforwardness, as well.
I really like Lila a lot more than I thought I would when I first saw her.
I mean, she’s gorgeous, of course. I've known that since I first met her. But her personality, she’s honest and straightforward and matter-of-fact in a way that I appreciate more than she could ever know.
We ride to the gym in companionable silence and walk inside.
Lila pays while I stand there and pull out my driver's license.
"You're going to be in room G, right over there," the bored-looking attendant says, pointing to the door.
Lila nods at me, and we head over and wait outside.
There's a gaggle of women all staring at me, and I wonder if I've made a mistake in accompanying Lila, but then I notice they're all kind of checking me out and flirting, and I offer them a wide smile.
I'm about to say something when my phone beeps.
I look down and see it's Marie. "Hey," I say, answering quickly.
"Can you talk to me for a second?" she asks, sounding upset.
"I'm just about to take a class. Can it wait?"
"Please, Max. I need to talk to you for just one second. Please."
"Fine," I say, letting out a deep sigh. I point to the phone, look over at Lila, and then head back outside.
"Hey, what's going on? Is everything okay?"
"I have to come in a couple of days. I can't wait until next week."
"What's going on, Marie?"
"I don't want to tell you, but it's really serious. I don't want you to be mad at me, and I don't want you to judge me, but—"
"Marie, what's going on? Tell me now."
"I'm not going to tell you until I get there, okay? Please, let me come in two days. Please let me stay with you. I can't stand it here anymore."
"Of course, you know you always have a home with me, no questions asked." I take a deep breath. "Send me your flight information, and I'll pick you up at the airport."
"Oh, my gosh. Thank you so much. I love you, Max."
"I love you, too. Okay. I don't want to miss the beginning of this class, so I'll talk to you later?"
"Okay," she hiccups. "I'll email you the information for the flight. Oh, and can I use your credit card?"
"I assumed that's what you were going to do," I say, laughing.
"And Max?"
"Yes, you can book a first-class ticket," I say.
"How can you read my mind?"
"I don't know. Maybe my new assistant passed her powers on to me," I say, chuckling.
"What?" Marie sounds confused.
"Nothing. I'll talk to you later." I hang up the phone and head back inside to the class. As soon as I walk in, I see all the women looking over at me. I search for Lila and find her grinning at me.
"Hey, darling," she says. "I'm so glad you made it before the class started."
"Hey," I say, feeling very confused by her words. Did she just call me darling? She blows me a kiss, and I realize that something is really off.
"Come sit next to me. I saved you a bike, my love."
"Um, okay," I say, heading over to the other side of the room. As I get closer to her, I lower my voice. "What's going on?"
"What do you mean, what's going on, goofy? You're my adoring boyfriend, and I'm so grateful that you took this class with me."
"Um, okay," I say, getting onto the bike. I look around and see all the women looking at Lila enviously, including one who looks suspiciously like Lucinda Whittington from the Google photographs that Lila showed me previously. I don't know what happened while I was outside, but if she wants to pretend that I’m her boyfriend, I’m not going to say no.
The class goes by much faster than I thought it would, and I also enjoy it a lot more than I thought it would. Lila, however, looks absolutely exhausted by the time the teacher starts clapping and telling us to congratulate ourselves.
"You guys killed it. Who wants to go again?" the teacher says. A bunch of the women start clapping and screaming, but Lila just moans. I get off the bike, walk over to her, and rub her back. "You okay?"
"I am literally exhausted," she says. Her face is bright red and blotchy, and I can't help but laugh. "It's not funny. I'm so out of shape."
"I think you're okay, darling."
"Hey, you two." A blonde heads over to us. The same blonde that I'm pretty sure is Lucinda Whittington. "How did you guys like the class? You're new, right?"
"Yeah, we're new," Lila says. "I did okay, but I think my boyfriend here absolutely loved it.
He's so sporty and muscular. I'm so jealous.
" She puts her hand on my arm, and I grab it and hold it, squeezing affectionately.
She looks at me with a quick shot of surprise, but if she wants to be touchy-feely, I'm going to go for it.
"Well, he definitely looks muscular to me," Lucinda says as she turns her attention to me with an appreciative look in her eyes.
I look over at Lila and find her wearing a frown.
If this is how Lucinda acts with every man she comes into contact with, I can certainly understand why Jack is divorcing her and doesn't want to give her a penny.
Lucinda is a flirt, and I can tell by the bedroom eyes she's giving me that if I agreed to go into the bathroom with her and fuck her right here and now, she would definitely be going for it.
I'm about to tell Lila that we should just leave when Lucinda puts her hand on Lila's shoulder. "Do you guys want to grab some smoothies with us? A bunch of us usually go after class to the place next door so we can get to know each other."
"Oh, that would be great," Lila says. "Do you mind if my boyfriend comes? He's the love of my life, and we just love spending so much time together."
"Yeah, we really do," I say. "I just can't be apart from this woman.” I pull Lila into my side.
"Darling, I know I tell you this all the time, but you are just so freaking sexy," I say as I grab her head and lean down and give her a long, soft kiss.
She melts against me, and I feel her arms wrap around my neck, her fingers in my hair, and all of a sudden, my tongue is in her mouth.
I just love the feel of her sweaty body against mine.
She's so feminine against my hardness, and I just want to take her.
The kiss ends when I hear subtle coughing coming from a grinning Lucinda. "Well, I know spinning turns some people on, but maybe you guys can wait until after the smoothie?"
"Oh, of course," Lila says, blushing as she pulls away from me. "Sorry, he just really gets out of control sometimes."
"It's because I just love to be with you so much," I say. "Right, darling?"
"Yeah," she says, wrinkling her nose in the cutest way, and I realize that I am enjoying playing the part of her doting boyfriend.