Chapter 27
27
MAX
‘Hey,’ I said softly as I slid onto the fancy coach seat next to Stella.
‘Hi,’ she replied. ‘How are you?’
‘Okay, thanks. You?’
‘Truthfully?’ Her voice lowered. ‘Really embarrassed.’
‘Why?’
‘Can we… maybe talk later?’ Stella gestured to the couple in front who seemed to have stopped their conversation to listen to ours.
‘Good idea.’
For the rest of the journey, we went through photos from the previous day that Jasmine had taken and thanked each other for the playlists we’d sent over earlier. I was relieved that the songs Stella had chosen were all positive and upbeat like mine.
After that, we took in the views from the window.
When we pulled up at the port, Stella’s eyes bulged. I didn’t blame her.
Jasmine said we were going on a boat. But this wasn’t a boat. It was a super yacht . The body was sleek, white and so shiny someone had probably spent the whole day waxing it.
‘Welcome!’ Jasmine said as we stood in the main area, which was like a living room with a bar area and plush leather sofas. A waitress started handing out glasses of champagne but I took some water instead. ‘In a few minutes we’ll set sail so you can admire the beauty of Malaga from the sea. A candlelit dinner for two will be served in individual cabins to give you and your match some privacy. I’ll let you know when everything’s ready. In the meantime, keep an eye out for sunset. It’ll be great for creating some more beautiful new additions to your memory book. Enjoy!’
The sound of flamenco music played in the background and I found myself tapping my feet as I breathed in the sea air.
It was another warm evening, so it was nice that there was a bit of breeze out on deck.
We found an empty seated area towards the back of the yacht and looked out at the views of the coastline.
‘Beautiful, isn’t it?’ Stella said.
‘Yeah. And this yacht really is something else. I thought we’d be travelling on a little tourist boat.’
‘Me too! When we boarded I had to try and stop my jaw from trailing on the floor and act like I hung out on super yachts all the time.’
‘You mean you don’t?’ The corner of my mouth twitched.
‘Surprisingly not!’ she laughed. ‘I should’ve remembered that The Love Hotel always pulls out all the stops.’
‘Definitely.’
‘Listen, Max, I just want to say a couple of things. Firstly, thanks for telling me the truth about what happened. I know it can’t have been easy for you to talk about everything you went through. I appreciate it. ’
‘Thanks. That means a lot.’
‘And I hope you don’t mind me asking and if it’s too difficult to talk about, you don’t have to, I just wondered…’
‘Go on. Ask me anything.’
‘What happened to your mum?’
I sucked in a breath. Damn. She was right. It was difficult. I didn’t like talking about it, but I didn’t want to hide anything from Stella any more.
‘For her whole life, Mum always thought she was invincible. She ate whatever she wanted, even if that meant having fry-ups and cream cakes, every day. And she smoked. A lot. Then there was the drinking. Like Dad, she drank more than she should.’
At that point, my mind drifted to my dad. I wondered if he was still alive. I’d cut all contact from him years ago. For all I knew, he was drunk in a ditch somewhere. I shouldn’t care after what he put me through, but a tiny part of me still did.
‘I’m sorry.’ Stella touched my hand. ‘It’s okay if you want to stop.’
‘I’m okay.’ I took a sip of water. ‘Hearing that Mum had high blood pressure and cholesterol shouldn’t have been a surprise and even when she got diabetes she didn’t take it seriously. She still kept eating and drinking the same shit. It was only when the doctor said she was morbidly obese and was at risk of a heart attack that she finally took action.’
‘Shit. What did she do?’
‘She started to eat better and got interested in organic food. She even became obsessed with checking the ingredients in all the products she used. That’s what led her to try making her own natural soaps and stuff using olive oil. She wasn’t working so had loads of time on her hands. That’s how her Olibella products were created. ’
‘But didn’t her lifestyle changes help?’
‘She tried but by the time she tried to reverse the damage, it was too late. In the end, she died of a heart attack.’
‘Oh, Max.’ Stella shuffled up closer and rubbed my back. ‘I’m so, so sorry.’
‘Yeah.’ I swallowed the lump in my throat. ‘Thanks. I’m happy I was able to carry on with her products so at least that’s her legacy.’
‘I think it’s great that you were able to do that. I’d love to try some of your products. You’ll have to send me a link of where to buy them.’
‘You don’t need to buy them,’ I smiled. ‘I’ll give you some!’
‘Oh, no, that wouldn’t be fair. They cost money to make, so I wouldn’t expect them for free.’
My chest inflated. Most people were happy to take freebies and didn’t give a shit about the costs, but not Stella. She’d always been a good person.
‘Consider it a gift. For putting up with me.’
‘Well, in that case, you better send a whole truckload of products!’ she laughed and my chest swelled even more. I was glad we’d lightened the mood. Shit was getting way too heavy.
‘Deal.’ I looked into her eyes. God, she had beautiful eyes. And a beautiful mouth. A mouth I wanted to kiss right now. To thank her for being so kind, understanding and thoughtful. Stella was fucking amazing.
She held my gaze and we sat in silence. Her leg was pressed against mine and her face was close. Almost close enough for our lips to touch.
Almost.
‘Um.’ Stella broke my gaze and I wondered if she felt the current of electricity pulsing between us. ‘There was something else… I, I’m, er, really, really sorry about what I said on the beach. I was really drunk and I…’
‘Did you mean it?’ I edged closer.
I knew she was embarrassed and probably didn’t want to talk about it, but I needed to know. A match had been lit inside me. I wanted Stella and I needed to know if there was any chance she felt the same.
‘Mean what?’ She pushed her sunglasses down from where they were resting on the top of her head to cover her eyes.
After dragging off my sunglasses, I whipped hers off her face.
‘Look at me,’ I commanded. ‘You know what I’m asking. But seeing as you’re asking me to spell it out, I want to know whether you meant what you said last night. Did you want something to happen between us?’
She swallowed hard and dropped her head to the floor. I lifted her chin and our eyes connected.
‘I…’
‘Tell me,’ I growled. ‘Last night you said we were gonna go to your room and finally fuck . Is that what you want? Do you want me to fuck you?’
Stella’s eyes widened.
I inched closer, my heart thundering in my chest and my hard-on straining against my shorts.
She looked up at me, her lips parting before leaning forward.
Fuck. She felt it too.
After years of pining for her, yearning to see her again, we were about to kiss.
As I ran my thumb over her cheek, Stella squeezed her eyes shut and a moan slipped from her mouth.
Jesus.
Just hearing that sound drove me wild. I didn’t care that we were on the boat with a group of other people. If Stella said the word, I’d do her right here. That was how badly I wanted her.
Our heads moved inwards, our lips now millimetres apart. I was just about to close the gap when the music stopped and Jasmine’s voiced boomed from the speaker.
‘Ladies and gents, dinner is served! Please come back inside so I can show you to your cabins.’
Stella and I sprang apart from each other like we were two teenagers who’d been caught screwing by their parents.
Talk about bad timing.
‘I…’ Stella stuttered. ‘We should… I need to go to the toilet. I’ll see you in there.’
Stella literally sprinted away.
What the hell just happened?
We were just about to kiss. I hadn’t imagined the connection. One minute there were more sparks flying between us than at a fireworks display. Then, the next, Stella couldn’t get away from me fast enough.
My mind raced.
I wanted Stella. So much.
Then again, maybe she was right to run.
All I could offer her now was sex and she probably wanted a relationship, which wasn’t something I could give her.
I had too much going on at work and I hadn’t had a proper relationship. Not since we dated.
Stella had only just forgiven me for my past fuck-ups. Hurting her once was bad, but twice? No way. I couldn’t do that again.
Yeah. I nodded to myself. Now that I thought about it, the timing of Jasmine’s interruption was perfect. She’d saved Stella from heartbreak and me from going through more years of guilt and regret .
I was glad that we’d cleared the air and were getting on better. But like I’d said from the start, this could never become anything romantic.
And I was relieved that Stella felt the same.