Chapter 34
34
STELLA
I climbed out of our private pool, reached for the towel, sat on the sun lounger and started drying my skin.
There was no sign of Max in the living room. Once he’d wolfed down his breakfast, he’d said he had to do something and left.
I knew Max wasn’t expecting me to say I wasn’t bothered about him not being able to commit to something long term. I’d caught him completely off guard. And I wasn’t surprised.
A week ago, if someone told me I would’ve been so casual about sleeping with a guy (especially Max), I wouldn’t have believed them. But now that I had, I felt kind of strong. Powerful. Like a woman who knew what she wanted and went for it.
More often than not, it was men who called the shots. And yeah, I kind of waited for Max to make the first move, but I was also clear about the fact that I wanted him.
What I’d said to Max was true. I was horny. My vibrator wasn’t charged and I knew he’d be good in bed. I had an opportunity to solve my sexual frustration so I grabbed it with both hands .
The thing I said about not every woman wanting to settle down and make babies was also true.
Full disclosure: yes, I did want that at some point, but when we were on that massage bed, I wasn’t thinking about living happily ever after. I was caught up in the heat of the moment and wasn’t thinking any further ahead than getting some good old satisfaction.
Right now, playing happy families with Max wasn’t what I wanted. We both had bigger priorities. Max said he needed to focus on his company and I had aspirations too. I wanted a career I loved and I needed to find my own place. Once I had that, then I could consider finding someone.
I knew Mum was hoping I’d come here and find the love of my life. And I admit, once I’d got my head around coming here, part of me also wished for that too, but seeing as it wasn’t on the cards, there was no point dwelling on it. Mum also wanted me to enjoy myself and live my life, which was exactly what I was doing. And it felt good.
The last thing I needed was to repeat my past mistakes by making Max the centre of my universe, wasting my days dreaming of us falling in love and having a relationship, only to end up devastated all over again.
When I got back to London, I didn’t want to be sitting by the phone wondering if he’d call or trying to decode what his text messages meant. That was why I’d agreed to us being friends.
It was better that way. Safer.
Was it going to be difficult to keep my hands off Max? Definitely. If I had my way, I’d ask him if he wanted to pick up where we left off in the early hours of this morning. But that wasn’t a good idea.
I was glad we’d had that talk this morning, before either of us started catching feelings. At this stage, it was easier to nip any emotions in the bud.
We’d be fine.
I walked to the other end of the patio and slid open the bedroom doors. I spotted Max in the hallway.
‘Hi,’ I said.
‘Hey.’
‘What you up to?’
‘Just finished some work stuff. Was thinking about going for a walk on the beach. Wanna come with me?’
I would very much like to come with you.
‘Okay,’ I said, warning my mind to get out of the gutter. ‘Can you give me ten minutes?’
‘Course.’
Once I was dressed, we dropped off our memory book photo selection choices to reception then headed down to the sea.
‘Beautiful, isn’t it?’ I slipped off my flip-flops so I could feel the sand beneath my feet. It was quickly becoming one of my favourite things to do.
‘It really is. Gonna be so hard to go back to reality after this.’
‘What sort of stuff do you do at your company?’
‘The short answer is a lot . I kind of oversee everything, product development, marketing, looking at different markets to expand into, meetings. It’s endless.’
‘Don’t you have staff to help?’
‘Yeah, but I like to be hands-on, y’know?’
‘Well, not really. I’ve never run a business before so…’ I shrugged.
‘I know you mentioned before that you do design but what kind of clients do you work for?’
‘At the moment, I work for my mum. ’
‘Oh yeah? So we’re both involved in family businesses, that’s cool! What’s her company?’
‘You promise not to laugh?’
‘Laugh? Why?’
‘She makes sexy underwear.’
‘Really?’ Max’s eyes widened. ‘I remember she used to work at a factory before making underwear, but that was vanilla stuff, right?’
‘Yeah. Don’t get me wrong, we do still sell normal knickers, but our bestsellers are the personalised ones.’
‘Tell me more about these personalised knickers,’ Max smirked.
I explained and Max asked lots of questions. Not just about the kinky requests, but the business too. He seemed genuinely interested.
‘So yeah, I handle all the orders and admin. When I first started, I redesigned the website and marketing materials but now that’s done, there’s not much need for design work, apart from the odd promotion or creating visuals for social media stuff.’
‘Do you think you’ll ever branch out and do stuff for other clients?’
‘I’d love to. I miss the creativity. As much as I enjoy working for Mum, I don’t want to do it forever. I’d like to run my own freelance graphic design business, take on my own clients, challenge myself.’
‘You should do it!’ Max said. ‘Good graphic designers are hard to find. We’re having a nightmare with the company we use at the moment.’
‘Why?’
‘I think they’ve got complacent. We’ve used them for a couple of years now and the stuff they sent over for a new olive oil body care range was pretty terrible. The branding looked so dated.’
‘I could do some designs for you if you want?’ The words shot out of my mouth before I had a chance to think. I shouldn’t have said anything. Now Max would feel awkward. ‘No obligation. You don’t have to pay me or anything. I genuinely love your products and they deserve to do well so maybe if I did some sketches or something it could give them some direction.’
‘I’d love that,’ Max replied.
‘Really?’ I couldn’t hide the surprise in my voice. I thought he’d just fob me off. Then again, I basically said I’d do it for free so he had nothing to lose.
‘ Yes , really . But of course I’ll pay you. Your work has value and I respect that.’
‘Oh. Thanks. Send me the brief and I’ll do some brainstorming later or tomorrow.’
‘You’re on holiday. I can’t ask you to do that!’
‘I don’t mind. I can do it by the pool or something. As long as you keep me topped up with cocktails!’
‘You sure?’
‘Yeah. I wouldn’t say so otherwise. I enjoy it. I wish I could do it full time.’
‘Then you should. It’s important to follow your dreams.’
‘Yeah, but Mum needs me.’
‘Who’s taking care of things whilst you’re here?’
‘Believe it or not, Mum’s roped in the vicar’s wife!’ I chuckled.
‘No!’ Max laughed and the sound made butterflies dance in my stomach. ‘That’s hilarious! Do you think she’ll take some of those thongs home and wear them for her husband?’
‘Who knows? Maybe Mum made her one that says “Sinner”!’
‘Yeah!’ He laughed again. ‘So do you have any of these sexy thongs?’ His eyes darkened .
‘Max!’ I gently slapped his bicep playfully. God, it felt so good. ‘That’s not a question that friends ask each other.’
‘Why not? It’s a totally innocent question!’
‘That’s for me to know and for you to find out,’ I flirted.
‘Is that an invitation?’ The corner of his mouth turned up into a smile.
‘No comment,’ I said.
I was actually wearing one of the thongs Mum had given me right now, but I wasn’t about to tell Max that.
‘Anyway, if you really want to go out on your own, you should go for it. I’m sure your mum will support you.’
Hearing Max’s encouragement warmed my heart. Maybe one day I’d think about branching out, but not yet.
‘What do you want to do for lunch?’ I said.
‘I don’t mind cooking in the villa. It’s nice to have a kitchen.’
‘Do you like cooking?’
‘Yeah. I like being able to control what ingredients are used. Making things exactly how I like them.’
‘You’re a real health enthusiast, aren’t you? The working out, the salads… You were always careful, but it seems like you’re into it a lot more now.’
‘I am.’ His voice went low. ‘Because of what happened to Mum. That motivated me to take better care of myself.’
‘Makes sense. I’m no chef, but I’m okay in the kitchen. I make a mean macaroni cheese. Not exactly healthy, but it’s one of my signature dishes.’
‘Maybe you can make it for me sometime.’ Max faced me.
Our eyes locked and my stomach fluttered. All I wanted right now was for him to lean down and kiss me.
‘I’d love to. I can do something healthier like ginger and chilli salmon. ’
‘You’d make that for me?’ Max said, brushing away the strand of hair that had blown onto my cheek.
‘Yeah,’ I murmured. Max’s thumb was still brushing my cheek and even though it was another hot sunny day, the heat from his palms sent goosebumps scattering across my skin.
‘You’re really easy to talk to,’ Max said. ‘I like spending time with you.’
‘I like spending time with you too.’
As his head moved closer to mine, my heart started to race.
‘I like doing so much with you.’
‘What else do you like doing with me?’
‘I can’t tell you.’
‘I thought you just said I was easy to talk to?’
‘You are.’
‘So tell me then,’ I insisted.
‘It’s not just talking that I like doing with you.’ Max’s eyes darkened. ‘And that’s the problem.’
‘If you could do anything with me right now, what would it be?’
‘You don’t want to know.’
‘I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t. Tell me.’
‘First, I’d kiss you.’
‘Hmm-hmm.’ Shockwaves raced up my spine.
‘Then I’d lay you on the sand, pull up your top, unhook your bra and suck on your beautiful nipples.’ His eyes were now the colour of charcoal.
‘And after that?’ I asked, wetness pooling between my legs.
‘I’d lift up that skirt to see if you’re wearing one of those thongs, then I’d drag it to one side, make you come again with my mouth, then fuck you until you begged me to stop.’
‘I wouldn’t ask you to stop.’ I ran my hands over his chest. Max stepped forward and his erection pressed into my belly. God. I wanted him so badly.
He took my face in his hands, dipped his head then kissed me. Hard. Fast. Passionately.
I groaned into his mouth, grabbed his bum and pulled him into me.
Just as his hand slid up my skirt, the sound of someone clearing their throat loudly vibrated in my ears.
We both pulled apart then spun around to see Olga scowling at us.
‘You have a room at the hotel, sí ?’
‘Hi, Olga!’ Max smiled. ‘So nice to see you again! Erm, yeah, funnily enough we do.’
‘Well, I think that you should use it!’ She stormed off.
‘Oh my God,’ I laughed. ‘She must think we’re a couple of exhibitionist-nymphos.’
‘I suppose we can’t blame her. Every time she sees us, we’re in a compromising position out in the open.’
‘So much for just being friends,’ I grinned.
‘I know. I shouldn’t have kissed you. I’m trying to stick to the platonic thing, but you’re so fucking addictive, Stella, I can’t help myself.’
I felt the same way. When Max was around, all logic fell away.
‘Maybe we need to be realistic,’ I said. ‘We’re going to be living in the same house for another six days, we’re clearly attracted to each other so we can either spend the rest of our time here sexually frustrated and miserable or we can just enjoy ourselves. Together .’
‘So just whilst we’re at the hotel, then we walk away?’
‘Yeah,’ I nodded.
‘And you’re okay with that? ’
‘Yep.’
‘In that case, we better take Olga’s advice and go to our villa so we can continue what we started.’
‘Our conversation?’ I teased.
‘My mouth will be moving, but what I plan to do to you won’t involve any talking. And if I’m doing it right, you’ll be so turned on you’ll feel like you can’t even breathe, let alone speak.’
Hearing that made the elastic in my thong snap.
‘Well, what are you waiting for?’ I took his hand. ‘Hurry up and take me back to bed.’