43. 43
Iwasn’t asleep. I heard what Maximus said.
He said he was falling in love with me, but how? And why?
What am I supposed to say to that? How can I say I love him when I’ve never been in love? My marriage was one of lust, never love, although he told me again and again.
It feels different with Max. It feels… good. Right.
I feel good with him, like I should be here. That it’s where I belong.
The realization terrifies me. It confuses me because I’ve never belonged with anyone. I’m my own person, capable of taking care of myself. I’ve never needed anyone but with Max—
I don’t need him. I can’t, because where will that leave me if he lets me down?
But what if he doesn’t? What if Max is the first person to care enough not to let me down?
I wake up to a warmth pressed against my back, and the heavy weight of Max’s arm pinning me in place.
It’s a very different sensation than waking up with Noam holding me the same way.
It’s enough to make me lie quietly with him, enjoying being held rather than looking for a way to escape.
I’ve perfected the escape but maybe it’s time to work on staying. Of starting something new.
With Max.
The thought makes me smile as I wriggle against him—not to escape but to wake him up. His breathing hitches and his hand flattens against my stomach as he pulls me tighter against him. “No,” he growls.
“No, what?” Another wiggle, pushing against him, the hardness pressing insistently against my ass. Max grinds against me before rolling away.
“You’re going to kill me,” he rasps. “I’m going to fuck you so slowly that you’ll beg me for more, but it’s going to wait until we get home—”
“Home?” The word is foreign; home seems like a different land, a different world than the perfect bubble I’ve found myself in.
I wish we could stay right here in the condo. Dexter and even Nick can stay as well. I like them, I like their company and they make me laugh. Plus, they seem to like me…
“Flight’s in an hour, babe. You’re the one who said you wanted to leave early.”
Dimly, I remember saying that, but now I’m kicking that Cady with everything I’ve got for not guessing I was going to want to stay in Max’s arms all day.
How would I ever guess that? How would I know the drunk guy in the elevator three nights ago would make me come four times?
Four.
And I still want more.
But it’s not just sex. It’s good, but I’ve had my share of satisfaction in the bedroom—
Actually, I really haven’t. Not a lot of men have treated me like Max.
He roughly rolls me onto my back, making me laugh. “You giggle,” he accuses. “I love it.”
“That was not a giggle,” I protest, smiling up at him despite the stutter of fear of his use of the word. Love.
I think I’m falling in love with you.
His hair is a mess, sticking straight up in part, but his eyes, as sleepy as they are, look down at me with— “It was a very sophisticated laugh,” I manage.
How can Max look at me like that? Like he… like he wants more than just to have sex with me.
“Sophisticated, my ass.”
“I like your ass.” To show how much, I grab him with both hands as Max climbs over me on the way to the bathroom, hard cock brushing my stomach.
“Come and watch me jerk off in the shower, because that’s all the action you’re getting until that plane touches down,” he invites, sauntering naked to the bathroom. “And that’s your fault for wanting to leave early.”
“I’ll pay for the pilot to go sit on the beach for a couple of hours,” I call.
“It’ll take longer than that for me to get my fill of you.” I hear the water start in the shower before Max pokes his head out. “My father texted and said he booked the condo for this afternoon, so we’ve got to get back anyway.”
“Text,” I moan. “I can’t believe I lasted this long without my phone. I haven’t even checked email since we left.”
“You can use mine.” Max points to it on the bedside table and rattles off his passcode.
“It’s so strange not knowing everything that’s going on,” I tell him as I pick up his phone slower than I would have expected. This is the link back to the real world. I should want to check in with Tana, to find out any updates on the Tingel deal, if there is any further threat from Preston.
Two whole days away. That’s a first.
I don’t hate it as much as I thought I would.
“Do you have a need to know everything that’s going on?” Max reaches an arm up to grasp the doorframe, leaving him stretched out and open for me to…
I stare. I can’t help it. Max is built, with ripples of muscles drawing my eyes as I drink him in. Long and lean with a sprinkling of hair along his chest, dipping down—
“See something you like?” Max drawls. I tear my gaze away to see his smirk.
“No.” I throw a pillow at him. “Go away.”
“Feel free to join me,” he offers with another grin before disappearing under the water.
He doesn’t shut the bathroom door.
He told me his password.
I’ve never been one for dating, but I think both are pretty important.
So is the hiccup of my heart when I think about flying home with him. Not just excitement about what will happen when we get there, but what’s going to happen when we get there.
What will happen to the Max and Cady who spoon together at night and who joke and tease in the morning?
The tightness in my stomach overrules the stutter.
Maximus Steele and Cady Quinn. Who started this weekend with an agenda that did not involve falling for each other.
At least I had an agenda. I’ve kind of forgotten what that was now.
I punch in Max’s code. Maybe he only wanted to get into my pants, and if that’s the case, he certainly succeeded, charming the literal panties off me and—
A flurry of notifications fills his screen.
I won’t look at them. I shouldn’t look at them.
I can’t help it, especially when I see most of them are from his father.
Get rid of that bitch and meet me at Tingel. We’re heading up ASAP when plane is back. I’m finishing this deal myself but you’re coming to watch to see just how it’s done.
You better get numbers for what she’s asking so we can counter. If you’re any son of mine, you’ll take advantage of the opportunity.
It’s your own fault when she tosses you aside but at least we’ll get Tingel out of this.
How… how did he know? How did Dalton Steele know I offered to buy Tingel Island? Max had no idea so how could his father? Either Max is a good actor or…
I stare at the steam billowing out of the bathroom, my stuttering heart flatlining.
Or Max told his father that I was interested in the property. He had an entire day to do so. How many times did I see him on his phone?
Thiswas his agenda.
Keep me distracted. Get my head out of the game so his father had the time to play catch-up.
Another notification flashes as I hold Max’s phone, sick to my stomach at how he used me.
That I had the same agenda doesn’t register through my hurt and disappointment, and anger—anger at Max and a great wave of rage at myself.
This is why I don’t do relationships. I don’t do cuddling in bed and laughing together; I don’t do friends and dance at weddings and walk in the moonlight.
I don’t do it and I sure as hell am not going to do Maximus Steele again.
I scan the text, without really seeing more than a few words: idiot, worthless, knows nothing about business. I text a response, my thumbs flying over the screen even as the water turns off.
How dare he?
“Hey, maybe I should have brought you in here with me, and then we might have had time to—” Max says, appearing in the doorway with a towel slung around lean hips, water droplets glistening on his chest.
A few minutes ago, the sight would have sent me running to him, but now…
“Cady? What’s wrong?” He crosses to the bed in three steps, snatching his phone out of my hands and glancing at the screen. “What did—? Fucking hell! What did you do?” He glares at me, all of his soft affection and hard desire vanishing in an instant. “You texted my father?”
“You told him about Tingel Island? I told you—I trusted you!” I rage, scrambling out of bed and searching for any clothes. Because this is going to get nasty and doing it naked will make it that much worse.
“Patel told him when he was trying to clean up my mess,” he insists. “Said he liked your offer better, but he’d give Sandflower another chance.”
“You did not make a mess,” I cry, pushing away the news that Patel liked me better. “You were respectful and considerate and—”
Max glances down at the phone in his hand. “You told him that?”
“I told him he’s an ass, and you’re a much better man than he is.”
He’s reading the full text. “You… threatened him?”
“He deserves it. But maybe I shouldn’t have bothered knowing that this was your idea to bring me here, to spy on me. To find out more. To use me!”
I clutch Max’s shirt against me, panting with fury and hurt.
Disappointment.
“Use you? How can I spy on you when you don’t even have your phone?” Confusion laces Max’s words. “And I had no idea there was anything to spy on. I wanted you here even before I found out you were trying to get that bloody island.”
“You… wanted… me here?” Emotions roil in my stomach like bad alcohol. “To find out what I know,” I burst out. “You used me.”
“Calm down and ask yourself if you really believe that. Favour, my ass. I couldn’t care less about Marcus trying to set me up. I wanted you, but it was you using me. You only cared about what you could get from me.” He shakes his head. “Typical woman using me to get close to my father.”
“I do not want to get close to your father. I want you—I want to go home.” Tears of frustration threaten. How could I think—what do I think?
Did Max tell his father? And if he did, so what? All is fair in business and I would have done the same thing. I came here to get more information.
If that’s the case, why have I not asked him anything?
I’m confident my offer is better, so why do I need Max to make it happen? I can do it on my own. If Sandflower is worried enough to try to use me—
However I try to spin it, it stinks of betrayal and that hurts. It stings and it throbs and—
Max stares, chest heaving. “What are we doing?”
It’s there, like a line in the sand. If I take a step across it, and meet Max half way, we can figure this out. We can make this go away.
If I take a step, I’ll open my heart to him. I’ll open myself up, I’ll trust him. And he’ll walk in and shatter it all.
I can’t.
It may be cowardly or weak, but I can’t take that step. I have to protect me.
Even as my heart splits loud enough that Max should hear it, I take a step back and leave that line intact.
“You’re going to figure out how I can get home now without stepping foot in your private jet,” I say coldly. Throwing down his shirt, I yank open the closet door, the hangers clanging as I pull down my clothes.
The dress he bought me is still in the hall. I throw the rest on the bed.
“Did Daddy let you use the plane so you can do his dirty work?” I accuse.
Max crosses his arms. “You’re really doing this?”
“I’m packing so I can get out of here, away from you, as quick as I can. If your father thinks he can steal my property—”
“It’s not yours,” Max roars, surprising me with his burst of anger. “This is a business deal. It’s not about us.”
“There is no us,” I say flatly. I manage to get my suitcase onto the bed and start throwing my things in without seeing properly. Breathing in ragged gasps, I keep blinking because something is wrong with my eyes.
“Is this how you deal with setbacks? You run away?”
“I’m running away from you because I don’t want to be with you.”
“You lie.”
“You’re the liar.”
“You’re being childish.”
I whirl and point my finger at him. “I can’t be childish because I’ve never been given the luxury of being a child. Unlike you—always acting like a child trying to make daddy mad because he took away your play toy. You try to try to piss him off, then change gears and suck up to him by throwing me under the bus. Why don’t you be a man and demand respect for once, instead of playing sad little boy?”
Max’s face… He is no longer my Max. His eyes flame and lips tighten like he’s holding back words. “Just say it,” I demand. “Say what you really think of me. I know you want to.”
“What do you know about respect? The only way you’ll get it is if you buy it,” he spits, his words only furthering the flame of anger ready to consume me.
I snatch up his phone and punch in a number. “Tana, it’s me. I’m at Sandflower Resort and I need you to get me a car, and get me on a flight and get me the hell out of here.” I stare accusingly at Max as I speak clearly and calmly. “And Dalton Steele knows we’re after Tingel, so get on that.”
Max runs his hand through his wet hair. “Should have known you’d be like this,” he says bitterly as I throw his phone onto the bed. “All that money and what do you have to show for it? Nothing. You’ve got nothing, Cady, and that’s all your fault.”