CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Max’s Magic Rule #16:
No matter how successful you become, don’t forget your friends.
The next morning, Grace woke to the smell of coffee and bacon, two of her favorite things, but she didn’t smile until Max leaned down and kissed her shoulder. “Mmm,” she said without opening her eyes. She stretched, enjoying all the small tingles and aches that lingered from the night before. “I was right.”
“About what?”
“There’s nothin’ you can’t give a woman in bed.”
When he didn’t respond, she cracked her eyes, then opened them all the way. He was sitting beside her, a cup of coffee in one hand, and a worried expression on his face. “Hey. What happened? Did Chevrolet stop makin’ trucks?” Sitting up and tugging the sheet around her, she cupped his face. “Honey, you’re amazin’. In bed and out. I’m happier than a tornado in a trailer park right now. But I was referrin’ to you servin’ me breakfast in bed. I thought you believed I want you for you, not just your sexual prowess.”
He set the cup of coffee down on the nightstand, right next to a plate that held an omelet and bacon. He rubbed the back of his neck before kissing her lightly, as if to reassure both of them. “I do. It’s just a hard habit to break, thinking everyone sees me as a…well, a…”
She arched a brow. “Man-whore?”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Funny. Melina once called me that.”
She laughed. “If she did, I’m sure it was in the most lovin’ way possible.”
“Well, the only time I ever want you to call me that is when you can say it lovingly.” He rested his forehead against hers. “Because it’s going to be very easy to fall in love with you, too, Grace. In fact, I think I’m more than halfway there.”
“Max—”
The phone rang from the other room and he frowned. “That’s my cell. It might be Rhys. Don’t move.”
When he left, she flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Then a grin split her face and she had to stop herself from leaping to her feet and dancing right then and there.
“Grace,” Max said. She looked up, immediately tensing. The worried expression was back.
“Melina—”
He shook his head. “No, she’s fine. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have made you think…” He ran a hand through his hair.
“What is it?”
“That was Elizabeth on the phone.”
Elizabeth. As in Elizabeth Parker, the hot blond actress he’d kissed in front of Lodi’s? She looked away but the distress she was feeling must have been obvious.
“Hey,” Max said, rushing to her side. “Look at me, Dixie.”
When she did, he cupped her face. “I am crazy about you. You have nothing to worry about with Elizabeth. We’re just friends.”
Friends who’d had sex with each other. Friends who’d been photographed in a passionate embrace just days ago. But it wasn’t like she didn’t have a past, too. And he’d so easily believed in her innocence against Logan Cooper’s accusations. She needed to believe in him, too.
“Okay,” she said. “So why do you look so worried?”
“Elizabeth was just about to board a plane to Vegas when she called and it’s probably getting ready to take off.”
Good Lord. Did this have to do with their plan? Had she called to arrange another photo op with Max? Because she knew Max wasn’t exactly hers, but she felt like he was. She didn’t want another woman’s anything on him, and she certainly didn’t want photos of it splashed all over the papers. “So you and she…” She waved her hand in a circle but he grabbed it and squeezed gently.
“This has nothing to do with our plan. She was upset. She said she’s about to cave and beg her cheating ex for another chance.”
“And she doesn’t have anyone else to go to?”
He winced. “I know it’s bad timing but…” Again he ran his hands through his hair.
“But she’s your friend,” she said.
“Yes. She is. But she’s just a friend. And you’re going to be so much more than that to me. You already are. If it makes you uncomfortable I won’t pick her up.”
She didn’t want him to go, of course, but the whole reason she was here with him right now was because she knew what a great guy he was. A great guy would be there for his friend. “You should go.”
“Are you saying you’re not uncomfortable with the idea?”
“I’m sayin’ I trust you, Max. That I wasn’t lyin’ when I said I wanted more than sex from you. I want… I want to build somethin’ special with you. Somethin’ lastin’.”
“I want that, too.”
She nodded and forced a big smile. “So how much time do you have?”
“How much time do we have. And the better question is how much ‘special’ can we fit into two hours?”
“I don’t know, but I’m lookin’ forward to findin’ out.”
“What about your breakfast?”
“I’ll take my eggs and coffee cold. So long as I get you while you’re hot.”
***
At Max’s request, Grace stayed at his condo after he left to pick up Elizabeth at the airport. He promised he’d be back in a few hours, after he had a chance to talk with her. Grace used the opportunity to visit Melina, who was doing great and would be going home the next day. She was just saying her goodbyes when Max called.
“Hey,” she said. “Everthin’ okay?”
“With Elizabeth? I’m hoping it will be soon.”
“Does that mean you’ll be back in time for a late lunch?”
“I’m not sure. Things are a little… complicated. But will you wait for me at my place?”
His serious tone finally registered. It seemed more than just serious because his friend was having troubles. It sounded like he wanted her to wait for him so he could have a talk with her about something she wouldn’t want to talk about.
She glanced at Melina and Rhys, whose heads were bent in conversation. She hadn’t told them about Elizabeth’s impromptu visit, just that Max had business to take care of and would be by later. Then she’d dodged Melina’s insistent questions about what was going on with her and Max. But she’d also blushed the whole time, making Melina laugh and only press harder until Rhys had said gently, “Ladybug, drop it. They’ll tell us in their own time.”
She caught them looking at her as she talked to Max and stuck her tongue out at them even as she turned away. The playful gesture, however, contrasted sharply with the worry Max’s demeanor and words had caused within her.
“Grace, will you wait for me?”
“Of course. But what’s wrong? You’re worryin’ me.”
She heard him exhale loudly, as if gathering his courage. “I told you, you have nothing to worry about as far as Elizabeth goes. Problem is, she got off the plane wasted and I’ve been trying to sober her up while at the same time keeping her off the radar.”
Poor Elizabeth, she thought. It was bad enough to be going through such a tough time without having to worry about bad press. “Anythin’ else?”
“She showed me a paper she bought at the airport. We’re in it, Grace. Someone took a picture of us kissing outside the baby store.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. That wasn’t great news, but it wasn’t horrible either.
“Grace, I’m sorry. I promised to keep things between us private and—”
“Max,” she said as she deliberately turned to face Melina and Rhys. “We kissed on the street.” Melina and Rhys grinned and gave one another a high five. Melina even did a little jig in bed, which made Melina nod and smile. “It’s not your fault. And I’m not upset. I mean, the two of us…if we’re goin’ to be together… People will find out. By the way, I just outed us to Melina and Rhys. They seem pleased as punch about it.”
For the first time, his tone lightened. “Good. Now I can kiss you wherever and whenever I like.”
“As if anythin’s changed,” she teased.
“I’ll see you soon, Dixie.”
“See you soon,” she said.
But hours later, even after wrapping up her visit with a very happy Melina and Rhys, visiting the gym and watching a movie from Max’s DVD collection, Max still hadn’t returned.
Now it was six p.m., about seven hours after Max left for the airport to pick up Elizabeth. She’d just put another movie into the DVD player when someone knocked on Max’s door.
She opened it to a nice looking man with curly dark hair. He wore a dress shirt and tie, a camera hanging from his shoulder, and a lanyard around his neck with some kind of ID. He was holding a pencil and pad of paper. “Ms. Sinclair, I’m Jeff Michaels with the Vegas Scoop.”
Grace moved to shut the door. Michaels stuck his foot into the doorway to block her.
Grace’s brows snapped down. “Move your foot. You have no business bein’ here.”
“You’re sleeping with Max Dalton, a celebrity around here, and he’s sleeping with Elizabeth Parker, an even bigger celebrity.”
She didn’t mean for it to come out. It just did. “Max is not sleepin’ with Elizabeth.”
Michaels smirked. “Sorry, but he is. I just came from seeing them check into a hotel near the airport.”
She lifted her chin. “I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck. You think I’ll just take your word on that?” Besides, even if he was telling the truth, Max had said Elizabeth was drunk and he’d needed to take her someplace away from prying eyes. A hotel would certainly qualify.
Michaels held up his camera and showed her the screen.
He’d taken a picture of Max and Elizabeth in what appeared to be a full-on clinch, but could very well have been a hug between friends—if one of those friends was extremely upset. In the image, Max wore the same dark slacks and mint green shirt he had on when he’d left. And there was a little time stamp at the bottom of the screen indicating it was taken about three hours earlier, right around the time Max called her.
It would have been easy for her to jump to conclusions but, with the whole fiasco with Logan Cooper still fresh in her mind, she didn’t. Instead, she remembered Max saying it would be easy to fall in love with her and she focused on that.
She focused on the fact she already loved him.
The reporter, however, wouldn’t give up. “I followed the two of you here earlier. When Dalton left, I followed him. After I saw him with Elizabeth, I figured I’d come back and see if you were still here…”
“So you could hurt me? Sorry, you’ve failed. I know what kind of man Max is and that’s all that matters. You can print whatever you want about him. I won’t think any less of him.”
Michaels finally withdrew his foot from the doorway. “Does that mean you have no comment about the story I’m about to break?”
“There is no story.”
“But there is. There’s the story about how Elizabeth Parker couldn’t keep her husband satisfied in bed and she’s venturing into new territories with an old boyfriend, only he’s cheating on her with a woman who likes sex so much, she harassed one of her students. A woman who likes sex so much she texted a naked picture of herself to Max Dalton’s cell phone.”