Chapter5
After Aaliyah’s magnificent storm out of the restaurant, everyone believed without a doubt that the relationship was completely over. The media had snapshots of her storming away, pure rage in her face, as Max chased after her. The next day, even Eli called to say that he was sorry their plan had blown up but he’d still pay her out a tidy sum for her troubles and be a reference as well. The next day, no one had any thought that Max had come to apologize to Aaliyah, and especially that their fight had fueled such passion from them both.
There was something about Max, something that brought out a fighting side of her that she’d never known before. What girl in her right mind would storm away from someone as incredibly sexy as Max? And yes, she did fully realize just how sexy he was, especially after the night they’d shared. She’d even been having a great time at dinner until a fire was lit inside of her when she saw that girl’s foot sliding up his pant leg. They’d had a deal, and she was beyond humiliated. And she had to admit that storming away the way she had had made her feel good—strong.
What she hadn’t expected was to have Max chasing after her. So she hopped in a cab and begged it to speed off, leaving Max and his little friend in her wake. But he chased her again, getting his driver to take him to her apartment, which Aaliyah had to admit seemed romantic. That was until she opened the door to him and saw that same fire that she felt in her stomach was blazing in his eyes.
“You humiliated me!” he shouted, pushing his way past her and into her apartment.
She could have backed down; normally she did back down, but that fire just wasn’t stopping. Besides, what right did he have to be mad at her? He was the one who’d been caught with a woman’s foot on his crotch.
“Me? What was the one thing I told you that you needed to do?” she shouted back. “I don’t see how you can even consider that having that tramp take my seat and run her foot up your leg is giving me respect.”
“I gave you respect all night,” he growled. “I stayed off my phone and gave you my full attention all night. Damn it, I was actually having a good time with you!”
“Well I was, too!”
Both of them were breathing hard, trying to catch their breath, not only from yelling but also from their frustrations. Aaliyah looked at him and, for the millionth time since she’d met him, she was taken aback by how good looking he really was. And how sexy he looked when he was mad. They stared at each other, both stone cold with anger, but something flashed in his eyes, and she didn’t even have time to wonder if he was thinking about her the same way she was thinking about him before he closed the gap between him and his lips were on hers.
***
Aaliyah closed her eyes as she felt his even breathing while he slept next to her. She lay there next to him, replaying the entire scene in her mind. Without thinking, and she didn’t even remember it happening, their clothes had been stripped off and left in puddles on the floor. She remembered reveling in how his body had felt, hard with muscle and smooth against hers. How his lips had melted into her own skin as he kissed from her lips down to her neck, covering her breasts and sucking lightly on her nipples, trailing down to her most sensitive area. By the time his tongue had started licking between her legs, she had already been panting with desire. He’d groaned when he tasted her, and that had made her even wetter than she already had been.
She’d pushed her fingers through his disheveled hair and pulled him up, bringing his lips back to hers where she’d tasted herself. If she’d paused for even a moment to think about it, she’d have probably stopped herself from doing anything further with him. But there was something about him, something that drove her crazy all the way through her body. He made her a different person, one that confused her. But if feeling the way she’d felt the moment that he had pushed her up against the wall and slid his hard cock inside of her was the reward for the new girl she’d become, she’d gladly take it.
She’d wrapped her legs tightly around him as he drove into her, pumping harder and faster, making every nerve go wild with anticipation and desire. What had made everything even better was the way he’d groaned against her, telling her how good she felt and how hard she made him. She’d never had anyone seem so turned on by her, and that had made her feel even sexier and stronger. She’d wanted to hold on, to watch him finish first, but she hadn’t been able to hold out any longer, and her entire body had trembled as it exploded with ecstasy.
Her body shaking around him must have been the last thing he’d needed to take him over his own edge, because the moment her body had stopped shaking, he’d pulled himself from her, and she’d watched his face as she felt his release hot on her stomach.
Both had been panting again, but for completely different reasons. He’d buried his face on her neck and breathed against her while she used the wall to hold herself up on her shaking legs.
“What the hell just happened?” he’d asked her between gulps of air.
She had laughed a little, feeling confused herself. “I have no idea.”
“One minute I was furious with you, and then the next it was like I couldn’t keep my hands away from you. God, that was amazing.”
Max had pushed off of the wall and taken her hand, leading her to the bed where he’d pulled her down into it with him. And that’s where they still lay, him breathing the even breaths of sleep and her barely awake but with a smile on her face.
The smile didn’t last long when once she woke up and reached for Max, she immediately felt that the side of the bed was empty and cold. Immediately, she knew that he’d left her earlier in the night; he’d slipped out without even saying goodbye. There was that fire again, that burn of anger that she got for him when she saw just how obnoxious he really was. It wasn’t until the next day that she even heard from Max again, and by that time, she was so frustrated she couldn’t even think straight.
So dinner tonight? was his text.
Are you kidding me? was her reply.
Her phone started to chime with an incoming call, and she answered it with full irritation in her voice.
“You just leave without saying anything at all. I don’t hear from you until an entire day later, and that’s how you ask me to dinner?”
Max paused on the other end, “Not that it wasn’t fun, but getting physical was clearly a mistake. This is why I don’t do relationships. As soon as it gets physical, there’s too much attachment. Let’s just go back to the contract—keep things strictly business.”
“Fine by me.”
That conversation became a regular one between the two of them as the weeks went by. Most of the nights they went out, there would be some sort of an irritation between the two, usually having to do with Max being obnoxious and Aaliyah letting that fire out. And that ended up in them not being able to keep their hands off each other, no matter where they were.
There was the time they fought at a fancy dinner for three basketball players—they wound up in the coat room, her on her knees with him in her mouth. There was also the time that she stormed away from a meeting with him in the office and they’d ended up hitting the emergency button as he hiked up her skirt and did her right there in the elevator. The rules of the contract were completely thrown out the window, but they both used it constantly against each other, always threatening to walk away.
It was probably the most destructive and toxic thing that Aaliyah had ever been a part of. But like most things that are bad for you, she couldn’t stay away from it. Every time he’d come back with an apology or anger, she’d take him right back. She was always convincing herself, and Caroline, that she needed the money, she needed the contract, but as the weeks went on, she started to suspect that she might need his burning touch just as much.
It wasn’t as if he wasn’t making out great on the deal, too. She knew that her demands were far more than most of the women he’d been with, and she could drive him crazy sometimes. Yet he couldn’t keep off her, couldn’t keep away, just as much as she couldn’t. And even better for him was the fact that they were all over the media, his reputation being repaired with each picture they took together. Fans and the organization loved his new attitude. He showed up to practices and was making more shots on the court; he was cleaned up like a shiny new penny.
Eli couldn’t be more pleased with everything. Of course, she grumbled every day to him about how insufferable Max was, but Eli told her to keep going. She’d never said a word about anything physical happening, and she was sure that Max hadn’t either, yet Eli seemed to sense that there was more to their story than she was letting on. No matter how she tried to hide it, there was a certain gleam in Eli’s eyes every time he saw them together that told her he suspected something.
Her suspicion was confirmed when they were at a team event one night. Eli caught her by the elbow as she was taking a glass of champagne from the table.
“Max can be a handful, but you’re keeping your guard up, right?” he asked.
Aaliyah took a sip of champagne. “What do you mean by that?”
“I see the way he looks at you. Just remember—this is a deal, a rouse. A contract. Try not to let yourself fall into the Max Connors hole. Too many women have been trapped there, and he doesn’t pull any of them out.”
Before she could ask anything further, Eli was tapped on the shoulder and pulled into a new conversation. She turned to face the room, her eyes searching for Max. When she saw him, she felt her heart beat a little faster, and she took another sip.
She realized that Eli’s warning was just a little too late.