MAX

As I’m kissing her neck I realize, I need to do this as often as possible.

Natalie’s soft where I’m hard, pliable where I won’t bend. She yielded to me and then fought back, to turn me on. This is the second time we went there in a way I haven’t before with anyone. Usually there’s so much hesitancy, self-watching, posing, worrying, from the women I’ve been with. But this gritty female just kicked the memory of other girls off my historic bed.

I lock fingers with her and look her in the eye, catching my breath. There’s a wall staring back at me even as her breath hitches repeatedly in her attempts to slow her racing heart. I can feel it pounding, and that thrills me. I move my hips to stay inside her, give her parted lips a quick kiss. “You’re shaking.”

“No, I’m not,” she argues, frown instant.

“Okay, you’re not.”

“I uh, have to get going soon so…”

My smirk spreads to a grin. “So you want me to get out of you?”

“Um…yeah.”

My eyebrows lift, because I was kidding. But I do as she wishes, thinking, She’s more like a guy, this one. I dig it.

Needy is never sexy.

I don’t want anything serious anyway. Better that she keeps that wall high and steady. “No problem, Partner.”

“Partner?” She smiles with a little huff through her nose. “Max…”

“A director and producer are as close to business partners as you can get. But it lasts only the one project. So don’t freak out. You can run away from me soon.” I plant my feet on the floor and sit naked beside her. She watches me, eyes so intelligent I enjoy being the focus of her attention. “Unless you find the right chemistry where you can do more movies together, but that’s extremely rare.”

She scoots down to put her comfy home-clothes back on. “This shirt is barely able to cover me, it’s so torn.”

“Here.” I go to my dresser and pull out another t-shirt from one of my cousin’s concerts. “Borrow this. I’ve got enough of them.”

“You like Gabriel, huh?”

“I love him. Plus I do what I can to support.”

She puts on mine and balls her shirt up. “Guess I should throw this out. Where’s your trash?”

“Under the sink.” With a lazy stroll I follow her to my kitchen, lean against the counter and cross my arms as she chews on whatever is going on in her head.

“You’re not shy, are you?”

“Because I’m standing here with my dick out? I think we’re past the point where I need to cover myself. You’ve seen him close up.”

She shakes her head on a controlled smile, not wanting to let the wall slip even a millimeter. “You’re so cocky, Max,” she chuckles as she walks over to grab her fuzzy socks and slip them back on.

“Never heard that before,” I smirk.

“Yeah right.”

“Kinda comes with the name. And I thought you said those were mismatched.”

Her spine straightens as she tilts her head, “What do you mean?”

“You told me—”

“No, what do you mean, comes with the name?”

I shrug, “My last name.”

“I don’t know what your last name is.”

It hits me that I kept those interviews anonymous. Natalie and I never exchanged last names. I never got a resume from her. She crashed the interview.

Bending backward I laugh and grab onto the counter. “You don’t know, do you? That’s amazing! I love this!”

“Are you a Kennedy or something?”

“Ha! No! But…kind of.” Trying to gather my wits isn’t easy. The fact that we went hot and heavy and she was so ballsy with me when she didn’t know who I am makes this so much more appealing. “Oh shit, that’s good. This is exactly what I wanted. But I didn’t plan this, so don’t get upset. My last name is Cocker. I’m Max Cocker.”

Natalie blinks. “Like Gabriel Cocker.”

“Yep, my cousin.”

“And Eric Cocker, the quarterback?”

“He’s my cousin, too, yeah.”

Her eyes narrow and she glances away like this is disturbing news. “But I heard you guys were all assholes.”

A guffaw shoots out of my nose and I rush over and grab a paper towel, blowing it as I ask, buck naked, “Is that really what people are saying?”

“Yes!”

I toss the used towel into the garbage on top of her ruined shirt. “We aren’t assholes, but I’m getting a lot of similar feedback lately. Lots of wrong ideas about my family.”

“Can I have some water?” Natalie asks, motioning to the fridge.

“Sure, where are my manners?” I get a glass for her, fill it with the filtered faucet. “Ice?”

“No, thank you. Max, why didn’t you say who you were during those interviews? The girl I ran into told me you were Max Miller.”

“Yeah,” I grin, raking my hair out of my eyes. “That’s Gabriel’s wife’s maiden name. I’m not using my family’s reputation to get this project off the ground. That’s very important to me.”

While sipping water her stare is far away. “That’s what you meant by how you wanted to support him. I was wondering, because he’s pretty famous. Doesn’t really need the support.”

“Family always needs support,” I smile.

“Right, I misunderstood.”

“My dad produces Gabriel’s albums.”

Her eyebrows rise. “Your dad is Jason Cocker. I would have expected you to have his blonde hair.”

“My mom’s a curly redhead. That’s where I get this mess. And the color, I guess it’s from her Mom or my dad’s Mom. Both have brown hair. Who knows. I got the green eyes, though. Darker, but still green. My brother Caden’s still pissed he got Mom’s brown eyes. I’ve always loved her eyes, so don’t get any ideas.” I point at Natalie. “Yours are beautiful.”

“Thank you.” Her frown deepens. “So you just want to do this film for you. No other reason.”

“That’s the only reason I care about. I want to tell this story.”

“Why?”

“I explained all that.”

“There has to be more.”

Resting against the counter I cross my arms. “I want to understand.” Natalie tilts her head, wanting more. Sighing I confess, “I don’t understand how someone as strong as my dad could almost lose everything over this girl.”

“And this was not your mother.”

“No, this was before her. The only other woman he ever loved…until he didn’t anymore. I want to explore it because it feels like the one side of him I’ve never known. He’s in this great marriage—my parents love each other to this day—but once upon a time he chased an addict around and sat in his car outside while she had sex for money so she could buy more coke. He did that just to make sure she was safe and had someone she could trust to turn to. Do you know how much that must have hurt him?”

Natalie nods, thoughtful, quiet. Setting the water down, her fingers linger on it for a second then release. She walks around the island and stands fully clothed before me. Her eyelashes don’t flutter as she stares into my eyes for a few silent moments. “Now I really want to make this film with you. I have a lot of respect for everything you just told me. And don’t worry, I’ve seen some big names come through the clubs. I don’t get starstruck. I won’t try and talk you into using your famous cousins or anything like that, I promise. I couldn’t care less about that. This film of yours, that I care about. Let’s make it happen.”

“It’s not going to be easy.”

“Nothing good ever is.”

I try to cup her head and bring her close for a kiss, but her hands land on my naked chest, locking the distance. “Platonic from here on out.” Glancing down she points at my groin. “But I see you like what I just told you.”

“What, him? He’s always ready. Remember that.”

She laughs and heads for the door, “I’m going to forget it!”

“No, you won’t.”

“Yes, I will,” she grins, swinging her keys. “This was fun. I’m going home now to do more research.”

Leaning on the open doorframe I watch my sexy producer stroll into the parking lot that is my front yard, and was my father’s before me.

“Nobody ever made sweats look so good, Natalie,” I call after her. Shaking her head, she doesn’t look back until I add, “Hey, I thought you had to be somewhere? You’re just going home.”

“If I’m to produce a feature film for the first time in my life, I have to be somewhere.” She points to my cock. “Away from that! Go inside before you get arrested!”

“I have an uncle who could get me out of jail,” I smirk. “If I touched myself that might be bad, but this is just a man in his own home saying goodbye to his business partner.” I wiggle my fingers and her throaty laugh muffles with the closing BMW door.

“Hmm,” I mutter to myself. “Nice ride. Bookkeeping must pay well.”

She locks eyes with me through the sleek windshield one last time and shakes her head, grinning.

“For someone who hijacked my interviews, you sure do smile a lot now,” I say under my breath as I watch her go until those flashy taillights disappear.

Feeling pretty damn good I lock my door, bare feet in no hurry to get anywhere fast.

But then the phone rings.

It’s my sister’s ringtone.

Dashing over I answer it.

“Finally! Who the hell is Brad?”