Page 9 of Not Yet Yours

“It must have been good then if you went back for round two,” Max points out.

“It was,” I say. “Liam knows his way around a woman’s body. And that’s all the details you’re getting.”

“You got way more than that out of me when Cullen and I first started seeing each other,” Max points out.

“Yeah, but that wasn’t weird because I didn’t know Cullen. It’s weird telling you sex stuff about Liam now that you’re his sister-in-law,” I point out.

“Ok, I’ll admit that it’s weird to talk to me about the sex. But we can talk about the rest, right?” she says. She doesn’t wait for an answer before she goes on and explains what she means by the rest which is good because I had no idea what she meant. “How many times have you seen each other since? Are you officially dating him?”

“None and no,” I say. “It was just a hookup and the next morning we both agreed that’s all it was.”

“And then you had sex again,” Max points out.

“Ahh, but that was Cullen’s fault,” I say which makes Max raise her eyebrows comically high and I laugh. “See Liam toldme that Cullen had paid for a late check out for all of the wedding party…”

Max laughs and I stop and look at her, unsure what I have said that’s so funny.

“Oh wait. You really don’t know, do you?” Max says.

“I don’t know if I don’t know because I don’t know what you’re laughing at but I’m guessing I don’t know,” I say and I shake my head.

“You’re right. You don’t know,” Max says, and we both laugh.

“So, tell me then,” I say, frustrated now that the shoe is on the other foot and Max is dragging out telling me the details I want to know.

“Liam was joking with you. About Cullen paying for a late checkout. Cullen didn’t pay for the hotel at all. It’s one of Liam’s hotels and he kindly let us use it for the wedding reception and to house our guests,” Max explains.

“I… oh. Right. I had no idea,” I say. “I can’t understand why Liam wouldn’t have just said that he owned the hotel.”

“I don’t know. Maybe he felt like it would be bragging or something. Or maybe he thought telling you he owned the hotel in the same sentence as trying to get you to have sex with him was a bit tacky,” Max says.

“Yes, I guess it would have been. Especially when we said it would be rude to waste that. He probably was worried I wouldn’t feel able to say no if I knew the truth,” I say. “Yeah, so anyway, we decided it was rude to not have sex again with us having the room for a bit longer.”

“Right,” Max says laughing. “And of course, you couldn’t have just had a nice long bath or something to make sure the room was used for the allotted time.”

“I mean we could have, but I can do both of those things at home on my own,” I say.

We both laugh again, and Max looks at me for a moment as she chews the last bit of her dinner.

“Seriously though Harriet. I think you and Liam would make an awesome couple. I mean you can’t tell me you think he’s not good-looking. And he’s funny and charming and I reckon he probably knows how to treat a woman,” Max says.

“Hmm, it sounds like Cullen has some competition there, Max. It sounds like you want to date Liam,” I laugh.

“No, trust me, one man is more than enough for me,” Max says. “But there’s really no chance you would give Liam a shot?”

“I agree with everything you’ve said about him, and if I was looking for a relationship, sure, I could see myself with Liam. But I’m not wanting to get into anything at the minute. I’m happy being single right now, especially with just starting the business. I’m just not going to have the time for being in a relationship right now,” I explain.

“That makes sense I suppose,” Max admits. “I guess I’m just being selfish because I kind of like the idea of the four of us hanging out as couples you know.”

“So, what you’re saying is I need to get a boyfriend because all of your current couple friends are boring,” I say.

“Yes. Exactly that,” Max agrees. She manages to remain totally straight-faced for a moment until we both burst into laughter.

Over the next half hour or so, we ate dessert – banoffee pie for me and a chocolate brownie for Max – and we chatted more about Max’s honeymoon and then just everyday stuff until Max looked at her watch and groaned.

“I really do have to get back to work, sorry,” she says. “I wish I didn’t have to, but I do have lots to catch up on since I was gone three weeks.”

“You do realize you’re married to the boss right,” I say with a grin.

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