Page 38 of Deal Breaker
I chewed on my bottom lip. “Max, you said you wanted to talk to me. We left the reception to come back here, so it must have been important.”
His frame snapped upright. “It is.”
“So?” I lifted my hands in the air and shrugged at the same time.
Max dragged a hand through his dark hair, mussing it up, which gave him a rumpled, just-got-out-of-bed look. My breath caught. I hated that even though I couldn’t tell whether he was interested in me, he still had that effect.
“I’m sorry about this morning,” he began. “I shouldn’t have shoved you out of the window. It was a stupid, insensitive thing to do, and I should know better. Autumn told me you got hurt?”
If you’re lucky, I’ll show you the bruise.My head said the words silently when my mouth couldn’t form them. “I’m fine,” I said instead.
“Really? You’re letting me off the hook that easily?”
Slowly, I shook my head. “Is that the only thing you wanted to say?”
Max mirrored my action, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. He inhaled and exhaled a couple of times, as if trying to build up the confidence to speak. “You know I reeled off a list of things we should do on our first date? When we get back to New York, I’d really love to do that.”
My jaw dropped. I remembered everything he had said about dinner, a walk in the park, a kiss at the door of my apartment. I had almost lived each moment when he described them. My mouth flapped as I tried to think of something to respond with.
“You’re not saying much.” He shifted to face me. “Are you not interested?”
“How can you say that! I’ve been thinking how wonderful it would be to be with you, to do all of those things and more. I’ve been thinking that foryears. But until now, I’ve kept away because of my promise to Autumn. When we were fourteen, she told me I was never allowed to date you because it would be gross and weird for her. And for ten years, I’ve kept my distance, watched you with other girls, all the while keeping a promise to my best friend. Hell, I even watched you with Jodie today, and I got jealous. So jealous it hurt.” The words burst out of me, like a dam had burst and I couldn’t stop. I paused for breath and a calming sip of champagne.
Max grabbed my hands. “And seeing you with Trent didn’t hurt me?”
“What was I supposed to do, Max? We weren’t meant to be together.”
“But what if we could be now?”
“Why now? What’s different?” I vaguely recalled Autumn saying Max had to speak to me himself.
“Autumn can see that thereissomething between us, and always has been. Even after the mess I’ve made of things in the past 24 hours, I have to know.” His eyes were wild, not in a bad way, more like an intense passion had taken over. “Sophie, I want the same as you do. I want us to be together.”
Instantly, I pulled my hands away and slapped my thigh. “Oww!”
“What the hell are you doing?”
“I wanted to make sure I wasn’t dreaming, so I wanted to check I was still capable of feeling.” My leg throbbed. Seriously, I had to stop hurting myself.
Max laughed, a soft throaty noise which warmed my soul. “If this is a dream, then I don’t want it to stop either.” He leaned forward again, threading his hands into my hair, gently pulling me towards him. “Do you?”
I gave the slightest shake of my head, enjoying the feeling of his hand cupping my head. “No.”
One word was all it took for his lips to land on mine, soft, searching, wanting. His tongue gently probed into my mouth, brushing over my bottom lip, before his teeth nipped it. His free hand ran down my thigh, over the bruise, which would be a constant reminder of how we’d gotten to where we were.
Our bodies shifted, molding to one another, Max underneath, me almost sitting in his lap. My fingers slipped to the buttons of his shirt, sliding into the gaps, the pads brushing over his smooth skin. Lost in the moment, a sudden noise from the front door made me jump and spring away from him.
“Shit, what was that?” I glanced around at the door, expecting Autumn or Jodie to come in, but there was no one.
Max leaped up, pushing me to one side again—this really was becoming something of a habit—and went to the door. He opened it, and briefly stepped outside. Laughter floated on the air, likely other guests heading back to their cabins after the reception. After a minute, he came back inside.
“There’s no one there. But shall we go to my room?” Max gestured to the door. “The last thing I want is my sister walking in on wherever that was going.” He gave me a lopsided grin, and I knew I couldn’t wait much longer.
I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the bedroom, slamming the door behind us.
Once it was only the two of us, knowing exactly what was coming next, shyness slipped over me.
We stood at the end of his bed, facing each other. Max took me by the shoulders and slowly turned me around. He lifted the hair from the nape of my neck with one hand; the other took the zipper and drew it down my back, his fingers trailing lightly afterwards. A line of electricity followed his touch, pooling between my legs. The dress slithered to the floor at my feet, and I kicked it away, standing in front of Max in my matching black lacy bra and panties. My lips had gone dry, and I was acutely aware of my breathing. Sure, I’d been with other guys, but none of them compared to Max, none of them ever would. He made me face him, his gaze running over my body. When he spotted the discoloration on my leg, he dropped to his knees.
