Scandal (Dirty Laundry Book 2)

by Jackie Paxson

  “Stop!” she managed to get out.

  “Why? I know you want me. I want you. There is nothing stopping us, Chrissy. I don’t understand why you are stopping us from being together.”

  Chrissy stepped away from him straightening her clothes. “This is my fault. It shouldn’t have happened. I need to go. Goodbye, Max.”

  Turning to go, she heard a horrible sound. She spun around and saw that Max had put his fist into the wall. When he pulled it out of the wall it was bleeding.

  “Dammit, Chrissy! Stop lying!” he growled, cradling his hand.

  Disgust and anger coursed through her veins. “No man is ever going to manipulate me or force me into something I don’t want to do. Your little hissy fit just told me there will never be a future between us. You don’t get your way, so you throw a temper tantrum. Well, guess what that might make the women swoon on screen but here in real life you probably broke your hand and only managed to piss me off.”

  Chrissy walked away.

  Faintly, she heard him say, “Dammit.”

  At the end of the hall she turned and said, “Get your shit together, Max. Stop acting like a spoiled brat and maybe one day you will get the woman you want.”

  Chapter 15

  Like a Moth to his Bug Zapper

  “I had a really great night.” Rory had walked her to the door.

  She could hear shuffling behind the door but tried to ignore it.

  “It was very nice. Thank you for taking me.”

  Rory stared at her and bit his lip. He did look incredibly sexy. Why wouldn’t her butterflies act up with him? It was as if they were asleep or dead when he was around.

  “Can I kiss you?”

  Her stomach dropped. “Uhm…sure.”

  Rory stepped into her space gently cupping her face. As his lips slowly descended to hers all she kept thinking was hurry up. No need for the slomo dramatics. When their lips finally touched there was absolutely nothing. She tried to will herself to enjoy it. But all she could think about was if she turned off her curling iron before she’d left and she needed to get Mariah a new bathing suit.

  Finally, he pulled back and had a funny look on his face.

  “What?” Chrissy asked.

  He just shook his head.

  She smirked. “Not what you thought it would be?”

  “Not at all. There was nothing. No zing, zip or electricity. Why? I mean we should be perfect. I’m attracted to you. There should be something.”

  “I know. I kind of knew that was going to happen. I’ve been trying to force myself to feel the fireworks.”

  “But you don’t?” he asked.

  “Nope. I’m sorry. You really are a great guy. I’d love for us to be friends, though.”

  Rory’s shoulders slumped, and he nodded his head. “I’d like that.”

  “Good. Well, thank you again for tonight. I will text you and we can do lunch one of these days.” She kissed him on the cheek and opened the door.

  “Good night, Chrissy,” Rory said as he walked back to his car.

  “So, how did it go?” Jeremiah panted as he tried to lean nonchalantly against the wall.

  “You know damn well how it went. You are sweating and huffing from sprinting away from the door as I came in.” Chrissy walked over to the table and dropped her purse.

  With a giant sigh, Jeremiah said, “Yes. I heard. That’s a bummer that you couldn’t have some dirty sex with that sexy piece of man meat.”

  “Jeremiah!” Chrissy felt her face flush.

  “What? Don’t put on the shrinking violet act around me. You’ve done things.”

  “Well, of course I’ve done things, but I don’t use words like man meat.”

  Jeremiah rolled his eyes. “Alright, so tell me what happened.”

  Chrissy walked over to the couch and plopped down. “Nothing happened. There just wasn’t any spark.”

  She could feel Jeremiah’s appraising look boring into her.

  “How did you know there weren’t any fireworks? Was this before or after Max?”

  Chrissy bit her lip. “A little of both.”

  “What do you mean?”

  With her own heavy sigh, Chrissy went into her evening. From the awkward beginning to Max’s visit to the table to the text session in the bathroom, she was sure to go into as much detail as possible. When it came to her time in the hallway, she tried to quickly speed past it. But, with one lifted eyebrow, Jeremiah had her singing like a canary. After her entire evening was told she slumped against the couch, exhausted.

  “Hmmm.” Jeremiah looked down at her with his arms crossed.

  “What?”

  “I think you should go for it. Get that movie star.”

  “What? No! He is bad news.” Chrissy’s voice rose higher with each word.

  “Uh-huh. You’re a bad liar even when you are lying to yourself. You care about Max. You are building him up to be such a bad guy so that you have an excuse not to follow your heart.”

  “That’s ridiculous. You have no idea what you are talking about.” She crossed her arms in an identical fashion as she’d seen Mariah do countless times.

  Jeremiah squinted his eyes and sucked his teeth. “I’m going to leave you to your lies. When you finally want to be honest with yourself, come talk to me. Until then, I am not going to talk to you about this anymore.”

  He strolled away then yelled over his shoulder, “By the way, your daughter is passed out on her bed. I figured I’d tell you since you didn’t ask. Goodnight!”

  Silence descended around the living room. A lone candle flickered on the coffee table in front of her. She felt so conflicted. How could she forget to ask about her daughter? Chrissy put her head in her hands. This was why she didn’t need to be involved with any man. Especially a man like Max. The moment his name fluttered through her head goosebumps rose on her body. The memory of their kiss ignited a slow burn under her skin. A ghost of the feeling of his lips on hers had her closing her eyes.

  A melodic tone broke her out of her reverie. She picked up her phone and internally admonished herself for getting distracted thinking about Max again. Swiping her finger across the screen she blushed just looking at the screen.

  Max: I’m sorry.

  Chrissy stared at the screen. She bit her lip wondering if she should answer.

  Max: I know you’re reading this. I dare you to answer.

  Dropping the phone like it burned she turned around on the couch seeing if he could really see her.

  Chrissy: You seem to say sorry to me a lot.

  Max: HaHa…got you to answer.

  With an exasperated sigh, Chrissy texted back.

  Chrissy: What do you want, Max?

  Max: You know what I want.

  Chrissy: Enlighten me.

  Chrissy watched the flashing dots for what seemed like an eternity. When he finally answered her, she was squirming in her seat.

  Max: You coming on my tongue.

  Max: On my fingers…again.

  Max: On my hard cock.

  All of a sudden it felt like a desert had found a home in her mouth.

  Chrissy: That’s all?

  After pressing send she immediately regretted pressing send.

  Max: You know that’s not all I want.

  Max: Can I call?

  Chrissy: NO!

  Max: Why not?

  She could just walk away from her phone right then. Leave him hanging without another thought, but there was something about Max that wouldn’t let her do that. She was the moth to his flame or maybe more accurately a moth to his electric bug zapper. That man was definitely going to be the death of her. She realized she needed to change the subject. Talking on the phone made it harder for her to ignore him.

  Chrissy: So, what are you wearing?

  She slapped her idiotic forehead. What an idiot! Flipping her phone over she tried to ignore the chime that came only moments later. But, like a dieting woman in front of a piece of chocolate cake her willpowe
r to ignore him was non-existent.

  When Chrissy looked at her phone again, it immediately slipped from her numb fingers. If pictures were really worth a thousand words, the one she looked at would be worth an entire library. In the picture, Max was lying in bed with a ready-for-sex smile. His dark hair was tousled. Her fingers tingled with the memory of running them through his hair. The eyes that looked into her soul shone with a heat she hadn’t seen from a man in…she couldn’t even remember when. His head rested on one arm as he lay against a dark pillow. A sculpted chest and defined arms led down to the dark sheet barely hiding one mystery she wanted to solve if she was being honest with herself. As yummy as the picture was it looked too staged to be him at that moment.

  Max: Like what you see?

  Chrissy looked again at what she wished was sitting next to her.

  Chrissy: What magazine was this taken for?

  Max: HaHa…you caught me. You didn’t answer my question. Do you like it?

  Chrissy: Yes.

  Max: I knew it.

  Chrissy: Your waxer did a great job. Can I have their name? I’ve been looking for a good one.

  A giggle bubbled out as she thought about his reaction.

  Max: What?

  Chrissy: Clearly, you wax. That’s what you wanted to show me right?

  Max: No! That was not my point in showing you that picture.

  This time the giggle erupted out as a snort.

  Chrissy: Oh. I’m sorry. It was a very nice picture.

  She sat on the couch smiling. As moments ticked by, she started to get a bit worried. After ten minutes she shrugged feeling a little sad for the end of the conversation. When she finally decided to go to bed her phone rang in her hand. Without looking she answered.

  “Hello?”

  “A nice picture?” Max’s voice was loud.

  “It was a compliment,” she stated matter-of-factly.

  “Are you fucking with me right now?”

  The damn snort escaped her efforts to hold in her laugh. She put her hand over her mouth and hoped that he hadn’t heard it sneak out.

  “Did you just snort?”

  “Nope,” she snapped.

  “Yes, you did. Chrissy Benson is a snorter. Who would have thought?”

  Her body felt as if it had caught on fire. “Shut up!”

  “Hey! Don’t worry! I think it’s adorable.”

  Chrissy sighed into the phone. “What do you want, Max?”

  “I want to hear you come.”

  “You’ve heard that before. It won’t happen again.”

  “Come on, Chrissy.”

  “What do you want from me, Max?

  Silence met her question. It stretched for so long she checked her phone to see if there was still a connection.

  “Hello?”

  “Don’t say anything right now. Just listen.” His voice had gotten impossibly deep.

  Blood pounded in her ears as she waited for what he needed to say.

  “I can still feel your lips under mine. The soft slide of your tongue against mine. You tasted of a mix of wine, chocolate and mint. Your skin felt so soft and divine under my lips. My hands still remember each curve of your waist and hips. Your body fits mine so perfectly. When my fingers found their way into your drenched panties, I wasn’t sure I could get any harder, but I did. My cock strained for your touch. For the feel of your pussy gliding up and down my hard shaft. Do you feel me when you are alone at night? Does your body remember the feel of mine?”

  She didn’t know when it had happened but at some point during his reminiscence her hand found its way into her panties. They were drenched with his detailed descriptions. Her fingers circled her clit. Tingles began to build in her body.

  “Yes,” she said barely above a whisper.

  “Are you touching yourself?” His voice was roughened with some panting. “I’m touching myself imagining you are here riding me. My hands are aching to grasp onto your hips and guide your pussy along my cock.”

  “Oh, Max.”

  Chrissy was sprawled out on the couch pumping her fingers into her wet pussy. The soft sounds of his building pleasure made her even wetter. Closing her eyes, she imagined him watching her as she pleasured herself. He would be sitting to the side staring intensely as she pumped three fingers into her wet channel. As she frantically pumped her fingers, she imagined him stroking his member harder and faster. They would match each other’s pace as their climaxes got closer.

  “Come for me, Chrissy. Please.”

  It was the please that sent her over the edge. Fireworks burst behind her eyes. Her body melted into the couch as she floated back down to earth. While she was in the midst of coming back to the real world, she heard Max shout her name. A smile pulled at her lips.

  “Next time, we are doing that in person and I’m feeling how you fall apart while my cock is inside you.”

  “Uh, sure. I gotta go. Bye, Max.” Chrissy rushed off the phone.

  “Wait, Chrissy! I—”

  Before Max could say anything else, she disconnected the call. What the hell did she just do? She really was an idiot. Grabbing the pillow next to her she held it over her face and screamed in frustration. Why was she so weak for that man? Her phone began ringing. Without looking at it she shut it off, leaving it on the couch, then headed for her room. She needed to sleep so she could go back to ignoring everything that was Max Hamilton.

  Chapter 16

  Canon Love

  A month later

  Chrissy strode through the opened elevator doors carrying three coffees. Her purse and laptop bag balanced her out. She smiled at Patricia. A permanent grimace was tattooed on her face every time she saw Chrissy. Her heels clicked on the tiled floor as she walked quickly down to her office. She had found a home in a small office that was really just a large closet. It didn’t matter though. She spent her time between Bill Mathewson’s office and his grandson, James. It had been a joy working with them. They gave her opportunities she knew she’d never have gotten if she’d stayed with Jane Foster.

  Dropping her purse off at her office she approached James’ open door. She tapped on the door jamb to announce her presence. He nodded while he continued talking on the phone. He had a look of frustration on his face. When Chrissy moved to leave, he halted her with his hand.

  “Yes. I understand. I will make sure she is at the meeting.” James looked at Chrissy with a hesitant smile.

  James nodded as the person on the other line continued to talk.

  “Ok. See you then.” James hung up the phone.

  “Uh…yeah. You know that production meeting my grandfather and I have this afternoon?”

  “Of course. I have all of the materials you need. Is there anything else you need me to do now?” She shifted on her feet.

  “We will need you present.” James seemed to grimace at his own words.

  “Ok. Is everything ok? Did I do something wrong?” Chrissy felt herself begin to sweat.

  “Oh, goodness no. You’ve done everything right. You have been a great asset to my grandfather and me. You have been so willing to learn everything our company does.”

  “Why does it sound like a bad thing when you say it like that?”

  “It definitely isn’t. I think it will be a good thing for you. Why don’t you take my grandfather his coffee then get your notebook and come back here so we can put finishing touches on a couple projects.” James blunted the sting of his dismissal with a smile, but Chrissy felt uneasy as she left the office.

  Bill and James Mathewson kept Chrissy busy from the moment she dropped off the coffee until she took a short lunchbreak. Even then it was a break at her desk while she worked. She never knew how much work went into producing a movie, TV show or concert. Top Dog did all of it. They managed the engineers and production crew that worked on any given project. Chrissy worked on organizing the set-up of at least five different secret projects. She wasn’t privy to the titles of the movies but hoped that soon she’d get to
actually take part in some of the action.

  Grabbing her notebook and pen, she walked toward the large conference room. As she approached, she saw men in very expensive suits milling around. Patricia pushed a cart filled with snacks into the room. Normally, Chrissy would offer to help her but with what she knew about Patricia and Patricia’s feelings about her she’d just stay away.

  “I’m glad you’re here, Chrissy.” Bill Mathewson met her as she entered the room. “I’d like you to meet our director for this project.”

  Bill led her over to a man observing the crowd. He wore a polo shirt and a pair of khakis over what looked to be a swimmer’s body. The attire seemed considerably less appropriate compared to others in the room. He also looked incredibly uncomfortable in them. As she looked at him closer, she saw his hair was a tad unruly framing an average face. The wire rimmed glasses he wore were too big.

  “Chrissy Benson, I’d like you to meet Frank Stone.” Bill smiled then turned toward Frank. “Frank this is who I’ve been telling you about.”

  Frank squinted then pushed his glasses up on his nose. “Hmmm…does she know her stuff?”

  Chrissy blanched as he questioned Bill about her right in front of her. Before she could stop herself, she said, “She is standing right here, and I know a hell of a lot of stuff. Now, if you have a specific question you’d like to ask I’d suggest you address them to me directly.”

  Frank just blinked at her. Her heart hammered in her chest. How could she have let her mouth run away from her like that? She wished she could just blend into the background. But, when she braved a look at Bill, he had a big smile on his face.

  “See. Told you she’d be perfect.”

  It was Chrissy’s turn to blink.

  An increasingly large smile formed on Frank’s face changing his features into a very good-looking man. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.” He winked. “I have no need for shrinking violets around here. We will work together perfectly.” He nodded to them then walked away.