Scandal (Dirty Laundry Book 2)

by Jackie Paxson

  “Your alarm goes off too damn early. Skip work today and stay in bed with me.” He nudged his morning wood against her ass.

  “Oh, so now you want to have sex?” Chrissy said turning in his arms.

  “No, but there are a lot of other things we can do.”

  She nuzzled his neck making him groan. His arms tightened around her. “Are you sure you don’t want to?”

  He flopped on his back in a dramatic fashion covering his eyes with his arm. “You’re such a temptress.”

  A sudden bout of boldness struck her. She took her chance and straddled his hips feeling his hard length rub her clit.

  “Are you sure?” she wiggled her hips.

  With a growl, Max shifted and had her on her back pinning her arms and legs. Leaning down, he placed a lazy kiss on her lips. She tried to move her arms or legs to give him more access, but he held them tight. Pulling from her lips he looked at her with a serious expression.

  “Chrissy, I know we’ve fooled around before and it would be oh so easy to slide between your thighs. Believe me when I say this is harder on me than it is on you, but I promised myself that if you ever gave me a chance I would make sure to show you what me truly loving you meant. Sex is a small part of what I want with you. Granted right now it feels like the best possible idea. There will be so much more with me. I promise.” Max leaned down and kissed her slow then moved his kisses down her face then up her jaw to her ear. He sucked in her earlobe and Chrissy shivered. “Don’t worry, my love, there will still be lots of hot sweaty sex. I have too many fantasies about you for me not to recreate each and every one of them.”

  Max rolled off her then strode into the bathroom. She watched as his perfect ass covered in boxer briefs disappeared behind the bathroom door. With a groan of her own, she flopped her arm over her eyes. Just as she contemplated using a toy her damn alarm went off again. Through the noise of the alarm she thought she heard a laugh just as the shower turned on. Who knew a movie star would be such a tease?

  She forced herself out of bed and over to the other bedroom to take a shower. If she stayed in her room waiting for Max to come out, she wouldn’t wait for him to step out with a towel around his hips. She’d break down the door and shower with him doing very naughty things. The thought teased her as she shuffled into the bathroom on the other side of the suite. A cold shower sounded very refreshing for her overheated body. She braced herself as she stepped under the cold water. The squeal that escaped caused local wildlife to scatter.

  "More juicy gossip today folks. We finally have the answer to who the mystery woman is. Chrissy Benson is an intern for Top Dog Entertainment.” Chrissy’s picture from her badge with the coffee stained shirt flashed on the screen. “She should look quite familiar to you. She is best friends with Talia Walker, fiancée to the very hot Zee Jaxon. Today’s episode doesn’t just tell you the identity of the mystery woman. Take a look at the following video. Chrissy Benson just broke a lot of hearts.”

  A video queued on the screen. It was video from outside of her room. Ben had her trapped then kissed her like a snake striking. Whoever took the video was too far away to hear their conversation. After the kiss and the door slamming, the woman came back on the screen.

  “Isn’t that hot? The sexy Ben McGee clearly has a thing for Chrissy. However, the video isn’t finished. Let’s watch the rest.”

  The video continued. This time it showed Max running down the hallway. He paced a few times then knocked. It clearly showed Chrissy opening the door, Max storming in and Chrissy shutting the door.

  “Uh-oh, looks like we have a love triangle. Juicy isn’t it?” Her too white teeth glared on the screen. “That’s not all. My source also told me that Max never left the suite.” A canned audience “ooing” played. “What do you think? Is Chrissy using these poor movie stars to get ahead or could there be a real-life Hollywood romance brewing?”

  The woman dramatically leaned toward the camera. “Between you and me, she will be climbing the ladder on the backs of those two hunks. Or should I say riding them?” She giggled. “Keep tuning in to Dirty Laundry’s videos to see how this ongoing drama plays out. Until then, Ciao.”

  Chrissy stared at the black screen on her laptop. When she’d gotten the text from Jeremiah, she was a bit reluctant to look for the video. However, when he called making it seem urgent, she knew she needed to watch the dumpster fire of a show.

  They’d figured out who she was.

  FUCK!!

  She needed to scream. Grabbing a cushion, she muffled her frustrated yell. After screaming into the couch cushion, she sat up and was met with a freshly showered and oh so yummy man in front of her. He wore a grin that made her clean panties wet. She’d have to look into getting a bulk pack. His sexiness was already costing her money.

  “What’s going on, sweetheart?” He sat down next to her looking at the blank screen.

  Chrissy pressed play then sat back as he watched. Instead of watching the video again she focused on Max. His jaw tensed when he watched Ben kiss her but soon relaxed when he saw himself on screen. Other than when he saw Ben, Max didn’t have a reaction. As the video ended, Max relaxed into the couch.

  “Ok,” he said nonchalantly.

  “Ok?”

  “Yeah. It will be fine. It will blow over in a matter of days.” He shrugged as if it were nothing.

  “It will blow over? You act as if my face wasn’t just blasted all over the internet.” Just as Chrissy was about to rant further her phone rang.

  A glance at the screen told her James was calling. Shit! She was probably going to lose her job because of this.

  Taking a deep breath, she answered, “Hi, James.”

  Chrissy glared at Max then walked over to the balcony.

  “Well, hello there, superstar.”

  “You saw the video.”

  He laughed. “Someone made a point to send it to everyone in the company.”

  Her knees gave out, and she fell into the chair. “Shit.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Chrissy. Grandpa and I know that whatever is going on with you and those two will have no impact on your work.”

  A weight lifted off of her shoulders but at the same time something occurred to her. “Why did you send Jane here?”

  Silence echoed across the phoneline. “What do you mean, Jane is there?”

  “Last night, when I went to dinner with Ben, Jane popped up out of nowhere and began groping Max at the bar.”

  “I’m going to have to call you back, Chrissy.” James hung up.

  “What’s up? You have a strange look on your face,” Max asked standing in the doorway of the balcony.

  “I don’t know. James just cut off our conversation when I brought up Jane.”

  Max furrowed his brow. “You didn’t know she was coming down?”

  “No. Did you?”

  He shook his head. “I didn’t know she was here until she tried hitting on me.”

  With a raise of her eyebrow she said, “And had dinner with you.”

  A smirk played on his lips. “Jealous?”

  She looked out toward the ocean trying to ignore him. In a move she didn’t see coming he picked her up out of the chair then sat down placing her in his lap. His lips skimmed her neck. She tilted her head giving him better access.

  “Tell me if you were jealous,” Max murmured against the sensitive skin under her ear.

  Chrissy swallowed the lump in her throat. It was hard to think with him kissing her like that.

  “Tell me or I stop.” He pulled away from her neck with a sexy smirk on his face.

  Dammit!

  She huffed then said, “Yes, alright. Are you happy now?”

  A smile lit up his whole face. His eyes sparked as he pulled her close capturing her lips with his. Warmth slid through her. Wrapping her arms around his neck she realized she could stay right where she was and be happy for the rest of her life. A tendril of fear slid through her. Worry and doubt invaded her mind.
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br />   Max broke their kiss and stared at her. “Are you ok?”

  “Of course.”

  He looked at her for a while. The intensity of his gaze made her start to squirm.

  “Ok.” He smacked her butt and picked her up setting her on her feet. “We need to get going. We need to be at the set in fifteen minutes.”

  “Oh, shit! Let’s go.” Running into the room she slid her feet into sandals then rushed over to the table to grab her folders and tablet. She looked back at Max who stood there smiling with his arms crossed watching her. “What are you waiting for? We need to go. Come on.”

  He chuckled. “Alright, mistress.”

  Shaking her head, she rolled her eyes and went to the door. Max was only a few steps behind her. He left in front of her and she shut the door. He grabbed her and planted another toe-curling kiss on her lips.

  “I don’t want to hide us,” he whispered.

  Fear gripped her heart, but she said, “Ok.”

  “I love you, Chrissy Benson. No matter what happens.”

  She felt awkward when he said that because she wasn’t sure of her feelings. They were still new to her. All she could say was “Ok.”

  Max took her hand in his, entwining their fingers. They walked to the elevator hand in hand. When they stepped onto the elevator, he kissed the back of her linked hand. How had she not figured out how he felt? His feelings for her filled up the area around them. It was like a hot pheromone he gave off.

  The elevator dinged announcing their arrival. People turned toward the opening elevator. The crew quieted as they walked hand in hand over to where Frank stood with a cat that ate the canary grin.

  “I knew I bet on the winning horse,” Frank said to her.

  “Remind me to throat punch you later,” Chrissy said sweetly.

  Frank laughed. “I knew I liked you.” He looked at Max. “Glad you got your girl. Now comes the hard part. Keeping a good woman like Chrissy is the toughest thing to do in this business.”

  Max’s smile faltered. “I know she deserves the best. I’m going to make sure she gets it.”

  Frank looked to Chrissy then back to Max. “I’m sure you will try.”

  He walked toward where the crew was setting up a scene in the lobby. “I’ve got to get to work, sweetheart.” He kissed her cheek. A glare was aimed at someone over her shoulder.

  Chrissy turned to look at what he was glaring at and she saw Ben was glaring back at him.

  “Go to work. It will be fine,” she reassured him.

  Max nodded then stripped off his shirt with a wink to Chrissy. Strutting over to where his scene took place, she watched him walk away.

  “What an arrogant ass,” Ben mumbled next to her.

  “If I were you, I wouldn’t be saying that.”

  He took in a deep breath. “I know I was a jerk last night, love. I was just so nervous seeing you again. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s fine.” Chrissy moved away from Ben to check with some of the crew to make sure things were going smoothly.

  “Wait!” Ben said stopping her with a hand on her arm. “Does that mean we can try again?”

  A loud laugh escaped her drawing the attention of some of the crew. “Absolutely not. All that means is that I will be ok being around you when you want to meet Mariah.”

  “Come on, Chrissy. Give me a shot.”

  Chrissy glanced over Ben’s shoulder. Max watched her instead of paying attention to what Frank was saying to him. All she needed to do was give him the signal, and he’d come over. She smiled at him. He furrowed his brow and kept watching.

  “Look, Max and I are together. We had our time together back in college. You made the choices you made, and I made the right choices. We aren’t meant to be.” Chrissy leaned closer. “Plus, the way you kiss me feels like a slug has invaded my mouth.” She pretended to get sick.

  Giggling came from some people near her. She looked around and everyone was laughing. What the hell happened? She knew she didn’t say that very loud.

  “Sweetheart,” Max said from behind her. “Sweetheart, you just said that right into his mic. Good burn, though.”

  Chrissy felt the blood rushing to her cheeks. She looked at Ben and his face turned purple. He looked at her and Max then stormed off toward the beach.

  “Shit.”

  Max kissed her cheek. “It’s ok, sweetie. Now, he knows he doesn’t have a chance. That you are mine.”

  Chrissy bristled at his possessiveness. “I don’t belong to anyone, Max. We have a mutual agreement to be with each other. There is no mine. Stop acting like a caveman.”

  His eyes sparked. “Whatever you say, sweetheart.”

  Chrissy threw her arms up and walked toward the front of the resort.

  Movie stars were the worst.

  Chapter 29

  The Arrival

  Chrissy paced in front of the arrival gate. Jeremiah was bringing her munchkin to see her. She hadn’t seen Mariah in six weeks. This was the first break they all had from shooting. Their schedule had been so tight that they were able to fit a break in for the crew before resuming shooting.

  “Mama!” Mariah’s squeal echoed through the airport.

  Chrissy knelt down as Mariah jumped into her arms. “Munchkin! How are you? I’ve missed you so much.”

  “It was so great, Mama. We flew in a huge airplane. It even went over the ocean.”

  Chrissy smiled. “Did it? Was it scary?”

  “I wasn’t scared. I even saw dolphins jumping in the air. But Jeremiah was scared. He had to hold his friend’s hand.”

  Chrissy blinked at her. “His friend?” She looked up and saw Jeremiah holding hands with someone very familiar. “Jeremiah. James?”

  James gave a bit of a coy smile. “Surprise?”

  “Surprise, indeed.” Chrissy smiled at the two of them.

  She hadn’t talked with James since the day of the infamous video. They’d both been busy, so they only communicated over email. Chrissy stared at the two of them. How the hell had they been able to keep that secret? She could see keeping it from her, but Talia could sniff that kind of thing out.

  “How did you manage to keep this secret?”

  Jeremiah and James smiled at each other. It was sickeningly sweet. It made her miss Max who was waiting at the resort for them to arrive.

  “It kind of just happened,” Jeremiah said.

  “Uh-huh. I’m sure. You two will spill later. Now, we better get the van over to the resort.”

  “We have to wait, Mama.” Mariah pulled Chrissy to a stop.

  “Why?”

  “Because we are old and can’t keep up with you youngsters.” Bill Mathewson’s voice surprised her.

  She looked at James.

  He nodded. “He knows. Apparently, he’s always suspected. He just wants me to be happy.” James looked at Jeremiah. “I’m happy.”

  She smiled then looked to Bill. “Can I help you, Mr. Mathewson?”

  “Will you quit it with that, Chrissy? I told you to call me Bill. You especially need to do that since I’ve made best friends with Mariah.” He winked at Mariah.

  Mariah giggled. “Yep. Best friends.” She held out her pinky for Bill to link with his. Her heart melted then hurt thinking how she missed her parents.

  “Well, let’s all get into the van.”

  They climbed into the van and she saw who was driving it. Joaquin smiled in the rearview mirror. He nodded when he saw her surprised expression.

  “Don’t worry, miss. Van still good van.” He patted the dash.

  Jeremiah looked at her. “What does that mean?”

  “It means you better hold on because we are about to go on a hell of a ride.”

  As soon as the van door closed and the last seatbelt was buckled Joaquin floored it, spitting gravel behind them. Everyone but Mariah had an “Oh Shit” look on their face. Mariah threw her hands in the air shouting, “Weeee.”

  After they arrived, the Mathewsons left them to say hello to so
me of the crew that had decided to stay. Jeremiah and James took the key that Chrissy had to Max’s bungalow. He hadn’t stayed there since the night they agreed to become an us. She held Mariah’s hand as they approached the room.

  “Mariah, I need to tell you something before we go in there.”

  Mariah’s big eyes stared up at her. “Ok, Mama.”

  “Mommy has a friend like Jeremiah does with James. Do you remember Uncle Zeke’s friend Max?” Mariah nodded. “Max is going to be around a lot now. Is that ok?”

  She bit her lip giving it some thought then said, “That’s ok, Mama. Jeremiah already told me about Max. He said he has a snake you like. Do you think I could see his snake? It must be a very nice one if you like it.”

  Chrissy blinked. She was definitely going to kill Jeremiah. She could make it look like an accident. Accidents happen all the time on Caribbean islands.

  “Mama? Can we go in now?” she asked.

  Chrissy cleared her throat, nodded then pulled out the keycard. They walked into the suite. Mariah squealed and ran into the suite. Chrissy looked around and wondered if they’d wandered into the wrong room. Sticking her head out of the room she checked the number. It was the right one.

  The suite’s common area had been turned into a dream castle. There were cardboard dragons in flight. Fluffy clouds floated above them while parapets leaned against the wall. There even appeared to be a real suit of armor in the corner. The door to her room was closed but Mariah’s room was open, and she could hear more squealing.

  “Mama! Mama! This is so awesome! I get to sleep on a cloud. Tristan is going to be so jealous.”

  Chrissy entered the bedroom and stopped again. Her room looked to be covered in pillows and fluff. There were planes hanging from the ceiling along with some realistic looking birds. From the perspective of a six-year-old it really would look like she’d be sleeping on a cloud.