“MG,” he said, lifting his head like it was a question he’d meant to ask before. Dazed by want and endorphins, Tally couldn’t form words to answer. “Why does everyone keep calling you MG?”
“Max’s Girl,” Trey said from behind her as he came over to top off Max’s glass. “I won’t stop you going at it right there, but that girl deserves a bed and some privacy, buddy. She’s a queen.”
Trey disappeared again, and Tally reached for Max’s belt, but he intercepted her hand. “He’s right. Let’s say goodnight, baby.” It was crazy how disappointed she was, and Max must have read the sulk on her face because he smiled and kissed her. “You want me to fuck you?” Her features lit. “Here? In front of everyone?” Biting her lip, she reconsidered. This wasn’t a random audience, these were his friends… and she was with it enough to know that she was too drunk to make smart choices. “Come on.”
He linked their fingers and eased her body in front of his. Bringing their clasped hands up to her abdomen, she held his protective forearm against her as they moved back toward their friends. Max finished his drink just as they got to the group.
“We’re leaving,” she said and there was a collective groan of disappointment.
“You just got here, Max,” Mark said. “You haven’t seen how cool this girl is yet.”
These guys really were drunk if they thought she was cool. The comment made Tally laugh. “Max knows how cool I am, he was sleeping with me before any of you knew I existed,” she said. “Hell, we were having sex out the back of this place a half hour into our first date—” Her mind caught up with her mouth and she twisted to look over her shoulder at the man she was leaning on, heat flooded her cheeks. “I just said too much out loud.”
“It’s ok, sweetheart,” he said, bowing to kiss her. “We weren’t discreet about it. I don’t think it’s a secret around here.”
Did that make her feel better? Maybe. Yes, because she hadn’t embarrassed him, and she’d hate herself if she ever did. Downside was, every person in the place knew she was a hussy.
Turning all the way around, she buried her face in Max’s chest, and he didn’t grope, just draped his arms around her.
“That’s good,” Mark said. “Take her out back for a service if she needs one, and then bring her back in to play with us.”
“You watch your mouth,” Max said. “I really don’t want to put my fist through my buddy’s face… but I will if he disrespects my girl.”
Oh, this was all going wrong, now there was anger between the friends. Mark was drunk, he didn’t mean any disrespect. But Max was being kind in making sure no one treated her like a slut.
“Excuse me,” Tally said.
Pushing away from Max, she headed to the restroom, and after going through the motions, she looked at her reflection.
Since meeting Max she’d become a different person. She was wild and confident with him in a way she never had been before. Yeah, she’d always been able to talk to people if she had to, but she wasn’t taught to assert herself in the Stretton house. She was taught to blend in, not to talk unless she was addressed. She was taught to apologize, that everything was her fault if that’s what she was told.
Max was different. He taught her to hold her head up. Made her feel desired for who she was, not who he told her she had to be. He wanted her. Let her be free to act as insane as she wanted to. Being with him made her feel good about who she was, and she trusted him. She couldn’t be too much or take things too far with him. He accepted her no matter what.
She was so lucky to be with a man like Max. Except she wasn’t with him.
It was like there were two Maxs; the Max who lived in his apartment, hung out here, and drank tequila with his friends. And the Max who was Teddy’s son and heir, the one she’d been supposed to track down and persuade to have dinner with his long-lost father.
Except that job was done and she was still here. Why was she still here?
Why had she been so scared earlier when Robbie summoned her to Fitzpatrick’s? Why had she been so terrified by the thought that something might have happened to Max? Why had she hung around with his friends all night drinking tequila and laughing at their jokes when she should’ve rushed back to her boss at his party?
Teddy might have needed her, yet she’d chosen to stay here and risked him finding out that she’d not only abandoned her post, but she’d gotten drunk as well?
It was Max.
Max was the reason she was here. He was the one she wanted to be close to. The one she wanted to be with. The one she loved.
Her thoughts skidded to a halt. She watched her eyes in the mirror widen in horror. She loved him. She loved Max Flynn. Oh God, what a disaster! Tally loved the man she’d said she couldn’t get attached to. The man she’d told not to make her promises.
She had to get out of here.
Pushing away from the sink, Tally stared at herself for another half beat before rushing to the door and into the hallway. To the right was the fire exit that she knew from experience would take her to the alleyway and into the street. To the left was the bar, Max, and his friends.
So, what should she do? Go back to the party like nothing was different, or to freedom where she could have some time to come to terms with her major fuck up?
Right.
TEN
The money in her bra had been a godsend, because she’d left her clutch behind the Fitzpatrick’s bar for safe keeping. Her winnings got her a cab home and as soon as she was back, Tally sent a text to her own phone to say she was safe knowing that Trey was likely to give her purse to Max when she didn’t come back from the restroom.
Tally ordered a new company phone and called to get her number transferred onto it, rendering the old one effectively useless. Even in spite of her hasty departure, Max didn’t try to call, but then he thought he had her phone, so that wasn’t much of a surprise.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t avoid him forever and on Friday night, the Stretton house was in full-on grooming mode. As Teddy and Kimmy prepared for the Walker Benefit, Tally was sent on ahead in a limo to swing by to pick up Max.
She’d had a tux couriered to him and had received notification that it had arrived, but that was it. Max would probably be livid about the outfit, but she hoped that he put it on because it would win him points with Teddy.
It wouldn’t win him points with her, in fact, Tally found herself uncomfortable with this whole process. Still, the point was to get Max comfortable in society not to keep her happy. Tally had to effectively groom him into what his father wanted him to be. Her own needs and wants were irrelevant and remembering that was going to be crucial to Max’s success.
Her problem was that she loved the current Max exactly the way he was now and didn’t want him to change, not even a little bit. The idea of seeing her Max in a tux, trussed up like one of Teddy’s fancy friends, made her squirm. She wanted him in his faded jeans, wearing a grubby tee-shirt, with his hair finger-combed at best. That’s how she wanted him. That was her Max.
But that wasn’t who got into the back of the limo.
The Max who got in with her wore the tux and more than that, he’d shaved and styled his hair. She immediately felt sick. As soon as the door closed, the car started to move.
He slid toward her. “Mm, white,” he said of her dress. “You playing the virgin tonight?”
Her sheath dress was backless and elegant, but it was long, and he had to bend to find the hem. If he got his hands on her flesh, he would break her resolve. So, she intercepted him before he could touch her.
“Don’t,” she whispered.
Tally had made sure the limo’s privacy screen was up before Max got in the car, which was weird for her given that she’d usually speak to the driver when she was in the car alone with him. But she’d sold it that she’d have to brief Max about the night ahead and didn’t want Pierre to hear her gossiping.
“You still feel bad?” Max asked, stroking her hand. “It’s ok, baby, no o
ne cared.”
She was confused. “I don’t… what?”
“For telling everyone we fucked in the alley? I figured that’s why you ditched me, you were embarrassed… right?”
If that was what he thought then that worked for her and as he got more concerned she worried he was reconsidering his assumption, so she smiled. “Yes, uh huh, sorry. Yes, I was embarrassed.”
The corner of his mouth curled. “Don’t worry about it. You didn’t have to stay away from me all week.”
Putting his arm over her waist, he pulled her to him. But she resisted. “Don’t, you’ll crease the dress.”
He relaxed and scrutinized her dress, then frowned at her. “You don’t give a fuck about your clothes when I’m touching you. Do you want to try that again?”
The smile she’d tried to sell didn’t cut it, and although she’d done her best to keep her voice neutral, it had come out strained. So, even if he’d bought it for a minute, Tally hadn’t put him off the scent of the truth. In fact, pushing him away just pissed him off and the last thing she needed was the confined atmosphere to be charged with any kind of emotion.
“I’m just not in the mood,” she mumbled and straightened so she was facing the front of the car, hoping he’d let it go. But, it was a fool’s hope.
Still irritated, Max didn’t hide his feelings about her attitude. “We’ve gone without all week and now we’re alone, you don’t want to fool around?” he asked. “Or are you telling me you’ve been getting yours somewhere else this week?”
She’d thought he might consider her fickle or that he might assume she was playing hard to get to force him into chasing her. The last thing she’d considered was he’d guess she’d been screwing around.
“What?” Tally panicked and flipped back around to face him. “No!”
“Then what the fuck?” he asked, his volume rising.
She touched his lips, trying to keep him quiet. “Please, don’t get angry,” she whispered. “We just… can’t.”
His anger was highlighted by his scowl; he didn’t make any attempt to subdue his impatience. “Can’t? Why not? You’re coming back to my place tonight, right?”
She hadn’t even considered that he might think that they’d be spending the night together. Tally played that scenario out in an instant and knew there was no way it would work. But, going back to his apartment would only make things worse anyway, so it had never been an option, much as she might have wanted it to be.
“No, I… I couldn’t,” she said. “The driver will take you home, if I went upstairs with you…”
“What?” he snapped. “Everyone would know we’re hot for each other and you can’t live with the shame of screwing a lowlife like me?”
Horror hit her hard. “No!” she exclaimed, how could this conversation be going so wrong? Why was he being so defensive? “You’re not a lowlife, you’re heir to billions, you’re—”
“There are plenty of rich scumbags,” he said and opened his arms, his face tense, set by the same anger that dominated his voice. “Look at the fucking state of me! I’m wearing this damn monkey suit ‘cause it’s what you wanted.” But it wasn’t what she wanted and as she shook her head, moisture gathered in her eyes. “I’m doing this shit to make you happy, Tal. This is what you want, right? You want a guy all trussed up like a fucking punk and—”
Tears slipped from her lashes. “I hate it,” she wailed and covered her mouth as though she could stuff the words back in.
“What?” he asked, his anger loosening to shock.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her tears in freefall. “I know you did it for me. I know you’re here because of me. I know you’re trying to be everything the heir apparent should be but…”
“You hate it,” he muttered.
“Baby, I’m sorry,” she said and wriggled closer. “I don’t want you to touch me because… because like this you’re not… my Max. I don’t know what you are, I don’t know who I think you are, but… I hate it. You look like a stranger.”
More tears flowed. She grabbed for the champagne bottle to pour some into a glass, so she could gulp it down, and try to dampen some of her overwhelming grief.
“Tal,” he said and touched her bare back.
But she pushed his hand away and slid as far down the seat as she could to get away from him. “You need to do this,” she said to him, but it sounded more like she was giving a pep talk to the ether. “It’s what’s best for you. I tried to tell you… to tell you that it would be like this. I tried to warn you that it would take some getting used to. But, ultimately, Teddy is going to give you a good life, one with security that you can be proud of.”
His anger was all gone, he sounded as resigned as she felt. “But to have that life, I have to be this guy.”
“We’ll both get used to it,” she said, letting her gaze fall to her drink. But, she was so disgusted with it, and herself, that she put the flute aside. “It’s good. This is good. We needed distance. This will let you be who you need to be without our… flirtation getting in your way. I should’ve tried harder, I should’ve been stronger. I was the stupid one who went and fell in love. It’s complete insanity. I was careless and ignorant. But this is good. This will help me remember, I’m not MG, not really. I never was. Never could be. You belong to them. You need to belong to them. It’s what needs to happen—”
Max grabbed her wrist and yanked her along the length of the seat to his side. Thrusting her arm up, he forced it around the back of his neck, clamping it in place, so she couldn’t go anywhere. When she was helpless and pressed to him, his face ducked to within an inch of hers.
“You fell in love with me?”
She nodded, making more tears fall from her lashes. “I’m sorry… That’s why I ran out of Fitzpatrick’s,” she whispered her confession. “I wasn’t embarrassed about what I said. I was looking at myself in the mirror and I realized… I love you.” He dipped to kiss her, but she turned her mouth down to prevent them making contact. “We can’t.”
“Fuck that,” he said, some of his irritation returning. “You need me to wear dirty jeans and my leather jacket, we’ll turn this tank around and I’ll change. The fuckers at your party will wait.”
“You won’t get in dressed like that,” she said, and just the idea of him in his jeans and jacket made her insides flip.
“Then we’ll make our own fun,” he said and pressed his mouth into her hair. “We’ve always been good at that.” If she closed her eyes, she could vaguely smell her Max, but she resented the mist of cologne that covered the scent she truly loved. “Come on, baby, let’s go home.”
Shaking her head, it took a couple of tries of her tugging her arm to get her hand back from him, but he eventually let her go and she slid away. “No, this is your future, Max, and I won’t take that away from you.”
But, he was on the defensive and wasn’t letting himself see that she was right. “My… I never gave a fuck about this prick and his money. It’s not worth it if it doesn’t make you happy.”
Nothing about this situation was simple. “But it does,” she said. From everything she’d just said, she understood why he thought the opposite; she wasn’t being clear, so she tried to explain. “It makes me happy that you’re connecting with your father. That you’re going to get what’s owed to you, what’s rightfully yours. You’ve struggled all your life and it’s only right that you get what should’ve been yours all along. You’re smart. I know you’ll figure out all the business stuff fast and the rest of it… that’s nothing. You’ll figure out a way to fit in. And when this all comes together for you, Max, it will be spectacular. You’ll be living a life full of opportunity where you have everything your heart desires.”
Something had faded from him, and he was no longer vehement. There was a dejection in him that he tried to mask, but Tally saw it and it broke her heart. “Everything but you.”
He was handsome, there was no way anyone could deny that with his square jaw a
nd keen eyes that he was one of the most stunning men available and the money would only make him more eligible.
“Max, I… I’ve been around rich, influential men most of my adult life. I work with them. I live with them. I’ve dated them and slept with them. But not one of them came even close to making me feel how you did that first night in Fitzpatrick’s. Hell, I was attracted to you the minute I saw you in your hallway… But this is about more than just sex. The way I feel, it’s about the way you make me feel, and the man you are. Except, this week I’ve had to come to terms with the truth that this will change you.” Lifting her eyes to his, she could read his concentration. He was trying to follow, to understand. “They will change you… And that will be good for you.”
“But bad for you,” he said. “You don’t want a rich, influential man.”
There was more to it than that. “It’s not the money, or the power, it’s… the way you carry yourself. Take tonight for example, you won’t be able to hold me or kiss me, even if our relationship was public, the most you could do is hold my hand or kiss my cheek. And it’s not about getting physical, it’s… you won’t be able to be proud of me, I won’t be able to show how proud I am of you. No one will be happy for us, accepting. We’ll be just the same as every other detached, demure couple there. We won’t be laughing and playing, and I guess, I need to be able to relax in the way only my Max can make me relax.” She smiled at his blank expression. “You don’t get it, do you?”
“No, I do,” he said. “I just… I don’t get why we have to go if it’s going to be such bullshit.”
“Because it’s where you make connections,” she said, taking his hand. “It’s where you’ll meet people and tell them about your accomplishments. It’s where people come to bow down to you. You’ll meet people tonight that you’ll see next week in the board room, on the opposite side of negotiations, and events like this help you learn about them, and ingratiate yourself.”
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