In a heartbeat (Heartbeat #1)

by Kostova, Teodora

  “I’m sorry, babe. I didn’t mean to embarrass you, but that asshole wanted to cause trouble between us. It doesn’t help that every time I see his face, I remember his lips on yours and I want to punch him without any additional reason.”

  Stella wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled.

  “You’re not angry?” Max asked.

  “No. He was getting on my nerves, too.” Max grinned and kissed her.

  When they separated, he took her hand in his and led her towards the French windows that led out to the terrace. Before they reached them, however, the front door opened and Stella saw Gia walking in. She looked a bit uncertain; her usual confident walk seemed a little tentative. In her hands she had a small present wrapped in dark blue and gold, and she shook her head when a waitress gestured for her to leave it at the gift table. The waitress frowned, but didn’t insist. Gia looked around with worried eyes, obviously searching for Beppe.

  Stella tugged on Max’s hand and pointed her chin towards his sister.

  “She came,” she said and grinned, unsure why. Maybe because she knew Gia’s appearance would make Beppe very happy.

  “I didn’t think she would. They haven’t spoken since that night at the karaoke bar. Beppe didn’t want to admit it, but he was devastated,” said Max. Stella nodded as she watched events unfold before her. Beppe saw Gia from across the room and headed towards her with long, purposeful strides. He stopped right in front of her and hesitated for a couple of seconds before enveloping her in his arms. Gia seemed surprised at his reaction, but quickly recovered and hugged him back.

  Stella smiled and pulled Max back towards their original destination.

  Chapter Thirty One

  The following Thursday, Stella woke up early and couldn’t get back to sleep. She lay in bed, her head on Max’s chest and his arm around her, and listened to his steady heartbeat. He was breathing slowly and evenly and, uncharacteristically, didn’t move when Stella lifted her head off his body and slipped out of bed. He was probably very tired – he’d been working in the bar the night before. Stella had insisted on staying home and not going with him, despite his efforts to convince her otherwise. They’d barely spent an hour apart for more than three weeks and Stella felt it would be good for them to be away from each other for a few hours. Max had pouted and made his irresistible, sad-eyed face that usually got him everything he wanted, but this time she hadn’t backed down.

  When he’d finally got home, it was past 2 a.m. The moment Stella opened the door for him, he pounced on her, kissing her with such urgency that if she hadn’t known they’d been separated for five hours, she’d have thought it had been five days. He’d made love to her and held her in his arms as if she was going to disappear if he let go.

  Just thinking about how fast the end of her holiday was approaching made Stella’s chest hurt and she found it difficult to breathe. A little more than two weeks; that was all she had left with Max. How was she supposed to continue to live her life as if nothing had happened? As if she hadn’t met him? Hadn’t loved him with all her being?

  A tear streamed down her face and, brushing it away angrily, Stella slipped quietly from the bedroom. They had both known what they were getting into; it was a relationship with an expiry date from the very beginning. No drama, they’d said.

  As difficult as it would be to leave, Stella didn’t regret a single second she’d spent with Max. She’d do it all over again, even if she had to have her heart broken irreversibly again. The past few weeks had been the happiest of her entire life and she wouldn’t have traded them for anything.

  “Hey – what’s wrong?” asked Lisa. She was sitting at the dining table drinking coffee and had a piece of paper in her hand.

  “Nothing, I just ... didn’t sleep well.” Stella poured herself a cup of coffee and joined Lisa at the table.

  “Where’s Max? Didn’t he come over last night?”

  “He did. He’s still sleeping and I didn’t want to wake him up.”

  Lisa put her hand on Stella’s forearm to grab her attention, before saying,

  “You know you can always talk to me, right?” Stella nodded, even though in this case she couldn’t talk to her. She wasn’t ready to admit she was in love with Max and didn’t want to leave to anyone. “This is the first morning since you started dating that you haven’t come downstairs together. Are you sure everything’s fine?”

  “Yes, I’m sure. Just drop it, OK?” Stella snapped and immediately regretted it. “What’s that? Is it a note?” She pointed towards the piece of paper Lisa had placed on the table in front of her, in an attempt to lead the conversation in another direction.

  “Yeah, a note from Mum. She’s suck a geek – who leaves notes these days?” Lisa rolled her eyes and read aloud:

  Dear kids (that includes you, Max, since you apparently live in my house now),

  Please be home for dinner at 7 p.m. sharp. I have a huge surprise for you all! Don’t you dare be late! Oh, btw, make the dinner. I won’t be home until 7;, I have something to do first. Can’t wait to see you all in one place for a change!

  Love, Niki.

  “Weird,” said Stella, taking the note from Lisa and re-reading it.

  “I know. Be home for dinner, but make the dinner? I don’t know what she’s up to.” Lisa sipped the last of her coffee and took her cup to the sink.

  *

  Max woke up to find the bed empty beside him. He stood up abruptly and looked around, but there was no sign of Stella. He felt a sharp pang in his chest that was so strong it momentarily made him dizzy. Last night, when he’d spend the whole evening without her, it was pure torture. All he could think about was her. He was on edge, snapping at the waitresses and Marco, impatient with the customers. That was so unlike him – he usually quite enjoyed working at the bar. He kept looking at his watch and felt as if time had slowed down to an unbearable speed. Without her Max felt unbalanced, uneasy. Alone. Empty.

  It painfully reminded him that soon he would indeed be alone; she was leaving in about two weeks.

  He couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t lose her.

  The mere thought of never seeing Stella again made his whole body tremble. Raking shaking hands through his hair, he swung his feet off the bed and went to look for her. Why had she left the bed without him? She’d never done that before. It was still only 9 a.m.; considering they hadn’t fallen asleep until well past 4 a.m., they hadn’t had nearly enough sleep.

  Where the hell was she?

  Max heard her voice in the kitchen and headed that way, not caring that he was wearing only his boxers. Seeing Stella standing by the sink chatting with Lisa made him relax a little.

  “Babe?” he said to attract her attention. She looked at him, surprised, and her beautiful, full lips stretched into a smile.

  “Why are you up? It’s early.” She came to him and hugged him around the waist.

  “I woke up and you were gone.” He realised how sappy that sounded, but he didn’t give a damn. He wanted her snuggled beside him when he slept, not sneaking out of bed. “Please come back to bed. I can’t sleep without you anymore.” He kissed the tip of her nose and tucked her hair behind her left ear. What was he going to do when she left? Suffer from insomnia for the rest of his life?

  “OK,” she whispered and released him from her embrace. He held her hand firmly in his, afraid she’d change her mind and decide to stay here with Lisa. “Lis, I’m going back to bed. How about we go to the supermarket this afternoon to buy the food for dinner?”

  “OK. I’ll be in my studio; I’m not working today. Call me when you’re ready to go.” Lisa didn’t make any comment about Max being in his underwear, or their PDA, or the fact that he had dragged Stella back to bed with him. Weird. Usually she would have thrown at least five teasing comments his way by now.

  It didn’t matter. Stella was coming back with him.

  They snuggled under the covers and he tugged her body to his, pressing her back to his chest
until there was no space for even air between them. Max kissed the nape of her neck and inhaled the scent of her hair.

  Home. She was home.

  Where would he go when she left? To his empty house, where he barely saw his mum and his sister? He couldn’t stay here either; not that Lisa or Niki would object, but he couldn’t imagine staying here without Stella.

  Without Stella he didn’t have a home.

  Emotion overwhelmed him and he felt his whole body starting to tremble.

  “You OK? Are you cold?” Stella asked.

  “I’m fine. I just missed you.” He forced his body to stop shaking and tried to relax. She was here now; everything was fine.

  Max wanted to tell her how much he loved her, how he didn’t want her to leave him, how they could make it work even after she went back to London. He simply couldn’t. Especially not with the huge lump in his throat. What if she said she didn’t feel the same way and he fucked up the last couple of weeks they had together? He’d waited for so long; he could wait for a few more days. He’d tell her, but not just yet.

  Forcing the panic attack he’d just experienced to subside, Max closed his eyes and, soothed by Stella’s quiet breathing, fell asleep.

  *

  It was almost seven and Stella felt strangely nervous. Her aunt hadn’t given them any clue as to what her surprise was, but they all knew it must be something big, because Niki wasn’t a ‘keeping secrets’ kind of person.

  “Hey, how’s dinner coming along?” Lisa asked, strolling into the kitchen. She hadn’t come with them to the supermarket, and she’d refused to come out of her studio to help with the cooking. Not that Max needed any help – as usual he made the whole meal himself. Stella was in charge of making the salad and tasting the sauce for the meatball tagliatelle every ten minutes. When it came to cooking, Max was obsessed with perfection.

  “Good, I guess. I’m not doing much anyway,” said Stella, as she chopped some cherry tomatoes for the salad. Max turned away from the stove and walked towards Stella, bending down to kiss her.

  “You’re doing plenty, babe. You’re entertaining the chef, and that’s a very important job. Do you know how long the waiting list for that position is?” Stella and Lisa laughed simultaneously.

  “Yeah, really long,” Lisa said, sarcasm dripping from her words and making Stella laugh even harder. Those two loved to tease each other and Stella was happy to reap the amusing benefits.

  “Lisa’s just jealous, ’cos she used to be the main chef entertainer,” Max said with a smirk. “But that smart mouth of hers always got her into trouble.”

  “It’s not my fault that you’re so easy to tease. Or that you’re so immature that the only way you can answer back to my jokes is either with physical violence or by throwing food at me.” Lisa took a bottle of water from the fridge and flopped onto the seat next to Stella.

  “Physical violence? When have I ever used ‘physical violence’?” He made air quotes with his fingers and leaned against the counter, an amused expression on his face.

  “When you swung me over your shoulder and threw me on the sofa, yelling at me not to come back into the kitchen. Or when you pushed me in the pool, after I said you burned the ribs on the BBQ again.”

  “Oh, yes – I remember.” Max smirked at the memory while Lisa frowned.

  “Really, cuz? You couldn’t do any better than this?” Lisa said to Stella, inclining her head towards Max.

  “Come on – leave him alone,” Stella grinned at Max, who blew her an air kiss. Lisa rolled her eyes and brought the bottle to her lips. “Before he throws you in the pool again,” Stella added. Max laughed and, covering the distance between them in two long strides, claimed her mouth in a passionate kiss.

  “Oh God, there’s two of them now,” Lisa exclaimed, biting her lower lip to suppress her smile.

  “Two of what?” someone said from the living room, and all three of them snapped their heads in the direction of the voice. The very familiar voice.

  Stella jumped from her chair, almost knocking it down and ran towards the living room.

  “Mum!” she shouted, before crushing Helen’s body in a bear hug. “What are you doing here?” She pulled away and looked at her mother’s face, still unable to believe she was actually here.

  “Surprise,” Niki said, as she approached them, grinning. Stella had spoken to her mum two days ago and she hadn’t mentioned anything about coming to visit. “I convinced her to take some time off and come to visit. After all, she’s my best friend and she still hasn’t seen where I live.” She winked at Helen, who beamed with pure joy.

  Stella didn’t know that the two women had managed so quickly to rebuild their relationship to what it had been before. Her mum hadn’t mentioned it and neither had her aunt, but maybe that was a part of their plan. It didn’t really matter – her mum was here and she was ecstatic. Stella hadn’t realised how much she’d missed her until that moment.

  “I’m so glad you came,” said Stella and pulled her in for another hug.

  “Me too, sweetheart. I missed you. All of you,” Helen said, looking at Lisa and Niki in turn. Lisa stepped forward to give her aunt a hug.

  “Welcome, Aunt Helen. It’s so good to see you after all this time,” said Lisa, and Stella saw her eyes well up.

  Max appeared from the kitchen and looked a bit uncomfortable. Was it Stella’s imagination, or was he nervous about meeting her mother? She grinned at him in an attempt to ease his discomfort.

  “Mum, this is Max,” said Stella as he approached them. Helen’s eyes lit up as she sized him up with one quick look, and her lips spread into a smile.

  “Hello, Mrs Quinn; nice to meet you,” he said politely, extending his hand.

  “Please, call me Helen. Nice to meet you too, Max. I’ve heard so much about you.” She smiled at him and looked pointedly at her daughter.

  Max blushed. He actually blushed. Stella had never imagined that was even possible. He looked so cool and cocky all the time, she never in a million years thought someone could make his cheeks flush. It was adorable. Her heart expanded with so much love for him that it pushed against her lungs and she found it hard to breathe.

  Stella followed Niki and Helen upstairs to help her mum settle in. Without anybody realising, Niki had moved her desk and her computer into her own bedroom, and had prepared her office as a room for Helen. It had a sofa bed, a chest of drawers and a small wardrobe, so she’d be comfortable enough. The room was small and didn’t have en suite like the other bedrooms, but at least Helen would have her own space. Stella wondered if her aunt had gone through all this trouble because of her and her relationship with Max. If Max wasn’t sleeping in her bed every single night, she could have shared her room with her mother; there was more than enough space for both of them. Even though Niki worked long hours, she’d still managed to pay attention to what was going on around her. Maybe she’d felt how important it was to Stella to spend as much time with Max as possible, simply because they both knew her time with him was limited.

  Pushing all those depressing thoughts out of her head, Stella left Niki and her mum to unpack and walked back to the kitchen, where Max and Lisa were arguing over whether ‘Lost’ or ‘Prison Break’ was the best show ever broadcast on TV. She decided to stay out of it, at least until food started flying around, and took plates and cutlery out to set the table.

  Dinner was perfect. For the first time since Eric and her dad had died, Stella felt she had all the people she loved around her. Everybody else seemed in a good mood too. Even Max managed to relax around Helen, especially after everyone complimented him on the delicious meal he had, once again, prepared for them.

  Niki shared the rest of the plan for Helen’s stay – she had taken time off work as well, leaving her assistant in charge of the spa. She wanted to show Helen as much of Italy as possible in the short time available – which meant they’d be travelling a lot and Stella wouldn’t be able to spend that much time with her mum. She was fine
with that – in a very short time it would be just the two of them in London. Stella was glad that her mum would have the opportunity to rekindle her friendship with Niki. Helen desperately needed her best friend in her life again.

  When they had finished eating, Niki and Helen went into the living room to finish their wine and chat. Stella stayed behind to help with the dishes, even though both Max and Lisa tried to make her go with her mother. She felt that giving Niki and Helen some sort of privacy was what they needed just then. She’d catch up with her mum later.

  Soon the kitchen was tidy, the dishwasher was full and running, and Lisa had taken out three glasses for them. She poured orange juice in one and Prosecco in the other.

  “What are you drinking, Max? Prosecco, beer, red wine?” she asked.

  “Nothing for me. I think I’ll grab a beer with Beppe.” He looked at Stella uncertainly, waiting for her reaction.

  “You wanna go out tonight?” Stella asked, surprised.

  “I don’t want to, but I think I should. You haven’t seen your mum in weeks and maybe you two should have some alone time.” He bit his lower lip and looked down.

  “Lis, can you give us a minute?” Lisa nodded and, taking her glass, went into the living room. “Max, don’t leave. I won’t be alone with Mum anyway; Niki and Lisa are here too. She’s probably tired and will go to bed early. I’ll have all the time in the world to be with my mum when I get back home; she’s not here for me.”

  Max looked unconvinced and Stella felt there was something more.

  “Are you nervous around Mum because we sleep together?” Max looked away and didn’t answer her question which made Stella smile. This twenty-two-year-old man, who had no problem starting fights over her and kissing her senseless without paying attention who was around, was embarrassed to sleep with her when her mum was in the same house. “Max, that’s ridiculous. I’ve told my mum we’re dating and she knows you spend the night here. Besides, she’s a very understanding, open person. You have nothing to worry about.”