Maxwell’s smile was slow but honest. “I’d like that too.”
Robyn got it. The message of the day was closure. That was what Maxwell had been seeking all along. Their reunion wasn’t going to be a new beginning. Robyn hadn’t found peace in their reconciliation. As the disappointment settled into her bones, she hoped he had.
Chapter 15
Robyn lay across the bed in the guest room with her arm thrown over her face. She’d been in the same position since her conversation with Maxwell earlier. She squeezed her eyes shut and whispered into the air. “How the hell did I end up here?”
Her personal life officially sucked.
Restless, Robyn sat up and pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She placed her cheek on top of her knees as she rocked back and forth. What she was feeling and what she should be feeling were at odds.
Robyn should still be furious with Maxwell, but she wasn’t. Her heart ached for him and for herself. The conflict of emotions had her debating what she should have said during their heart-to-heart. “Should I have told him that last night wasn’t just about the sex? That I wanted to see what could happen between us?” She sighed. “No, that would make everything about me. After going through all of this madness, Maxwell just wants to move on. I should too.”
Completely lost in thought, Robyn jumped when she heard knocking. Shaking her head to clear her mind, she slid off of the bed and went over to the door. Slowly, she cracked it open. Her soft eyes looked up into hazel ones. She noticed, at this moment, they were browner than green.
Maxwell stood staring as if he’d forgotten what he came to say. He’d done his best to stay away, but the pull of being in the same place got to him. After a few moments, he realized he wasn’t saying anything. Maxwell coughed to break up the uncomfortable silence between them. “I called again to see if I could do something to get the service up here faster.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I offered to pay double and give the guys a nice bonus if they could bump me up to the top of the list.”
Her throaty laugh was still able to make his heart pump much too fast. Robyn tilted her head. “I see you’re willing to pay top dollar to get rid of me.” She’d said it as a joke, but the truth was, after everything that happened in the last twenty-four hours, it stung.
“No, no . . . that’s not it at all. I just know you’re anxious to get home.”
The butterflies were back. Who was she kidding? Except for the few moments of pure unadulterated rage, it had never really left. Robyn shifted from one foot to another as she held his gaze. “It’s fine. I really do understand.”
Although thoughts of Robyn had led him to some pretty bad decisions, actually being alone with her would probably result in him doing something else even more catastrophically stupid and impulsive. Maxwell rubbed the back of his neck. “I was just getting ready to watch a movie in the theater room. I figured you might be bored. Maybe you want to join me?” He knew this was a bad fuckin’ idea but couldn’t help himself from asking.
She blinked a couple of times, and her face was blank. “A movie?”
He felt like an idiot for feeling nervous. Why the hell should I be nervous? He ran a billion-dollar corporation and made important decisions all day every day, yet this woman always had a way to knock him off balance.
“That sounds . . .”
Great. She was going to decline. He was disappointed, but that was the smart decision. “If you’re not up to it . . .”
A brilliant smile appeared on her face. It stretched from ear to ear. “Actually, I’d love it.”
*****
Robyn felt more peaceful than she had in a while as she followed him into the theater room. “What do you want to watch?”
“I don’t think there’s much here. You would know better than me. We can always see what’s on one of the pay channels . . . action, adventure . . . that one apocalypse movie I meant to see is out. We could try that.” He took a seat in one of the movie-style recliners.
She sat down next to him pulling her legs beside her as she reached for the remote.
Maxwell looked around the room. “You really did do an incredible job with this place.”
Robyn smiled proudly. “Thank you.” Then turned on the television. “Okay, let’s see what we can find.”
“We need some popcorn or something.”
She flipped a button on the remote, and a door slid back on a cabinet next to the projection television. There was a small carnival style popcorn maker and a refrigerator.
He laughed. “You always were greedy.”
Robyn laughed too. “I would say I’ve always had a love affair with food.”
His eyes landed on her sweet smile. “Looking at you, no one would ever know it.”
Her smile faded, and she wondered if he could feel her heart beating through her clothes.
Maxwell broke eye contact and went over to see if he could figure out how to work the machine. After a couple of minutes, the room began to smell like buttered popcorn from a real theater.
Robyn focused on finding a movie. “Okay. There’s not a lot of action here. What was the name of that apocalypse movie?”
He turned around and glanced at the options on the screen just as Robyn put her hand to her heart. “Aww.”
Curious, Maxwell asked. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“No, what?”
“My favorite movie is on here.”
He responded. “Love Jones?”
“Yaaaasss . . . I loved Darius.”
“He was allllllright. I guess, if you like lines like ‘I’m the blues in your left thigh . . . trying to become the funk in your right.’” Maxwell chuckled as he came over with a couple of sodas and the popcorn.
Robyn remembered he’d used a few of those lines on her and each time they were always successful in getting her out of her clothes. “Hmm . . . Action. We should probably stick with that.”
From the look in his eyes, Maxwell remembered too. He handed her a soda, and their fingers brushed against each other. Lightening. Robyn swallowed hard, and so did he. Suddenly, all the oxygen was sucked out of the room. It took everything within him, but Maxwell tore his eyes away as he sat down. He contemplated his next words very carefully. When he looked up and back into her eyes, they were no less heated as his. “Love Jones might not be the best choice right now. Maybe we should watch Transformers or something.”
Robyn tried to put on an easy smile but wasn’t sure she was successful. The back and forth, the push and pull was over. At least, it needed to be. Maxwell had made up his mind, and Robyn accepted it. Her voice was soft. “Okay, Transformers it is.”
Chapter 16
“Wow, this is a really nice office!” Eva walked around the open floor plan of the building.
Robyn was proud of her decision to make this her satellite office. She responded. “Thanks. I figured it was time. Working out of my apartment was getting old.” Robyn did a three-sixty turn around the room and placed her hands on her hips as she admired the space.
“I can only imagine. It’s going to be even more fantastic once you furnish it.” Eva nodded.
“That’s my hope. I can’t claim to know what I’m doing if I don’t hook up my own place.”
“I’m pretty sure your reputation would stand all on its own.”
Robyn sighed. “One never knows.”
Eva laughed. “Girl, stop it. My phone has been ringing off the hook in the six months since our first project.” Eva emphasized “first project.” Robyn rolled her eyes. She knew what Eva was doing. Robyn tended to tread lightly when it came to the entire situation that happened between her, Maxwell, and the House on the Hill. She had mostly closed herself off and didn’t really talk about what happened. She also hadn’t gone out on even one date since it happened.
Robyn was focused on an area where the windows overlooked downtown Romona. “I’m thinking of making this the conference room area. Now that I’m setti
ng up a satellite office, my senior staff will be flying in a more.”
“Good. Will that cut down on the amount of time you have to spend in New York?”
“I hope so. I’d like to limit my time of having to travel there to once a month. Plus, it’ll just be nice to have my home back. That’s what I loved about it when I first moved back here. That it was an escape from business.”
“Makes sense. Well, I don’t want to toot my own horn, but if you need references, I can firmly attest to your skills—and so can Maxwell.” Eva didn’t know how to delicately bring the subject up because she was never good at being subtle. “So . . . have you talked to him lately?”
Robyn played dumb. “Who?”
“You know who. Maxwell.”
She shrugged. Robyn attempted to keep her voice nonchalant. “Not much. We’ve had a few phone conversations since he’s been gone, but not in the past few weeks.” Maxwell was never too far from her mind, which was what made Robyn throw herself back into her work.
Eva looked slightly disappointed. “Oh. I thought for sure you two would find your way back to each other.”
Robyn sighed and decided to open up—some. “He and I came to a resolution. I hated the way things initially went down, but it ended up being good for both of us.”
“Hmm . . . all that closure crap, right?”
“I wouldn’t call it crap. We both did what we needed to do to move on.”
“But you haven’t. You have not gone out with anyone since whatever happened between you two that day. And I don’t think he has either. Otherwise, he would put a for sale sign on both of those houses.”
Robyn was surprised. “He hasn’t? I thought for sure he would have done exactly that once spring arrived.”
“Nope. Jesse asked him about it.” Eva let that hang in the air to gauge Robyn’s reaction.
Robyn knew Eva was dangling the bait in front of her, and she couldn’t resist taking it. “Dammit! What did he say?”
“I knew it! I knew you were still hung up on him.”
Robyn threw up her arms in exasperation. “I slept with him the first time I saw him in nine years. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.”
Eva softened her tone. “But you don’t even talk about him.”
Robyn exhaled a long breath. “What is there to say? Ian . . . Maxwell . . . was the one that got away. He decided it was best to move on and while he’ll forever own a piece of my heart, I’m trying not to dwell on it. I’m just doing the best I can, and hopefully, I’ll wake up one day to realize, I’ve finally moved on. Honestly, it’s really the best thing for both of us.”
“You know what I think?”
“No, because you’re being selective with your information.” Robyn smirked.
Eva ignored her. “I think Maxwell feels the same way. He has no plans whatsoever of selling either of those two properties. He told Jesse they were great tax write-offs, but we know better. Once he figures it out, I think Maxwell is going to do the same thing you did.”
Robyn looked at her questioningly. “What’s that?”
“You came back to Romona in a roundabout way because of him, and he’ll come back here because of you.”
“I’m not going to hold my breath waiting around on Maxwell.”
*****
Robyn was leaving her office in Romona when her cell phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number but answered it anyway. “Robyn Levy.” There was silence on the other end. “Hello? This is Robyn.” Just as she was about to hang up, she heard his voice.
“Uh . . . hey. It’s me.”
She was hesitant to respond. “I’m sorry, I don’t recognize the voice.” Robyn knew exactly who was on the other line but was irritated that he thought she should know who it belonged to.
“Right. I deserve that. It’s me, Maxwell.”
“What do you want?” Robyn was tired and didn’t want to deal with all the emotional trauma that went with him.
“I was hoping we could talk.”
“About what?”
“Us.”
Robyn sighed. “Maxwell, there is no us.”
“There should be.”
“Really? That’s what you think? Because if I recall we decided to move on with our lives.”
Maxwell ignored her last response. “I guess you didn’t get the flowers I sent for your birthday? Did you read the card?”
“Yes. I got them and threw them away, so no, I didn’t read the card.”
Maxwell could hear the anger in her voice and started to explain. “I’ve been out of the country the past few weeks, and this is the first chance I’ve had to call, but the card explained everything. When I didn’t hear from you . . .”
She was getting amped up. “No, you will not put this back off on me. I don’t want to hear it. There are cell phone towers every damn where. You cannot say move on Robyn and then do shit like this. You decided we should just get on with our lives. That’s what I’ve done – moved the hell on.”
“Robyn–”
She interrupted him. “No, let me be clear, I haven’t seen you in six months, and I’ve only heard from you once or twice in all that time. You’ve taken zero steps or shown any initiative for anything after using me. Now that you’re ready to explore something more, you think I should be? Like I said, I’ve moved on. You should do the same for real this time.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do!” His own frustration was spilling over. “If you had read the damn card, it would have made everything clear.”
Robyn closed her eyes. “Maxwell, I’m tired. I’m fairly confident there was nothing in the card that would have mattered. I’m so over us that it’s not even funny. We agreed to put the past behind us. That’s what I’ve done. You need to do the same.”
“I want to see you. I want to explain.”
She refused to entertain this conversation a moment longer. “I’ve got to go.” Robyn hung up. She didn’t want to give Maxwell and opportunity to convince her to do otherwise.
The conversation went better than Maxwell expected. However, this was definitely a set back. But if Robyn thought she had had the last word, she couldn’t be more wrong. Maxwell would show her better than he could tell her.
*****
A Week Later . . .
Robyn had to meet with a new client in her New York office. It was one of those high-maintenance ones that only wanted to work with her.
She sat in the conference room working on her laptop, waiting for the appointment to arrive. They were late. She absolutely hated when clients kept her waiting but that was how it went with the famous and fabulously wealthy.
The intercom in the center of the table buzzed. She leaned over, reached out, and answered it. “Yes.”
Her assistant responded. “Your appointment is here.” Her hushed excitement sounded as if she was fangirling and trying to keep it together.
“Okay. Please, send them in.” Robyn stood. She smoothed down her white pencil skirt and matching jacket.
When the door opened. Her mouth dropped. “Oh, my!”
“Ms. Levy?”
Quickly, she pulled it together. Robyn’s smile spread across her entire face. “I’m sorry. Yes. I’m Robyn Levy.” She extended her hand.
He shook it. “Great. I’m sorry for being late, and thanks for still being able to fit me in.” He stepped inside the room.
She was still smiling from ear to ear. “It’s no problem. If I had known my favorite actor would be walking through that door, I would have cleared my entire schedule.”
He smiled too. “My assistant used an alias when she scheduled the appointment. You know how it is with paparazzi.”
Robyn nodded. “Of course. My company will be able to provide you with complete anonymity, and I’ll be honored to work with you.”
He rubbed his hands together. “Ms. Levy, if you don’t mind, I promised a friend a favor, and I hope you can help me.”
Her smile faltered, and she looked confuse
d. “What’s the favor? If it’s possible, I’ll do what I can.”
“Great. All I need is for you to stand there and listen to me deliver one of the most memorable lines from one of my movies, for one of the coolest dudes I know.”
Robyn slowly took a seat. “O-okay.”
He cleared his throat and got into character. Within moments he became the character Darius Lovehall and started his monologue.
“Say baby, can I be your slave?
I’ve got to admit girl, I shit girl
And I am digging you like a grave
“Now do they call you daughter to the Spinning Pulsar
Or maybe Queen of 10,000 Moons, Sister to the distant yet
Rising star
“Is your name Yemaya? Oh hell nah, it’s got to be Oshun
“Ooh is that a smile me put on your face child?
Wide as a field of jasmine and clover
“Talk that talk honey, walk that walk money
High on legs that’ll spite Jehovah
Shit, who am I
It’s not important
But they call me brother to the night
And right now I am the blues in your left thigh
Trying to become the funk in your right
“Who am I? ‘ll be whoever you say
But right now I’m the sight raped hunter
Blindly pursuing you as my prey
“And I just want to give you injections of
Sublime erections and get you to dance to my rhythm
Make you dream architypes of black angels in flight
Upon wings of distorted, contorted metaphoric jizm
“Come on slim, fuck your man, I ain’t worried about him
“It’s you who I want to step to my scene
Cause rather than deal with the fallacy
Of this dry ass reality
I’d rather dance and romance your sweet ass in a wet dream
“Who am I, well they all call me
The Room - A Sensuous Experience Page 10