“Max,” I muttered under my breath, and walked out of the bedroom into the living area. I had forgotten I was half-naked, but I didn’t care. I needed to apologize, and by the time I put my clothes on, it would have been too late. Either he didn’t hear me or he’d chosen to ignore me, because he kept on walking through a door that wasn’t the front door. All this time, I hadn’t realized there was an adjoining door; but then again, I had never noticed because the place was too damn big.

Max was out of sight, so I started jogging to reach him. I had only turned my head for a split second to observe I was in a bedroom, and not another living room like the one I had, when I slammed into something hard. Instinctively, not wanting to fall flat on my butt, I reached for something stable. My arms were suddenly wrapped tightly around the nape of Max’s neck, and I felt something warm around my back. My…oh my…my flesh…my bare butt, my G-string butt. I tried to pull away…I think…or maybe I didn’t, but Max’s grip on me was too strong.

One of Max’s hands was holding me steady on my bottom, causing me to be on my tippy toes. Our bodies were pressed so tightly I could feel my ni**les perk, feeling his heart thumping hard, making my body move in the rhythm of his. Heat combusted like a wild flaming fire throughout my body, and I completely dissolved in his embrace.

Quivering from the warmth of him, I stared at his manly, sexy Adam’s apple as neither one of us moved a muscle. Knowing one of us had to move, I slowly peered upward. I felt his neck muscles stretch as he peered down. We were eye to eye, nose to nose, lips to lips, and heated tingling sensations shot between my legs. “I’m…I’m so sorry,” I managed to breathe out, worried that if I spoke any louder he would hear how hard I was panting.

He didn’t respond to my apology. Instead, his angered eyes softened with tenderness, and perhaps even…desire…wanting. Every puff of his heated breath on my lips was tantalizing me to the point I was unraveling. With a sharp intake of my breath, I felt the tiniest, idly circular motion on my bottom, causing an aching need between my legs. It got worse when his eyes shifted to my lips while he bit down on his bottom one.

While I concentrated on his lip that I wanted to devour so badly, I hadn’t realized my hands had slid down to the sides of his neck. With every angle, every curve, my hand glided downward to his ripped muscular chest that was perfect in every way. He was beautiful and he knew it.

When his clenched hand loosened on the back of the T-shirt I was wearing, I knew he was finally letting me go. Reaching for my face, he blotted the wetness with his thumb. “You were crying?” He sounded shocked. His relaxed body stiffened, more alert. “Shit…I’m sorry to blow up on you like that. It’s just that….” He raked his hair back and parted his lips, seemingly wanting to say something. Instead, he pressed his forehead against mine. “I’m sorry too. Don’t cry. I don’t like to see you cry. Go take a shower; I need one too…an icy cold one.”

When Max twitched his brows playfully, I knew everything was back to normal…except for the aching need between my legs that still lingered. I needed a cold shower too. With a huge smile that was returned from Max, I pulled the back of his T-shirt down as I started to walk out of his room. Though it looked like a dress on me, I needed the security of knowing he couldn’t see my behind.

“Nice ass,” I heard him say faintly. Whether or not it was said for me to hear, it produced a huge, giddy smile on my face. In some twisted way, his words were hot, and I blushed all the way to the shower.

Chapter 18

A cold shower was what I really needed, but a hot shower was even better. Feeling the beaded drops of water on my body helped me relax the tension in my muscles. Though the headache was better, it was still there, but knowing food would take care of that, I dismissed it. Standing under the soothing running water and seeing the steam fog up the glass door put me in a trance, and my mind started to wander with thoughts of Max.

Why was my room so much bigger than his? For goodness sake, he was the boss’s son. Hell…he practically owned the company. Then it occurred to me. The front desk lady took a bit longer than usual to check me in. Not only that, Max knew where my room was before I did. Oh my God! He did. He switched rooms with me so I could have the bigger room. Now I felt really horrible, and guilty, and everything else I could think of. He was just…and something warm glowed in my heart.

A part of me wondered why I was chosen to accompany Max on this trip. The team was just the two of us. That didn’t seem right. Did Max arrange it that way? He knew how much I wanted to go from our lunch conversation. I didn’t know if I should be angry or happy about it, but I didn’t want to ask him after he had taken care of me, and after the sweet things he had already done. I decided to do what Mrs. Ward had told me at our meeting—don’t ask questions and enjoy.

After washing my hair, I opened the bottle of gel soap that smelled of lavender and poured it on the round white puff wash sponge that was provided. How I was going to miss this bathroom that was bigger than the size of my bedroom…make that twice the size of my bedroom. Gliding the soap down my neck, over my shoulders, down my arm, and over my breast, I stopped. Feeling my nipple pressed on Max’s chest had done all sorts of crazy things to me, and I was feeling that same feeling again. The ache, the desire, the want was back. Wanting that feeling to go away, I turned the cold nob, but I had pushed too far. Ahhhh! Cold…so cold. I jumped.