The Good Father

Chapter Twelve

Max turned the key. “Where to?”

“Your place.” She didn’t want to make love with Max on the Princess II, where memories of Scott might intrude. “My bed is tiny.”

Jane applauded Max’s control. He didn’t break any speed limits driving to the Shell Beach Condos. But he didn’t dilly-dally, either. After whipping into a parking space, he was out of the car and opening her door before she could even get her seat belt off.

They practically sprinted to the front door. Max opened it, punched in the security code to silence the beeping alarm, and before she could take a breath he had her up against the closed door.

He could take her right here on the tile floor and she wouldn’t object. She’d never been so hot for any man.

With Max’s help, she shed the silk blouse and tailored skirt she’d so carefully chosen this morning and threw it on the ground. Standing there in her plunge-front bra, high-cut panties, stockings and heels while Max’s gaze devoured her only made her hungrier.

“Bedroom’s this way.” Rather than waiting for her to follow, he scooped her up and carried her up the stairs like some medieval maiden about to be ravished by the castle laird.

The image made her shiver with anticipation. In fact, pretty much everything increased her eagerness-the cool air-conditioning on her bare skin, the sight of his enormous bed, the faint traces of his scent on the pillow as he set her down on soft, cotton sheets.

He yanked off his dress shirt while she worked on his belt buckle, but he didn’t need much help from her. In seconds he was down to his silk boxers, but she had only a moment to admire how he looked in sexy underwear before he shed those, too, and he was standing before her gloriously naked and awesomely aroused.

As he climbed into bed with her and covered her body with his, Jane reveled in the exquisite contact of hard muscles against her softer flesh. He radiated heat and desire, and his gaze burned with intensity as he stared into her eyes.

“You really are the most beautiful-”

“Yeah, you, too,” she said distractedly as she unhooked her bra. She wanted his hands on her breasts. His mouth on her breasts. His mouth everywhere, oh, yes. No need for pretty words.

He slid her panties off with deliberate slowness, grazing his fingers along her bare thighs as he removed the wispy garment, making her whimper with wanting. He slid off her heels, too, but he left her thigh-high stockings on.

She was coming unglued. If she didn’t have him inside her in the next ten seconds, her whole body was going to go up in flames. She beckoned him to her, grasping his muscular hip with one hand and his beautiful arousal in the other as she opened herself to him.

“Wait, honey, wait.”

“Wait?” Did he have no idea how desperate he’d made her?

But then she realized he was reaching for the bedside drawer. He was thinking about protecting her, and all she could think about was getting her satisfaction.

Thank goodness one of them had a shred of sanity left.

He took care of that little detail in one smooth movement, no fumbling, which reminded her that Max wasn’t exactly inexperienced when it came to women. The image of his little black book sprang to her mind for just a moment, but she banished it.

Who cared about the past? Or the future, for that matter. Max was here and now, and in moments he was going to be inside her and she was positive it would be the best thing that had ever happened to her.

Max resisted the urge to just dive into Jane’s luscious body. He’d dated a lot of women, gone to bed with quite a few, too. But none had made him feel like this, like he wanted to sip and savor and create an experience that would live in their memories forever.

Moments ago he’d been in a rush. He couldn’t get her or himself naked fast enough. But now that they were committed, he wanted to take it slower, to look and touch and taste.

“Max?” Jane asked a little desperately, and he realized he’d gone still while poised above her and was just looking, taking it all in.

He leaned down and kissed her, hoping she could feel even a fraction of what he felt right now.

Again she opened herself to him, and this time Max accepted the invitation, taking it slow, letting her grow accustomed to him. Every time he moved she made a little noise in the back of her throat, like a wild creature. The sounds only inflamed him further.

When he was perilously close to losing control, he plunged all the way in.

“Ah, yes, finally,” Jane said, and he smiled, thinking she probably hadn’t meant to speak aloud.

His movements steadied into a rhythm. Jane met him thrust for thrust, her eyes open and gazing into his, trusting, giving, generous. He pressed his cheek into her hair, inhaling the intoxicating fragrance as he tried to make it last.

“Oh…oh…” She seemed to hold her breath, then looked almost surprised as the spasms overtook her body, taking them both over the edge of sanity to a place Max had never been before.

Max rode the crest of the wave for what seemed like an eternity. By the time it was over and they lay together, limbs entwined, sweaty, her hair in glorious disarray, Max wasn’t sure how much time had passed. He discreetly glanced at his bedside clock and was amazed they still had thirty minutes left of their lunch hour.

He fingered a strand of her hair, then tickled her nose with it. “Wish I could lie in bed all day with you.”

“Mmm.”

“On the other hand, showering with you would be nice.”

Finally she opened her eyes, looking a little dazed. “That was crazy good, wasn’t it?”

He laughed. “I’d say so. Maybe even worth the possible lawsuit.”

She frowned. “Lawsuit?”

“When you sue me for sexual harassment.”

“Oh, Max.” She pulled her hair out of his hand. “You know I would never do that, right?”

“Sure, you say that now, when everything’s all rosy.”

She sat up and thumped him with a pillow. “Stop it. I’m not the suing type. I’m going into this knowing there might be consequences. What happens, happens.”

“So what is ‘this’?”

“What? What’s what?”

“You said ‘I’m going into this…’ and I want to know what you think we’re getting into.”

“Jeez, Max. If you don’t know, I certainly don’t. It’s a thing.”

“A thing?”

“A hot, sexy, what-the-hell-are-we-doing thing.”

“Is it a continuous thing?”

She grinned mischievously. “I don’t know. Is it?”

He grabbed her shoulders and pinned her down on the mattress. “I hope you didn’t do this just to satisfy an itch. I sure didn’t.” Then he kissed her, just to make sure she knew he meant what he said. “I’m not ready for marriage. The agency has to be my priority for a few years. But that doesn’t mean I want this to be a one-night stand.”

“One-lunch-hour stand.”

“Jane…”

“Sorry.” She maneuvered herself away from him, and suddenly she did look serious. Almost too serious. “I don’t want this to be an isolated incident, either. But I understand about priorities. I’m not one of those single moms shopping for a daddy for her kid.”

Max hated hearing his words thrown back at him. “I never imagined you were.”

She sat up, wrapping the sheet around herself. “Just one other small matter, Max.”

“What?”

“I think…while we’re figuring this thing out…you shouldn’t spend a lot of time around Kaylee.”

The thud of disappointment in his chest seemed all out of proportion. He rolled back onto his own pillow. “Oh.”

“It’s all that stuff we talked about at the fish fry. She’ll get too attached, and-”

“You don’t have to go over it again, Jane. I really do understand.”

“Really?”

“Really. I had another little girl get attached to me once. Her name was Hannah.”

Jane said nothing.

“As uncool as it is to bring up old girlfriends when you’re in bed with the new one, I’ll tell you anyway. Her name was Alicia, and we were together a couple of years.”

“You stayed with a woman for two years?”

“I know everyone thinks I’m some kind of womanizer, and maybe that’s what I became. But I was happy with Alicia. Satisfied. She offered me something that was sadly lacking in my life, and that was a family. You know, that warm, family thing?”

“But you have a family.”

“My parents got divorced when I was five. My mother had a string of boyfriends, even married a couple, but they never lasted. My dad had a couple more marriages, too. Eddie and I got bounced back and forth between them like ping-pong balls.”

“Oh, Max, I’m sorry.”

“Alicia was nurturing and warm, and she was a great mother to Hannah. And Hannah-what a great kid. The two of them made me feel I belonged in a way I never had before.”

“And yet something went wrong.”

“Alicia wanted more from me than I could give. She wanted marriage, and I wasn’t ready. I was only twenty-eight, still focused on my career and hanging out with friends. And I didn’t love Alicia. I wasn’t in love with her, I mean. Looking back, I think I stayed with her as long as I did because I cared about Hannah, not because of Alicia. All in all, I was pretty selfish. I wanted what they could give me, but I didn’t want to provide what Alicia needed.”

“We all make relationship mistakes.”

“And sometimes we hurt people in the process. I devastated Hannah when I broke up with her mother. She’d never even known her real father. I was the closest she’d ever had.”

Max turned over to face Jane. He pulled her down and into his arms, because he couldn’t stand not touching her. “I don’t want to hurt Kaylee that way. She’s a great kid, and I like being around her. She’s like…sunshine.

“But I think you’re right. I think I should keep my distance.”

“And what about at work? Do we just act like before? Keep it secret?” She pulled the sheet up over her face. “Oh, God, I can’t believe we’re having this conversation.”

“At work, of course we behave like professional colleagues.” He hooked his finger on the edge of the sheet and pulled it down. “What’s wrong with this conversation?”

“We’re setting up the rules for a…a thing. Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”

“Better than misunderstandings and fights and tears down the road,” he said reasonably, which didn’t seem to comfort Jane a great deal.

JANE WAS STILL a seething mass of conflicting emotions as she arrived for work the next morning. She was excited and terrified, happy and terrified, aroused at the mere thought of seeing Max…and terrified.

Mostly terrified that she’d done something incredibly stupid. And yet…she was glad she’d done it. No regrets. Just terror.

Carol greeted her with a smile. “Morning, Jane. Where were you all afternoon?”

“Oh, I had some personal business to take care of. Stuff left over from the divorce.” Like not having a place to live.

After hours of slogging around in the muggy heat looking for a suitable apartment, Jane had finally found one she could stand. It was almost within her budget and not too vile. It was tiny, but then again, she and Kaylee were used to close quarters.

One small hitch, though. She couldn’t move in until mid-October. And she had to turn over her boat to the new owners next week. That left her with almost two weeks with no roof over her head.

“So you heard the big news, yes?” Carol said.

“Yeah, I was there when Max talked to Ellen. It’s great.”

“It’s fantastic. We don’t have to go job hunting! I’m planning a party. It’s tonight after work, can you come?”

“Oh, I’d like to, but I’d have to find a sitter for Kaylee.” Hard to do on such short notice.

“You could bring her along.”

“We’ll see.” But no, because Max would be there. She felt terrible, deliberately keeping Max and her daughter apart when they were so clearly crazy about each other. But after her conversation with Max yesterday, it only made sense.

She’d seen the pain on his face when he talked about Hannah. She didn’t want to be the cause of something like that. And clearly their “thing” did not have a high chance of survival, not when she and Max were so not ready to make any commitments.

Jane was sifting through some mail that had arrived for her-amazing how quickly art-supply companies had pegged her as a potential customer-when Max walked in.

“Carol, have you talked to-oh, good morning, Jane.” He had a big silly grin on his face, and Jane was afraid she had one to match.

“Hi.”

“Uh, Carol, do you have the, uh…what did I come in here for?”

“Have I talked to…” Carol parroted his words back to him.

He snapped his fingers. “Right. Finley, the new account exec. He was going to call in with some information for payroll.”

“Got it right here.”

Jane slipped past Max and practically sprinted for her office. Being around Max and acting strictly professional was going to be harder than she’d thought. But she had to. It would look really, really bad for everybody to know he was sleeping with his art director.

She had a pile of work waiting for her, mostly small ads that needed minor updating. She put her purse away and fired up her computer, intending to make up for the time she took off yesterday.

Midway through the first ad, though, Max came into her office to discuss one of the projects.

Her mouth watered just looking at him. He was casual today, and he looked better in a pair of faded jeans than any man she’d ever seen.

Their conversation was strictly business. Anyone seeing them or overhearing them would think nothing of it. But as they both bent over the ad on her drawing board, she could smell his soap-the same soap she’d used in his shower yesterday when he’d sudsed her up and done unspeakably wicked things to her body, causing him to be late returning to work.

Her whole body tensed with longing.

No. She was not going to give in to it. She had to focus on her work, because now she really needed this job. She’d forked over almost all her ready cash for the deposit and first month’s rent on her new apartment.

Once the newness of sex with Max wore off, she wouldn’t feel like this all the time, she reasoned. She would be able to partition off that part of her life.

“So, we’re squared away on the surf shop ad?”

“Yes, mm-hmm.”

“Something wrong?”

“No. No, everything’s great.” Sort of.

“Are you coming to the party tonight?”

“If I can get a sitter.”

“You can bring-” He stopped himself. “Right. I hope you can make it, since you were instrumental in landing the account.”

“I hope I can, too.” Mrs. Billingsly sometimes did evening babysitting. Jane made a mental note to call her. “Where is this party, anyway?”

“On the Dragonfly. What’s the use of owning one-sixth of a fishing business if I can’t get a free charter now and then? Sara is doing the catering for the cost of food. We’ll fish for a couple of hours in the bay, then anchor and eat and drink until the refreshments run out. If it’s dark by then, we’ll look at the stars through Cooper’s telescope.”

“It sounds like fun. I’ll try to make it.”

Carol leaned her head in the door. “Hey, girlfriend, I’m headed to Fresco Deli for lunch. You in?”

Jane took stock of her work and decided she had everything under control. “Sure.”

“How about you, boss man?” Carol asked.

“I have some work to do. But if you could bring me back a ham and swiss on rye with mustard, I’d be grateful.” He handed Carol a ten.

“Um, this is a health-food place. I could probably manage tofu and avocado on seven grain.”

He grimaced. “Whatever. God, I miss New York sometimes.”

It was a gorgeous day. The lingering summer heat and humidity had finally broken, and Jane inhaled deeply as she and Carol exited the building.

“Why don’t we walk?” she suggested as Carol pulled her car keys out of her purse. “It’s only a few blocks.”

Carol shrugged. “Okay. I guess it is the perfect day for it.”

They walked in companionable silence for about half a block, until finally a question burst out of Carol. “So? Are you going to tell me?”

“Tell you what?” Jane asked warily.

“About you and the boss man.”

“What are you talking about?” Jane asked to buy herself time. Oh, dear, this was bad. It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since Jane and Max had succumbed to temptation, and already Carol knew about it.

“Come on, girlfriend. It’s all over your faces-both of you. When he walked into the room you stared at each other like a couple of lovesick calves.”

“Um…I plead the Fifth.” What else could she say? Denials seemed ridiculous, and anyway she didn’t like lying.

“Hah! I knew it! From the moment you first walked into the office I sensed a vibe between you two. C’mon, give. What’s going on? Is he as hot as he looks?”

Jane shot Carol a sharp look.

Carol rolled her eyes. “He’s not my type-too young, too scrawny and too pale. But I recognize prime beef on the hoof when I see it.”

Jane gave an embarrassed laugh. “Carol, please.”

“You did it at lunch yesterday, didn’t you? Max came back to the office looking like he was going to burst, he was so happy.”

“Of course he was happy. He’d just gotten the Kidz’n’Stuff account.”

“You’re evading the question.”

They’d arrived at the deli, and Jane busied herself studying the menu as they stood in line at the counter. “They have a ham and swiss,” she said.

“I know, I just said that to jerk Max’s chain. He’s always talking about how great the delis are in New York. Interesting that the first thing you looked for when you picked up the menu was something for your man.”

“Carol, stop it.”

“If you want me to stop it, you gotta come clean. If you and the boss man are steam-pressing the sheets, it could cause problems. I need to know the truth, so I can commence damage and rumor control.”

Jane thought that was a pretty thin excuse for simply wanting to hear gossip.

“I’ll tell you,” Jane finally said.

She waited until they’d both picked up their sandwich orders and taken them to a small table on the sidewalk outside. Carol watched her with curious eyes, but she didn’t push further.

“We slept together one time. It was at his place, yesterday, and I have no idea where it’s going or even if it’s going. It might be that we got it out of our systems.”

In a way Jane wished that were the case. But Max certainly wasn’t out of her system.

“Hmph, I doubt that.” Carol took a bite of her turkey sandwich. “So what’s his place like?”

Jane hadn’t been paying much attention to Max’s condo at the time, because she’d been way too focused on other things. But now that she thought about it, she had some recollections. It was big. Two stories, probably three bedrooms. And it was fancy. Modern furniture, but good quality. Nice rugs. Nothing cluttered or fussy.

Still, she thought sharing details about Max’s home bordered on gossip. “Do you want your pickle?” She nodded toward Carol’s plate.

“Okay, I get it. You aren’t into sharing details. I can accept that. But just answer me one thing. Do you want it to get serious? ’Cause you could do a whole lot worse than Max Remington. His family is worth millions. Some day he’ll inherit. You could send Kaylee to Harvard.”

“Carol. I’m not attracted to Max because of his money.”

Or was she? One of the reasons she’d married Scott was because he was wealthy. She wouldn’t have admitted it at the time, but in the back of her mind she’d known that as his wife she wouldn’t have to worry about money.

Was she doing the same thing now? She was scarcely away from one rich husband. On some level, was she counting on Max to someday be Rich Husband #2?