Next Song I Sing (NEXT TIME AROUND)

by McDonald, Donna

  Then she, Marla, and Vanessa headed to the bathroom.

  Chapter 24

  Watching Chloe disappear into the closest restroom, Taylor looked at Emma, whose eyes were still wide with shock. Dealing with other people’s drama was hard on her. Emma had seen enough of that in her own failed relationship and her parents’.

  “Go check on Chloe. You know you want to. I want to talk to Max alone for a minute anyway,” Taylor said.

  Emma nodded without replying and hurried off after the other women.

  Eventually, the only people left in the lobby were Taylor and Max.

  “Did you hurt your injured leg lifting the screaming bitch?” Taylor asked.

  Max stared into Taylor’s blue eyes, still lit with fire over Rayonna almost striking Chloe—and him. The thought of her defending him made him smile.

  “Lifting Rayonna? No, I didn’t get hurt. She’s a walking toothpick,” Max said with a grin. “Would you really have sat on her?”

  “In a heartbeat,” Taylor said. “I don’t care how famous she is.”

  Max laughed then. “I believe you. But trust me, she’s only famous in her own mind. You saw the real story tonight.”

  “Yes, I think a lot of people did. So what’s your real story, Max? Are you as bad as the public thinks? Or as good as your brother says? What’s the truth?”

  “I’ve been trying to figure that out for myself ever since I got hurt,” Max said honestly, holding her gaze. “Got a reason for asking?”

  Taylor huffed out a breath. “Yes. I’m trying to figure out whether or not to let myself enjoy what I’m about to do.”

  Max wrinkled his forehead but grinned. “What are you about to do?”

  Taylor stepped into him and ran her hands up his suit jacket and over his shoulders until she framed his face in her hands. “Pay my debt to you and tell you thanks for protecting my friend.”

  Max knew what was coming then, so he bent his head to her, minimizing the distance as much as he could without being too obvious. Her lips sought and found his, stealing across his mouth lightly, the top of her tongue grazing his bottom lip.

  “Taylor—you always taste like bliss. I want more,” Max whispered against her mouth, his arms scooping around her, bringing her closer for the kiss he wanted.

  He covered Taylor’s willing mouth with his own, stealing her breath as his tongue stroked along hers with precision. When he finally turned loose, Max let out a shaky breath and stepped away before he was tempted to do other things.

  “I would say that squares us,” he said. “Now we’re even—maybe more. Next time that happens, I don’t want it to be for any reason other than we both want it.”

  “Unlikely for me to want it again, but I pay my debts,” Taylor said, appalled at how tempted she actually was to step right back into Max for more of what she’d just had. She knew what he was, had read it for herself. Why didn’t she care more about guarding herself? She was not going to make another mistake like she had with Lewis.

  “I realize that my age and former reputation with women puts me on your ineligible player list at the moment, but you are honestly the only game that interests me,” Max said. “Please reconsider.”

  “I’m too old to date random players, Maximillan. The next game I play will hopefully be with a man who wants nothing more than what Jasper and Chloe have found with each other,” Taylor said with shrug. “You’ll be back on the ice next season. That’s where you belong. I put in twelve-hour days routinely and wish I had someone who had nothing better to do than remind me to eat now and again. We’re in very different places you and I.”

  Max studied her face, saw how serious she was. Maybe she was right, but if so, why could he so clearly see the two of them together?

  “What if I was that guy you’re looking for?” he asked.

  Taylor laughed and put a healthy distance between their bodies. “Wicked Wade cooking dinner? I bet you’ve never been in a kitchen in your life.”

  “Okay, you got a point,” Max conceded. “But you really do taste like bliss, and I still want more.”

  Taylor sighed. If only the physical was enough, but Taylor well knew it wasn’t, at least not at her age. She wanted someone to share her life, not just her bed.

  “Maximillan, you can’t have everything you want. Didn’t Jasper teach you that?” Taylor asked softly.

  “No,” Max said. “Jasper taught me never to give up, especially when I think I’m right.”

  “Admirable, but a person also needs to learn to accept failure,” Taylor said wisely. “Real life is different from the flash of fame and fortune you’re used to having. Now you and I are going to be friends, right?”

  Max held out an arm. “That’s a good place to start, I guess. Can I buy you a drink?”

  “Yes,” Taylor said, hooking her arm through his. “I’ll have plain coke. I’m driving. Emma’s car is in the garage.”

  “Come play with me later, Goldilocks,” Max whispered in her ear as he pulled out a chair at their reserved table.

  “I thought we settled this discussion. What are you talking about, Max?” Taylor said, waving to a now smiling Emma who came over quickly to slide into the chair across from her.

  “Playing the piano, Cutie. What did you think I was talking about?” Max asked, winking at her as he headed for the bar.

  “Did Max just wink and call you Cutie?” Emma asked.

  Taylor laughed and gave Emma a knowing look. “Yes—Max wants me to play with him later.”

  “Great—I second that suggestion and all it leads to,” Emma said, emphasizing the double meaning that had Taylor’s eyes sparkling.

  “How’s Chloe?” Taylor asked.

  “She’s fine. I just love Marla. She’s so funny. I think she’s good for Chloe. They laugh all the time. I bet Chloe never has time to get nervous with Marla around. This is good news for us.”

  Taylor smiled at the coke Max set in front of her. “Thanks for the lime.”

  “Sam gives me a lime when I do something good,” Max said. “You deserved one tonight. Though I am a bit sorry now that I didn’t turn loose of Rayonna just so I could see what you’d do.”

  Knocking on the table, Max walked off to sit at the piano.

  Taylor laughed at his retreating back, trying not to think about how rock hard his shoulders had been under her hands. Or how perfectly his mouth had slid across hers.

  “Are you sure Max is a bad guy?” Emma asked, envying the look on Taylor’s face.

  Taylor drew in a deep breath and released it slowly. “I’m not sure about anything except that getting involved with Wicked Wade would not be a good thing for my peace of mind. He kisses well—very well. I can only imagine the havoc that mouth of his could wreak on the rest of me.”

  “Havoc can be good. Chaos is the path to real change, you know. Oh look—show time,” Emma announced with a big smile, watching Chloe, Marla, and Vanessa come back in and up to the microphones.

  Jasper rushed into a room filled again to capacity for a second time that evening, saw Chloe’s friends at a table, and came over to slide into their single empty chair.

  Max tinkled lightly on the keys as Chloe stepped to the microphone.

  “So I thought I’d open with a story instead of a song for this set,” she said, smiling as she listened to the disbelieving laughter of the crowd.

  Marla and Vanessa groaned.

  “Hey—no groaning. I’m telling a story here,” Chloe said firmly, hearing the audience snicker harder at her adamant tone, while Marla and Vanessa pretended to grumble more.

  “No joke—my ex-husband, his pregnant girlfriend, and my new boyfriend’s ex-wife all walked into the hotel at the same time today. My ex wanted me back. His girlfriend wanted me dead. And my boyfriend’s ex-wife wanted to slap me for stealing her man. But you’ll never guess what my boyfriend did in response to the chaos.”

  Chloe looked over at Max, who grinned and launched into the “Here’s Come The Bride.” The aud
ience cracked up and applauded while Chloe laughed loudly into the microphone.

  Taylor watched Max smiling at Chloe and couldn’t help wondering again what he was really like. Seeing him like this, it was just hard to believe Max was as bad as his press. Jasper’s husky laugh and broad smile startled Taylor out of her thoughts. She and Emma traded knowing looks about how crazy for each other he and Chloe were.

  “Yes. That’s right,” Chloe said over the laughter of the audience, and Max’s enthusiastic, jazzy rendition of the wedding march.

  “Even with all that crazy stuff going on, Jasper Wade honest-to-God asked me to marry him. I will eventually say yes of course because I love him dearly and I know he’s telling me the truth when he says it back. You know how I know? Well, I’ll tell you how I know. There’s one way that counts more than all the others.”

  Chloe heard Marla and Vanessa humming and demanding an explanation.

  Max hit a chord and Chloe laughed again, scanning the audience until she saw Jasper smiling back at her.

  “Jasper, I love you. Next time you ask, I promise to answer the way you want,” Chloe said sincerely, her sexy voice bearing evidence of her smile.

  When Max hit the first notes of the opening song, Chloe’s voice rang out clearly above the applause that suddenly lit up the lounge with life as she sang.

  Jasper put two fingers in his mouth and whistled his support of the woman singing her heart out for him.

  “Are you two really getting married?” Emma whispered, leaning over the table to yell the question.

  Jasper smiled and nodded. “Yes—but I have to ask Chloe again in three months. We have a deal. I figure we’ll make it legal in about six months or so. But I’m not letting her out of my sight until then.”

  “That’s so romantic, Jasper. If you have any single cousins, send them my way,” Emma said with a smile, laughing as she sighed, hoping she found someone to love her that much one day.

  Then, like everyone else in the room, they settled back to listen to Chloe’s next song.

  ###

  Note From Author: If you enjoyed this ebook, please consider leaving a positive review or rating on the site where you purchased it. Reader reviews help my books continue to be valued by distributors/resellers and help new readers make decisions about reading them. I value each and every reader who takes the time to do this and invite you all to join me on my Website, Blog, Facebook, Twitter, or Goodreads.com for more discussions and fun.

  You are the reason I write these stories and I sincerely appreciate you!

  Many thanks for your support,

  ~ Donna McDonald

  ***

  Excerpt from NEXT GAME I PLAY

  “Why are shutting me out without a chance? You already admitted that you’ve dated as much as I have,” Max argued.

  “It’s not about quantity. It’s just that when it comes to women you’re no different from all the other males in this gym right now. And I’m sorry—but I’ve learned plenty of life lessons about dating jocks. I don’t need more,” Taylor explained, making sure her tone was as convincing as possible.

  “Get real and stop stereotyping. You haven’t dated every jock there is, so how can you be so sure? I bet there are some good men out on the floor of this gym right now that you haven’t dated,” Max claimed, looking at the men in question, wishing he could join them.

  Taylor looked around calmly, taking her time to study the ten or so men still working out in the gym. She watched Reston Williams, a very sexy and real California cowboy, head off to the showers and wondered whether or not to include him in her answer.

  “Actually, I only see one or two on the floor that I missed, but it was because I refused to date married guys or anyone already in a serious relationship,” Taylor said firmly.

  “I have those same rules, Taylor. I don’t date married women or those involved with other men in serious relationships. So why is my dating past worse than yours?” Max demanded, having trouble not staring at the other men surrounding them. The idea of any of them intimately touching Taylor made him crazy with jealousy, much the less the eight out of ten she was claiming to have dated.

  “I never said my dating past was less worse than yours. I’m truly not passing judgment here, Max,” Taylor declared.

  “If you weren’t passing judgment, we’d be together already,” Max told her firmly.

  “No—we wouldn’t. My refusal to date you is also about my goals for love next time around. I like athletic men as much as the next woman, but it was a jock who married me for money and divorced me when I didn’t have any,” Taylor said.

  “Well, I’m a jock and I’m certainly not like that guy. I’m only interested in your other assets,” Max insisted, offering a grin that seemed to be lost on the frowning woman he wanted.

  “Don’t care. Even beyond jocks, I’m also not interested in dating high profile, known womanizers whose press reputations would instantly reduce me at breakup time to a random girlfriend on their conquest list,” she said. “Been there, done that—as they say. Well, I am not a random anything. Or at least, I refuse to be one again.”

  “Makes perfect sense,” Max said, liking her honesty and finding it refreshing. He would always know where he stood with Taylor. If he upset her, he didn’t doubt that she’d just tell him.

  “And I hate, absolutely hate cheaters because I don’t like to share, and because I take being intimate more seriously than that. Any wish a guy has for an ‘open relationship’ is a deal breaker for me. This is not a popular opinion among wealthy and successful men in California, but I don’t care about that either,” Taylor declared.

  “Sounds completely reasonable to me,” Max said, putting hands in his pockets, trying to look casual. “Where you’re concerned, I don’t want to share either. Taylor—I can’t even remember being jealous before you.”

  Rolling her eyes, Taylor picked up her clipboard and walked back to her office. It didn’t surprise her when Max followed, but it did surprise her when a fully dressed, great smelling Reston Williams also stuck his head in the door.

  “You seem irritated, Legs. This guy bugging you?” Reston asked casually, crossing his massive arms and lowering his chin until the top of his battered tan Stetson almost covered his eyes.

  Taylor looked at Reston’s stance and snorted at the pose. The picture he made in her doorway looked just like the cologne ads he posed for all the time. She would have laughed at him, but the last thing she needed was two angry, strutting peacock males messing up her day.

  “Max is a friend. And our debate is nothing I can’t handle, Tex,” Taylor quipped back easily, using the nickname she’d given him when they were dating. Then she got an idea. “Hey Reston, are you labeled a womanizer? Tell me the truth. You know it won’t change how I think of you.”

  Taylor smirked at Max, but she was a little regretful of her exchange with Reston when she saw Max sizing up him like he might want to pick a fight. Sometimes she really hated testosterone, even despite the craving she had for it.

  Reston grinned at the battle going on between the guy and Taylor, wondering if the young stud thought he was going to get Taylor Baird to bend her no-jock rule. It was laughable, but maybe if the guy succeeded, Taylor might reconsider dating him once the boy got on her nerves bad enough. He rubbed a hand over his chin already rough with his evening beard. Man, he hated shaving twice a day. He’d never agree to another modeling contract that required his face to be smooth all the time.

  “Well, if by ‘womanizer’ you mean that I prefer women and date a lot—yeah, I guess you could say that I’m one of a sort. I see that label applied to me sometimes, but Sugar, you know I’d give up all the others for you. You kiss like an angel. Plus you’re the hardest working female I ever met. Hell, I’ll be forty in few months and need to settle down. You’re the most perfect woman I know.”

  Taylor rolled her eyes at his proposal, which was pretty much what she had done every other time Reston had made the same unint
eresting offer. His lack of romance was just one of many reasons why she’d stopped dating him. Mostly she wasn’t willing to be some prize heifer Reston bought and put on display.

  “Sorry, Tex. That dream is never happening with me, but thanks for the compliments. I’m sure when the time comes, you’ll find someone more perfect—and younger.”

  “Young is overrated. There’s nothing better than an experienced woman, but I’m gentleman enough not to discuss such things. So what’s with you and the little glaring dude?” Reston demanded, swinging his knowing grin to the seething young male beside Taylor. “You dating him, Legs? He’s a kid, but I can tell he’s a jock, too. When we broke up, you said you were giving up jocks. Wasn’t the last guy you dated some kind of insurance broker or something?”

  Max was shocked when the man’s gaze met and held his. “What do you mean ‘little dude’? You’re not that much bigger than me,” Max informed him, the jab at being a kid not stinging nearly as bad. And he was glad he still looked like a jock. Sometimes lately he didn’t feel like one.

  Reston laughed. “Compared to the men Taylor is used to being around—yeah Dude, you’re little. Want to come out to the gym floor and meet some of her former guys? There’s a bunch of them in here right now, though I think I was the last one she dated.”

  “Reston—that’s enough. Leave Max alone. He’s not that interested in my past,” Taylor advised.

  Reston saw irritation and a scowl on the guy’s face, before swinging his attention to Taylor. Like hell, he thought, the man was definitively interested. If Taylor honestly thought he wasn’t, she was totally in denial.

  Turning to Taylor, Max gave her a disbelieving stare, broken only by something erupting from him that was a cross between a snort and a huff. It reminded him of Jasper. “I am so not like this guy,” Max stated, sticking his hands in his pockets in frustration that she could even think he was.

  “Yes, Maximillan—you are. You’re just a different generation,” Taylor said flatly. “Now if you gentleman will both kindly exit my office, I’ll get back to work. Max, I’ll see you Thursday.”