Looking at her for a beat longer he raised his hand and pointed down the hall.
“Thanks.”
Chrissy hustled down the hall to the bathroom. She practically fell into the bathroom then frantically locked the door. Turning on the light, Chrissy stood in front of the sink staring at her reflection in the mirror. She forced herself not to cry. What had she been expecting? He was a movie star who could have any woman he wanted. So, what if he’d given her one of the best orgasms in her life? Looking in the mirror, she pursed her lips. Who was she kidding? It was the best. If she could manage to stay a bit longer in the bathroom, she could successfully avoid him until she left. Her brain was saying great plan. Her lady bits wanted to climb into his lap and call him daddy. What the hell was wrong with her?
After what felt like a half an hour passed, Chrissy washed her hands and dabbed at her face. She was determined to make sure Max didn’t have an effect on her. She was going to listen to her brain even if her bits didn’t like it. Batteries were easy to replace. A new heart after it was broken was not. One last look in the mirror made her heart sink. She couldn’t compete with the women he’d brought. They were so plastic they could have passed as Tupperware, plastic and empty. Chrissy snorted at her joke then shut off the light. Stepping out of the bathroom she ran right into a hard, warm body. Warm arms encircled her. Tilting her head back she saw who smelled so damn good she was about to swoon.
Dammit!
It was Max.
Chapter 9
Mysterious Blurred Figure
“Where are you headed?” Max asked, crowding her against the wall next to the bathroom.
“I need to get back outside. Annie is watching the kids.” Chrissy avoided his gaze.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to be in town?” His voice seemed to get impossibly deep.
“We just got in town yesterday,” Chrissy answered to his chest.
His strong fingers wrapped around her chin and tilted it up forcing her to look into the deep pools of emerald. “That doesn’t answer my question.”
Something about his cockiness rubbed her the wrong way making her stand up straighter. Chrissy jutted her chin out then crossed her arms causing him to take a half-step back. Good! She needed space between them. Even with her annoyance with his self-assuredness she had a hard time thinking when he was close.
“Shouldn’t you be entertaining your guests?”
“What guests?”
With a bit of an overdramatic sigh, she said, “The blonde big boobie twins.”
Max bit his lip trying to hold back a smile. “Are you jealous?”
“What?”
“You are. You’re jealous of Jeanie and Janice.”
“Ugh! Even their names are blonde.” Disgust laced each of her words.
“That’s quite judgmental of you. They could be doctors for a children’s hospital for all you know.”
“Are they?”
“Well, uh…no. They are prominent in the film industry.”
“I don’t know them. What have they been in?” Chrissy pursed her lips.
“You probably wouldn’t have seen any of their movies.” Max avoided eye contact.
“Try me.”
Max mumbled something inaudible.
“What?”
Heaving a sigh, he said, “Zarina saves the sex kittens.”
Chrissy’s eyes bulged. “They are adult film stars.”
Max nodded sheepishly.
“I should have just assumed they were porn stars. That is right up your alley.” Chrissy started to walk away when Jeremiah appeared out of nowhere.
“Where have you been?” he asked.
“Bathroom.”
Jeremiah looked over her shoulder at Max only a few feet away. “Uh-huh.” A wicked smile crossed his face. “Did you set up your date with Rory yet? I’m surprised he hasn’t been texting you non-stop.”
Well, that cinched it. Chrissy was going to have to kill Jeremiah. In Zeke’s house would work. No one would blame her. It would be justified.
“May I talk to you?” Max pulled on her upper arm and guided her toward the front door.
“Let go of me.” Chrissy tried to pull from him, but he held firm.
Max’s jaw clenched. Her eyes never left him as they marched out the front door. To avoid any prying eyes, he guided her to the side of the property. When he finally let her go, she immediately put five feet between them.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, grabbing me like that? I should have kneed you in the nuts. You would have deserved it.”
“Who is Rory?”
“None of your business.” Chrissy crossed her arms.
“Bullshit. You’re my business.”
“No, I am not. Rory is a hot air marshal that wants to see me. Like I said, none of your business.”
“So, you’d go out with him but not me?” Max shouted.
“Yes. Why would I go out with someone who changes women more than his underwear? He wouldn’t respect me or my daughter. I can’t put her through that.” she shouted back.
“Some nobody you met for like two minutes will treat you better than me?” He waved his hands in the air.
“I don’t know. What I do know is that you are not in a position to treat me right. Case in point is the double J twins.”
“I didn’t know you’d be here. I wouldn’t have brought them if I’d known.”
“See this is my point, Max. The minute I’m not around you’d move right on with another woman or women in your case. I need someone I can trust if I go away for the weekend, they won’t go find someone better or more experienced. You are not that person.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Oh, really? Well, I may not know for sure you’d do that, but I do know you do it now.”
Max’s chest heaved with every breath he took. Chrissy turned her back on him ready to return to the party. Annie had been watching the kids long enough.
“Give me a chance,” he said softly.
“Honestly, Max, I am not looking to date anyone right now.”
“But if you were it wouldn’t be me?” he asked.
Shaking her head, Chrissy walked as casually as possible back into the house. She continued to take deep breaths through the house to the kitchen where Jeremiah sat with Talia and Zeke. One final deep breath then she could look at them.
“I’m going to kill you, Jeremiah.”
“Eh…he needed the push.”
“I’m not looking to date anyone,” Chrissy whisper yelled.
Shrugging, Jeremiah said, “It doesn’t hurt to have a sexy movie star pursuing you. And I have a feeling you just threw down a gauntlet. Things are going to get interesting.”
“Why don’t you focus on your love life, Jeremiah?” Zeke asked.
“If I had focused on my love life you wouldn’t be with the one you love right now. So, my techniques are proven to work.” Jeremiah slid off the barstool he’d been sitting on.
“One lucky push doesn’t mean you are an expert. It means you got lucky.”
“Maybe.” Jeremiah’s gaze floated over her shoulder. “Maybe not.”
Turning around Chrissy saw a determined Max behind her.
Chrissy woke to little feet running up the stairs outside of her room. She slowly opened her eyes. She felt emotionally drained. Her experience with Max the night before had kept her up most of the night. With no energy to move she laid in bed staring at the ceiling.
“Mama!” Mariah yelled as the room door crashed open.
“Mariah Opal! What did I tell you about running through the house?”
She pouted then said, “No running through the house.”
“So, why are you running around like you’re up for a gold medal?” Chrissy asked.
“What do you mean?”
Chrissy shook her head, sitting up in bed. “Never mind. Why were you running around?”
“Jeremiah told me to. He told me to run as fast a
s I could to wake you up because you needed to see something.”
Chrissy furrowed her brow. “What do I need to see?”
She shrugged then ran away the same way she came.
With a heavy sigh, Chrissy stood stretching out her tight muscles. If only they were tight for a much more pleasurable reason. She could still see Max and his bedroom eyes staring at her from the doorway of Zeke’s kitchen. Shaking that thought away she got up from the bed. The room she was currently sleeping in had been Talia’s. Some of her things like books, a poster of a famous painting, a lot of batteries and an industrial size bottle of lube was left behind. Chrissy really didn’t want to know why she needed that much lube. When she uncovered that uncomfortable surprise, she immediately hid it with a throw pillow.
Grabbing her robe, she made her way downstairs. Jeremiah sat on the couch with his laptop in his lap. Mariah sat at the kitchen table eating a huge bowl of cereal. She approached the couch after deciding not to ask what sugary cereal Mariah was eating. From the look on Jeremiah’s face she should have just stayed in the bed.
“Why did you have my daughter busting into my bedroom?”
Without a glance he turned the computer toward her then pressed play.
The screen filled with a familiar looking woman. In the corner of the screen was the logo for Talia’s old employer, Dirty Laundry. It took a moment for the video to load. When it did the melodic voice of the woman piped through the computer’s tinny speakers.
“Welcome to your daily dose of Dirty Laundry. Today’s gossip is especially juicy. The well-known playboy, Max Hamilton, was caught having quite an argument with an unknown woman. However, earlier in the evening he was seen entering Zee Jaxon’s home with two women known for their movies in adult entertainment.”
Video of Max escorting the two busty blondes flashed on the screen. That soon changed to a shadowed blurry video of Max arguing with someone. She knew who that someone was. It was her.
“Pardon the condition of this video, but as you will be able to see Max is clearly arguing with a very different woman. It is clearly a very passionate discussion. We at Dirty Laundry online think this may be one of his newest co-stars. Could the confirmed bachelor finally have found love on the set of his newest movie? We have heard it will contain some very steamy sex scenes, even one that could include a naked rearview of Max.”
The blurry video paused on a part where it looked as if they were about to kiss.
“Stay tuned to Dirty Laundry online for all your celebrity gossip. Be sure to like and share our—”
Chrissy shut the laptop. Her mouth felt like a desert had relocated there.
“Are you ok?”
She shrugged. “At least they don’t know who I am.”
“That is true. You definitely have that mysterious quality about you.” Jeremiah smirked.
“Oh, shut up! That wouldn’t have even happened if it hadn’t been for you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you.”
“How am I to blame?” Jeremiah asked.
“You had to bring up Rory.”
A smirk crossed his face. “So. I don’t think there is a damn thing wrong with that dumbass movie star knowing he’s got some hot competition.”
“You are impossible!” Chrissy threw her hands in the air walking away.
As she marched to the stairs, she heard Mariah ask, “What’s wrong with mama?”
Not missing a beat Jeremiah said, “Nothing a trouser snake won’t fix.”
“But mama hates snakes.”
Jeremiah laughed. “Not these kinds of snakes. Believe me when I say your mama loves these snakes.”
Chrissy made a point to stomp up the stairs letting her disapproval be heard. Unfortunately, all that followed her up the stairs were notes of laughter.
Chapter 10
Butterflies can be Overrated
All day Sunday, Chrissy found herself googling Max and mystery woman. She saw blurry images of herself and Max arguing over and over again. After she got tired of seeing blurred images and speculation of who she could be she went on to googling Max Hamilton. A surprising amount of jealousy flew through her. Pictures of Max with supermodels, actresses, pop stars and even one with a professional basketball teams’ cheerleader. He had certainly earned his reputation as a man whore.
In the middle of her downward spiral of internet research her phone beeped. She ignored it as she read a particularly scandalous article about him with a former co-star and a broken trailer. The article seemed fake but with Hollywood people it could have been the truth. While she speculated the validity of so much sex the wall of a trailer could collapse her phone beeped again. With a sigh, she pulled herself away from her Google search to see what was so important.
Unknown: Hi
Unknown: smiley face
Who in the world would text her a smiley face? It was such a teenage thing to do. Maybe it was a misguided teenager who had been given the wrong number. Her heart broke for the poor kid.
Chrissy: Who is this?
Might as well find out so she could let the poor kid down easy.
Unknown: Forget me already?
Oh Boy! Easy may not be an option.
Chrissy: Who Is This?
Unknown: winky face
Ok. Time to burst the kids bubble.
Chrissy: Look, kid, I think someone gave you the wrong number. Sorry about that. I promise the right girl is out there.
She waited for a response. It didn’t take long.
Unknown: Kid? You really don’t know who this is do you, Chrissy?
Her skin got tight and prickled with goosebumps. This person knew her.
Chrissy: Uh, no. Care to enlighten me?
Unknown: I don’t know if I should. My feelings are a bit hurt.
Chrissy rolled her eyes at her phone.
Chrissy: Sure, they are. Either tell me who you are, or you are getting blocked.
Unknown: Ok. I guess I’ve had my fun. It’s Rory.
Chrissy bit her lip looking at her phone. A picture of the sexy air marshal floated through her mind.
Chrissy: Why are you texting me?
Rory: I wanted to see what you were up to tomorrow night. Want to go to dinner?
She dropped her phone next to her laptop. Confusion and indecision warred through her. The blinking screen of her phone called out to her to answer him, but with just a glance at her laptop a sexy image of Max filled it. When she looked at Max butterflies went into overdrive and she felt giddy. The thought of Rory brought a smile to her face but no butterflies. Should she really go out with someone who doesn’t excite her? Would she be leading him on? What about the deal she made with herself…no men just school?
Chrissy picked her phone back up.
Chrissy: I may be free. What did you have in mind?
Rory: That’s a surprise but I think you would like it since you aren’t from around here.
Chrissy: Do you plan on just taking me to your bar?
Rory: Damn, you figured me out.
Rory: Just kidding. What kind of man do you think I am? I’m not that lazy. That is for the second date.
Chrissy: A bit presumptuous, aren’t you? I didn’t even say yes to the first date.
Rory: Well????
Chrissy: Ok. We can celebrate my first day at my internship.
Rory: Sounds like a plan. I will pick you up at seven.
Chrissy typed out Jeremiah’s address.
Rory: See you tomorrow, gorgeous.
Rory: winky face
She cringed when she looked at the emoji. That would be something she’d need to break him of if they would ever be an item. Dread washed over her. She didn’t have a great feeling about the date. What could possibly be wrong with having a date with a sexy guy? While she tried to shake the strange feeling another text lit up her phone.
Max: I’m sorry about last night.
Chrissy’s finger hovered over the message. Max was such a bad idea. He didn’t want he
r and her messy life. He wanted hot sex with a side of more hot sex. Why did that sound so much more enticing than the dinner with Rory? With a sigh she swiped her finger over the message, deleting it.
The sound of Chrissy’s heels echoed through the hall as she paced. Her nerves went into high gear. Talia was supposed to come over to watch Mariah for the day. Typical Talia was late. Probably having yet another orgasm by her sexy movie star fiancée. Why did she feel jealous about that?
Letting out a frustrated sigh, she walked over to where Mariah sat eating a bowl of cereal. Her unicorn pajamas were on backwards. As a mom, she learned to pick the fights she could win. Getting her daughter to wear her pajamas the correct way wasn’t one of those fights. Before she could say something to Mariah, the doorbell rang.
Chrissy rushed to the door and swung it open. Talia stood there looking not quite like herself. Her eyes were red rimmed, clothes were disheveled, and she had mismatching shoes on.
“What happened to you?” Chrissy asked.
Talia sniffled then wiped her nose with the tissue. “I had a fight with Zeke. We may have broken up.”
“What?”
Talia walked in, sniffling even more, and plopped on the couch. Chrissy glanced at Mariah who watched the scene unfolding. If Talia was about to let loose, she didn’t want Mariah to see it.
“Mariah, please go upstairs and get dressed.”
Dropping her spoon with a clatter, she said, “Ok, mama.”
Chrissy waited to hear Mariah’s door shut before resuming her conversation with Talia. “So, tell me what happened.”
With a watery deep breath Talia let everything out. “Well, Zeke and I had a particularly great romp in the bed this morning. I mean I hadn’t had that many orgasms in a while.”
“Ok.” Chrissy really hoped their problem wasn’t sexual. She didn’t need to know those details.
“While we lay there together, it hit me.”
“What hit you?” If she didn’t hurry up the story, Chrissy was going to kill her.
“Zeke doesn’t love me.”
Scandal (Dirty Laundry Book 2) Page 6
