“LAST MINUTE DINNER THEATER. LIMO IN 5 OR ELSE C U AT BREAKFAST.”
Their helicopter landed twenty minutes later, and they unstrapped and handed the helmets back over to the pilot. He showed his phone to Maxine. She looked at him, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling with the excitement of the flight. “Wasn’t that amazing?”
Barry tried to remember seeing anything out of the window, but drew a blank. Instead, he remembered the feel of her and the scent of her hair. “Absolutely. Definitely worth the trip. I’d love to do it again.”
She read the text message. “So it’s just us for dinner, then. Did you want to go anywhere in particular?”
With a shrug, he opened the door to the roof stairwell. “The steak place here in the hotel works for me.”
THEY headed straight to the restaurant without stopping at their rooms first. They flashed their gold key cards and found themselves seated almost instantly. While they waited for their meals, Barry studied Maxine’s face. She had pulled out her phone, verified the local time in Boston, and called to check on Robin. He watched her eyes in the glow of the candlelight, watched them light up while she talked with her sister about the baby and how Robin was feeling. When she hung up her phone, she grinned at Barry.
“I don’t think it will be much longer. Sarah’s been working the night shift lately, so she’s been staying over there while Tony works during the day.”
Barry laughed. “I’m surprised Tony hasn’t opened a remote office out of his apartment.”
“If there was room, I bet he would have by now.”
“It’s a good thing they haven’t moved out to the coast, yet.”
“He probably would have just hired a full time OB staff if they had,” Maxine said, smiling as she put her napkin in her lap and leaned back in her chair to give the waiter space to set her salad in front of her.
Barry followed suit and took his spoon to his soup while they chatted about Tony and Robin. Their conversation moved from her family to football to working out to sports cars as they worked their way through soup and salad, thick T-bones, and a fruit and cheese plate.
As Barry signed the chit to have the meal billed to his room, Maxine suggested they walk the strip. “I know we saw it from the air this afternoon, but I’d love to see it up close at night.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Barry said. He helped her into her coat and slipped his on while they exited the hotel.
Maxine put her arms around herself. “Brr,” she said. “I wouldn’t have expected the desert to be this cold. I’m glad I thought to check the weather forecast before we left Boston.”
Barry stepped closer intending to put his arm around her, hoping to help warm her, but she shifted away and pointed out some lighted sign. He watched her joy at all of the sights to see on their walk down the strip and enjoyed her much more than the man-made light show surrounding them.
Maxine surprised him when she took his hand. “Look!” She shouted. A woman in a wedding dress entered a building holding hands with a man in a tuxedo. Four girls in slinky red dresses and four men in tuxedos with matching red ties and cummerbunds followed. “Let’s see if they’re getting married,” she said, pulling him forward.
She peered inside and laughed in delight. “Elvis is in there, all Blue Hawaii.”
Barry looked over her head and grinned. “I can’t see planning that.”
She turned and looked up at him. He put a hand on either side of her head, boxing her in, and looked down at her. Her emerald eyes sparkled with joy and laughter, her cheeks and nose rosy with cold. “Planning what?” she asked with a smile.
“Planning to be joined together in holy matrimony by a 40-year-old man dressed like a dead rock star singing Blue Hawaii.”
Maxine made a fist and playfully punched him in the stomach. “I think it would be fun as long as someone didn’t try to take a pin and poke a hole in all the fun.”
He slowly lowered his body so that he wasn’t supported by his hands, but by his forearms, bringing him even closer to her. He could feel her body heat and only his knowledge of how she usually shied away from touch kept him from pressing all the way up against her. Instead he stared down at her as the lights and crowd and noise around him faded away.
Maxine stared up at him, and her smile slowly turned more serious as she looked away from his eyes and briefly to his mouth before looking back at his eyes. He desperately wanted to take that as an invitation to kiss her, but he had no desire to see her bolt. However, the temptation was too strong to ignore so he slowly, very slowly, just to give her time to get used to how close he was, to give him some signal that she would rather he not, he lowered his head until their breath mingled.
For the first time in her life, Maxine wanted — desperately wanted — to be kissed. The nerve endings in her lips came alive, aching, waiting, needing to feel Barry’s pressed against hers. She held her breath, stared into his blue eyes, and noticed that they darkened when he watched the tip of her tongue dart out to lick her dry lips.
She wondered what to do from here. It seemed that if he wanted to kiss her, he would have already. A drive she didn’t recognize compelled her to grab the lapels of his jacket and pull him closer. Just when she thought she would have to actually beg him to kiss her, he closed the distance and covered her mouth with his.
Maxine felt her breath shudder out of her body. No fear. She realized as her arm snaked around his neck and she raised herself up on her toes to get closer to him that she felt absolutely no fear.
How exhilarating!
He wrapped a strong arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him even as he stepped forward, pushing her further back against the window.
She wanted to feel him, touch him, caress him. A very base and visceral need rose up in her and made her head spin. Desperate to catch her breath, she ripped her mouth away and framed his face with her hands.
He pressed his forehead against hers and kept his eyes closed, breathing hard, gripping her hips with his hands. He smelled good. He felt good. She wanted to run her lips over his cheek, along his neck, feel his pulse under her lips.
He slowly raised his head and looked down at her while she leaned her head against the glass window behind her and solemnly returned his glance.
With achingly gentle movements, he brushed a strand of hair off of her face. Then he smiled, a smile that lit up his face and lightened his eyes. “Want to get married by an Elvis impersonator, Maxine?” he asked.
She somehow knew he was teasing, lightening the mood. But the answer popped out of her mouth as if from a wellspring deep inside of her. Before she knew what she was saying, the word was out.
“Yes.”
CHAPTER 11
PRESENT DAY
AS soon as Maxine had fallen asleep, Barry spent long minutes just staring at her, marveling at her beauty. He felt a thrill in every cell of his body at the sheer perfection, the indescribable loveliness of his beautiful bride. She presented such a tough exterior to the world, so confident, so self-assured. In the hours since the wedding ceremony, he had learned about a different person completely. In reality, she was so vulnerable and so fragile.
Despite the fact that she had visibly forced herself to relax each and every time he touched her, the fact was that she tensed up first and without fail, each and every time. Laying next to him, asleep, he reached out and tenderly ran his fingers through her raven tresses eliciting a contented moan from her in her dreams. There was no tension in her sleep, no fear, no unreasonable terror at his tender touch.
He lifted the covers, threw on his jeans, and slipped outside. He strolled over to the patio and opened the door. The cold blast struck his bare chest and he thought better of it. He found her key, then, barefoot and shirtless, rushed to his room and threw on a cotton sweater. Looking at the time, he realized that the sun would soon rise over the desert.
Back in Maxine’s room, Barry casually picked up the phone and dialed up room service. In a quiet
voice, he ordered coffee, hot tea, and a continental breakfast and sides of breakfast steak and boiled eggs. He ordered pineapple juice, fresh cold milk, and four orders of yogurt. He asked that it be delivered in thirty minutes or so if possible.
Then he started to think. First, he reviewed the events of the previous evening. He had been engaged for less than two hours. During that time, he and Maxine got the paperwork handled and purchased the largest emerald encrusted diamond engagement ring this place had to offer. Then he had solemnly looked Elvis in the eye and answered, “I do.”
Jacqueline had been dead and buried just over three weeks. Apparently, he chose to mourn his late wife by pursuing, marrying, and bedding the one woman whom he had found attractive since the very first time he had laid eyes on her. Any shred of self-respect he felt for himself after Jacqueline’s betrayal vanished in a moment of self-loathing at his present low state.
The sick thing, the twisted thing, the awful thing that he could not have known until last night was that Maxine loved him. She loved him no matter how unworthy of accepting that love he felt. She loved him, she married him, and she surrendered to him. The look in her eyes when she said “I do,” spoke volumes.
The terrible truth Barry wrestled with this morning, a truth that shook him to his core, was that he might not love Maxine in the same way. He felt like he had just stolen something he had no right to possess, like a low criminal. Like a deceitful thief. He felt dirty. He felt unworthy.
Room service quietly knocked and Barry bounded with surprising stealth and grace for a man of his bulk to catch the door before they knocked again. He handed the young man a huge tip, the crumpled cash in his right jeans pocket, and wheeled the cart inside himself. Peripherally, he heard the shower going in the next room. So, she was awake.
He poured himself a cup of hot tea and walked to the patio door. He held his cup in his right hand and leaned against the cool glass overlooking the rising sun, supporting his entire weight on his left hand.
He sipped the tea and contemplated how Maxine deserved so much better. She deserved so much more than he could offer. He would not run her home and introduce her to his family as the woman he had wedded and bedded in Las Vegas less than a month after his first wife died. He would not subject her to that kind of scrutiny. He would not subject himself to any backhanded whispered sneers. He refused to put them through that.
No. He would undo it. He would fix it. It was the least he could do for Maxine for the constant friendship and trust she had given him over the years. He resolved himself as the bedroom door opened behind him.
BARRY stood staring out through the patio door. He wore dark blue jeans and a cream colored sweater that stretched across his strong back. His feet were bare, and Maxine felt a little flutter of warmth at the intimacy of that. She thought back over the last several weeks, amazed at how the events transpired to bring them to this place, this here and now. Had it only been three weeks since Jacqueline’s funeral? Since their shared dinner after fleeing from the church?
Barry turned as soon as she opened the door and their eyes met across the room. Maxine’s smile froze at the stoic look on his face. “Hi.” His voice sounded low, scratchy, thick. She wondered if he had slept at all.
“Hi.” She smiled. She noticed the cup in his hand. “Is there coffee, too, or just tea?”
Using the cup, he gestured at the room service cart sitting next to the table and chairs. “I didn’t know how to make the coffee, so I just ordered you some instead.”
Warmth flooded her heart at his thoughtfulness. “Thank you.” She crossed the room and poured herself a cup of coffee. Her hand shook a little bit. What did they do now? What did they talk about? How did she handle this first full day of being Mrs. Barry Anderson?
When she turned back around, she saw that he had silently moved and now stood next to the couch.
“Obviously, we need to talk.”
She didn’t like the sound of his voice. No warmth, nothing she had felt from him the night before existed in his tone. She gripped the cup so hard she was surprised it didn’t shatter. “Yeah.” Needing to ease her own tension, she teased, “Kind of a little late for that, isn’t it?”
His bark of laughter signaled his agreement with her statement and she smiled a stiff smile as she crossed the room toward him. As soon as she sat on one end of the couch, with her back to the arm, he sat down, too, closer to the middle.
In a way, she was glad he didn’t sit at the other end of the couch thus leaving a huge expanse of leather between them. In a way, she wished he had, so maybe she wouldn’t actually feel the warmth of his body and want to scoot closer to him. He set his tea on the coffee table and turned his body toward her. “I don’t know what came over us last night – what came over me.”
Maxine tilted her head and looked closely at his face. He had circles under his eyes. It didn’t look like he’d slept at all. She put her cup down next to his and slid forward, fighting down years of survival instinct to take his hand. She cared about this man. She had cared about him for a long time. He was a dear friend, and considering the things that he had experienced over the years, she hated to think that she had added to any pain in his life.
“Shh,” she said. Heart pounding in fear of being the first to move toward any kind of intimacy, she knelt next to him, one knee on the couch cushion while she planted her other foot on the ground to brace herself. Placing a hand on his cheek, she leaned forward and rested her forehead against his. “Last night was wonderful.”
Barry groaned and gripped her hips with his hands. He closed his eyes and sighed. “Getting married wasn’t the right thing to do.”
“It’s done, though.”
When he opened his eyes, she leaned back away from the resignation she saw there. “I can undo it.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Can you? It’s legal, binding, and consummated. What can you undo?”
He smiled for the first time since she came out of the bedroom. “I’m a lawyer, Maxi. I can undo it.”
She wanted to scream, “No!” but instead started to shift back, to break the physical contact with him while she asked, “Do you really think we should?”
Before she could completely withdraw, he gripped her wrist to hold her still. “I value your friendship, Maxine. I’ve lost so much. I can’t lose that, too.”
Cupping his face with her hands, she gave him the gentlest whisper of kisses. “You haven’t lost my friendship.” She pushed away fully and straightened, pulling her wrist from his hand. She felt her pulse accelerate and her heart start to flutter. Panic made it hard to breathe, and she put a hand against her stomach. “What time do we need to leave for the game?”
Barry opened his mouth, then closed it again. He cocked his head and looked at her, then looked at his watch. “We have some time.”
Maxine nodded. “Good.” She rubbed her hands together, trying to stimulate some warmth. “Then let’s eat, and I’ll call one of the girls and see what everyone’s plans are this morning.” She froze when he reached out and gently took her left hand in his large grip. She looked down at him and saw him staring at her face. As soon as they made eye contact, he looked at her hand. “While you’re out, I’ll see about returning the ring.”
How had she forgotten the ring? Wouldn’t that have been the kicker? To go home with a wedding ring the size of Rhode Island on her finger? She felt a small tremble in her hands as she took the ring off and surrendered it to him. “Of course. I hope they’ll take it back.”
“I’ll take care of it.” His fingers closed around it and his hand formed into a fist. “Go ahead and make the phone call and I’ll set out breakfast.”
After breakfast, which ended up being the most tense, silent meal the two had ever shared, Barry went to his room. Maxine turned around in a circle in the middle of her huge suite, gripping the sides of her face, feeling as if the room would close in on her at any second. She wanted to scream and wail, but feared someone would hear, so she fell t
o her knees and sobbed, silently, heel of her hand pressed against her mouth to keep the sound down to low groans.
As soon as she felt like she could function, she rose to her feet and stumbled to her phone. Fingers quaking, she clumsily maneuvered the internet and worked the buttons until she found a flight out for Boston that morning. She called down to the front desk and requested a shuttle to McCarran, then very quickly packed.
She scanned the room for any rogue articles of clothing, and found Barry’s shoes, socks, sweater, and jacket on the floor of the bedroom near the patio door. As much as she wished she could just sneak out without saying good bye, she knew that was the wrong thing to do.
After washing her face and carefully applying makeup, Maxine took his folded clothes and left the sanctuary of her suite. She went to his door and lightly tapped.
He answered very quickly, opening the door as if expecting her. She noticed he’d showered and changed clothes.
“I, uh, didn’t want to bother you,” she started to say, but he cut her off.
“You’re not bothering me.” He stood back and opened the door wider. “Come in.”
No. No way. She couldn’t go into his room. Chances are good she’d end up throwing herself at him, begging him to love her just a little bit, cherish her and protect her like Elvis had made him promise. Her heart stopped and she wondered where that thought had come from. “No thank you. I just wanted to bring you these things.” She held out the neatly folded stack of clothes with his shoes carefully perched on top. “I decided to go on home. I’m not up for the game.”
His eyes widened and he reflexively took the clothes from her. Before he could speak, Maxine pivoted and rushed back to her room.
“Maxi, wait!”
She turned as she unlocked her door and watched as he tossed the clothes into the room behind him before rushing toward her. “What, Barry?” Her voice sounded tired to her own ears.
Emerald Fire (Christian Romance) (The Jewel Series) Page 10
