Chapter 17
Janie
Max’s grip in my hair tightened until it was painful, and I smiled against the bite of pain as he pulled my head to the side and kissed my shoulder and back. My pussy ached and throbbed around his cock and it was all I could do to stay on my knees for him as my legs threatened to turn to putty.
“Yes,” I breathed. “Your cock feels so good.”
Max thrust deeper, harder. Little stars exploded behind my eyelids.
He wrapped an arm around my chest to hold me against him. I gripped his forearm. My nails pressed into his flesh. Max let out a primal growl behind me as he reached around with his other arm and rubbed my clit.
It pushed me over the edge.
I screamed out his name as my orgasm broke over me. Max came apart too. His breathing quickened and he threw me down face first while he fucked me hard and fast until he came.
When we were done, we both panted for breath. I could hardly push myself up, so Max pulled me against him. We settled back against the sofa and tilted our heads back to peer up at the skylight.
In another hour or so, the sunlight would stream directly through it and paint our faces in a rainbow reflection.
Max’s chest rose and fell with his labored breaths. “That was…”
“Incredible.”
“I was going to say amazing.”
“Also accurate.”
“You feel the same,” he said as he let his eyes fall closed. “Tight and wet. Always.”
I grinned. “For you.”
He cracked open one eye and peered at me. “Only for me?”
“Yes.”
He put a hand on my thigh and we both stayed like that for a while.
Then my phone chirped three times in rapid succession.
I extracted myself from the sofa and made my way into the kitchen on wobbly legs, where I picked up my phone from the counter. Holly had replied to my text message with three separate messages. The first was an address—Sienna’s address. The second was an emoji of a fist bump.
And the third was a picture of Sienna herself.
“Everything okay?” Max asked from where he still lay draped over the sofa.
“Mhm.” I only half heard him. My eyes were glued to the headshot of the bleach-blonde bombshell on my phone screen.
Sienna was beautiful. I’d give her that.
She was the kind of woman you’d see on every block in Los Angeles with her pin-straight hair, big blue eyes, full pouty lips, and unnatural tan. In the picture, I couldn’t tell if it was self-tanner, a spray-on, or from a tanning bed, but nothing about it looked natural. Her eyes were rimmed in blue eyeliner and her lips were coated in a dewy-looking gloss. She had a pretty smile but it didn’t touch those ocean-blue eyes of hers. The stare was cold. Empty.
Even though the picture was only from the top of her head to her ribcage, I could tell she had a good body, too. No wonder Max had been captivated by her when they first met. Her good looks most likely charmed men left and right and they didn’t realize they were in hot water until it was too late.
Or until their three hundred-thousand-dollar car was smashed to hell in their driveway.
She had huge boobs, which I assumed were as fake as her tan.
Don’t be mean, Janie, I thought to myself. You don’t even know her.
I reminded myself that I didn’t have a problem with enhancement or cosmetic surgeries. Never had. In fact, for the longest time, I’d considered getting some work done myself. Piper had been an incessant voice in my ear that I shouldn’t under any circumstances let anyone near my face with a scalpel or she’d scalpel me herself.
Still, as a girl, I’d had self-esteem issues. Back then, I was nineteen and breast enhancements and nose jobs were so commonplace it was easy to think I wanted one.
In the end, I’d decided against it out of sheer fear. I didn’t want something to go wrong. And what if I spent thousands of dollars for something that didn’t look how I saw it in my head when I closed my eyes? What if I regretted it?
All of these reasons were why I didn’t have any tattoos, either.
Max got up from the sofa.
I locked my phone. “I forgot I had spin class this afternoon.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Didn’t we just do cardio? Can’t you reschedule?”
I smiled. Him wanting me to stay warmed my heart. But I had business to tend to. “I’ve already paid for it. And I like it.”
“Nobody likes spinning.”
“I do,” I insisted. “I’d better get changed and head out, though. I’ll have to go home and get my workout clothes first.”
I made for the stairs and Max followed hot on my heels.
“Are you going to come back afterward?” Max asked.
My cheeks burned. “Do you want me to come back?”
“Yes,” he said simply. “We could take another shower together. Let me chase away the pain in those muscles of yours.”
At the top of the stairs, I turned to face him but continued walking backward toward his room. “You just know all the right things to say to get your way, don’t you?”
He gave me a devilish grin. “Sometimes.”
I rolled my eyes and retreated into the bedroom. Max followed. His steps were longer than mine, so inch by inch he closed the space between us as I went to find my clothes which I’d hung up to dry in his bathroom. They were still damp.
He nodded toward his dresser. “I guess you’ll have to go in my sweats.”
There were worse things than wearing the clothes of the man I loved out and about.
“I can drive you home,” he offered.
“I’ll take a cab.”
“Seriously, Janie. You don’t have to. Let me drive you. I can take you to your spin class too if you want.”
“No,” I said a little too quickly. His eyes narrowed with suspicion. I had to throw him off my scent. “You clean up the kitchen and nurse your hangover. I can take care of myself, and when I get back, we’ll have a clean kitchen to use to make dinner together. Deal?”
Max backed off. “Deal.”
Whew, that was close.
It was time to play Nancy Drew and I needed to make sure Max would be here, safe and sound in his house, while I went on a mission to investigate the woman trying to dismantle his life.
The taxi driver came to a stop in front of a resort-style condo about twelve miles from Max’s house. The complex was horseshoe shaped with a large gate across the front. On the other side of the gate was a well-manicured courtyard, and beyond that was a crowded pool for residents complete with several barbeques, picnic benches, pool chairs, and umbrellas.
The driver twisted in his seat and gave me an expectant smile. “Eighteen fifty, miss.”
I paid him in cash and slid out of the backseat. The sun broke over me and I regretted changing into some of my work clothes before I left my house. I had a plan to stick to and it required a professional look. My pencil skirt stuck to the backs of my thighs, and my silk blouse threatened to smother me, but I kept my chin up and pretended I wasn’t turning into a puddle as I approached the gate.
Much to my surprise, it was unlocked.
I pushed through it. My high heels clicked on the cobblestone pathway that led through the courtyard garden. On my righthand side was a small playground. Little kids ran up ramps and slid down slides before shooting across the pathway and leaping into the pool to join older siblings.