Heir's Affair

FOURTEEN

FOURTEEN

Tally was on Max’s couch, wearing his tee-shirt, when the guys showed up at the door the next day. Since her lover had left to get breakfast quite a while ago, she’d thought it was possible that he was carrying so many things that he didn’t have a free hand to open the door, hence the knock.

But it wasn’t her lover, it was his friends.

The guys wasted no time making themselves at home, taking over the TV, and raiding the kitchen. She was just grateful that they didn’t evict her from the couch. Robbie sat at the end of the couch beyond her feet. Mark and Ryan were in the armchairs, while Tomas and Bobby sat at the bistro table behind.

She was in the middle of a satisfying stretch when the front door opened. Max came in carrying two coffees in a cardboard tray and a brown paper bag. But he stopped short when he saw his apartment was full of people.

“Look, honey, we have guests,” she said and then yawned.

“That’s like the tenth time she’s yawned like that,” Ryan said, pointing at her. “Did you let her get any sleep?”

“Not much,” Max said, dropping his weight against the door to close it. “What are you bastards doing here?”

“You told us to drop by,” Mark said.

“Yeah, I meant whenever, not first thing,” Max said.

The guys laughed. “It’s like three in the afternoon.”

She and Max had discussed in great detail how he would have to tell the guys what lay ahead for him. It had been daylight by the time they got home from Fitzpatrick’s and s*x had been the only thing on either of their minds.

They’d done little else but nap and screw all day, but they had come to the conclusion that it was time for him to tell his friends the truth. Tally had only got out of bed after Max said he was going to get coffee. She’d have been happy to stay wrapped in his sheets all evening and all night.

Robbie patted her ankle. “Your lady has been looking after us,” he said. Max zoned in on the sight of his friend’s hand on her leg. Either Robbie didn’t notice, or he wanted to rile his friend because he slid his palm up her shin. “She has really amazing legs, the guys and I were talking about them before you got back.”

She raised her head slightly to look at Robbie’s hand on her leg. “Max came there this morning… and I haven’t showered.”

Robbie lifted his hand straight up, his face contorting in disgust as the guys laughed. Max smiled at her and winked.

“Bit far south of the mark, man,” Ryan said.

“He came there too,” she said and let her smile turn saucy. “And a few other places.”

“Okay, I feel like I should move now,” Robbie said, pulling himself onto the arm of the couch.

Max came to the back of the couch and bent to kiss her then pulled a coffee from the tray. “Skinny mocha triple shot,” he said, ensuring she had proper hold of it before letting it go.

She breathed in the intoxicating scent of coffee and sighed. “Oh, I love you.”

“Is she talking to the coffee or the guy?” Ryan asked.

Max bowed to kiss her again. “I bought bagels—”

She pushed up higher, hope increasing her heart rate. “Did you get the—”

“Cinnamon raisin,” he said. “Yes, I only had to go to three different stores.”

“Aww,” she said. Putting her coffee on the end table, she climbed to her knees and leaned on the back of the couch to grab his jacket to pull him down for a long, tongue kiss. “Thank you, baby.”

“You feel like we came at the wrong time?” one of the guys muttered as she nuzzled her mouth on Max’s and hummed out her adoration for this man who went above and beyond for her.

“I don’t think there’s a right time to hang with this pair. They seem to be on all the time,” Mark said.

Max put his coffee and the bagels by hers, then shed his jacket and leaped over the back of the couch to take her previous place, managing to scoop her into his lap at the same time. Keeping his lower legs hanging off the edge of the couch, he bent a knee to give her a kind of nest to settle in. Then he returned her coffee to her and handed over the bagels.

“Can you turn off the TV, please, Ryan?” she asked, opening the bag of bagels as Max took a drink from his own coffee.

He drew it down from his lips and squinted at her. “You want to do it now?” Max murmured. “Let them chill a while.”

“Oh, I just thought… I figured it was best to get it out of the way,” she said, the scent of the bagels drifting up to her. “We can wait.”

But as they looked around, it was impossible to miss how intrigued the guys were. Ryan grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.

“Okay,” Max sighed. “I guess now works… I have to tell you something.”

“MG’s pregnant,” Robbie said.

All the guys straightened up.

“No!” Max said then looked at her. “Are you?”

She huffed and scowled at him. “You don’t think I’d tell you that before I told him?” she asked, pointing at Robbie.

“I don’t know,” Max said, and his attention fell to her stomach. “Maybe we should do a test, just in case.”

Curious, she left the bagel bag on her lap to twist toward him. “What part of this situation makes you think a baby would be a good idea?” she asked. “I don’t even know how we would make that work. I’d have to…” She thought about it a second and a strange parallel struck her. “Wow, that would be history repeating all over again.”

“Okay, so she’s not pregnant, what is it?” Ryan asked. “We hitting Vegas next weekend?”

“For a wedding?” Mark asked.

Tally was excited by how excited they seemed. “No, we’re not getting married either,” she said, not looking at Max or giving him a chance to get any other crazy ideas. “It’s not us news, it’s just Max news… Something amazing has happened and… it means him and me won’t be seeing each other anymore.”

“What?” The shocked horror brought them all to the fronts of their seats. Tomas and Bobby came around to stand in front of the TV and all eyes were on them.

“You’re incredible together,” Robbie said.

“Yeah, we’re jealous as hell,” Ryan said. “You seem into each other.”

“Our buddy has never been happier,” Mark said.

“It’s okay,” she said, smiling at them all to show she wasn’t upset. “We’re good until Monday morning.”

The guys all looked at each other. “You put an expiration date on your relationship?” Robbie said like it was the weirdest thing ever because it was the weirdest thing ever.

She sagged back and looked at Max. “I’m not explaining this very well. Do you want to start at the beginning?”

He caught a length of her hair on his index finger and swept it back. “You’re sexy as hell, you know that?”

Pulling his hand from her hair, she tore off a piece of bagel and stuffed it into his mouth. “No dirty talk,” she said. “Tell the guys what’s going on?”

“Okay,” he said and exhaled. “Tal works for a guy.”

“Theodore Stretton,” she said, eating her bagel and drinking her coffee.

“Right, and it turns out…” He looked at her, he wasn’t happy about admitting this, but eventually accepted that he had to. “He’s my father.”

“What the f**k?” Robbie said, which was similar to everyone else’s shocked reaction.

“That’s not the most surprising part,” she said, slipping more of the bagel between Max’s lips; he caught her hand to suck her fingers clean. “Tell them the most surprising part, baby.”

“He’s worth a s**t ton of money,” Max said, tilting his head to run his tongue down the length of her finger.

His mouth was mesmerizing. Each touch, each kiss and lick, sapped some of her energy and some of her sanity. The guys were talking, but all she could see was Max’s mouth nibbling on her as his hooded eyes stayed trained on hers.

“You’re rich?” Ryan asked. “How rich?”

“He has a company,” Max said, sliding his fingers from her wrist to link them between hers. “It’s worth a few billion.”

The guys were out of their chairs, gasping and swearing, cheering and rejoicing over this news. Max got a few smacks on the shoulder and she tore her eyes from his to join in with the celebration. It was nice to feel vindicated, Tally had said that these guys would leap on the chance Max had been given and they were proving that she was right by their reaction; this was like winning the lottery.

Robbie bowed to hug her, and she got kisses and hugs from all the guys who were still babbling, exchanging ideas and praise. “This is f*****g amazing,” Ryan said. The men began to settle again. “Guess we won’t be seeing you at the garage anymore.”

All the guys were part owners of the garage, Max included. “Yeah, man, we’ll do what we can to buy you out as soon as possible,” Robbie said, glancing at her. “You still going to look at the books for us, MG? You remember promising us you would last night?”

She nodded. Accountancy had been her major, but she’d let that fall by the wayside when she picked up with the Strettons. When she’d talked to Robbie about how much she’d like to return to it, he offered her a position keeping their books as it was a messy job that none of them really understood.

“I remember, and I’d be honored. I can figure out what you can afford,” she said. “Maybe come up with a payment plan.”

“Naw, nah,” Max said, waving a disapproving hand. He reached over his shoulder to discard his coffee on the end table, and hers too when she handed it to him. “I don’t want money. I’m not giving up the apartment either. I told him I’d go stay in his stinking house and give this a shot. But I’m not gonna f**k up my life in case this doesn’t work out.”

The guys exchanged looks with each other. Tally wondered if their thoughts were anything like hers. “You have to, man,” Robbie said. “If you don’t throw yourself into this all the way, your old life will always hold you back.”

“I’m guessing that’s why you’re ditching Tal,” Ryan said and the next expression they all bestowed on her was pity. “You want to check out your options.”

She widened her smile to convince them she wasn’t going to fall apart. “Guys, don’t look at me like that. Really, I’m fine.”

“And I’m not ditching her, she’s dumping me,” Max said.

Okay, this was going a weird way. “You guys don’t know what it’s like,” she said and sighed. “The temptation that’s out there…”

“Temptation,” Max said, and she was shifted a little when he rose from his slouch. “You think I’m gonna f**k around on you? You didn’t say that before. Babe, you were sure I’d bang that Blair b***h and she did f**k all for me.”

Tally exhaled. “I don’t mean that. You just… you’re going to have options, like Ryan said. There will be a lot of sexy, classy women throwing themselves at you and I guess… I want you to have the full experience.”

“And you don’t want to lose your job.”

“Is that so awful?” she asked. “Right now, keeping this job is the only way I can still be involved in your life.”

He got snarky. “Or you could keep f*****g me, that’s pretty deep in my life.”

There was so much about his new life that he didn’t understand yet. “Being a Stretton mistress comes with all sorts of rules,” she said. “I don’t think it would work for either of us.”

“A mistress,” Mark scoffed. “Our buddy can have a f*****g mistress.”

“Yeah, we just call them f**k buddies,” Ryan said, earning himself a laugh. “Guess when a guy has money, even his one-night stands get a title.”

“But hey, MG,” Robbie said, leaning over to poke her shoulder. “You’ll still come by Fitzpatrick’s, right? You’re part of the g**g there now.”

He was sweet, they all were, and she hoped that he meant that and wasn’t just being polite. “You have my number,” she said. “And someone mentioned a party tonight, am I invited to that?”

“Sure thing,” Robbie said. “We can grab food first if you want.”

“Definitely,” she said. “I brought a change of clothes last night, so I’ll have an actual planned outfit to wear.” For maybe the first time.

Max drove his fingers into her hair, turning her toward him. “You knew you were coming home with me before you came to the bar last night?”

Busted. She hadn’t known for sure, but given how things usually went between them, she didn’t think it hurt to prepare with some extra panties, being that he did like to steal or rip them from her.

“Maybe,” she said. “We know what happens when you get me drunk in that bar. I thought it was best to be prepared.”

“Yeah, and I guess we’re all going to be on Tally duty from here on out,” Ryan said. “When Max is out of the picture, you’ll be fair game, girl. The guys are going to be lining up.”

“Out of the picture?” Max asked, offended and confused. “I’ll still be at the bar.”

That earned the biggest laugh of the day so far. Tally patted Max’s chest as Mark spoke. “Yeah, buddy, I doubt that. You’ll be off in your f*****g mansion, drinking champagne, lining up sluts to f**k—sorry, Tal—” She dipped her head in a nod of acceptance and smiled. “You’re not coming back here.”

“Now that he’s rich, we should bet him on that. Squeeze out a few cents for the old neighborhood,” Robbie said. “One billion or two?”

They laughed. Max looked pissed, but they were right and that was how sure they were that he wouldn’t be coming back to this apartment or Fitzpatrick’s. Max was going up in the world and the rest of them would be left behind. It was nice that his friends were embracing this and weren’t expecting to be rewarded or being resentful.

“I’m not leaving the planet, just the neighborhood,” Max said, his snit getting hotter.

“Yeah, for a goddamn mansion,” Ryan said.

“Tal lives there now,” Max said.

She laughed and pulled another lump of bagel from the bag on her lap. “Yeah, in staff quarters,” she said. “It’s not quite the same thing.”

Robbie held up a hand. “Oh hey, if Max is keeping this place, we’ll have a permanent crash pad for you, Tally. You’ve got a key, right? One of us has a spare somewhere, we’ll get you it.”

How would she feel about sleeping in Max’s apartment without any prospect of sharing it with him? “Need to make sure Andy and his crew don’t know she’s up here alone though,” Ryan said. “He was muscling in last night. He’ll be the first to make a play.”

“But she’ll be single,” Robbie said. “She can f**k who she wants.”

Though that was true, she still had her tastes. “Not Andy,” she said, screwing up her face. “It felt really weird having him on top of me last night.”

“ ‘Cause you’re not used to it,” Ryan said. “Rob’s right. We’ll get used to seeing you with whoever… We’ll come up with a signal for if you need help.”

“Trey’s cute,” she said.

“And a business owner,” Robbie said, nodding like he approved.

“And a felon,” Ryan said.

“Ha, what the liquor board don’t know…”

“He hasn’t been in prison for years,” Mark said. “Yeah, he’s a good guy, and if they hook up, we might see Tally working the bar.”

“Ha, turnover would explode, Fitzpatrick’s would be standing room only.”

Glancing around as they laughed, she fixed on Max who was scowling at her. Tossing the bagel bag to the table, she turned to press her chest to his torso and touched her mouth to his.

“Our time isn’t done yet,” she whispered on his lips.

Max tipped his head back. “Okay, guys,” he called out. “We’ll see you at the bar later. Me and my girl need some alone time.”

“You can’t kick them out,” she said and sat up straight.

But the friends were already shaking hands and bumping fists with Max, each man kissed her cheek and then a minute later, she and Max were alone.

“I don’t want you sleeping with anyone else,” he said as soon as the door was closed.

Tally should’ve known the eviction of his friends was about more than them being alone. “Max,” she whined and pushed off him to get to her feet.

“I know, it’s hypocritical, you’re telling me to screw my way through all the daughters and nieces of society’s elite and I’m telling you to stay faithful, but—”

“It’s okay,” she said, crouching beside him. “It’s weird now, but believe me, once you get into the swing of the parties and get to know the women, it won’t be a big deal. You’ll forget about me, and the guys, and Fitzpatrick’s.”

Shaking his head, he shifted to open his thighs around her crouched form and doubled to cup her face. “I won’t forget. I don’t want to forget.”

“You heard how happy they were for you,” she said. “I told you they would be, didn’t I? That’s what I was talking about in the bedroom that time you accused me of using guilt as a motivator. I wasn’t. I just knew that your friends would want this for you. Just like you’d want it for them if it arrived on their doorstep.”

He exhaled, and she could feel his frustration. “I feel like… there’s this choice, either I go and work hard to really make this work for every person like me, the guys who have worked their whole lives and just never got a break. Or I stay…”

“And?”

“Marry the woman I love.”

Her heart slowed but only because it was overwhelmed. She didn’t know what to say. The man she loved was offering to fulfil her dream. A selfish part of her wanted to leap into his arms and say yes. But the practical part, the part she’d always been taught to embrace, took a deep breath.

Shifting onto her knees, Tally pushed her hands to his thighs to rise and kiss him. Stroking his face, she tried desperately to keep her tears at bay. “I’m not enough, Max,” she whispered. “If you give this up for me now, you’ll resent me in the long run. We’ll be fine and in love for a few months, maybe a few years, then we’ll start to struggle financially, and we’ll argue. We’ll forget about how we used to play in Fitzpatrick’s, or it won’t be as important anymore, and we’ll grow to hate the sight of each other.”

“Because if I give up this opportunity, you have to quit your job to be with me?”

“Blair already asked me if I thought you trusted me. I don’t want to be used against you. I don’t want us to be played off each other. If I’m still there and you’re not… they’ll blame me, and my life would be hell.”

“And you don’t trust me to look after you?”

“I don’t want you putting that pressure on yourself,” she said. “You go out to work all day and I’m left home alone and bored.”

“You can work, you’ll find another job.”

“Without a reference? If I don’t declare my history with Teddy, I’ll have to explain a huge career break. It will make employers suspicious,” she said. “I can’t even say I was raising kids.”

“Then we’ll have a kid,” he said, skimming his hands up and down her arms. “Anything you want, baby.”

She couldn’t believe they were really talking about this. It made no sense to give up all relationships with his family and all chances of inheriting a fortune just because they were infatuated with each other.

“You’re scared. That’s all this is. You said your mom wanted you to take him for everything you could. You’re doing this for her and for the guys.”

“So why can’t I get you out of my mind?” he asked. “If this is such a great idea, why am I so focused on losing you? I don’t even think about the money, babe. I know, it’s weird, but I… you’re what I think about.”

But it made sense to her. “It’s abstract, that’s why,” she said. “Once you get there and see what this money does for you, then you’ll begin to understand and everything else will fade away. Put it this way, you’ll never know unless you try, right? What’s the worst that can happen? You have your apartment to come back to, and the guys will give you a job.”

“But you,” he said. “How long will you wait? How long before some other guy steals you from me?”

Going by her track record, she only had a boyfriend once or twice a decade, so the odds were good that she wouldn’t be hooking up for a while, not for a long while. Certainly, Max would be rolling in the hay with other women before she even looked at another guy.

Smiling, she kissed him again. “Didn’t we say we weren’t going to talk about this? This is our time to enjoy each other.”

Leaning forward, he hooked her thighs and stood up, wrapping her legs around him. “You’re right, Boss, sorry,” he said and carried her to the bedroom to fall on the bed, cradling her beneath him. “I’m taking advantage of you as often as I can… while I still can.”

And that was what she needed him to do because there were no promises to be made. Neither of them could predict what would come next for them. This was their time. The last time they had left.

The alarm began to buzz on Monday morning and then it stopped. When Tally blinked open her eyes, she saw Max’s face on the pillow beside hers, just an inch away.

“You didn’t hear that,” he whispered, picking hair from her cheek to tuck it away with her other locks. “It’s just a dream, go back to sleep, baby.”

Her voice was weak from sleep. “It’s Monday.”

“Shh,” he said, stroking his fingertip on her cheek. “No, just close your eyes.”

But they were already watering. “I’ll never wake up with you again.”

“Shh, baby.”

But when he pulled her close into his body, she sobbed and breathed him in. They had to do this. They knew it would be impossible to be together when they were employer and employee, and she wouldn’t fit in as an equal of the Strettons; she didn’t want to.

But as she closed her eyes again and let her tears flow free, Tally promised herself that she would never settle for a love less than this one.

Max had given her so much, more than she could express to him, and the least she could do was bow out of his life quietly.