Heir's Affair

SIXTEEN

SIXTEEN

Tally left the relieved men in her bedroom and ran to the household office to look for the spare key to Max’s suite. Most doors in the house weren’t locked, but Max would lock his, out of habit if nothing else. She’d never been in his suite before to know for sure, but his mentality couldn’t have changed that much.

Running her hands over the various keys, she found his and snatched it from its hook. She covered her tracks by moving another key over and hoped that no one would notice his keys were missing. It didn’t matter that she’d get them back as soon as she could or that no one should be in the office because the household staff was all hands-on deck for a party like this, she was still nervous.

Tally had never lived a life of crime and this experience was proving to her that she wasn’t cut out for it.

She thanked her workout routine for keeping her going as she hurried the full length of the house again to run up another set of stairs from the first floor to the third. Usually, Tally avoided this part of the building. She never really had any reason to be here, so it wasn’t hard to stay away.

But with her pumping heart and dry mouth, she slowed her pace and focused on his door. She’d always promised that she wouldn’t come here, that she wouldn’t enter his bedroom. But she didn’t have a choice right now. When she got to it, she rested a hand and her forehead against the wood. This was it, the line she didn’t want to cross.

Tally liked to picture him in his apartment, in Fitzpatrick’s, in bed, she didn’t want an image of where he lived now because it would be confirmation that their previous life had been erased. Sliding her hand down the door, she tried it and it wouldn’t give. She smiled and put the key in the lock. At least one thing about him was the same.

Taking a deep breath, she knew she couldn’t linger in the hallway because that would give someone a chance to see her. So she slipped inside and closed the door. Resting against it, she looked at the large square room with its central living area and wall-mounted TV above the fireplace, just like at his apartment. Except, in contrast, the furniture here was pristine and there wasn’t a speck of dust in sight.

Knowing the layout from how other suites on the Estate were setup, Tally was aware of the position of each space. The office was on the left. The terrace was through the double-doors on the far wall and the bedroom was in the far right corner. She couldn’t hang around, she needed to find his wallet. If the key wasn’t in there, this could take quite some time; there were a lot of places to check.

Tiptoeing across the room, she didn’t like feeling as if she was in enemy territory. She couldn’t even turn on a light or someone outside might notice that his room was lit up while he was downstairs at the party.

Going inside the bedroom, Tally was all set to do her hunting and didn’t expect to be hit by the scent of Max. Not just any Max, but her Max. Swinging around, she closed her eyes and pressed her face to the inside of the doorframe as the door clicked shut.

“Damnit,” she whispered, hating the moisture that stung the corner of her eyes.

She could do this, she didn’t have to look at the bed, didn’t have to touch his sheets, or smell his clothes. Yet, after another half dozen breaths, she still couldn’t open her eyes. She hadn’t expected to freeze, and she couldn’t stay here like this all night. What should she do?

Forcing her head to roll against the wood, Tally peeked through one eye at the four-poster bed minus its canopy in the middle of the wall. There were nightstands on both sides, and a door to his walk-in closet beyond. There was a family bathroom off the main living room. But if this was like the other suites there would be a shower room off the walk-in too.

That bed. It was huge. Magnificent. She got a flash of herself and Max in his sheets at his place. But it was superimposed here. She imagined standing by that foot-post and him coming up behind her, scooping her hair aside and kissing her neck.

Closing her eyes, Tally lost a breath. How could she still want him like this? He was her boss now, heir to the family fortune, businessman. But it wasn’t the man at the foot of the stairs she saw in her fantasies. It was the man who’d sat at the bar in Fitzpatrick’s with her. The man who’d laid her on his bed and told her to close her eyes. The man who’d told her Monday would never come as long as he held her in his arms.

“Stop it,” she hissed at herself and pushed away from the door.

She was being an i***t. She was here for a reason. If she found the damn key, she could grab it and run, then she could erase this whole experience from her memory.

Pushing down her grief, Tally had a quick look in the nightstand drawers and found nothing. Next, she went into the walk-in. There was no window here, so she flicked on the recess lighting above the mirror and stopped for a minute to examine the rows of suits and shirts. Did he still own jeans? Did he ever wear them?

There were drawers in the furthest corner. She opened the top one to see cufflinks and heavy watches. Slamming it shut, she opened the second. It contained underwear at one-side and socks at the other. Right at the back were older socks. Fumbling around, Tally felt something square wrapped in wool.

Tugging it out, she found his old wallet hidden in a pair of socks. It didn’t occur to her, but he probably had some fancy designer wallet now, or maybe he didn’t need to carry one, maybe his name was enough to cover bills.

Opening it, she searched around inside and found a heavy silver key with a hexagonal top. Yes, that had to be it. She tucked it into her b*a for safe keeping.

Closing up the wallet, she had to put it back as she found it and pray that Max didn’t go looking for that key any time soon. She squashed the wallet into its previous place and was rearranging the older socks on top when she glanced up and saw something hanging in the very furthest corner of the closet, behind everything else.

Still holding a random pair of socks, Tally was drawn toward the corner of the closet. Touching the sleeve, she bit her lip. That was her Max’s leather jacket. The one he’d been wearing the day they met and one he probably hadn’t worn since the Monday he’d left his apartment.

“Lose something?”

Whipping around, Tally gasped at the sight of him in the doorway. He was still in the shadow of the dark bedroom, so she had no idea of his expression, but his tone wasn’t impressed. “Uh…”

She hadn’t even thought of what she’d say if she was caught here especially by Max himself.

“Your feet cold?”

“My?” she asked with confusion then remembered the socks, which she held up in triumph. “Yes.” Tally tried a laugh and stepped forward. “Yes, that’s it. Socks. I just needed socks. I put holes in Sean’s and he gets upset with me.”

“You sneak into my room a lot when I’m not here?”

“No!” Great, now he thought she was some weirdo stalker. “No, actually, this is the first time I’ve been into your suite. It’s beautiful, I love what you’ve done with the place.”

“I haven’t done anything.”

Really? She frowned. “There’s a million five in decorating budget assigned for you,” she said. “You didn’t use it?”

“Nope.”

“Oh well, uh… thanks,” she said and held up the socks.

Walking forward, Tally wanted him to let her leave without having to say anything else. Instead, he stepped inside and closed the door behind himself. “Want to try again?”

Shit. No. She didn’t want to try again. But her thoughts were harder to control when she saw his stubble was back. Yeah, his hair was still too neat for her liking, but with that scowl, he didn’t look polished enough to put her off.

Stopping in the center of the room, Tally couldn’t close her mouth, but couldn’t think of anything to say either.

“Max!” a female voice called out from beyond the room—from the bedroom, to be exact.

Tally’s eyes closed slowly. She whined. “Oh God.” This was mortifying; her worst nightmare come true. “You brought Anika upstairs for sex.”

And there was no other way out of this closet, so unless Max did her a favor and distracted Anika, she’d have to listen to them going at it. Tally should’ve known better, she’d been that woman, the one he couldn’t keep his hands off. When Max wanted a woman, he did everything in his power to seduce her. Anika was s*x on legs; he’d never be able to resist her.

“I came upstairs for a minute alone,” he said. “She must have followed me.”

A likely excuse, but one he shouldn’t have to give because his s*x life wasn’t her business.

Turning her back to him, Tally faced the drawers. “Please tell me you have an iPod in here or something. Anything, so I don’t have to listen to you with her.”

“Shh,” he said. Tally sealed her lips when she realized his voice was right behind her. Max was right behind her. Trying her best not to move a muscle, she was like a trapped animal when his face descended into her hair. He inhaled her. “Did you come here for me?”

Turning around, she gazed up at him and couldn’t remember why she’d come. “Max,” she whispered. He began to bend down, but she pressed a hand to his chest to stop him. “Anika is out there.”

His jaw ticked. “s**t,” he said and backed off. “Wait a minute.”

Max strode out of the closet. Tally crept forward trying to hear what was being said.

“I can keep you company,” Anika said.

Tally recognized the attempt at seduction in the blonde’s sultry voice.

“I just need a few minutes,” he replied. “Go back downstairs, I’ll join you soon. Enjoy the champagne.”

His room key was still in Tally’s palm, but she tucked it into her b*a with the other key as Max ushered Anika out of the bedroom. After she heard the bedroom door close, Tally shut the drawer she’d been rooting in, and turned off the closet lights before sneaking out.

She crossed the bedroom, ready to dart out as soon as she heard Max getting rid of Anika. If she caught a break, maybe Anika would convince him to go back down the stairs with her, giving Tally a clear route of escape.

Alas, she wasn’t that lucky. She had just passed the bed when the bedroom door opened, and Max came striding in.

Keeping herself as loose as she could, Tally tried to sound casual. “I’ll just leave you alone too,” she said, using his excuse of wanting to be by himself.

Focusing on the door, Tally tried to walk on right past him, but he stepped in her way at the last second.

“Why did you come here, Tal?”

She couldn’t answer that, and she didn’t want to look at him, so she pointed past him. “Can we have this conversation out there?”

His head tilted. “Why?”

Much as she didn’t want to admit it, she did, “I’m hyperaware that there’s a huge bed behind me.”

The corner of his mouth tilted. “So am I,” he growled, and his hands slid onto her waist.

“No,” she said, pushing his arms down. “I didn’t come here for s*x. We can’t be doing that anymore.”

He didn’t let go of her waist, just squeezed and released over and over, his fingers stimulating her memory. “Why not?”

“You’re dating at least two women,” she said. “You’re on a date right now… Have you slept with Blair yet?” He stopped squeezing and frowned. “Never mind, not my business, excuse me.”

That had been enough to cool his jets, so when she moved around him, he didn’t try to stop her. He let her go and she could see freedom, she could smell it, she was only ten feet from the suite door when he called out.

“Have you slept with Trey yet?” he asked, and she stopped walking.

How did she answer that? Of course she hadn’t, but was that the answer he wanted? Was this easier if he hated her? And she couldn’t admit to how hung up she was on him, not when he was moving on. She didn’t want him to feel guilty about any intimacies he’d shared with other women.

“That isn’t your business either,” she said and turned to look at him.

It didn’t take him long to stalk toward her. “Like hell it isn’t!”

“It’s not,” she said. “We agreed that we would have a clean break. It’s why we agreed no calls, no contact.”

He had a new cell number anyway. His friends hadn’t even been given it. His mom probably didn’t have it either. Tally didn’t even have it and she was on the company network. His old number was disconnected. She’d seen him check his new phone when she’d watched him from a distance, that was the only reason she knew he had a new device.

“That was before…”

“Before what?” she asked and didn’t like the look in his eye when he turned away. “No.” Stepping forward, she grabbed his forearm. “Don’t turn away from me. Look at me, Max. What were you going to say?”

Examining her face, he went from angry to longing to pain and back to frustration. “I’m dying, Boss.”

“No,” she said and widened her smile. “You’re doing great. All the reports say you’re being civilized and you’re learning. You’re doing so well. I’m so proud.”

“You are?” he asked, probing her with his stare. “You’re proud of me?” She nodded. “And you’re happy?”

Well, that was a different question. Her hand drifted from his arm as she reframed it. “I’m super happy with your progress. You did what you said you were going to do. You’ve thrown yourself into this all the way, no looking back.”

When he didn’t say anything else, she tightened her smile and began to turn. She could just walk out and she’d be saved from giving him any answers. Except he grabbed her to pull her back and in a swooping move, he scooped her up and rushed her against the wall.

His mouth stole hers before she could inhale. She whimpered in her struggle for breath. But God, he was amazing, and exactly what she needed. This was Max, her Max being powerful and dominant, and that was all she needed to bring back the memories in their vivid glory.

Closing her eyes, Tally opened her mouth and her body to this experience. He was hard against the softness of her center and the feel of him grinding himself against her made her push back.

And that mouth. Clasping his face in both hands, Tally scratched her fingernails through his stubble and a squeal of need accompanied her pulling at his tie to loosen it and rip open the top buttons of his shirt. Without permission, she pushed his head up with a sure hand and closed her mouth around the notch in his throat. l*****g her way north, she dug her teeth into him, trying not to suck as hard as she wanted to because she couldn’t leave a mark. Except that was all she wanted to do, to claim him, to beg him to be hers again.

Grabbing his hair, Tally pulled his vision into line with hers. “Why aren’t you f*****g me yet?” she panted.

He growled through grit teeth and pulled back enough to loosen his pants. In a slick move, he pulled the crotch of her panties out of the way and slammed into her. It had been six weeks since he’d been here, and the resistance made her blow out a breath of discomfort, but he pulled back and his next advance took him to the hilt.

He wasn’t as coy about not leaving his mark on her, he sucked her neck beneath her ear as he slammed into her. She gasped at the union of pleasure in her p***y with the pain in her neck.

“I’ve missed you, baby,” he said, capturing her mouth again.

She’d promised herself not to be intimate with him again. They were supposed to be apart. This was supposed to be a no-go. So why was her pelvis meeting his thrust for thrust? She didn’t care, didn’t care about anything except his thick c**k f*****g into her, sating her need.

Tossing her head back, she gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to scream when she came all over him. It only got harder on the next c****x when he grabbed her hips and drove into her, filling her with his seed.

Hot, confused, and at peace for the first time in six weeks, Tally closed her eyes and her head bumped against the wall as they both tried to find their sanity again. He kissed her chin, her jaw, her neck, was he being reassuring or expecting round two?

Pushing his shoulders, she gave him the signal that she wanted her feet again and he complied but kept her hand and kissed her knuckles. Blinking at him, Tally recognized the light in his eyes. She saw the love and then she felt the sorrow.

She’d broken the rules. This was exactly why she’d avoided being alone with him because they just couldn’t do this. They couldn’t be in the same room without crossing the line.

Taking her hand back, Tally sidestepped, and his satisfaction became concern as she began to move faster toward the door. With an apology in her eyes, she turned and bolted.