Chapter 10
Sienna looked down at the hotel key card in the palm of her hand, asking herself if this was really the smartest thing she could be doing right now, especially considering how mad she still was at Max, and how pissed off he clearly was with her, ever since that night when she and Denzel had stepped into his bar.
Jealousy was not an attractive trait in a man, although she had to admit it was rather flattering. She didn’t understand his jealousy. They were not in an exclusive relationship. It was probably a dumb idea to go to Max’s workplace with Denzel and she kicked herself for not standing her ground when he’d suggested that bar as a venue to meet.
And clearly Max had come to the entirely wrong conclusion about who she’d spent her evening with, and the nature of their relationship. After all, she didn’t believe in dating her friends’ brothers.
Only a couple of days before that outing, when she and Alicyn went over to Shaundra’s, she’d met Denzel, Shaundra’s older brother. They’d immediately taken a liking to each other and had spent the afternoon gabbing while the kids played. He was an Army officer, but had a long creative streak, and it turned out he was thinking of starting a YouTube channel of his own, dealing with self-defense and sexual assault prevention tips, especially for kids and women.
That had led to hours of conversation, to the extent where Shaundra had huffily asked her brother if he’d come to France to visit her or to monopolize her friends’ time. When it was time to leave Shaundra’s, Denzel has asked her out.
Sienna had hesitated, because the last thing she needed was the complication of another date, but he had laughingly assured her that it was strictly platonic. She figuredwhy not?Sienna liked the guy, and since Shaundra was one of her closest friends, she was sure she’d be safe.
She’d balked when he named Max’s bar as a meeting point before they headed off to dinner. While she and Max were in a no-strings-attached situation, she still didn’t think it was cool to bring the two men in such close proximity. She named a couple of alternatives, but Denzel had turned on his boyish charm and said that he’d read a lot about the bar and wanted to try it. “My sister said the drinks there were really good. I really want to check out the French bar scene,” he’d insisted.
What else could she have said?
She had been uncomfortable from the start, and was dying to get out of there to head to their chosen restaurant, where she would be able to relax and enjoy her meal without enduring the eerie feeling that she was being stared at.
She groaned inwardly when Max had come to take her order. It was clear that he was angry, but that didn’t make sense. Why would he be? The two of them weren’t in a romance. They had laughs, they had sex. That was all.
He was notherman.
That said, after dinner she’d dropped Denzel back off at his sister’s place and declined to come in for a drink. Instead, she’d gone back to Jacyn’s place like a good little girl, and forced herself to stop analyzing what had happened.
Tonight was one of their preplanned nights to meet. She hadn’t been able to resist coming here, hoping that he wouldn’t still be too jealous or angry to not show up. It was almost as if she had been drawn there unbidden, but she’d be lying to herself if she denied that part of her motivation hadn’t been the memory of their adventure last week up high on the Ferris Wheel, not to mention the fire he’d lit under her in the bathroom that night. A fire he had sparked but not tended to, and one which still smoldered days later.
Damn you, Max,she thought, maybe even whispered aloud, as she used the key. At least she was almost two hours earlier than the time they usually met, which was usually after Max closed up the bar.
But no, luck was not on her side. The lights were on, and across from the door was Max, seated in an armchair as if it was a throne: legs splayed, arms spread out over the back of the seat.
“Elle arrive,”he murmured, almost to himself. “I half expected you not to bother. I figured you’d be out with your new gentleman friend again. Is the sex not good?”
“Pardon?” She froze there, one hand on the open door as she had been in the act of closing it, her handbag draped over her arm. At least she still had the option to step back through it, she thought.
Max leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees. “I was just wondering if your date was a lousy lover, because you’re here so early. Did you break up, or are we taking turns, unbeknownst to each other?”
The implication that she slept around was crude, and her first instinct was to slap him, but instead, she kept her cool. She scoffed. “One, that’s none of your business, and two, you’re early too. Did the owner of the bar finally kick you out on your ass for having such a crappy attendance record?”
Max was across the room in a flash, his hand closing over her bicep. “How could that not be my business? You did not come here for a nightcap; you came here to fuck me. Therefore, I do indeed think it is my business what you were doing and who you were doing it with before you walked in through that door.”
Irritated beyond measure by his repeated insinuations, Sienna spun around and moved to exit through the still-open door, but Max held her fast.
“I don’t have to stay here and listen to this!” she snapped. She looked down at the manacle that pinned her, and then back at his face. “You need to let go of me right now. Or I swear, Max—”
Whatever threat she was about to make was cut off by his kiss. Immediately, her mind was in turmoil, her resistance quenched. This man had a way of doing things to her with his mouth that made it impossible for her to back away from him. It screwed with her thought processes and diminished her willpower.
Why?
Mutely, unresisting, she watched as he shoved the door closed and locked it. All he had to do was stand there and point at the bed, and like a lamb she followed his instruction, cursing herself on the inside for her weakness but excited beyond belief at the prospect of what was to come. She was still furious with him for the taste of heaven he’d given her in the bathroom back at the bar that night, leaving her quivering in anticipation throughout the rest of her evening with Denzel. It was almost embarrassing, being in the company of one man while yearning for another. It was no wonder they’d ended their evening out early. Denzel had had the good sense to know that their platonic outing would remain exactly that.
Sienna sat on the edge of the wide bed, realizing that her legs were glad for the respite, because they were beginning to tremble purely at the memory of what had passed between her and Max days before, and the anticipation of what lay ahead.
“Good girl,” he crooned, hands on his hips, looking down at her in victory. He leaned forward and undid her shoes, holding them up to eye level and admiring them for a second. “Nice. Do you have any idea how beautiful your legs look when you wear shoes like these? The curve of your calves, the way your hips sway when you walk. And that ass—”
“Enough with the damn shoes. Come here.”
Mockingly, he let the shoes fall from his hands and then bent forward, just enough to reach down and grasp her panties under her skirt, peeling them off her and dropping them onto the floor as well.