In a Heartbeat (Heartbeat #1) (19 page)

“How badly d’you want to find out?” His seducing, predatory look was back, and he slowed his pace, making Stella slow hers down as well unless she wanted to bump into him.

She reached out and brushed her fingers over the part she could see over his shorts. Max slowed down to a walk as Stella slowly hooked her index finger on the waistband, guiding it down. Max abruptly stopped, making her bump right into his chest, and caught her hand. She looked up at him, the raw desire in his eyes making her belly flutter excitedly.

“That bad, eh?” His voice was so low, it was almost a whisper. Stella nodded in response, fixing her eyes on his lips. He released her hand and waited. Without looking at the tattoo, but keeping her eyes on his face, Stella caressed the skin right over the waistband of his shorts and saw the muscles of his jaw clench. She slid her other hand on the other side of his waist and noticed Max balling his hands into fists as if to restrain himself from touching her. He then closed his eyes and Stella knew she had him where she wanted him to be.

With one swift movement, she ran past him, picking up as much speed as she could before he got hold of himself and chased after her. Glancing behind her, she saw him running after her and grinned.

“So, you want to play dirty?” she heard him growl, and the next thing she knew he had picked her up in the air and thrown her over his shoulder.

“Put me down, you Neanderthal!” she squealed.

“When we get to the cave, woman,” he said and smacked her ass.

Stella wanted to be angry with him for treating her like a rag doll, but she just couldn’t. The situation was so funny that she started giggling uncontrollably.

He slowed down and headed away from the water, putting her down on some kind of stairs. Stella looked around and saw it was a lifeguard station. Max knelt in front of her, putting both his hands on the step behind her and trapping her in his arms.

“Do you always play dirty, or am I the lucky exception?” He was so close to her that she could feel his breath on her lips.

“I warned you I was going to find another way to beat you.”

His eyes travelled down to her lips.

Don’t lick them. Don’t lick them. Don’t lick them.

Stella licked her lips.

*

She fucking licked her lips!

All Max could think about was how they had tasted the other night when he did kiss her. Not today though. He summoned all his restraint, every single drop of it, until he felt he was going to burst trying to contain his desire for her.

Stella was watching him, analysing his reaction. He’d noticed before how she liked to watch people and take mental notes. She knew he was trying not to kiss her and by the inquisitive look in her eyes, Max suspected she was wondering why.

That was exactly what he wanted her to do – wonder why he wouldn’t kiss her. Wonder why he would tease her to the brink, but then pull away before they fell off the edge. Wonder why he wanted to spend every waking hour with her, yet not make a move.

Max wanted thoughts about him to be the only thing occupying Stella’s head. When she was as desperate for him as he was for her, then he’d make his move and make it count.

*

“I think we should go back,” Max whispered, so close to Stella that their lips almost touched. Almost. And then he pulled slightly back. The disappointment in her eyes must have been evident because a flicker of hesitation crossed his face, but he quickly recovered and stood up, offering her his hand. “Come on. I’ll walk you home.”

“You don’t have to,” she said, sounding defensive, but she still took his hand.

“I want to. I have an hour to kill before I have to go to work.”

“You’re working on the beach after the late shift last night?”

“Yeah. And I’m working in the bar tonight; I promised to cover for Francesco.”

“Tight schedule.”

“I’m used to it. Besides, my stamina is legendary,” he said and wiggled his eyebrows at her. Stella smacked him on the chest with the back of her hand and laughed.

The walk back to Lisa’s house was way too short. But then again, every time spent with Max seemed too short lately.

“Wanna come in? I’m making coffee,” she asked as they reached the front door.

“Unless you offer a shower with the coffee, I’ll pass. I need to get back and get ready for work,” he said, but still held her hand in his. Max was saying he needed to go, but his body language said something else entirely.

“OK. I’ll see you later then.” Stella tried to reclaim her hand and go inside, but he held on.

“Are you coming to the beach today?”

She wanted to, especially now that she knew he was going to be there. But she didn’t know what Lisa’s plans were and couldn’t commit to anything yet.

“Don’t know. I have to see what Lisa wants to do. I think she’s not due at work until later in the afternoon.”

“OK.
Ciao, tesoro
,” he said and leaned in to kiss her cheek.

When Stella walked inside the house, her feet were barely touching the floor and she was grinning like an idiot. The whole experience this morning had been quite surreal and a bit confusing. However, she didn’t want to dwell on it too much, because the most important thing was that Max was amazing and he made her feel all warm and giddy inside.

Lisa was already in the kitchen making coffee. The very smell was a godsend to Stella.

“Hey, I didn’t know you were up, let alone out,” said Lisa, taking two coffee cups out of the cupboard.

“I went for a run. Didn’t want to wake you.” She flopped on a chair, accepting the steaming coffee mug and exhaling in pure delight as she took her first sip. For a moment she thought about telling Lisa she was running with Max, but then changed her mind. If her cousin asked, she’d tell her. Otherwise, why spoil a perfectly good morning with another of Lisa’s lectures?

“So, what do you want to do today?” Stella asked.

“Well, I have to be in the studio at five. I’m yours until then. What do you fancy?”

Stella wanted to go to the beach. She wanted to lie on a towel, soak up the sunshine, work on her tan, which was getting pretty good lately, and stare at Max’s half-naked body. But she felt that she needed to resist that temptation. They’d been together for two days straight, and had started their day together today. Maybe it would be a good idea to get some distance. Stella needed to clear her mind of the Max-induced fog.

“Let’s go around town. Maybe some shopping. Lunch in a nice restaurant. A movie?” she suggested.

“Sounds good,” said Lisa.

“Which one?”

“All of them. Come on. Finish your coffee upstairs while you get ready. If we want to do all that, we need to leave five minutes ago.”

They had a great day. Lisa was happy and smiling all the time, so much different from the sulking mess she’d been the past few days. There was something affecting her mood, but Stella wasn’t sure what. True, she was an artist and they were famous for their mood swings, but this was something else. Or rather, some
one
else? Stella could bet her right arm that there was a man affecting her cousin’s mood. But where was he? She’d never mentioned anyone, and certainly hadn’t seen anyone since Stella had arrived. What was more, Lisa had never indicated that there was anything she needed to talk to Stella about. Respecting her cousin’s privacy, Stella hadn’t pried. If and when she was ready to talk, she would.

There was no time left for a movie, because the shopping part of the day took a bit longer than initially anticipated. On the bright side, they’d bought a new outfit each, and a couple of pairs of shoes each as well. Stella also got some sexy new lingerie that was on offer and she couldn’t resist. Besides, she really hoped she’d get a chance to show it off before she had to leave.

When they got home, Stella sprawled on the sofa and refused to move. She was knackered. Four hours of sleep that night, combined with exercise and shopping, all in the same day, proved to be a bit much for her. Before she knew it, her eyes had grown heavy and she was drifting away in peaceful slumber.

When she woke up, she had a soft blanket covering her and the house was incredibly quiet.

Lisa must have gone out already
, Stella thought.

She stood up and taking all her shopping bags, headed upstairs. It had been a hot day and she felt sticky from the humidity in the air. A second shower for the day was in order. It would also help her to wake up properly, because right then all she wanted to do was climb back into bed and sleep until morning.

Her phone blinked when she got out of the shower. She had two missed calls – one from Lisa and one from Max, and a text from him that simply said,
Call me
.

So she did.

“Hey, where have you been all day?” he asked, after answering on the second ring.

“Shopping with Lisa.”

“Right. I can imagine how that took all day.” She could feel the smile in his voice.

“Yeah. I could have gone on, but she had to go to work. Otherwise, my stamina is legendary,” she said, quoting his words from this morning, and Max laughed. A deep, genuine, throaty laugh. Stella wished she was there next to him, seeing him laugh that way.

“Did you buy something nice?”

“Yep. A lot of stuff.”

“Why don’t you put some of that nice stuff on and come to the bar? I’ll be there after seven.”

Stella wanted to go, badly. She wanted to see him because she already missed him. But if she agreed straight away, would he think she was desperate? A little flirting this morning and she couldn’t bear to be away from him? His ego was already enormous; no need to inflate it even more.

“I don’t know. I’m pretty tired; I’d rather just crash in front of the TV.”

“Oh, come on. I know you must be itching to put those new shoes on,” he teased.

“How do you know I bought shoes?”

“Of course you did. Women always buy shoes when they go shopping.”

“You have studied our kind pretty closely, I can tell.”

“Know thy enemy, and all.” He was smiling again and Stella wanted to see that smile. Tonight. “Stella?”

“Yeah?”

“Please come.” The way he said the word ‘come’ made her think of a very different situation. She bit her lip to make herself pay attention to the conversation, because her mind was already drifting away to a place where Max spoke breathlessly in her ear. “I want to see you,
tesoro
,” he said and, as if sensing her mood change, his voice had dropped to a seductive whisper.

How could she resist?

Stella had about an hour to get ready. The outfit she had bought today would be perfect for tonight – blue jeans that hugged her every curve and hung low on her hips; a black tank top that was low-cut at the back and the front, but didn’t look slutty because it had a lot of studs, gems and tassels hanging all over it that distracted the eye from the cleavage; and the high-heeled black sandals that might kill her feet, but looked gorgeous. To finish it off, Stella chose a few bangles and a long, simple necklace with nothing but an angel-wing-shaped pendant hanging on it, which she tucked inside her tank top. She dried her hair and left it hanging loosely around her shoulders. A dash of mascara, a touch of moisturiser and some lip gloss and she was ready.

She called Lisa on her way out, but got her voicemail. She was probably already in class. Stella left a message saying that she’d be with Max at the bar and she could join them later if she felt like it, and closed the front door behind her.

Chapter Fifteen

It was Monday night and as expected, the bar wasn’t busy. Max was on shift with Marco, who was cool and also made cocktails with the speed of light. So all Max was left with to do was open beers and bottles of wine.

As Stella walked in, Max almost regretted inviting her. She looked hot. Surface-of-the-sun hot. How was he going to keep away any guys who hit on her – and he was sure there would be many?

“Wow, who’s that? I’ve never seen her here before,” said Marco, practically drooling all over the counter and staring at Stella.

“That’s Stella, and if you don’t stop leering at her like a perv, I’m going to wipe the counter with you,” said Max, as quietly as possible, because she was getting near and he didn’t want her to hear his threat.

“Relax, man. I didn’t know she was your girl,” said Marco, raising his hands in front of him and walking away. Max didn’t correct him. He liked the sound of ‘your girl’.

“Hey,” she said, taking her usual seat in the corner of the bar. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Is that what you bought today?” Max asked, getting in front of her and placing his hands on the counter.

“Yeah. You like?” she smiled her most charming smile.

“Me and everyone with a Y-chromosome in here.”

She laughed and rolled her eyes.

“Now I’m afraid I’m gonna have to kiss you, to let everyone else know to back the fuck off,” Max leaned on his elbows towards her, and noticed her expression change instantly from playfully charming to something more serious. She wanted him to kiss her. Max leaned further and she stilled completely, her breath catching and her lips parting.