Born to Be Wild (37 page)

L
auren stood at the door to the Hole in the Wall at exactly twelve o’clock. She wore a knock-Max’s-socks-off perforated-leather spaghetti-strap dress. Short, white, and very low cut, it looked stunning with dangling diamond earrings and a two-strand diamond tennis bracelet. She’d thought about wearing knee-high white leather boots, but that would have been overdoing the effect, so she settled on a pair of Ferragamo heels. Three-inch spikes, because nothing less would do.

She wanted Max to drool. Then she wanted him to fall into her arms because the past two weeks, although the busiest time of her life, had also been the loneliest. She needed him desperately.

But did he need her? He hadn’t returned any of
her calls—but he could have been out of town or busy. She couldn’t jump to conclusions, she simply had to operate on the assumption that he needed her as much as she needed him. He might have said a lot of ridiculous things, but he had said he loved her—and she believed him. And he was going to love her a lot more when he heard the details of how she planned to bring the best of their two completely opposite worlds together.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the heavy door and walked into the Hole in the Wall. A second later it slammed behind her, echoing through the empty warehouse.

“Hello. Anyone here?”

Silence. Yet she’d distinctly seen half a dozen motorcycles outside, including Max’s.

She walked across the concrete floor, the clicking of her heels reverberating against the walls. She hated the hollow sound. Hated to be alone.

And then she heard the distinctive thud of heavy boots on the floor.

“Hello, Lauren.”

She spun around when she heard Max’s deep, mesmerizing voice echoing through the warehouse. He leaned against a wall, his hands shoved in his pockets. There were dark circles under his eyes and he looked worried, but in spite of that, she couldn’t miss the tiny sparkle in his eyes. He looked strong, warm, and unspeakably desirable, just the kind of man she’d always needed in her life.

“Hello,” she said softly.

She walked toward him, completely captivated
by the strands of black hair falling over his brow, the powerful muscles in his arms and beneath the white T-shirt he wore. She stopped maybe a foot away from him, drawing in the musky scent of his aftershave. She wanted to touch him, but she held back, still mystified by the emptiness of the Hole. “Where is everyone?”

“Gone.”

“Why?”

His heated gaze strolled leisurely over the entire length of her body, and goose bumps rose on her arms. “So we could have the place to ourselves.”

“At the risk of sounding crazy, why did you want to be alone?”

“Because I didn’t want anyone to see me crumble if you said you loved me, and then said you didn’t want to see me again.”

“That would be a terribly foolish thing for me to say. It would be foolish for anyone to say, don’t you think?”

“Yeah. Real foolish. I know someone who’s regretted saying it to the woman he loved.”

“Did he call her and say he was sorry?”

Max shook his head. “He was afraid she might have decided he wasn’t worth troubling with.”

“If she loved him, really and truly loved him,” Lauren said, “she’d understand, and she’d forgive him.”

She reached out, touching the smoothness of his cheek, brushing her thumb over his mustache and goatee, and the remarkable lips she’d grown to love. “She might have even reserved a pent
house suite for them at the Breakers—hoping they could go there to make up.”

Suddenly she was in Max’s arms and his mouth closed over hers, leaving no doubt at all that he wanted to make up. “I want things to work between us,” he breathed against her lips. “I don’t care what I have to do, Lauren, but one way or another
, I’ll fit into your world.”

She hugged him tightly, resting her cheek against his. “I heard about the intimate dinner you prepared for Kitty Whitfield. She’s a bit ditzy and not easy to please, but she’s raved about you to everyone.” Lauren looked into his wonderful brown eyes. “I’d say you’ve gone over and above board to fit into my world, now I want mine to fit into yours.”

“That’s never going to happen, Lauren.”

“But it can. I’ve spent nearly two weeks figuring it all out and—”

The outside door burst open, sending sunlight skittering across the floor. Two burly delivery men walked in. “Where do you want the stuff?” one of them yelled at Lauren.

“Oh, dear. They’re early.”

“Who’s early?” Max asked, frowning when she pulled from his embrace.

“The delivery men.” She smiled weakly, wishing she’d had a few more minutes to explain. “Would you excuse me a moment?”

She didn’t give Max time to answer, she just twisted away from him and headed toward the biggest, burliest guy, the one who looked like he might be in charge. Through nearly clenched
teeth, she said, “You weren’t supposed to arrive until twelve-thirty.”

“Look, lady, you get it when you get it. So where do you want it?”

“How can I possibly know where I want it when you didn’t give me time to decide where it should go?”

“We could always dump it outside.”

“No, that’s not a good idea.”

She felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. “What’s going on?” Max asked, confusion narrowing his eyes.

“I need to decide where to put the plants.”

“What plants?”

“The ones I ordered. The ones that are going to start flowing in here any second now.”

“We don’t need any plants in here!”

“Of course you do.”

“The place is fine like it is.”

“Pardon me for saying this, Max, but it’s boring. It has no style whatsoever.”

“It’s a warehouse!”

“Please don’t argue with me. I’ve got enough on my mind just trying to decide where everything should go.”

He shook his head. “You are the most—”

“Yes, I know, I’m exasperating, but you can tell me all the reasons why you love me later. I’ve got too much to do at the moment.”

One of the men walked toward her, his arms laden with two potted plants. “Where do you want these ferns?”

“Those are dieffenbachia.”

“Yeah, okay, so where do you want them?”

Lauren looked all about her, finally settling on the perfect place. “In the corners, on either side of the basketball court.”

“You can’t have plants over there,” Max grumbled. “They’ll get in the way.”

“If they get in the way, they can be moved later. Now,” she said, marching across the room, I want a few ferns over here.” She headed for another spot. “You can put the baskets of philodendron here, and we’ll arrange them when the furniture arrives.”

“Furniture!”

Goodness, was Max going to stand around and bellow all day?

She spun around, thinking Max was still clear across the warehouse, but his chest was just inches away. His heated eyes were even closer. “Yes, Max,” she smiled sweetly, “furniture.”

“We already have furniture.”

“You have
wooden
furniture. I’ve found something that’s far better. A few sofas. They’re black leather, not exactly my taste, but I wanted something you’d approve of. I’m also having some occasional chairs delivered, in colors and fabrics that will complement the black leather, and I found some lovely glass-topped tables.”

Max rubbed his temples. “The last thing we need around here are glass-topped tables.”

“I think you’re in desperate need of them, Max. This place has absolutely no atmosphere.”

She heard a distinct giggle coming from the
hallway that led to the rest rooms, “Who’s giggling?”

“Jamie, more than likely.”

“Why’s she hiding?”

“I suppose she sneaked back in here after I told her and everyone else to clear out while I talked to you. Obviously she didn’t listen to me, because no one seems to listen to me anymore, especially you. I wouldn’t be surprised if a dozen people were in the back, listening to the show you’re putting on.”

“This is not a show, Max. It’s my attempt to combine the best of both worlds—yours and mine.”

“With furniture? With atmosphere?”

She shook her head. He could be
so
difficult. “For starters.”

“Please don’t tell me there’s more.”

“Of course there is. I want to give the kids a comfortable environment to hang out in.”

“I suppose you’re going to have Starbucks coffee, too.”

“I hadn’t considered food at this point, and really, Max, food is
your
specialty, not mine.”

He shoved his fingers through his hair, and she did so love the way it just flopped right back down over his brow.

“So what else should I be expecting?” he asked, in a disgruntled tone that was becoming quite charming.

“Computers.”

“And?”

“Desks and chairs.”

“Who’s going to teach the kids how to operate the computers? You?”

“You know that’s an impossibility, Max. I’m not the least bit capable of handling anything electronic. Fortunately, Charles has volunteered his services. Dickie Stribling has, too. He’s promised to start as soon as he and Betsy get back from their honeymoon. In fact, Dickie’s the one donating the computers, printers, scanners, the whole works.”

“You’re not serious?”

She moved close, putting her fingertips on his throbbing temples, rubbing them softly. “I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life. I’ve spent the last week drumming up donations, putting together one plan after another. It might surprise you, Max, but I have an awful lot of friends who are quite interested in helping out here at the Hole. You might have known that if you’d ever bothered to ask the people of Palm Beach for help, but you didn’t. You know why, Max?”

“Why?”

“Because you’re just as much of a snob as I am. You don’t like rich people.”

His hands slid around her waist, tugging her against his chest. “I like you.”

“I like you, too. I’ve never liked anyone more, as a matter of fact. But you’re going to have to like more than just one snooty rich fashion plate if you want things to work out between us.”

He kissed the tip of her nose, his beard tickling her lips. “It’s going to be tough.” His voice was
deep, mesmerizing, something that was going to change in a matter of seconds.

“It’s going to be more than tough, Max. It might be pure hell.”

“Why?”

He kissed her, and she whispered her words against his delicious mouth. “Your first project will be to start liking Chip.”

He jerked away. “That’s impossible!”

She planted her fists firmly on her hips. “I told you before that Chip has a few good qualities. In fact, he excelled at math in school and I’ve never known anyone who could figure out so quickly how much they won or lost at the racetrack.
So,
he’s volunteered to tutor kids in math once a week. I know it’s not much, but Chip has made a commitment, which is a big step for him.”

“I thought Chip had a gambling problem.”

“He does, but I’ve given him explicit instructions that he can’t teach the kids any of his betting tricks.”

Max chuckled. “I imagine some of them will teach him.”

“That might be a good thing. Chip loses far too much money.”

Max dragged her against him again. Obviously he wasn’t as angry as he pretended. “What about you, Lauren? What are you going to do at the Hole?”

“Teach.”

“What? If I remember correctly, you flunked physics.”

“But I’m very good in geography and history—at least Ryan thinks so. In fact, I’ve traveled all around the world and I can tell anybody anything they want or need to know about places like Cannes and Monte Carlo, not to mention Paris and Milan. But I strongly feel that there’s a need to teach children much more than the basics.”

“You mean things like pouring tea and how to set a proper table?”

She aimed a nasty glare at him. “I mean things like how to operate a cash register so they can get a job. Not the greatest job in the world, maybe, but not everybody gets to start at the top. So, I’ve ordered a cash register and hired an instructor.”

“You accomplished all of this in a week?”

“It’s not all that much when you’re organized. I even found time to talk my sister-in-law into going into partnership with me on a clothing store.”

Max closed his eyes and shook his head. When his eyes opened again, she could see a speck of mirth.

“Okay, I’m waiting. What’s the story behind the clothing store.”

“It’s a thrift store called How Tacky and even though I wouldn’t be caught dead shopping there, Sam has always loved the place. I got to thinking the other night that some of the girls who come here could use a job, so I plan to give them one once they learn a few rudimentary things about dress. And before you get all high and mighty and say I don’t know a thing about how the girls here should dress, I’ve asked some of the
current staff from How Tacky to come around and give classes, which includes free clothes, even if the girls choose not to work for us.”