Rescued by the Bad Boy (Bad Boys on Holiday Book 4) (5 page)

“
A
nd it’s like
, how many times do I have to tell her? I’m not with him anymore. God.” Haley finished off her second drink at the bar—third for the evening—and slumped on the stool. She felt like an idiot, crying on Max’s shoulder like this, but between the Brian drama and disappointing her mother, plus all the alcohol, she was feeling a little weepy. Not to mention wobbly. Weebly?

God, you’re buzzed. You’re making a fool of yourself, and you’re doing it alone. He’s not even drinking.

“Sorry,” she said. “Somebody cut me off before I do something
really
stupid.”

Max flagged down the bartender and asked for some water, which Haley gulped down gratefully. She had a date tonight—in Max’s bed—and she wasn’t about to screw that up by passing out at seven o’clock.

“Sorry,” she said again. “I just… See, this is why I don’t live in the same town as my mother. I love the woman, but get us in the same room, and I go insane. I don’t know why she can’t stop fixating on Brian. My sisters say Mom just wants me to be happy.”

“You don’t think so?”

“No, it’s just… I
wasn’t
happy. Not with Brian. Why can’t she get that through her big head? I think all that hairspray damaged her brain.”

Max leaned an elbow against the bar, his other hand resting warmly on her bare knee. His touch—the very touch that had sent her to the stratosphere during dinner—was comforting now. Nothing more, nothing less.

It made her heart ache for something she hadn’t even known she’d been missing.

She shifted away from him, tucking her legs under the bar.

“On the outside,” Max said, “your ex looks like the type that would make a woman happy. The secure type. Overconfident. Snappy dresser.”

Haley laughed. Brian never went anywhere without a tie on—not even to the beach.

“He’s got your whole family eating out of his hand,” Max said. “And your sister is about to marry his best friend. So, the chips are kinda stacked.”

“I’m never going to be free of him.” Haley drew a heart in the condensation on her water glass, then erased it with her thumb. “Everyone thinks he’s this great guy, right? Like, a nice smile and a corporate job and a freaking stock portfolio… that’s what matters, right? That’s what’s important? That didn’t keep my parents together. Mom conveniently forgets about that.”

“For a lot of people, that shit
is
important.”

“Being with him was just…” Haley sighed. She didn’t know how to explain it. Especially not to her fake boyfriend, a guy who was only in this for one thing—the thing Haley herself wanted, too. But when she met his eyes, she found no judgment. Only that patient, compassionate, deep-blue gaze that made her want to confess every last secret, every fragile hope.

A small voice inside her warned her to shut up, to stop being so vulnerable and personal with a guy she’d probably never see again after this weekend. But before she could stop herself, the words were out.

“He made me feel small,” she said. “Everything he did was this big huge deal—his MBA, his promotions—but my accomplishments were just little hobbies in his eyes. Not serious or awesome or really challenging achievements that I worked my ass off to get. Just… cute. Everything I did was fucking
cute
. Sometimes a girl doesn’t want to be cute, Max. She wants to be fierce.” She grabbed Max’s thigh, suddenly desperate for an answer. “Do you think I’m cute?”

“No.” Max tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I think you’re fucking gorgeous. I think you’re fierce as
fuck
. And I think anyone who can’t see that is obviously a world class moron whose ass needs to be kicked.”

“By you, I suppose?”

Max cracked his knuckles and smirked. “Say the word, baby.”

“And people say romance is dead.”

“Pffft. People are obviously stupid.” Max signaled for the bartender again. To Haley, he said, “I need to ask you something. Your answer will determine the fate of our entire fake relationship.”

“No pressure,” she said, but the humor had left his eyes, replaced with something intense and serious.

Holy hell, what is he doing…

“I know we’ve only been fake-seeing each other for about a day,” he said earnestly, “but in that time, I’ve really come to respect and like you, and I think you feel the same. I know this is a big commitment. But I think we’re ready for it.”

Max took her hand in both of his, looking deep into her eyes.

Panic rose in her throat, nearly choking her. “Um… what are you doing?”

Max smiled. “Haley Marie Scott, will you—”

“Stop!” Haley jumped off her stool so fast, she lost her footing and toppled forward, landing right in his arms.

With a laugh that had the whole bar turning to investigate, he said, “Shit, girl. I just wanted to know if you’d split an order of mozzarella sticks with me.”

“
T
hat was a mean trick
,” Haley said, righting herself on the stool again. It took a good five minutes to catch her breath.

“Hey, it’s not my fault. How was I supposed to know you’d have a visceral reaction to bar food?”

“You nearly gave me a heart attack. I thought you were serious.”

“You know what they say about assumptions.”

“Do you know what they say about guys who play practical jokes on women they want to sleep with?”

Max gave her a look that melted her from the inside out. “Ready to surrender yet?”

All night they’d been teasing each other, flirting, stealing touches and kisses whenever they could. Haley tried to tell herself it was just a game, just a little fun, a little sexiness. Okay, a
lot
of sexiness—and every touch was like a promise of what awaited them the moment they could sneak off alone—but it was quickly becoming so much more than that.

So quickly it was giving her whiplash.

Max had a deeply sensual, intense, animal side—she was only just beginning to see it. But he was also incredibly sweet. Despite the chilly reception her family had given him, he’d made an effort to talk to all of her cousins, to patiently answer her sisters’ questions about his work… he even managed to deal with Brian. Gracefully, for the most part.

But beyond all that, he was
so
attentive to her. More than their flirtations, their games, the jokes, his incredible touch, Max
listened
to her. He let her talk, didn’t try to talk over her or speak for her. Didn’t assume he knew what she was going to say before she said it.

Haley looked around at her relatives. Some of them were still hanging out at the tables, picking on dessert. Others had made their way to the dance floor, including Anna and Jake, laughing as they twirled and bumped to the beat.

How was it possible that she had this huge family, people who’d been loving her and looking at her for her entire life, but until she’d found Max—a stranger she’d only met last night—she’d never really felt
seen
?

No, he hadn’t proposed to her—of course not. But Haley was starting to suspect that if she changed her rules and let him in, gave him an opening, he’d walk right through it, turn her whole life upside down.

The idea made her dizzy. It scared the hell out of her, too.

The bartender set the mozzarella sticks and a ramekin of marinara in front of them, along with silverware rolled in cloth napkins. Despite the fact that they’d just finished dinner, they scarfed down the fried goodness in ten minutes flat. Haley was grateful to have something else in her stomach—she was already feeling less foggy, the effects of the alcohol fading with every bite.

Satisfied and mostly sober, she pushed away the empty plate and stretched in her chair, catching sight of her parents across the bar. God, they were so predictable. Twenty-six years divorced and still fighting like they’d never split, hissing at each other in angry whispers they thought no one else could hear.

She wondered, not for the first time, if there was any love left between them.

Haley decided the answer was no.

There were no fairy tale endings—she needed to remember that. She and Max were living in a bubble, a fantasy weekend where they could joke and flirt and make out to their hearts’ content, never getting bored or angry at each other.

Real life didn’t work that way. Real relationships didn’t work that way. Which was precisely why Haley had no room for one in her heart.

“You okay?” Max tugged on a lock of her hair, recapturing her attention.

“Um. Sure. Just thinking about how much I love mozzarella sticks.”

“There’s nothing sexier than a woman who loves fried cheese.”

If his intention was to distract her by making her laugh, it worked.

“You don’t have to butter me up.” She leaned in close, whispering in his ear, “I’m kind of a sure thing.”

Max only shrugged. “Doesn’t change the fact that you’re sexy as hell.”

“Yeah, let’s see if you still feel that way after you see me in the bridesmaid dress. Spoiler alert: My sister’s favorite color is purple.”

Max shrugged. “Purple’s alright.”

“Oh, no. I’m not talking about lilac, or lavender, or nice understated eggplant. I’m talking about freaking Barney, with a big ol’ poof the size of Texas. I look like a hideous beast in that dress. I won’t blame you if you leave me at the altar.”

“Never happen,” Max said, his eyes sparkling in a way that made her insides fizzy. The music, which up to that point had been all dance and pop, switched to a slow song, and he nodded toward the dance floor. “Dance?”

“Pass. I only dance with real boyfriends,” she teased. “Otherwise you’ll just fall in love with my sweet moves, and then you’ll propose again, and we’ll get engaged and steal my sister’s spotlight, and it’ll turn into this whole thing…” She laughed it off, but the truth was, she was starting to like him, and that was no good. She needed to focus on the physical, not the emotional. Not the stuff that ended in pain, with screaming matches and fights over who got the ugly couch that neither of them liked in the first place.

No matter how good things started out, they always ended the same way. Haley needed no more proof than her own family for that. Her sister Jenna was separated after less than two years of marriage. This wedding would be Anna’s second. Most of her cousins had grown up just as she had, torn between two different homes, always used as a bargaining chip in battles that only the lawyers won.

Hell, moving in with Brian, she’d almost sentenced herself to the same fate as her mother, her sisters, most of her aunts and uncles…

No. Haley knew better now. She’d never put herself in a position where she needed a lawyer to mediate between her and a guy she’d let kiss her most intimate places. She just wanted the kissing part. The part that led to the
good
kind of screaming…

“You’re unbelievable, Lee.” Her mother’s voice was shrill again, sending a bolt of dread to Haley’s stomach. “The least you could do is take an interest in your daughter’s new boyfriend.”

Haley rolled her eyes. Other than the brief confrontation over Brian, her mother had been content to ignore Max all night.

“What?” her dad said. “I met the guy. We talked about diving.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” her mom sniped. By now, the bartender was staring at them blatantly, but that didn’t stop her parents.

Haley sighed. Thirty years old, and she was still being used as a pawn in her parents’ endless war.

She hopped off the bar stool and fished a couple of twenties out of her purse to pay for their food and drinks, tossing it onto the bar before Max could stop her. He opened his mouth to protest, but she ignored him, grabbing his hand and tugging him toward the dance floor.

“I thought you didn’t dance with fake boyfriends?” Max said.

“I’m making an exception.”

“Just so you know, I’m not gonna propose again. That was a one-time deal, and you shot me down.” He leaned in close, his lips brushing her cheek as their bodies came together on the dance floor. “But I still think you’re sexy as hell.”

“And fierce?” she teased.

“Absolutely fierce. Total package. And don’t even get me
started
on the freckles. A-plus all the way around.”

Haley shivered. See, that was exactly the kind of talk that was reeling her in, getting her into trouble. She was about to call off the whole dancing thing when Max’s lips found their way to her ear, pressing a line of hot, hungry kisses down to her shoulder, killing the very last of her protests.

God, he felt good.

Her whole body reacted to his touch, and she closed her eyes, losing herself completely to the bump and sway of his body. Soon there was nothing but the raw heat of Max’s lips and the music floating around them, through them, guiding them into a rhythm all their own.

As far as Haley was concerned, there was no one else on the dance floor, no one else in the restaurant, no one else in the whole world.

They danced like they were underwater, weightless, no idea where one of them ended and the other began. Haley melted into him, their bodies in perfect sync, the low bass thumping behind the soulful melody. Max moved effortlessly, his strong arms wrapped tight around her body, guiding her with the lightest touch, his lips never far from her skin.

She was struck with one thought, flooding her core with molten desire.

If this is how he moves on the dance floor, I can only imagine how he moves in the bedroom…

Too soon, the song ended, sliding into something fast and twangy, and Haley opened her eyes. Max was staring at her with the same raw, unchecked lust she felt coursing through her own veins.

One dance, and the heat level between them had gone from simmer to boil.

Haley couldn’t wait another minute.

Wordlessly, she nodded toward the hallway at the back of the restaurant, her intentions obvious. It was all the invitation Max needed. He grabbed her hand, dragging her off the dance floor, leading her into the darkness.