Unacceptable Behavior (8 page)

He raised his head at the sudden sob that wracked her body.

Max’s eyes filled with tears and she pressed her hand against her mouth as if to stop the sobs. She shoved at Rafe roughly, as if horrified by what she’d just done. Rafe immediately let her up.

“Maxine,” he said, reaching out a hand.

* * *

She put a hand up to ward him off, then ran into the bathroom, slamming the door. Why had she done that? She knew better to think she could use Rafe for a quick lay without major repercussions. There was nothing easy or simple about the feelings he roused in her.

Max looked into the mirror and stiffened her chin. She would not cry. Running cold water into the sink, she splashed it across her face until she was back in control of herself.

Max opened the bathroom door to find Rafe standing there waiting; she straightened her back and did her best to look through him.

He reached a hand out and gently stroked her cheek. “Max…”

Max batted his hands away as he pulled her close to his chest. “Stop it! Don’t!” she screamed, fighting him as he wrapped his arms around her and began to stroke her back.

“It’s okay to cry, baby,” he said softly.

“Shut up!” Max yelled as she began beating on his chest. He held her fast and she suddenly collapsed against him with a broken sob. The tight rein she’d kept on herself and her tough façade was shattered by his gentleness. Great heaving sobs shook her body.

Rafe sank to the floor and pulled her into his lap, simply rocking and holding her while she sobbed out both her hurt and her unresolved feelings about his return. He continued stroking her back and murmuring soothing words while she quieted.

“Why’d you have to come back?” she asked almost fearfully against his neck.

Rafe froze for a minute and then resumed stroking her and said matter-of-factly, “I came back for you, Maxine, and I’m going to reclaim everything that belongs to me, baby girl. You’re just going to have to learn to forgive me.”

Another deep shuddering sob shook her frame. “I can’t. I won’t.”

“Yes, you will, baby girl. You don’t have a choice. You love me as much as I love you,” he said, shushing her when she would have protested.

Max let herself relax in to him for a moment; resting her head against him felt so right, but she knew better and she wouldn’t let him do this to her a second time. Firming her resolve, she stiffened her back, pushed out of his arms, and got to her feet.

“I want you to leave,” she said quietly but firmly.

“Maxine…” Rafe reached to catch hold of her again.

“No!” Max looked up and straight into his eyes. “I can’t talk about this anymore tonight. I need some space.”

She watched him struggle with his decision, but finally he nodded and she breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’ll go for now, Maxine, but this is far from over.”

Max had mixed feelings when the door closed behind him. Perversely there was a part of her that wished he’d argued to stay.

Shaking her head, she poured herself a healthy shot of vodka, ignoring the sharp pain in her stomach when it hit. Soon the blessed relief of fuzziness would fog her worry-torn mind and she’d be able to sleep.

Chapter Nine

Maxine studied the information on the screen while worrying her lower lip with her teeth. Could she really go through with this?

Eight hundred dollars was a lot of money and would just about completely deplete her savings account, but another man was just what she needed to make Rafe think they were done. Too bad she had to pay for him, but then again, an escort made parting again much less messy. There was no chance the guy would think she was harboring feelings and she didn’t have to put too much effort into being nice since she was paying.

She booked Javier for the night, having already decided that hiring him for the whole night was necessary to ensure the proper message was delivered. It had been tempting to just part with four hundred for three hours but at that hourly rate the full-night fee was a steal and really what she needed. It wasn’t like she had to actually have sex with the guy, unless of course she wanted to and then she would.

Maybe she should; a good lay by an expert would surely drive all thoughts of Rafe Jennings and his sexual prowess right out of her mind. She had a while to decide; Javier wouldn’t pick her up till seven. Hopefully he would live up to his write-up and the pictures on the Dallas Escorts site.

He was certainly gorgeous, tall with wonderfully broad shoulders and dark Latin good looks and his photos exuded a level of experience that should definitely give Rafe pause.

She’d given instructions to the service that Javier was to greet her like they had an ongoing relationship rather than meeting for the first time. Max just hoped he was able to be convincing.

* * *

Rafe pulled up in front of Maxine’s apartment building geared for battle. As far as he was concerned, their reconciliation was a done deal. The fact that she’d tried to hold herself back was irrelevant because she hadn’t been able to; she’d given herself into his keeping lock, stock, and barrel once again.

He stopped at the sight of a strange man standing at Maxine’s door, and his jaw tightened when she opened the door and was swept into the man’s arms for a penetrating kiss.

“I’ve missed you, Javier,” she said in a throaty voice that made his blood boil.

“And I you, my lovely Max.” The man’s deep voice held a rhythmic accent that he obviously used in his favor when seducing women. “I’ve made a reservation for us at 560; I thought you’d enjoy the night view of the skyline while we became reacquainted.”

Rafe frowned; 560 was the restaurant at the top of Reunion Tower that revolved in a complete circle over the course of an hour, giving its diners every possible view of the Dallas skyline. The name had been changed to 560 when Wolfgang Puck took it over; there had been a contest to rename the restaurant and 560 had won, since the restaurant stood 560 feet above the city. It was a place a man took a woman he wanted to impress.

“That sounds wonderful, Javie,” she said, smiling up at the guy from under her lashes.

Rafe glared; with her purple, blue, and turquoise hair waving about her shoulders, she looked all of sixteen instead of the twenty-eight years he knew her to be. What was this guy playing at? What was Maxine playing at? There was something familiar about the man, but he was too far away to get a good look at his face.

He took a deep breath, willing himself to calm down and see how the evening played out. Following them covertly would be child’s play for him and would give him a better understanding of exactly what he was dealing with; something about the whole situation didn’t quite ring true, once he pushed back the jealousy that came immediately roaring to the surface.

It was a waiting game right now and waiting out prey until they made a mistake was something Rafe excelled at; he’d bide his time and then spring at the perfect moment. Once he’d done so, it would take very little effort to make it clear to both Maxine and Javier who she belonged to and then he’d paddle her little ass for putting him to the trouble.

At this point he was unsure if he’d need to pound the mysterious Javier into the ground, but he definitely hoped it was on the books.

He frowned again as the couple came down the walk and Maxine rubbed a hand absently against her left side as if she was in pain. She’d done that a few times last night as well. Something else he would need to look into as she was obviously doing a piss-poor job of taking care of herself.

All in all, he had some work to do with Miss Maxine but she was worth it; he smiled as he remembered the sweet submission she’d given him before he’d left. He’d have that from her again and more. He’d have everything and he’d give her everything in return.

She just had to trust him again, but she would because Rafe wouldn’t accept anything less. They’d have it all and live happily ever after.

He shook himself from his musings and visions of her naked body draped over his lap for a long overdue lesson in behavior and hurried to his car. It would be best if he made it to the restaurant before them; then he could unobtrusively observe them from a good vantage point.

* * *

Max smiled at Javier. He was everything his write-up had claimed and more, but somehow everything about him left her cold.

All Rafe had to do was smile and or even slightly quirk a brow to start the pulse between her thighs throbbing double time and wetness to seep into the gusset of her panties. There was nothing Javier could do to elicit that sort of response from her. Over dinner as she and Javier chatted about inconsequential things, it was all Max could do to focus on the conversation at hand.

Her mind was filled with Rafe and how tender and understanding he’d been the night before and how horrid she’d been. Did he really deserve her scorn? He’d told her he was working for the government in the Middle East, though he couldn’t disclose exactly where and she knew whatever he’d been doing was very important.

Everything between them had just been so new and the thought of losing him to foreign policy was more than she could deal with; Max wasn’t sure she could handle a lifetime of not knowing where he was and being unsure if he’d come back to her whole or at all.

Rafe had called her three times during his long absence; the third call she hadn’t answered because at that point she’d convinced herself everything they’d shared had been a lie. Then he’d sent Tom to try to talk to her in his stead and she’d shut Tom down before anything real could be communicated.

Max had a feeling she might have made the biggest mistake of her life by sending Rafe away the night before; an error that had now been compounded by Javier. The truth was she loved Rafe and needed him more than she wanted to admit to him or anyone else. Needing someone that much when they weren’t available had caused her to make some rash choices. She’d been scared by how great her need for him was and had decided to cut him out of her life.

Then she’d started drinking to numb herself to the aching emptiness inside her; what if she was too late now? What if Rafe decided she wasn’t worth the trouble? She’d been so drunk the night before, her memory was a little muzzy on what’d he’d told her; she knew they’d had sex… a flush stole up her cheeks as she remembered the blatant way she’d used him for sex. Rafe hadn’t been happy with the situation, but he’d allowed it.

The fact that he had was telling in itself; before he’d left, Rafe would have simply paddled the daylights out of her, then taken her to bed and loved her so thoroughly she would have forgotten all her misgivings.

Max shook her head as she realized there was a fairly large part of her that wished he’d done exactly that… taken the choice and the control away from her. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about making the right decision.

What a coward she was!

“My lovely Maxine, you are miles away from here, I think,” Javier said softly in his cultured voice.

Max blinked and looked over into his understanding eyes. “I’m being terribly rude, please accept my apologies.”

“No need to apologize, dear lady. I only hope he’s worth all the thoughts flitting behind those lovely eyes,” Javier said smoothly.

“Who?” she asked, trying to dismiss the knowing look in her escort’s eyes.

Javier laughed. “The man who’s been glaring daggers at me from the bar, I assume.”

Max stiffened and looked over her shoulder and straight into Rafe’s smoldering gaze, and everything below her waist clenched in response—her bottom winced in trepidation but everything else tensing in remembered pleasure. He was angry.

“Maybe we should go?” Max asked Javier hesitantly. They’d been lingering over coffee, but the air was thick with tension and no way did she want a confrontation with Rafe at the top of Reunion Tower.

“But of course, my dear, I aim only to please,” he said with a grin, rising from the table and offering his hand. “Let’s go; the check has already been paid.”

Max sighed with relief as he led her quickly from the restaurant; they rode down in the glass elevator in complete silence, the view around them unseen.

Without a word Javier helped her into his low-slung Porsche and then drove quickly to her apartment.

“I give it about ten minutes before your man arrives to claim you,” Javier said jovially as he walked her up to her apartment.

“Don’t be silly…” Max began, only to be cut off by Rafe’s terse voice.

“Less than that and you have about two seconds to tell me exactly what you’re doing here.” He stood with his back to the wall, facing Javier menacingly.

“Rafe, you’ve no right to…”

Rafe grabbed her arm firmly and pulled her to his side after liberating the keys from her suddenly lifeless fingers and opening the door. “I would be very careful how you talk to me right now, Maxine. You go on in your apartment while I deal with your friend. I expect to find you bare-bottomed and standing in the corner when I get inside.”

“How dare you!” she gasped, embarrassed he’d spoken to her that way in front of Javier.

He simply delivered four sharp swats to her skirt-covered behind and pushed her gently into the door. “You’re about to find out I’ll dare a lot when it comes to you. Mind me now unless you want a spanking out here in the hall in front of this gentleman and the neighbors.”

Max promptly closed her mouth and hurried inside, pulling the door shut behind her with a satisfying bang.

* * *

Rafe studied the man in front of him curiously; the man didn’t seem to care that his romantic evening had been interrupted. Rafe had recognized Javier in the restaurant and would find out exactly what he was doing there now that Maxine was inside.

“I see now why the fair Maxine hired me, she was trying to get your attention,” the man said with a smile.

Rafe frowned. “Hired you?”