Enchanting Page 2

  Max returned a slow smile. "Tomorrow morning will be fine."

  Chapter Two

  Alexis waved to Steph from a corner booth as she entered the restaurant. Alexis looked as beautiful and put together as always with her hair in curly disarray atop her head that somehow worked for her. Her smooth pale complexion was highlighted by her signature red lips, and her amber eyes were surrounded by long, dark lashes Steph would seriously give a right arm for.

  "Ah, you're a lifesaver," Steph said, reaching for the mug of coffee Alexis had the gracious foresight to order for her. The smooth dark liquid flowed over her tongue, and she sighed while swallowing. "You don't know how much I needed that."

  "You do look tired."

  Steph took another sip before placing the mug back on the table. "I'm still trying to acclimate to the graveyard shift. I'm giving my body two more weeks to get used to it before declaring mutiny."

  Alexis giggled. A cheerful sound that left Steph smiling. She loved her friend was so happy and had found the love of her life that made her so. Speaking of which, she looked around investigating the nearby tables. "Jack let you out of his sight long enough to have breakfast with me? I'm honored as well as shocked."

  Alexis laughed outright that time. "He's in a meeting. I swear, that man is always in a meeting."

  That was true, but then, running a large hotel along with other enterprises probably took a lot of meetings to stay organized. "Where's the munchkin? I was hoping to see her today."

  "She's with Emily. They're having an auntie-niece bonding day." Alexis issued an evil laugh. "She's in for a rude surprise. Amber Lynn can be quite a handful."

  Steph smirked, "Yeah, I still remember my Godmother-child bonding day. I think I'm still recovering."

  Alexis laughed. "That was over a month ago."

  Steph gave her an and your point is look before asking, "Is Emily still enjoying her new job?" Much to Alexis's excitement, her sister had decided to move back to Las Vegas after graduating from San Diego State.

  "She loves it. Even got promoted last week. She's now assistant to the head of marketing."

  Steph heard the pride in Alexis's voice and smiled. "That's great."

  Alexis set her menu aside, apparently deciding what she wanted, and Steph quickly snatched it up, figuring she should do the same before their server arrived. She scanned the contents, pondering over breakfast or lunch.

  "Well fancy meeting you here. Hello, gentlemen."

  Steph snapped her head up at Alexis's surprising remark, her eyes colliding with a pair of brandy ones. What were the friggin odds?

  "Hello, Sweetheart." Jack leaned over the booth, giving Alexis a kiss on her temple. "Sorry to intrude, but Max and I were starving, and when I mentioned you lovely ladies were in the hotel having breakfast, we decided to unabashedly intrude."

  Alexis had scooted in the booth, making room for Jack to sit down. Steph looked up at Max—as Jack had referred to her savior from yesterday—still standing by the table and did some scooting of her own, for politeness sake and all that jazz. No, seriously, that's exactly why she did it. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact he looked mouthwatering in yet another expensive suit, nor the fact his eyes had raked over her, darkening as if he'd wanted to devour her.

  But just to be clear, she wasn't so mind fogged she forgot to scoot her coffee along with her. Nope, it would take more than just a pretty face and sexy bod to forget her precious life's blood.

  Everyone got settled. Jack looked completely relaxed leaning back in the booth with his arm draped along its back behind his wife, his fingers playing absentmindedly with a few of her stray curls. After giving Jack a light kiss, Alexis turned to Steph and Max. "I guess I should introduce you two, seeing how cozy you look."

  Without moving her head, Steph slyly glanced at Max. She'd known he was close, could feel his body heat radiating and smell his crisp, clean scent.

  "Max, this is my best friend, Stephanie Willis. Steph, this is Max Vicente, an associate of Jack's."

  Again, politeness won out. Steph held out her hand, mumbling, "Pleasure to meet you."

  Like yesterday, he took hold of her hand, raising it to his lips, and lightly kissing her knuckles. And like yesterday, her stomach dipped from the sensation of his soft, firm lips. He leaned in close and whispered softly so only she could hear, "Seems I got your name after all, but I think I'll stick with princesa. My beautiful princess."

  She replied equally soft. "But that would make you a prince, and the consensus is still out on that."

  Unfazed, he gave her a dashing smile.

  "What are you two whispering about over there?"

  Steph took back her hand, putting as much distance between them as space would allow. Sadly, at least for her good sense, it was only a few inches.

  Max didn't mention they'd met previously to the two avidly watching individuals sitting across from them, so she didn't volunteer the information either, knowing her friend would want all the details, turning her and Max's non-event into a thing.

  The waitress came before more could be said, and Max looked to Steph and Alexis. "Ladies first."

  Steph wasn't sure how to stop the flutters Max's nearness created in her stomach, but she did know they made her lose her appetite. Tapping the rim of her mug, she told the server, "I'll just have coffee."

  "You're not hungry?" Alexis asked in surprise.

  "I'm too tired to be hungry," Steph lied.

  After a nod of understanding, Alexis ordered her usual eggs Benedict with extra Hollandaise sauce on the side, and Jack ordered a Denver omelet.

  "And you, Sir?" the server asked, turning her attention to Max.

  "I'll have three eggs, scrambled, bacon, toast, hash browns, and a tall stack of pancakes," he said, closing his menu with a snap and handing it to the waitress.

  Holy cow. He hadn't been kidding when he'd said he was hungry. Steph secretly eyed his gut, looking for any telltale bulge. Even sitting it was perfectly flat. Humph.

  Max leaned into her. "Did you say something?"

  Did she mumble aloud? She shook her head, picking up her coffee and taking a sip, trying to ignore the lurking sexy giant at her side.

  "You going to see your dad on Christmas, Steph?" Alexis asked, taking a sip of her own coffee.

  Steph felt a pang in her chest. When she'd talked with her dad last week, he'd informed her he was leaving on a cruise and wouldn't be back until after the New Year. While she was happy he was finally getting out and socializing after the passing of her mom a few years ago, she was sad, this being the first Christmas they would spend apart.

  She cleared the emotion from her throat. "Not this year."

  Seeming to surprise Alexis again, if the wide eyes and open mouth were any indication, Steph gave her a bug-eyed look silently pleading with her to drop the subject in front of mixed company.

  "Oh," Alexis said, getting the hint and not saying more. But Steph did get the I want the full story later look before she took another sip from her mug.

  "So what are you doing for Christmas?"

  Jeez, she loved her friend and all, but sometimes she felt like whacking some sense into her. Why would she ask her such personal questions with Max sitting right next to her?

  Giving her a squint-eyed glare that promised retribution, she said, "I'm working."

  Obviously not understanding the death glare Steph directed at her, she continued, "On Christmas?"

  Steph sighed, hoping if she told her everything, she would drop the subject. "Christmas Eve into Christmas morning, so I'll be sleeping most of Christmas day. Janet was scheduled, but I offer
ed to take her shift so she could watch her little boy open presents in the morning."

  Alexis gave her a warm smile. "That was nice."

  Not wanting to make it a big deal, Steph shrugged. "I had nothing else to do." Clearing her throat, she spoke up, wanting to change the direction of the conversation away from her. "Are your parents going to be in town, Jack?"

  Crisis averted, they chatted about mundane things until the food arrived, Max's breakfast filling three plates. Fascinated, she watched him cut his stack of pancakes, removing half from the plate and squishing them onto the plate with his bacon and eggs. What the heck was he doing? He continued transferring food until he had two equally full plates then slid one of the plates in front of her.

  She looked down at the food, speechless.

  "Eat."

  She looked at Max who raised his brows while taking a large bite of toast. She looked back at her plate then back at Max. Had he ordered all that food just to share it with her? "But I'm not hungry."

  Swallowing his bite of toast, he leaned into her. "Eat or I'll make you."

  What!

  "You can't make me eat."

  This time he did the one brow thing. God, that was hot. "Want to bet?"

  From the look in his eye, she knew he'd do something either drastic or embarrassing to get his way. Reluctantly, she picked up her fork, speared a bite of egg, and put it in her mouth. "There, happy?" she asked after she swallowed.

  He hadn't taken his eyes off her. "I will be when you clean your plate."

  Her eyes grew big. That was a lot of food. "I can't eat all this."

  This time she got a smirk. "Want to bet?"

  Steph heard a giggle. She pried her eyes off Max. Both Alexis and Jack were smiling. She'd forgotten they had an audience. Shooting her best friend another evil glare, she said to the table at large. "I need maple syrup."

  Steph tipped her head back under the pounding spray of the shower, letting the hot water seep into her scalp. Heaven, unlike breakfast, which had been the complete opposite. By the time she'd arrived home, she'd worked herself into quite a tizzy. Why was she so irritated? Um...let's see.

  Maybe it was the fact Max made her eat until she threatened she'd throw up in his lap if he made her take another bite. Of course, the foolish man had just laughed, eyed her plate, then grunted, seemingly satisfied she'd eaten enough. She could've told him that. The waistband of her jeans gouging into her stomach could've told him that.

  Or it could've been the fact, on their way out of the restaurant, Max ordered a whole pumpkin pie to-go, forcing it into her arms and commanding she eat every last bite. It was actually sweet he'd remembered she had casually mentioned her dad's pumpkin pie would be one of the things she'd miss most about not seeing him, but she was ignoring that bit.

  Or maybe it was because, he'd gallantly walked her to her car, making sure it started, then annoyingly spent the next five minutes trying to convince her to give him her phone number. After she'd still refused to give it to him, he casually shrugged, saying, "I'll get it some other way." And when she'd yelled at his retreating back, "How?" The arrogant man yelled back over his shoulder, "I have my ways."

  But it was most likely the fact, although Max showed her his interest, and she was uncharacteristically interested right back, she was too chicken to give him a chance. And don't ask her how she knew—maybe it was the possessive look in his eye when he watched her—but she had a feeling he wouldn't be happy if she offered a one-time thing. Hell, the sensations he invoked in her, she wouldn't be happy with that either.

  So in other words, she was irritated with herself.

  She turned up the heat, the hot water relaxing her sore muscles. Maybe she did just need to get laid. Find someone she found just attractive enough, but not enough to have her thinking of white picket fences and happily ever afters. She had been on a exceptionally long dry spell. Longer than her usual once in a while, random hook-ups, but watching Jack and Alexis's relationship unfold had left her with a hollow, unsatisfied feeling the last time she participated in a dance between the sheets. So between that and the fact she was too tired all the time lately, she didn't have the desire nor the energy to seek solace in the arms of the male species. Lately, her comfy PJs and couch sounded a lot better than a ritzy dress and nightclub. And how depressing was that?

  She stood naked in front of the bathroom mirror, brushing out her hair. On the cusp of thirty, she still looked good, but she couldn't help feel her biological clock ticking away. Back when she was younger and naive, thinking her whole life was before her, she'd wanted the husband, 2.5 five kids, and white picket fence. Now, she wasn't so sure. She'd thought Scott had been the one—her love everlasting. But after what he'd done to her, the lying and the cheating, she wasn't sure she had it in her to put her faith and trust in someone again. The worst part, she'd been clueless for so long. How could she have not known he didn't love her? If her perceptions were that off, if she ever let anyone else close, how would she tell in the future?

  All questions better left for another day. A day when her brain wasn't foggy from lack of sleep.

  After throwing on a large T-shirt, she padded barefoot into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. As she opened the refrigerator door, right on the center shelf, staring her in the eye was that fucking pumpkin pie. And of course, it made her thoughts drift back to Max, again.

  What about him dug under her skin? What made him so different from any of the other men that have tried and failed to snag her interest? And why, whenever he was in her presence, did he seem to draw her to him as if he were secreting a "Stephanie Pheromone" she was irresistible to? Again, more questions her fuzzy brain didn't have the answers to.

  Not that she had to worry much about seeing him again. She'd learned over breakfast Max owned an advertising company that had campaigns all over the world and was the creator of the newest Alluring ads she'd seen in print and on TV that she'd loved so much. Which explained his appearance at the hotel and why he was with Jack. Their first encounter had been a chance meeting, their second a fluke. They didn't normally run in the same circles so unless he started gambling in her casino, the likelihood of another random meeting was pretty low.

  Unable to resist the temptation, before she closed the refrigerator, she sneaked a finger-full of pumpkin pie. Then, her bed calling her name, she made her way to her room still thinking of Max as she sucked the sweet whipped cream and spicy pumpkin off her finger.

  Chapter Three

  Early Monday evening, as promised, Steph situated herself into the corner of her couch and cued up her favorite movie on the TV. Prepared for her two hours of entertainment, she had a full glass of wine within reach on the coffee table, and a pizza box containing a large pepperoni on the cushion beside her.

  Before she could hit play on the remote, her phone dinged with an incoming text. She thought about ignoring it but knew she wouldn't enjoy her movie without sating her curiosity and making sure it wasn't some kind of emergency.

  Reaching to the side table, she picked up her phone.

  Unknown Number: Knock knock

  Thinking someone misdialed, she replied,

  Stephanie: You have the wrong number.

  Unknown Number: Knock knock

  What the heck?

  Stephanie: Who is this?

  Unknown Number: Just answer the question, Princesa.

  Max! She stared down at her phone in surprise.

  Stephanie: How did you get my number?

  Unknown Number: Knock knock

  With a sigh, she realized he wouldn't answer any of her questions until she played his game.

  Stephanie: Who's there?

&nb
sp; Unknown Number: Adore

  Stephanie: Adore who?

  Unknown Number: Adore is between us. Open it.

  As soon she read the line, a knock sounded on her door. She stood quickly, dislodging the blanket from her lap and nearly spilling the pizza box.

  What was Max doing here? How did he even know where here was? Tossing the remote on the couch, she skirted the coffee table and took the ten or so steps to the front door.

  He knocked again just as her fingers brushed against the cool metal of the deadbolt. She hesitated a few beats before unlocking it, belatedly realizing she only wore an oversized T-shirt that barely covered her black lace panties.

  "Open the door, Princesa."

  Hand on the doorknob, she slowly opened it a crack. The sight before her made her temporarily forget her state of undress. Max in a suit was scrumptious, but Max in a pair of worn blue jeans, fitted T-shirt, and black leather jacket was pure sin.

  She wasn't sure how long she stared.

  Minutes?

  Hours?

  Long enough to have him asking, "Are you going to let me in?"

  "I need to get dressed."

  He tried to peer through the crack, but she knew he couldn't see her well. Her living room was dark, having turned all the lights off to watch her movie, so the only light came from the parking lot a floor below and the weak glow of the moon.

  "Are you naked?" His face was in shadows, but she heard a note of mischievousness in his voice and saw a flash of white teeth indicating a smile.

  "Well, no, not totally, but I do need to put on some pants."

  "Go. I'll give you a ten-second head start before I come in."

  "What if it takes me longer than ten seconds to reach my bedroom?"

  "Then I'll be getting a glimpse of a very fine ass."

  Steph shut the door with a click, buying herself a few precious seconds then darted for her room. Her apartment was small, and she actually didn't need the full time allotted, but damn if she was taking any chances.