Bedding The Bad Boy (Dalton Brothers Novels) (26 page)

She finally asked, “Melina’s okay?” even though she knew she was. If something was wrong or if Melina had gone into labor, Rhys would have called or texted her.

He didn’t reply.

“What brings you here, Max?”

Her words seemed to snap him out of a trance. He strode toward her. Then to her utter shock he bent low, put his shoulder to her belly and straightened, carrying her away from her car. It took several seconds before she could speak. “What are you doing?”

“Bringing you some place you can’t run away from me. I’m a magician. I have an assortment of ties and handcuffs. Too bad I didn’t know when I left my place to see Elizabeth that you were going to run. I would’ve tied you to the bed.”

Having reached his car and unlocked the doors with his beeper, he threw open the passenger door and stooped down to gently deposit her inside. “Stay,” he said, pointing at her.

As if she was freakin’ Houdini.

Fortunately for him and unfortunately for her, she was in such shock over what he’d just done and said, he was able to get behind the wheel and start driving before she recovered.

“Are you crazy?”

“Crazy pissed, crazy frustrated, crazy to have ever gotten involved with you. Take your pick,” he said.

That made her mouth snap shut. She knew it was stupid, but his comment hurt.

He seemed to get that. Sighing, he said, “In case you’re wondering, I’m also still crazy about you. And I know you’re still crazy about me.”

His bright hazel eyes lasered into her, holding so much resolve that she had to turn away and glance out the window.

“You’re wrong, Max,” she said quietly.

“No,
you’re
wrong if you think I’m letting you walk away from me.”

Her head snapped around and she stared at his profile as he drove. “‘Lettin’ me’? We’re not in bed, Max, and last time I checked, you no longer have any control over me.”

“I can change that.”

She shivered and her core began to throb. Max had always been more than his fair share of bad boy, but she’d never seen him this dominant before. She wanted to keep fighting him on principle, but she could plainly see how hurt he was just beneath the surface of his anger.

She’d done that.

She didn’t want to hurt either one of them anymore.

Time to try logic and honesty. Max was reasonable and they hadn’t been together that long. She’d just explain why this wasn’t going to work for her, like she should’ve in the first place, and he’d be reasonable. He had so many women who wanted to be with him. He didn’t need her complicating his life.

“You’re right. I am crazy about you. But you can’t give me what I need. I want a family. I want stability. I want a nice, normal, peaceful life. As a visit from a certain reporter proved you come with drama, not peace.”

“You need some drama.”

“Not that much. Good Lord, Max, they crucified me in that article. The things they said… About the lawsuit... About those texts...”

“It was Jeremy. He took my phone during a performance one night. Read through it. He needed the money, and he knew Michaels worked for
The Scoop
. He called him. Thankfully, he knew better than to actually forward our texts to him.”

“Jeremy? Your landlord.”

“Ex-landlord.”

“Oh no, Max. You didn’t give up your lease for me, did you?”

“Are you serious?”

“No I—”

“Are you fucking serious?”

Stunned, she stopped talking.

He pulled the car into a strip mall parking lot and turned to face her. “Dixie, the guy stole my phone and used personal and private information to hurt you. Breaking our lease was the least of what Rhys and I did to him.”

Her eyes rounded and he shook his head. “We didn’t hurt him even though we really wanted to. Can’t take the risk of Rhys not being around for his babies. And I didn’t want to take the risk of not being around when you came to your senses.”

“I’ve retained my senses, Max. That picture I sent you…”

“I deleted it off my phone right after you sent it. Jeremy never saw it.”

“You deleted it but not the texts.”

“The photo… I didn’t want to risk someone seeing it and tracking it back to you. The texts I took a calculated risk on. Turned out to be the wrong decision and I’m sorry about that. But like I told you before: sometimes to live a full life, you’ve got to take risks and those risks are going to backfire on you. Doesn’t mean you stop taking risks.”

She wanted to believe that, but she couldn’t. “You and I won’t work. I wish that wasn’t the case, but if wishes were fishes we’d all cast our nets. You’re in the spotlight and I’m just a normal girl who craves family—”

“Bullshit. You’re not ‘normal’ no matter how much you want to be. And that’s a good thing, Grace. You want a family, but you also want love. You want excitement. You want kink. I can give you all of that if you’ll let me.”

“No.”

He stared at her. Took her hands and kissed them, just as he’d done in the past. “I know it sucked, having that reporter blindside you. I know you were humiliated. But it wasn’t me who did that to you, Grace. And right now you’re telling me I’m not worth the drama, even if said drama wasn’t my fault.”

She wanted so badly to reassure him but she couldn’t. He was right. She
wasn’t
normal—her propensity for kink and the risks she took proved that—but she wanted to be normal. To be normal, she needed a normal life. Not a life in Vegas dating a celebrity magician.

“The drama wasn’t your fault, Max. It’s just… it’s just who you are. It’s all you’ll evah be.”

He looked like she’d stabbed him. “Right.” He stared at their joined hands for several seconds before letting go. He started driving again, executing an abrupt U-turn and heading back in the direction of the university. “God, I never learn. First Nancy and now, eleven years later, you. I thought I’d learned my lesson.”

She didn’t know who Nancy was, but the way he said her name, she knew she didn’t want to be compared to her. “Max, I’m sorry,” she said when he pulled up next to her car. “We want different things…”

“Don’t play that card, Grace. You’re scared. You opened up to me, and then you had to deal with some ugly stuff, and you’re afraid there’s going to be more ugly stuff. But what you’re most afraid of is yourself. You’re afraid I’m going to hurt you.”

“And that’s so outside the realm of possibility? You’ve left plenty of women behind, Max.”

“I have. But when I walked away, I did it knowing I never promised them I wouldn’t. I never lied to any of those women. But you lied. You told me you respected me. That you wanted to build something special with me.”

“Honey, I didn’t lie. All that was true. It
is
true. But we’re too different.”

“Again, bullshit, Grace. Now get out. Go pursue your normal life. Just remember, when you’re bored out of your fucking mind and realize you could have had more, everything, just remember
you’re
the one who walked away. And now you’ve done it twice.”

She hesitated. Struggled with indecision. Then she got out of the car.

As soon as she shut the door, Max drove off.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Max’s Magic Rule #18:

Leave your heart on the stage every single time.

“You’re out of your mind,” Lucy said, even as she took out the clothes Grace put in a suitcase. As soon as Melina had the babies and Grace held them, she was headed for the Caribbean. She’d bought her ticket and everything. But first, she had to get Lucy to stop unpacking her stuff.

She took the clothes Lucy put back in her drawer and put them in her suitcase again. “Lucy, stop. I told you I don’t want to talk about it.”

“And you thought that was actually going to shut me up? You two are perfect for one another.” Lucy made a grab for Grace’s clothes again, but Grace shut the lid just in time. Quickly, she closed the zipper before turning back to her friend.

“How can you say that? His lifestyle got me crucified in the papers. Half of Vegas knows about the sexual misconduct charges—”

“That your employer found had no merit.”

“—and that I texted Max a picture of my private parts.”

Lucy pursed her lips. “
The Scoop
is tabloid trash. No one believes what it actually prints. And even if someone did, you’re a sexually active female, Grace. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not that shocking. What
is
shocking is you actually thinking I’m going to believe the article is the reason you’re running from Max.”

“It is the reason.”

“It’s a convenient excuse to take the easy road instead of taking a risk.”

Grace whirled on Lucy. “You’re one to talk.”

Lucy scowled. “What does that mean?”

“It means you’re datin’ Jericho and stickin’ by your ‘like-should-be-with-like’ theory—which by the way is further proof that Max and I would be a disaster together—because it’s the easy road. You’d rather do that than deal with the fact you were crazy about Jamie and heartbroken when he left you.”

Lucy jerked back. “First, Max and you
are
alike, whether you want to admit it or not,” she said quietly. “You’re both loving and intensely loyal and smart and ambitious, and you’ve both got enough kink in you to fill Caesar’s Palace. Second, Jeremy didn’t break up with me.” Lucy sat down on Grace’s bed, her expression crumpling. She wiped furiously at the tears pooling in her eyes. “But he made it so I had no choice but to break up with him.”

Shocked by both Lucy’s admission and the fact she was crying—she’d never seen Lucy cry before—Grace sat next to her and placed a hand on her arm. “Tell me.”

“He lied. About who he was. What he does.”

“He’s not really a professor?”

“He is, but there’s so much more to his life than that. He comes from wealth. He’s so stinking rich, it’s obscene.”

“Oh,” Grace said.

You’d never know it, but Lucy came from money, too. And she hated it. Her father and mother controlled her, made her feel bad for not fitting into the high society crowd, said hateful things about her choices in hairstyles, career, men and practically everything else. Lucy left that behind when she was sixteen and never looked back.

“But Jamie’s not like that. He’s workin’ as a college professor. He’s never treated you with disrespect.”

“He tried telling me what to wear. Thought I dressed too revealing.”

“That’s probably because he was jealous.”

“He didn’t like me going out to clubs. He wanted to stay home all the time and wanted me to do the same.”

“He didn’t want to share you.”

She shook her head. “No. It wasn’t jealousy. It was image he was worried about. Even if it was jealousy, I’m no man’s possession. And most important, he’s a liar. Everything I thought I knew about him wasn’t true.”

“Not everthin’. Certainly not the way he felt about you.”

“You’re wrong. I walked away and he never called me. Not once. That tells me how he felt about me.”

“That doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about you, Lucy. That he didn’t love you. He probably still loves you.”

“It means he wasn’t willing to fight for what we had, and to me, that’s the same thing. And I’m betting Max feels the same way.”

Grace pulled back and stood. “That’s not fair.” Even as she said the words, she remembered one of her mama’s favorite sayings:
Fare is what you pay to ride the bus.

“It wasn’t meant to be,” Lucy said. “It was meant to shake some sense into you before you lose the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”

“He’s drama, Lucy.”

“And you love drama, Grace. At least the kind Max can give you. He’ll try his best to protect you from the kind you don’t like. Obviously he won’t always succeed. But he’ll never stop trying. He’ll always be by your side, getting kicked in the teeth right along with you. Too bad he can’t say the same thing about you.”

She must have looked crushed because Lucy stood and folded her in her arms. “I’m sorry for being harsh, Grace, but let’s not forget: Jamie lied to me. Max has never lied to you. Not about who he is. Not about how he feels about you. What happened sucked, but it sucked for both of you. And you ran from him like it was all his fault.”

Now she was the one fighting back tears. “That’s not what I meant to communicate. I’m just scared, Lucy. He amps-up everthin’ inside me, the good and the bad.”

Lucy pulled back and shook her. “You don’t have a bad bone in your body.”

“I want to be normal,” she whispered. “Like Melina. I want to have love and a family. I want people to respect me.”

“First, Melina is far from normal. Second, you have all that already, Grace. And in case you don’t get it, me and Melina and Rhys and their babies, we’re your family. We always have been. Max will be, too, if you give him the chance.”

Staring into Lucy’s eyes, she finally accepted it. She’d had her family all along. Why hadn’t she seen it before? “I messed up, didn’t I?”

“You freaked. It’s understandable. The question is what are you going to do now?”

“The last time I saw Max he was as mad as a mule chewing on bumblebees. With good reason. I left Vegas, refused to answer his calls then turned him away like a lily livered coward. What can I do?”

“Take a lesson from the Daltons and prepare to give the performance of a lifetime. Roll up your sleeves and make the biggest play of your life and show Max how you feel. Anything coming to mind?”

She thought about her time with Max. Both the confidence and the insecurities he’d shown her. And how she wanted to give him everything he thought he couldn’t have—including her. “Actually, a couple of things do. But I’m goin’ to need a lot of help.”

***

“I told you I can take care of the new theater search, Rhys. You should be with Melina.”

“Melina’s fine, Max. Mom and Dad are with her.”

Only because they’d cut their trip short, but once Melina had gone to the hospital, none of them had really expected anything different. “But
you’re
not with her.”

“We’re going to check out the Paradise Theater when we have a chance. You’ve always loved it and now it’s vacant.”