Indiscretion: Volume Four (11 page)

Max

The following afternoon, Chloe was still holding out on me. I was a little rundown, but I was sure that being deep inside of her would make me feel a whole hell of a lot better. She didn’t seem to share that opinion. While I appreciated her concern, I was really ready for some skin-on-skin action. This abstaining stuff was bullshit.

We were cuddling—I was growing to hate that word—on the couch, watching yet another movie. I was going stir crazy. As much as I was happy to be spending time with Chloe, I wasn’t used to sitting around and doing nothing. Everything on the job site had come to a complete stop until the investigation was complete. The PR division of Richfield Enterprises was handling all the fallout from what had happened, and I’d been given strict instructions from my father not to comment should anyone be able to locate me.

Chloe had just gotten up off the couch to get a drink when there was a loud banging on the door. And not the friendly, it’s-a-neighbor-asking-to-borrow-some-sugar kind of knock. She whipped around and looked at me, eyes wide.

I pushed myself off the couch. “You stay here. I’ll get it.”

“Maybe we should just ignore it. They don’t sound happy,” she said from behind me as I made my way to the front of the house.

“You stay in the living room,” I insisted. “I’ll see what this is all about.”

“No!” She grabbed my shoulder. “You can’t open the door. Someone might see you.”

I pinned her with a stare. “I don’t really give a shit about that right now. There’s no chance I’m letting you open that door when someone is knocking like that.” As if to punctuate my point, the banging started up again. Chloe gave me a small, reluctant nod, and I reached the door without any light-headedness, which I took as a good sign that I was continuing to make progress.

The pounding on the door stopped then started up again, and I looked through the peephole. “Shit,” I mumbled under my breath.

I swung open the door and Darius, the hulking bodyguard I had hired to keep an eye on Chloe, stood on her front porch, holding some kid by the collar. The lanky kid looked about ready to shit himself as he looked up at Darius with fear.

Darius gave me a nod in acknowledgement. “Found this kid skulking around the house. Up to no good.”

I took a better look at the kid. He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place him.

“Who is it?” I heard Chloe making her way up the hall behind me.

I turned and gave her a harsh look. “I thought I told you to stay in the living room.”

She rolled her eyes and came to stand beside me. “Like you actually thought I’d listen.”

I exhaled roughly. I guess this was coming to a head now. There was no good way to explain away this scene.

She came to stand beside me. “Kurt? What’re you doing here? And who is this?” She motioned to Darius.

“Okay, don’t be mad,” I started, raising my hands in a placating gesture. Chloe crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips, already on the verge of angry. Why did women always do that? You tell them not to be mad, and they’re instantly pissed. I sighed. “After the incident with your tires, I hired Darius as a bodyguard. He’s been keeping an eye on you.”

Her mouth dropped open, and she was speechless for a moment. “Are you serious?” Nodding, I waited for the lashing I was sure to get. It never came. A slow smile crept across her face, and she bounced up and hugged me.

What the ever-loving fuck?

Not the reaction I was expecting.

She pulled away, still beaming. “You did that for me? That is so sweet.”

I cleared my throat. “I was worried about you.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” she asked, like if I’d been honest from the get-go it would’ve been no big deal.

I frowned. “I thought for sure you wouldn’t like the idea of someone following you around twenty-four-seven and wouldn’t go along with it.” With a sheepish smile, I added, “Easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission.” I shrugged.

She tilted her head and brought a finger to her lips. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I wouldn’t have gone along with it.”

“But you’re happy about it now?” I asked, confused.

“Yep.”

It was official—I’d never understand the inner workings of a woman’s mind.

She turned back to face the dynamic duo standing at the front door. “That doesn’t explain what you’re doing here Kurt.”

It suddenly dawned on me why this kid looked familiar. He was the one who worked the front desk of the hotel I was staying at.

Kurt opened his mouth to say something, but Darius shook him a bit and he immediately snapped it shut. “I found this guy roaming around outside your house. Looking in your car windows, coming up to the house. When he was peeking in the back window, I nabbed him.”

Chloe’s hand went up to her chest, giving Kurt a questioning look. “What are you, like a peeping Tom or something?”

Kurt stood motionless, not saying a word.

“Answer the lady, kid,” Darius demanded in a tone that made it clear the teenager better do what he was told.

“I—I—don’t even really know,” he stuttered, looking like he was about to piss his pants. “I was hoping to find something I could do to freak you out again.”

I froze, every muscle in my body tensing with fury. So this was the little shit that had been causing Chloe so much grief? I wrung a hand through my hair and looked over at her. Hurt registered on all her features.

“Why the hell would you want to do that?” I asked between clenched teeth.

“It sounds stupid if you make me say it out loud,” he said with a sullen expression.

“Start talking,” I gritted out.

“I thought if more freaky stuff happened again that Jess might come back and stay this time.”

“What does my sister have to do with this?” Chloe narrowed her eyes at him.

Kurt’s face went red and he kicked at the worn porch below his feet before answering. “I like her,” he said simply and shrugged a t-shirt clad shoulder.

Rage filled every cell in my body. “You like her, so you thought you’d try to make her sister’s life a living hell?” I yelled. I took a step toward him, but Chloe placed a hand on my arm, stopping me. Her touch grounded me, and I realized I couldn’t very well beat the crap out of the little ass wipe.

“I didn’t want to scare her too bad,” he swore. “I thought that if weird stuff was going on, you’d tell Jess and, at the very least, she’d come home to visit more often. Maybe even decide to stay.”

“You can’t try to manipulate people’s lives like that,” Chloe said, her voice loud and heated.

I wasn’t taking any chances. I wanted to make sure this kid was the one behind all of it. “So you were the one behind the newspaper, the tires…the note at the gala?” I pressed my lips together, remembering vividly the fallout from Chloe receiving that note at the gala.

He nodded sheepishly.

“How did you even know Max and I were seeing each other?” she asked, surprised and irritated.

He glanced between the two us with an expression that implied we were both morons. “I work at the hotel. I saw you together a few times. It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. The property is completely monitored by surveillance cameras. Sometimes when the guy that monitors them takes his dinner break, I cover for him. It’s not hard to see what hotel guests are up to.” He laughed humorlessly like it was all so obvious.

Clearly my dick had been doing all the thinking for me because security cameras hadn’t even come to mind. My eyes flickered to Chloe, remembering the hotel stairwell. She must’ve been thinking the same thing, because she blushed and quickly moved her gaze from mine.

I narrowed my eyes at the kid again. “The note at the gala—why would you have passed that to Chloe?” He would’ve had no idea who Sarah was or what Chloe would end up witnessing.

He shrugged. “I saw you leaving the ballroom with that hot chick and head to the back. I figured no girl wants to see her man with another woman so I sent Chloe the note.”

I clenched my teeth to the point that my jaw hurt.

“What do you want me to do with him, boss?” Darius asked.

Kurt’s eyes grew wide with fear.
That’s right, you little shit—you should be afraid.

I sighed. “That’s up to Chloe.” I turned and faced her. “What do you want to do? Press charges?” I raised an eyebrow.

She thought long and hard about it before answering. “No. I’m not going to press charges.”

“Chloe—” I was about to argue, when she placed her hands on both my biceps.

“Max, he’s just a teenager. He made some stupid mistakes.” She inhaled deeply before continuing, looking me straight in the eye so that the meaning behind her words would be clear. “Kids make mistakes sometimes. He shouldn’t have to spend the rest of his life paying for it.”

I gulped, overpowered by her words and the emotions that hit me as I let them sink into me. She was right. So right. Not that her words were instantly healing, but it was time for me to seek help and take those beginning steps and start to move on. Forgetting everything around us, I lowered my forehead and rested it against hers, cupping her face in my hands and closing my eyes—letting the reality of what a phenomenal woman she was hit me.

After a minute, Darius cleared his throat.

“Well you heard the lady, Darius,” I grumbled, losing our emotional moment as I glanced back at Kurt. It irked me and went against every instinct I had, just to let this little shit off scott-free.

“Wait,” Chloe cut in. “I’m not going to press charges, but I am calling your parents and telling them what’s been going on…” She let the words hang there for a minute before she continued. “I’ll leave it in their hands to decide how to deal with you.”

“Aw, come on—” He started to argue, when Darius shook him by his collar again.

Darius’ voice was as menacing as his size. “I suggest you thank the lady for being so gracious. You could just as easily be sittin’ down at the cop shop.”

Kurt reluctantly glanced at the ground. “Thanks, Chloe,” he muttered, half-hearted.

Chloe took a step out onto the porch and placed a hand on Kurt’s forearm. “Consider the fact that I’m not calling the cops your one chance to learn that lesson without having it affect the rest of your life. I believe you’re a good kid, Kurt, but you can’t go around hurting other people to try and get what you want.”

He raised his head, his eyes red from unshed tears. “I wasn’t trying to scare you. I’m sorry. I missed Jess and I never got the chance to tell her how I felt in high school. I thought if she was around again I could work up the nerve to say something.”

“I believe you, but you scared me. Very much.” Chloe bit her bottom lip, and I knew she was trying to control her emotions.

My jaw clamped down, and I waved a hand. “Get him out of here, Darius.”

He nodded. “Yes, boss.”

Chloe stepped back into the house, biting on the end of her finger, deep in thought.

“You let him off easy,” I said, closing the door.

Her gaze snapped over to me. “I gave him a second chance, Max. He’s not a bad kid—he just made an error in judgement.”

“A pretty big fucking error,” I growled.

“I agree. But when I think back to all the stuff he did, none of it was overtly threatening,” she pointed out. “I mean, the thing with the tires…he didn’t slash them. When he came into the house, he didn’t disturb anything else. And the note he had passed on to me at the gala…” She swallowed hard at that one. “He passed on the note, but he had nothing at all to do with what I discovered when I went outside.”

That comment had me fisting my hands at my sides. I didn’t want to go there. “Still. You don’t fuck with people’s lives like that.”

She walked up to me, rubbing both of my upper arms. “I agree. And I’m sure his parents will deal with it and hopefully he’ll learn his lesson. And if he doesn’t? Then he’ll suffer from even worse consequences down the road. But the entire time I was standing there I couldn’t help thinking of Jess, and how, if the roles were reversed, how I would want the other person to deal with it. And then I thought of you.” She ran a hand through the hair just over my ear.

“Me?” I asked, surprised.

“Yes,” she said softly and with meaning. “What happened when you were younger. Children are children. They make mistakes. They shouldn’t be punished the rest of their lives for it. They need an adult to love them, support them, and let them know that no matter what mistakes they made they’re still loved. Calling the cops would affect Kurt for the rest of his life, and I just don’t think that’s what’s best in this situation.”

Damn.
This woman just undoes me. Fully and completely.

My chest swelled and my heart rate quickened. I moved closer, taking her face in my hands, and kissed her tenderly, inhaling her scent and falling further under the Chloe spell. When I finally pulled back, I rested my forehead against hers as I had a moment ago.

“You’re going to make an amazing mother someday, Chlo.”

She closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath, bringing her hand to my cheek. We basked in the intimate moment for a while before she pulled away.