Maxim (2 page)

Chapter 2

Two nights later

Alona smiled at the crowd as she posed with Zen the Sin and Rage the Beast. She stood framed between the two much larger men. Her head came up to just below their armpits.

“Alona, give us a sexy smile!” a photographer called out, shooting rapid photos of her.

“A little more cleavage!” a bolder and more brash reporter called out.

If I give them a little more cleavage, I will fall out of this stupid outfit
, Alona thought as she fought through her exhaustion. “How much longer, Nigel?” she asked the rep for the GCFA as she continued to smile. He stood a few feet away. He was monitoring the crowd and making sure security was in place for them.

“Just a few more minutes, answer a few questions, then we are done here.”

“Good, I have a special evening planned for Rachel,” Rage commented, baring his teeth at one of the more aggressive reporters.

Zen snorted. “Yeah, but all your
special evenings
include you and Rachel being naked and locked up in your suite.”

Rage growled at the other man. “There is nothing wrong with that plan.”

“No, I like it. In fact I think I will treat my mate to the same exact plans.” Zen winked down at Alona.

“Do not talk about my sister in that way,
Sin,
or I am going to punch you in the face.” Rage was not happy. A Beastial not happy was a bad thing.

“What? And mess up my pretty face?” Zen assumed a shocked expression.

“Oh God, I want out of here,” Alona moaned and then glared when Nigel laughed at her.

“Alona! Are you dating anyone special?” a young male reporter asked.

Alona shook her head, making her blond locks cascade around her shoulders. “No, I just haven’t found the right man yet.” She gave him a flirtatious wink.

“Alona, your parents are in show business as well, correct?” a woman reporter asked.

Alona hated these questions about her family. “Yes, my mother is a model and my father just finished a part in a movie.”

“How do they feel about you being a fighter?” The woman reporter continued pressing her.

Her parents hated her profession with every fiber of their being. That made that known to her every time they talked to her, which thankfully was not that often. Not that she could say that to the reporters, though. “They are very supportive of my career choices.”

Nigel moved to stand in front of the fighters. “Okay, thank you all for coming tonight. Rage, Zen, and Alona have another appointment they need to make, so they must be leaving.” Nigel shuffled the three fighters out the door of the charity fundraiser building. There was a shuttle waiting to take them back to the GCFA ship.

Alona sat beside Rage, with Zen and Nigel across from them. She sighed as she let her head fall back against the seat. It had been a long night, but the fundraiser was for a good charity.

“You were great out there, Alona,” Nigel complimented her.

“Hey, what about us?” Zen asked with a fake pout.

“You and Rage did . . . well, there are no words,” Nigel told him with a straight face.

She laughed without opening her eyes. “It wasn’t so bad, at least not on my end. It was fine until they started asking the personal questions. I hate those questions.”

“The ones about whether you’re dating anyone or about your parents?”

“Mostly my parents. They are
not
supportive of my career choices, just FYI. But they would be furious with me if I made them out as the bad guys.”

“And what about the dating?” Nigel leaned forward.

Alona opened her eyes and stared at Nigel. “Why are you so interested in that? Truthfully, I haven’t dated anyone in a while. I’ve been way to busy with work.”

“But you aren’t opposed to dating?” Nigel pressed.

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you asking me out Nigel?”

Nigel’s cheeks darkened with red splotches. It was adorable to see such a strong and refined man blush. Alona winked at him.

Rage and Zen both growled at Nigel. Alona rolled her eyes. These two, like some of the other male fighters, were like her brothers. They were all so protective of the women fighters. It was sweet, but also very annoying at times.

Nigel cleared his throat. “I would be honored to date you, Alona, but I actually need your help with someone else.”

“Who?” Alona was sitting straight up now.

“Maxim.”

“No way! Maxim the Cyborg wants to date Alona?” Zen asked, shocked.

“Um . . .” Alona didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t really spent any time with the droid halfsie. He came across as cold and distant.

“Let me clarify, this would not be real dating. The GCFA is concerned with Maxim’s public image. He has a good number of female fans, but his fan base really needs to increase.”

“So you think if I date him that would make him more appealing?” Alona couldn’t believe it.

“Other than Zara, you are the most popular female fighter we have at the GCFA and, I have to add, the sexiest. You dating Maxim would make women want to be with him and men want to be him.”

“You can’t be serious. I don’t have that kind of power.” Alona shook her head.

“Yes, you do,” Zen said and Rage chorused.

“It wouldn’t be real dating and we could put a limit on it, maybe ten dates.”

“Ten?” Alona wasn’t sure she was up to ten fake dates. Ugh.

“The GCFA is willing to pay for all the expenses and to compensate you in other ways,” Nigel offered.

Her interest was piqued. “How? What compensation?”

“Fewer personal appearances, longer time off between circuits, and a bump in your annual salary.”

“If I didn’t have a mate, I would date him for all that,” Zen joked.

It was appealing. But was it worth having to fake date some guy she barely knew? “I don’t know.”

“If something isn’t done to help Maxim, the GCFA will have to release him from his contract early. He needs this job and I don’t want to see that happen to him,” Nigel told her.

Damn, what a way to make a girl feel bad. “Fine. Ten dates with Maxim.”

Nigel smiled at her. “Thank you, Alona.”

She leaned forward and whispered, “Do I have to have sex with him?”

Nigel laughed. “Only if you want to. The GCFA isn’t paying for that.”

“Okay then, I’ll do it.”

Nigel sighed a relief. “Good.” Then he turned to Zen and Rage. “Now I need the two of you to help out with this as well.”

“I’m not dating Maxim.” Rage glared at Nigel.

Nigel choked down his laughter. “That’s not necessary. Alona has the dating thing covered. But I need Zen to help Maxim with setting up the dates. I know firsthand that you have experience in that department.”

Zen looked at him innocently. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. But I will offer my services.”

“Great. Rage, I also need you and Hammer to work with Maxim. He needs to learn to manage his strength differently so he can make the matches last longer. He ends them way too soon.”

“Why should I help out?” Rage folded his arms over his massive chest.

Alona glared at him. “You don’t want him to be fired, do you?”

Rage shrugged his shoulders. “What do I get out of helping?”

Zen kicked his foot. “Come on, man, this is major booty credit.”

“What the hell is that?” Rage kicked Zen back.

“Our women are going to give us lots more booty . . . sex, when they find out what we did to help Maxim.”

“Really?” Rage asked, his interest clear.

“Oh yeah. Why do you think I am always offering to watch Hammer’s and Taurus’s kids so they can go on date nights with their mates? A few hours donated to playing games with the kids and my mate is all over me.”

Rage growled. “Stop talking about sex with my sister!”

“Fine. But I’m serious. Rachel will be all over you.”

Rage took a moment to think about it. Then he nodded at Nigel. “Fine, I’ll help.”

“Does Maxim know about all this yet? He may not agree to it,” Alona asked.

“I’m going to tell him later this evening. His only two options are to go along with the fake dating or to be prepared for the GCFA to end his contract early.”

“Good luck with that. I wouldn’t want to be in the room when you have that conversation.” Zen folded his arms behind his head and he stretched his legs out, knocking them into Rage on purpose and making Rage growl at him. Zen smiled.

“I am sure he will handle it calmly and reasonably,” Nigel commented.

Alona looked away. She was with Zen on this one. Maxim was not going to be pleased. “When are you telling him?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“Good luck.” She knew he was going to need it.

Chapter 3

Sometime later

A chair smashed against the wall, falling to the floor in tiny little pieces. Nigel looked at the remains of the chair and was glad that he had moved out of the way quickly enough. He looked across the room at Maxim, who was now pacing. This was the most emotion he had ever seen out of the droid halfsie. Maxim was usually very reserved and indifferent. Nigel remained where he was until Maxim’s breathing was under control. He didn’t want to be the next thing Maxim decided to throw.

“Are you calmer now?” Nigel asked, walking over to the remaining chair. He sat down and waited.

Maxim glared at the other man. He didn’t know what had gone wrong. One moment he opened the door and let Nigel inside. Then five seconds after Nigel told him the GCFA needed him to improve his image by dating someone, and that they already picked out who his date would be, Maxim was overwhelmed by the feeling of being controlled again, just like when he had been in that lab. His feelings were strong enough to override his logic for a moment. He reflexively did an internal diagnostic check on his systems, but nothing showed as malfunctioning. This was not a droid problem, but a human one. What he was experiencing was . . . anger.

Slowly, he regained his usual logical control and immediately felt ashamed of his behavior. He hadn’t experienced anger since he had been in the lab and tried to kill the doctor. He had to be kept locked up or sedated at times. After the IDJ liberated him, he made sure to keep any strong emotions in check.

He felt calm again, so he went over to the couch and sat down. He kept his palms flat on his knees to put Nigel at ease. It wasn’t Nigel’s fault that Maxim’s image needed improving. “I apologize for my outburst, Nigel. It won’t happen again.”

“That is something you should save for the cage fights. Smashing things around in there would help your image greatly.”

“I can do that instead of this . . . dating,” Maxim offered.

“Sorry, Maxim, the dating thing is what the GCFA wants the most. If you can’t agree to this, they will find a way to terminate your contract early.”

“I don’t understand how dating some woman I don’t know will help my image.”

“If the fans see you dating a very appealing woman, it will in turn make you more appealing to them.”

“Who’s the woman that is going to be playing this part? Is it one of the sex workers?” The GCFA allowed qualified sex workers to work on board the ship during the circuit season so that those regulars on board would have a way to relieve their tension. He had never had the need to use that service.

“Alona has graciously agreed to play your girlfriend.”

Maxim’s heart started beating faster and he rubbed his suddenly sweaty palms on his pants legs. He did another quick internal diagnostic. There was nothing physically wrong with him. So why did the mention of the small Arian halfsie cause such a physical response in him?

An image of Alona, with her beautiful eyes and long silvery blond hair, came to his mind. She had a body that was indeed very appealing, and from what he observed, many men competed for her attention. He recalled the posters on the wall of his old room, from when he briefly stayed with his human family, all featuring beautiful, well-built, naked women. But Maxim had to admit to himself that Alona was more appealing than any of the women in those posters had been.

“Why did she agree to do this? What does she get out of it?” He knew that Alona would need compensation. None of the female fighters had shown much of an interest in him. They were curious, of course, and when he was training, he did draw their eyes. But none really spoke to him. Even as he thought that, another image of the beautiful Alona popped into his mind and he couldn’t seem to shake it.

“She’ll have fewer personal appearances, longer time off between circuits, and a bump in her annual salary.”

“Of course.” He felt disappointed for some reason. For a moment, he had actually hoped she was doing it because she wanted to. But that was ridiculous.

Nigel continued, “But none of that is what sealed the deal for her.”

“What did?”

“I told her if she didn’t help you, the GCFA would terminate your contract. She seemed to care about that.”

Maxim caught his breath, surprised. But he shouldn’t be. Alona appeared to be a tenderhearted woman. The softness she had for others was being manipulated. Maxim did not like that she was being pushed into this position.

“No matter what the outcome of this, even if my contract is terminated early, Alona still gets those things promised to her,” Maxim insisted. He found himself wanting to make sure she was taken care of.

Nigel blinked in surprise. “Of course. But let’s stay optimistic. This might work out well for all of us.”

Maxim wasn’t sure about that, but he was willing to give it a try. He liked his job and didn’t want to have to look for something else. “So what is the plan?”

“The GCFA will arrange ten dates. All expenses will be paid by the GCFA. There will be leaked information to paparazzi so that they can show up and film or take pictures.”

“Ten dates. When is the first one?”

“Tomorrow night. You have dinner reservations at the local ship restaurant on the lower level. You will pick Alona up at her suite at eight and escort her to the restaurant. I have arranged with the restaurant to not sit anyone too close to your table so that your conversation will not be overhead. Some form of privacy is better than nothing.”

“Tomorrow night is kind of quick.”

“We need to jump on this as soon as possible before your next fight. Our team estimates that our sales for it will go up drastically if the fans buy into the relationship between the two of you.”

“It just does not seem logical that a fake relationship could make that much of a difference.” Maxim found himself thinking this could all end in disaster.

“It will work. Trust me. Do you agree to the plan?”

Maxim thought about quitting for a moment. But that was not what he wanted. It had been hard for him to find a career that welcomed his differences as easily as the GCFA had. He needed to make good on his contract and improve his image. Ten dates with a beautiful woman was not a hardship for him. Alona was the one getting the bad end of the deal. She had to deal with a man that had no social abilities at all.

“I agree as long as you remember that Alona gets what was promised to her no matter how badly I might fuck this up.”

Nigel took a moment before he answered. “Understood, but give yourself a chance. This is a new learning experience for you. I’ll let Alona know to expect you at eight.” Nigel stood up and walked over to the door. He opened it, but then paused. He turned back to Maxim.

“One more thing. You need help with using your strength at appropriate times during your fights. The matches end too quickly; the GCFA board wants that to change. So Rage, Zen, and Hammer will be helping you with that.” Nigel then quickly left, closing the door behind him. He paused as he heard something crash against the door and fall to the floor. He suspected it was the other chair. At this rate, Maxim wouldn’t have any furniture left. Well, his job may be a pain in the ass, but it definitely wasn’t boring.

*****

The next night

“I’m not wearing that.” Alona shook her head at her friend Maya. Maya had been hired as a ring girl and then fell in love with Taurus, so she was part of the GCFA family even though she wasn’t a fighter herself. She and Taurus had two adopted kids and another one on the way. Out of all the women on the GCFA ship, Alona felt closest to Maya. The other woman was sweet natured and easy to be around.

“Why not? It’s the perfect color to bring out the blue of your eyes.” Maya held up the blue strapless sheath dress.

“I don’t have a strapless bra to wear with it and it’s too short for me. I am not displaying my ass for the paparazzi.”

Sersan, a Reptan halfsie, was sitting on the bed, running her hands idly along the pink lace quilt cover. She looked around the bedroom and noted the purple walls and pink and white furniture. She shook her head, making her short blond punk rock hair shine in the light. “Isss it me or doesss it look like a bunch of pink cupcakesss exploded in here?” Sersan was clearly out of her depth in such a girly room. She wasn’t the only one.

Zara the Amazon, the GCFA’s current female champion, snorted as she walked out of the closet carrying a pair of black dress pants and a blue off-the-shoulder sweater. “You are so right, Sersan. It reminds me of a bottle of pepto bismuth, though. I kind of feel like throwing up. Let’s get this show on the road so we can get out of here. How about these?” She handed the items to Alona, who was trying not to take offense at these descriptions of her room.

“These are perfect and I’ll be comfortable. Thank you, Zara.” The tall woman nodded and looked uncomfortable. Alona had known Zara the longest, so she knew that thought it took time for the Amazon to warm up to a person, once she cared about someone, she would do anything to help a friend.

Maya tossed the dress on the bed in defeat, glaring at the smug look on Zara’s face. “Well, you’re wearing the three-inch heels at least. I won’t take no for an answer either. You look hot in those.”

“Fine, I’ll wear the heels.” Her feet were going to be killing her before the night was over, but she did like the way the heels made her legs look longer. “What time is it?”

“You have one hour to shower and get dressed.” Maya told her. “Come on, everyone, let’s let Alona get ready for her hot date.”

Alona rolled her eyes. Nigel told her that it was okay to tell the other fighters about the plan because they were all under contract and couldn’t discuss the details with anyone outside of the GCFA. Maya had insisted on coming over to help her pick out her outfit. She seemed to have forgotten this was just a fake date. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it was just Maya, but she had insisted on bringing Zara and Sersan. At least Isis was away with Torch, basking in their new love for one another. She had never been close to Gana or Roxy, so it didn’t bother her that they hadn’t come. She followed her friends to the door.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to help you with your hair?” Maya asked, hesitating in the doorway.

“I’m sure. I’m just going to pull it up in a ponytail.” This wasn’t a fancy dinner or she would have had Maya help her with some kind of hairstyle. She was keeping it simple tonight.

“Good luck. I want the full details tomorrow.”

Alona rolled her eyes. “Maya, you do realize this is a fake date, right?”

“Oh sure, but you never know.” Maya waved goodbye at a stunned Alona.

She hadn’t been nervous until Maya made that last comment. What if Maxim kissed her? Was she supposed to kiss him? She had forgotten to get those details from Nigel. She closed the door and sighed. This was going to be a long night.

*****

“I do not need your help, Zen.” Maxim watched helplessly, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist, as Zen walked in and out of his closet, bringing out different clothes and laying them in piles on his bed.

“I am going to be a good friend and help you pick out your clothes for tonight.”

“I thought that only women did that sort of thing.” Maxim watched in fascination as Zen color matched outfits he deemed worthy. What was the criteria he went by? Maybe he could create a template based on a sorting diagram.

“Hey, don’t insult me. I am just doing want the GCFA wants me to do to help you out.” Zen picked up a pair of old jeans and growled in displeasure. Then he threw them in the trashcan.

“Hey, those are mine!” Maxim reached for the discarded jeans. “I thought you were supposed to help me with my strength problems.”

“Rage and Hammer will handle that. I’m here to help you with your dating skills,” Zen informed him proudly.

“I will repeat myself here: I do not need your help.”

“How many women have you dated since you were converted into a droid halfise?”

Maxim didn’t bother to answer him. There hadn’t been too many. It never got serious, because they always expected him to act like a normal man, but he wasn’t normal. His silence was answer enough for Zen.

“See, you need my expertise. It just so happens that Maya texted me what Alona will be wearing so I can match you in something complimentary.”

“Is that necessary? Color matching?” Maxim checked with his IO chip, but there was no program uploaded for dating or for color matching.

“It will look good for the pictures the paparazzi will take tonight.” Zen pulled out a pair of dark blue jeans and a white dress shirt. “Wear this.”

“Fine. Will you leave now?” Maxim was beginning to feel something unwelcome: nervousness. This really was his first date. What did one do on a first date?

“Not yet. We need to go over Date Etiquette 101 first.”

“What the hell is that?” Maxim felt himself getting angry. That was another emotion he rarely allowed himself to feel.

“First and foremost, be a gentleman. When you see her, compliment her. Something simple like, she looks beautiful. Open doors for her and allow her to enter first. For appearances sake, you should pay for the meals, but the GCFA will reimburse you. Hold her hand to help her in and out of shuttles.”