“Hard way four,” the dealer called out, and scooped up the dice.
People around us cheered.
Max looked at me. “Nice work.”
“That’s good, I guess?”
Over the next fifteen minutes, he tried to explain the game to me. I understood very little of it. But Max was very good. In the time I stood next to him, he must have won fifty thousand dollars. It was just one more aspect of the night that had my head spinning.
Krystal had been hanging around in the crowd, and when we stopped playing I introduced her to Max.
“Krystal, very nice to meet you. Max Dalton.”
She smiled as they shook hands. “I’m a huge fan of your work.”
“Thank you.”
This is the part where I thought Krystal would drop a subtle—or maybe not so subtle—hint that she was an aspiring actress, but she didn’t.
So I did. But she stopped me before I got too far into it.
“I’m going to leave you two alone,” she said suddenly. “Mr. Dalton, it was really nice meeting you.” When she looked at me I saw that she was really uncomfortable. “I’ll see you later in the room. Or…whenever. Have fun!”
And with that, she was off to somewhere else in the casino, leaving me standing there with Max, wondering just what the hell I was supposed to do now.
THREE
Max and I ended up in a little bar area that was enclosed by glass. The room was filled with live piano music. The quiet was a nice respite from the incessant energy of the casino floor.
I had my fifth glass of wine. Not being a big drinker, I probably should have stopped at four. Maybe three. But there I was, sipping the fifth one in a matter of just two hours, while Max enjoyed another White Russian.
Just what the hell I thought I was doing, I have no idea. I was in over my head spending time alone with a guy like this. I thought there would be a lot of business talk, but in less than ten minutes he was asking me questions I wouldn’t have predicted in a million years.
“Why are you single, Olivia?”
“Maybe I’m not.” I decided to go the playful route, rather than tell him the truth: Oh, my only long-term boyfriend cheated on me three times and then freaked out one night, basically scaring me out of town, and I haven’t dated since, and by the way I’ve had many sleepless nights wondering if I’ll ever really trust a man again because Chris had hidden his true dark self so well, even though I thought I knew his soul. Still interested?
A smile curled the edges of his mouth. “You don’t have a ring on your finger.” He took my hand and his thumb caressed the bare place where a ring would have been. “And you didn’t come here with a guy.”
I looked up from my hand and met his gaze. “This could be a girls’ only weekend. Get away from the boyfriends for a few days.”
“Right.” His eyes expressed his amusement. He could see right through me.
“And who are you with?”
He looked around the bar, then back at me. “You.”
With Max touching me, and with the way he said “you,” my nerves were tingling. I crossed one leg over the other, and the pressure between my legs sparked a ripple of excitement. I’d never been this turned on just sitting with a guy before. Then again, I’d never been just sitting around with anyone who came anywhere close to rivaling Max Dalton’s sex appeal.
This was a bad idea. I needed to change the subject or get the hell out of there. Getting involved with Max was something that could be bad business. And it might even be worse to let him continue hitting on me and then turn him down. I didn’t just have to protect myself; I had to protect my job.
I politely thanked him for the glass of wine and stood.
“Got another hot date?” he asked.
“Is that what this was?”
“It could have been.”
“It was good to see you, Max. But I really need to get going. I’m exhausted from the trip and…from the last couple of hours of this.” I motioned to the casino floor.
“At least let me take you back to your room.”
“All right,” I said.
We made our way to the elevator and I couldn’t help but think he might try something on the ride up. Luckily, the elevator was crowded. Unluckily, we were squished together, with Max right behind me. I could feel his hard cock against my ass.
Opening the door to our hotel room, I said, “Krystal might be here. So, thanks again.”
He held the door open and looked over my head into the room. “She’s not here. How about a goodnight kiss?”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry—”
Before I could finish the sentence, he leaned toward me, swiftly, pressing his mouth to mine. His tongue parted my lips and slid into my mouth. He tasted faintly of Kahlua. The two-day stubble was rough and masculine, a feeling I hadn’t had against my face in a too long. Max smelled of expensive cologne and it made me want to bury my face in his neck and inhale him.
I knew I shouldn’t have, but I let him keep kissing me. And I let him step into the room, over the threshold of the doorway, and all bets were off by then. The door closed behind him with a snap, and he was walking me backward as his tongue explored my mouth.
The backs of my legs touched the bed and I started to fall to my back. He swiftly moved one arm around me, caught me, and lowered me gently onto the bed.
My legs parted and the little black dress rode up, exposing more of my thighs than I’d planned on showing anyone tonight. Max’s hand wrapped around the back of one of my thighs and he settled in between my legs. Through my panties, and through the fabric of his slacks, I felt his erection press against me.
“Wait,” I said, pulling my mouth away from his. “We can’t do this.”
“Can’t make out on your bed?” He kissed me deeply again.
I put my hands on his arms to push him away. But once I felt the firm biceps, I just squeezed them. He groaned. “You like them?”
I did, but I wasn’t going to say it out loud.
“Max, I’m serious.”
He stopped kissing me, stopped rubbing himself against me, but stayed where he was. “Me, too. I want you, Olivia. Right here. Now.”
He lowered his head and his tongue was in my mouth, licking my tongue.
I closed my eyes and then my fingers were running through his hair. I could hear my heart beating in my ears as the hot air from Max’s heavy breathing heated our kiss even more.
His hand stroked my thigh possessively, his fingers brushing the edge of my panties. He pulled away from the kiss and looked down as he raised the hem of my dress higher, exposing my bare legs and silk panties, which by now had started to become wet.