Six Days will be up later tonight. Enjoy!
Chapter 22
“Don’t you think it’s kind of weird that we work at this place nearly every night, then the one night we have off we still come back?”
Max snorted, slanting Alex a glance as he sat back in his seat. “Is there really anywhere else open this late in Roswell?”
Alex cocked his head, taking in the crowded Friday night scene before him. “Hmm. True.”
Max struggled not to glance at his watch for the fifth time since arriving at the bar, Alex in tow. He reached up and yanked at the collar of his shirt, working his head around while silently wondering where the hell Isabel was. He was ready to put their plan into motion.
“Where the hell is she?” he muttered, giving into temptation and looking down at the face of his Casio. He glanced back up in time to see Isabel making her way toward their table. “Finally! Had to make an entrance?” he asked sarcastically as she approached.
“Sorry I’m late,” she answered, breathless and flushed as she slung her purse onto the table and fell into the empty seat beside Alex. “God, I couldn’t get rid of Mr. Funecilli. The dirty Italian bastard actually had the audacity to ask me if I wanted to view his ‘private collection of nudes’. Including himself.”
Alex spit a stream of soda across the table where it landed in heavy droplets on Max’s unamused expression. “Oh, shit.”
Isabel shot him an annoyed look. “God, do you mind? That’s disgusting.”
“Tell me about it,” Max grumbled, grabbing a napkin and blotting his face while Alex cleared his throat and gestured helplessly. “Are you telling me that greasy Italian hit on you with his wife in the same damn museum? Bastard.”
“Don’t get all bent out of shape,” Isabel said shortly. “It’s over now. Anyway, we need to talk about what we’re going to…Max?”
Max stared in disbelief at the front doors of the club. “Um, excuse me…” he managed, standing up abruptly and moving his way through the crowd. Isabel frowned as Alex scooted closer.
“Hi, there,” he stated inanely, smiling in her direction. “So…come here often?”
Isabel blinked, staring at him like he’d just announced he intended to go skinny-dipping in a vat of tofu pudding. “What’s wrong with you? Honestly.”
“Dunno. But when you figure it out, would you mind telling my mother? She’s been asking the same thing for years,” Alex replied, nodding solemnly.
Despite herself, she couldn’t help but laugh. “God, you are so weird.”
Across the room, Max managed to shove his way through the throng of dancing couples to where he’d just seen Liz enter the bar. “Liz!” he shouted over the din. Frustrated when she didn’t look his way, he was attempting to maneuver his way closer when she finally glanced up and met his gaze. Surprise shimmered in her brown eyes.
“Max!”
They met each other halfway, stopping just short of embracing. The closeness of the crowd threw them together and Max gripped her by her upper arms, struggling to find the right words to express what was going through his mind. He settled for, “What the fuck are you doing here?”
Her expression fading from pleasure to annoyance, Liz jerked away and bumped into another couple. “Well, nice to see you too, Max.”
“I didn’t mean…what the hell are you wearing?” he bleated, forgetting any intention of apology as he caught sight of the skimpy dress clinging to her curves. “Oh good God. You’re gonna start a riot, Parker.”
Smiling at the hunger gleaming in his gaze, she gave a flirty twirl and replied, “Really? It’s just a little something I found—”
“In Maria’s closet,” Max finished grimly. “I remember that dress. She wore it the night she and Michael first…well, you know…”
“Oh my, God, you’re right,” Liz gasped. Then, “Oh, my God! And I’m wearing it! Do you think they…in this…oh my, God! Max, stop laughing!”
“I’m sorry,” he chuckled, taking her into his arms for the first time and burying his face in her neck. “You look so horrified. Hi, by the way.” He held her by the waist, drawing her close.
“Hi,” she whispered back, wrapping her arms in return around neck. “I didn’t think I’d see you here. I thought you were meeting Alex?”
“I am, he’s sitting over there with Isabel,” Max answered, too distracted by the scent of her to realize what he’d just revealed. The moment she stiffened, he pulled back and met her gaze.
“Your sister’s here?”
He hesitated, knowing how fragile their relationship was at the moment. He hated that, but it was a fact. He was terrified that one wrong move would cause him to lose her forever. He had to tread cautiously. “Yes, I was meeting her, too.”
She pulled completely away from him, looking away before asking, “And why didn’t you tell me that?”
“Because…because there were some things I didn’t want you to know about just yet,” he admitted, holding his breath as her gaze jerked to his. He hoped his honest answer would help diminish some of the anger she was sure to feel when she discovered what role Isabel had played in the entire Pamela/Nancy fiasco.
“What aren’t you telling me?” she demanded suspiciously, folding her arms across her breasts. “I want to know. Now.”
“Of course,” he murmured in a placating tone, glancing over her shoulder for a quiet area. “Come with me, okay? We can’t talk here, it’s too loud.”
She hesitated, but followed him without a word as he led her toward the back exit. When they stepped outside into the darkness of the street alley, Liz shivered unconsciously from the cool night air. Max stared at her outline in the moonlight and cursed softly. Without thinking, he wrapped his palm around her neck and crushed her mouth to his own.
She made a sound of surprise, then melted into his embrace without protest. The moment she acquiesced, he groaned and pulled her against him, breathing heavily into her hair. “God, you look hot as hell. I just want to…”
“What?” she panted, blinking large eyes as she stared back at him. He could read the desire in her gaze, and knew it was reflected back in his own. “Max…” She reached out and trailed a finger down his arms, leaving a trail of gooseflesh in its wake. “Why’d you stop?”
The invitation in her voice was almost his undoing. He swallowed, catching her hand before it could continue its journey down the front of his shirt. “Because you wanted to wait, remember? And we both thought it was a good idea…and even if it weren’t, I’d never take you outside in a dark alley, Liz,” he managed hoarsely.
She actually pouted, the minx. “Why not?”
He blinked. “Are you the same woman from this morning?”
She sighed, closing her eyes as she leaned against the wall of the building. “This morning seems like ages ago.”
He couldn’t agree more. “Isn’t…waiting what you want?” He didn’t dare hope.
She was silent for a long moment, then slowly opened her eyes to stare into his. “I…don’t really know,” she admitted softly. “I tell myself it’s for the best, then I see you and…I just…I can’t, Max.”
“I know,” he whispered huskily, running a hand through her hair, letting the soft waves slip through his fingers. “I feel the same way, Parker.”
She nibbled on her lower lip, glancing up at him from beneath long lashes. “Maybe we should just…?”
“Yeah?” he nearly groaned. “What?”
“Well…” She leaned closer.
“Liz? Liz, are you out here?”
Both of them barely bit back curses as Maria suddenly popped out of the door, giggling like a schoolgirl and holding drinks in both hands. “I got you something, girlie…well, lookie, lookie. Is this a private party?”
Max sighed in defeat. “Hey, Maria.”
“Hey, Max. Liz.” Maria’s words held a wealth of meaning as she cocked a blonde brow in Liz’s direction. Then with characteristic bluntness she added, “I hope to God you take that dress off before you two bang each other’s brains out. I don’t want to have to de-Lewinsky the thing.”
Max decided his brain must have been fogged from close contact with Liz, because he couldn’t make any sense of the words coming out of his friend’s mouth. “Maria, what the hell are you talking about?”
“You know,” she gestured with a glass, causing the clear liquid to slosh over the rim. “Monica Lewinsky? The infamous ‘stain’? I was just asking that if the two of you get busy, I’d really prefer if you’d remember to take off my—”
“Maria! Oh, my God!” Liz cried out, glowing a dark red that Max could see despite the lack of light. “Leave, please!”
“Don’t be so uptight!” Maria giggled. “It’s not like you two haven’t done it before. I know, Liz. You told me all about it.”
Max was beginning to enjoy himself, despite the oddness of the conversation. Quirking a devilish brow, he addressed his next question while staring straight at Liz. “Oh, really? And just what did Liz have to say?”
“Maria, don’t you dare—” Liz gritted out, but their friend was far too sloshed to pay any attention.
“Weell…she was squealing so loudly it was kinda hard to make out,” Maria admitted. “But I did manage to get one thing out of her. She said—”
“Inside! Now!” Liz shouted, turning and grabbing Maria by the arm. “We’re all going inside. Good God, we haven’t even been here an hour and you’re already…”
Their voices trailed off and Max grinned before following behind. It only then occurred to him that he’d yet to tell Liz about the plan for Pamela.
He craned his neck, looking around and wondering how he could have managed to lose them both so quickly. His eyes fell on his table and nearly bugged out of his head at the sight of Isabel and Alex making out like two horny teenagers. “What the…” Upon the realization that his friend’s hand was somewhere no brother should even know about, he jerked around and counted to ten before he could give into the urge to ram Alex head-first into the nearest wall.
“Max! There you are!” Liz called in relief, pushing through the crowd toward him. “Where did you go? Oh, God…you have to help me with her. She had a few before we left, but I didn’t realize how far gone she was—”
“What?” he yelled over the music.
“I said, you’ve got to help me before she does something—”
“Helloooo ladies and gentlepeople,” an eerily familiar voice chortled. Max closed his eyes for a split second before turning around with a grimace. Sure enough, Maria was up in the DJ booth, hanging onto a grinning man with three foot long dredlocks.
“Oh, God. No. Where’re the cops when you need them?” he mourned, thinking of Michael and wondering what his best friend was going to do to him when he found out about tonight’s events. “I see nothing. I know nothing about any of this. I’m not even here.”
“This next one goes out to a very special couple of kiddos whom I love dearly,” Maria was continuing as people clapped and egged her on. “Max, Liz…I hope you guys aren’t outside doing the horizontal polka, because I have another dance in mind for you both. Let’s see if you guys can do what the song says…work it, DJ!”
Before Max knew whether or not to laugh or strangle someone, a strobe light the club used as a cool lighting effect found him and Liz as a familiar guitar riff began to echo throughout the room.
The crowd hooted, singing along with the opening lines of, “I got a little change in my pocket,
goin’ ching-a-ling-a-ling…”
Max caught Liz’s horrified gaze and shook his head. “I don’t…”
“I really might kill her,” she drawled as the sounds of Keep Your Hands to Yourself continued playing all around them. “I’ll show her. Thinks I won’t do it…” She stalked toward the DJ booth with retribution shining in her eyes.
Alex came sauntering up to them, not even bothering to hide the shit-eating grin on his face. “Seems like your friend’s had one too many, bartender.”
“One word, Alex,” he growled. “One.”
“Has everyone gone completely insane?” This from Isabel, whose lipstick was smeared and currently decorating half of Alex’s face. She appeared just as confused as Max felt; continuously shooting Alex disbelieving looks that Max read as, “I can’t believe I made out with this geek.”
“I’m beginning to think so,” Max answered. He watched as Liz yanked Maria down from the booth, causing a major crash as Maria fell onto a giant subwoofer. With a heavy sigh, he pulled up a chair to enjoy the show, signaling for a waitress.
“I think I need a drink.”
<center>***</center>
A full hour later, Max found himself driving two extremely irritated women home. He tried to block out the bickering by turning up the radio, tapping his fingers along to an old Stones hit while pretending not to hear anything.
“I can’t believe you, Maria!” Liz was yelling, turned fully around to face her friend. “Do you have any idea how embarrassing that was?”
“You’re embarrassed? My ass landed on a subwoofer!” Maria snapped back. “The sound will be reverberating for years to come.”
Max couldn’t help but snicker at that one. When both girls looked at him, he quickly schooled his features into solemnity.
“The point is, you’re drunk and I’m taking you home before you make a complete idiot out of yourself and Michael ends up having to come arrest you.”
“Oooh, my number one fantasy,” Maria sighed, falling back against the seat. “Tell me more.”
Max laughed outright. When Liz glared at him, he shrugged. “Sorry. Carry on, snookums.”
“Snookums!” Maria howled from the backseat. “Oh, lawd! You two are just way too cavity-inducing. I feel like I should be requesting some Novacaine.”
Max snorted. “Oh yeah, that’s just what you need right now. Drugs.”
“Oh, shut up!” Liz growled. “Both of you.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Max and Maria both replied at the same time, then caught each other’s gazes in the rearview and snickered.
After Maria was safely ensconced at Michael’s - because Liz didn’t trust her home alone - they began the short drive to Max’s apartment. Now that it was just the two of them, Max’s pulse began to race as he glanced over to where Liz was leaning against the car door, eyes closed.
He was suddenly thrust back into the scene in the alleyway, and their unfinished conversation. Deciding to test the boundaries, he reached over and tangled his fingers with the hand resting on her knee. She stirred, but didn’t open her eyes.
Biting his lip, he began to stroke the soft skin of her thigh with their joined palms, struggling to keep his eyes on the road. She let out a soft sound, shifting so that she was closer than before. “What are you doing?” she whispered, allowing one eye to open.
“I was just thinking…” His voice had grown husky. “Do you still feel the same as earlier? About…certain things we discussed this morning, that we might have decided to change tonight?”
She laughed. “That shouldn’t make sense, but it does.”
“Well?”
A mysterious smile curved her lips and she turned smoky eyes on him. “Why don’t you hurry home and we’ll find out?”
His foot pressed onto the gas as he held her gaze as long as possible before he needed to check the road again. He heard her laugh and could feel a lighthearted grin gathering at the corners of his own lips. God, it was so good to laugh with her again.
They reached the apartment in record time, both slamming out of the cars and racing each other up the stairs. Max fumbled with the lock while she teased his neck with heated kisses.
“Hurry,” she whispered, accentuating the comment with a light nip that sent shivers down his back. “Mmm…”
“Christ, cut that out…I can’t get the key in the door,” he laughed shakily, turning his head slightly to capture her mouth. “You drive me crazy, you know that?”
“Good.” Her hands found an extremely sensitive area of his person and he cursed, shoving every key in the lock until finally one unlocked the door. He grabbed her and yanked her inside, slamming the door with his foot before pressing her up against the wall. “You wanna play dirty then?”
“Oh, yes,” she giggled, sliding her hands beneath the hem of his shirt and pulling it over his head. The rest of their clothes soon followed as they stumbled toward the bedroom. They got tangled up at the edge of the bed, falling onto the soft mattress amid low laughter and shrieks.
Max came up on top, pinning her arms above her head as he forced her to meet his gaze. “I love you,” he whispered. “You do believe me?”
She nodded, eyes shining. “Of course I do. Make love with me, Max. I’m tired of waiting.”
He chuckled, bending his head to press his lips against her neck. “You didn’t have to wait all that long,” he teased in a whisper to her ear. “It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours.”
Her expression turned serious. “It’s been every minute of every day of my life,” she admitted, voice breaking slightly on the words. “Every night I wasn’t with you.”
He stared at her, unable to speak except for, “God, Liz…”
She brought his head down, eagerly meeting kiss for kiss. Fingers and mouths quested as they took the time to learn what they’d taken for granted the first time around. When his mouth closed around her breast, she sighed and arched upward, desperate to get closer.
No words were exchanged as he entered her. It was a slow and languid coupling that soothed more than heated. Yet, there was satisfaction on both sides. And when it was finally over, neither wanted to let go.
Only when he felt a light tickling along his abdomen did Max realize he’d drifted off into a peaceful sort of slumber that only comes from being completely and totally at ease. Popping one eye open, he half-raised his head to find himself sprawled out on his back while Liz stared down at him.
“Mmm…did I fall asleep?” he mumbled, stretching before focusing his gaze on her naked body. “Wow. Come here, you.” His mouth practically watered.
But she shook her head, inching away as she gestured with her hands. “Turn over.”
“Why?” he grunted, even as he began to do so without thinking.
“Because I said so,” she teased, bending just enough to brush his mouth with her own. “Last time everything happened so quickly…I want to go slower since I never really had a chance to look…oh. Well. Hmm.” Her voice turned surprised, and faintly embarrassed.
Max lifted his head, still half-asleep. “What’s the matter?”
“Max, you have my name tattooed. On your ass. With a heart.”
His eyes went from heavy lidded to wide open and he started to sit up, only to be pushed back down by her. Feeling his face starting to burn, he grumbled, “It’s a manly heart.”
“Uh huh,” she laughed, sounding delighted. “Care to tell me when this happened?” Her fingers trailed downward to his backside, and he struggled not to swallow his tongue. He couldn’t quite hold back the groan, turning his face into a pillow.
“Don’t wanna talk about it.”
“Max…” she warned, pinching him on the butt. “Tell.”
He growled, taking her by surprise as he flipped over suddenly and yanked her beneath him. His expression was playful, yet his eyes were searching. “You really wanna know?”
“Yes.”
“The night you left. I got drunk – honest to God drunk for the first time in years – and ended up in some shithole parlor downtown. When I woke up the next day, I had a bandage and pain in the ass. Namely, you.” He ended the statement on a joking note, but he could tell she wasn’t fooled.
“Oh, Max…” She frowned, reaching out to stroke his cheek. “God, I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he assured her. “Liz, everything that happened…it brought us closer together. Didn’t it? I don’t regret any of it. And I’d tattoo your name all over my body if I could.”
It was obvious she was still upset, but she managed a smile. “That might be interesting.”
“Mmm…I know something else that might be interesting. Care to test it out?” he breathed, lowering himself over her.
“Can’t think of a reason to say no,” she responded weakly, before his lips found hers and there was no more room for talking.
