Making It Work (Sequel M/L AU ADULT) Pt32 10/22 COMPLETE

[Heavenli24]

Title: Making It Work
Author: Heavenli24
Pairings/Couples/Category: M/L
Rating: ADULT
Disclaimer: The characters of "Roswell" belong to Jason Katims, Melinda Metz, WB, and UPN. They are not mine and no infringement is intended.
Summary: Sequel to The Yule Log. How will Max and Liz’s relationship progress while Max is filming in England? And what will happen when Max has to return to his life in LA?
Author’s Note: Okay, so I know I promised this sequel ages and ages ago (I started writing it in January 2008!), but I ended up with writer’s block somewhere around part 5 (back in March 2008) and I’ve only just managed to get my muse back… about 3 weeks ago… sorry for the long delay! Updates will be weekly and on Thursdays .
A/N #2: I’m taking part in the September Support Stacie Author’s Auction over at Majik’s World of Fanfic this weekend. The auction runs from Fri, Sept. 11, 11:59pm to Mon, Sept. 14, 10:00pm (Central time) and I’m offering a M/L story of your choice to the highest bidder (see link in my signature for details) .


***


Part One

“Mmm,” sighed Liz sleepily, as she felt his body shift beneath her, making a move to get up, “don’t go.”

“I have to,” came his soft, whispered tone close to her ear. “I’m sorry.”

“No,” she mumbled with a pout, tightening her arm around his bare torso in an attempt to prevent him from leaving.

She opened her eyes to find him gazing down at her, his expression a mixture of both amusement and regret.

“Liz, I have to be on set in an hour,” he reasoned, “and I can’t be late.”

“Yeah, you can,” she insisted, shifting in the bed so that her body was flush against his, her bare breasts pressing against his chest, her legs tangling with his as she let her foot slide up and down his calf suggestively.

“No, I can’t,” he repeated, more firmly this time.

She just raised an eyebrow and smirked up at him evocatively.

“And stop that,” he scolded, placing his hands on her waist and urging her away from him when she rolled her hips against his provocatively. “I mean it.”

She tried to stare him down, but when it became obvious a few moments later that he was not going to back down, she let out a sigh and rolled onto her back.

“Fine,” she exhaled in defeat. “Go.”

Max rolled his eyes, raising himself up onto one elbow so he could look down at her, “You know I would stay if I could, but if I don’t show up to work on time, I’ll get fired and I’ll have to go back to LA.”

“I know, I know,” agreed Liz, “but it doesn’t mean I have to like the fact that we only get to see each other for a few hours at a time, a couple of days a week.”

“It’s not ideal, I know, but it’s better than nothing, right?” asked Max, as he stroked her bare arm with his fingers, sending shivers down her spine.

“Yeah, I guess it is,” she smiled up at him, her heart swelling with emotion as she remembered how lucky she was to have him in her life at all, even if it was only a few hours at a time, a couple of days a week.

A soft smile graced his lips and she watched with baited breath as he lowered his mouth toward hers. Their lips met in a kiss that began soft and gentle, but quickly escalated into fervent and passionate.

“Okay, I really have to go,” breathed Max, when they parted for air.

“Okay,” she conceded reluctantly, letting her fingers run through his thick, dark hair, before dropping down to the mattress as he sat up and climbed out of her bed.

Biting her lip, she watched as he stood up and reached for his clothes. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she took in the way his lean muscles rippled with every movement he made. Her gaze roamed his muscular back before lowering to the delicious curve of his tight butt and then dropping to his strong thighs.

God, she wished he didn’t have to leave so early in the morning. He’d only made it to her flat just before one a.m. and now, barely six hours later, he had to leave again. It just wasn’t fair. Was this how their relationship was going to be from now on…a couple of hours of sex in the middle of the night every now and then, whenever he had the time to see her? That wasn’t a real relationship, or a particularly healthy one, for that matter. Of course, those occasional few hours together were better than no hours at all, but still, Liz felt like she was missing out on the real thing.

She mustered a smile as Max shot her a grin over his shoulder before heading into the bathroom, but inside she felt a tiny bit miserable. Perhaps this arrangement was all right for now, but eventually she would want more than she thought Max would be able to give with his hectic schedule and Hollywood lifestyle.

“Okay,” announced Max a few moments later, as he reappeared in her bedroom and grabbed his wallet and cell phone, before sitting down on the edge of the bed and cupping her cheek in his hand. “I gotta go.”

“Okay,” Liz nodded.

He lowered his lips to hers once more for a brief, but meaningful kiss, pulling away before it had the chance to get out of control.

“I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Sure,” she nodded again. “Have a good day.”

“You too,” he returned with a smile, before sliding off the bed and reaching for his jacket which was draped over a chair against the wall. “And I’ll be back as soon as I can, alright?”

“Yeah,” she forced a smile.

He headed for the bedroom door and she made a move to get up so she could walk him out.

“No, don’t,” he held up a hand. “You stay there and get some more rest before work. I can see myself out.”

“But–”

“No, buts,” he scolded. “If you try to walk me to the door in nothing but a sheet, I’ll never leave.”

Before she had time to reply, he’d walked out of the bedroom and to the front door of her flat. She shook her head and let her head flop back against the pillow, staring at the ceiling as she heard the door slam shut behind him. How was she going to survive the next few days without him?

***

As soon as he’d left her flat, Max came to a stop in front of her door, leaning against the dark wood as he let out a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding. It had only been three weeks since they’d started meeting on the nights when he had a few hours of free time, yet on each occasion it was getting harder and harder for him to leave her in the morning.

It wasn’t an ideal situation, only being able to see her a couple of nights per week, but with his hectic filming schedule and her nine-to-five job, it was the best they could do right now. Of course he wanted to be able to spend more time with her, at a decent hour of the day, but if a few stolen hours in the middle of the night was all they had, then he would definite make the most of it.

And of course, he wasn’t going to think about what would happen in a couple of months’ time, when filming on his movie was done and his work permit ran out, meaning he had to return to California – no, he wasn’t going to think about the future yet, he was going to live in the moment, at least for now.

***

“You’re in a good mood today,” observed Maria, as Liz breezed into the warm coffee shop with a huge smile on her face. Maria narrowed her eyes in suspicion, “Did you get some last night?”

“Maria!” exclaimed Liz, her eyes widening at her friend’s bluntness as she slid off her coat and placed it on the back of the chair next to Maria.

“Aww, come on, Liz. It’s about time you spilled the beans on this new guy you met over Christmas. You haven’t even told me his name yet, for God’s sake.”

Liz sighed, taking a seat and reaching for the small menu on the table in front of her. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to confide in Maria about her relationship with Max, but at the same time she kind of wanted to keep it to herself for now, especially considering Max’s celebrity status.

“I know I haven’t and I’m sorry,” she began, “but it’s new and I don’t want to jinx anything, so for now, I’m keeping the details to myself, okay?”

Maria just watched her for a moment, before finally rolling her eyes, “Fine, you win. For now. But don’t think I’m not gonna get it out of you eventually.”

“How about a chocolate-chip muffin? My treat,” Liz changed the subject quickly, so as to distract Maria from asking any further questions.

Luckily, her friend got the hint and they spent the next thirty minutes catching up on gossip and arranging to meet up with her and Michael on Saturday for a day of shopping and generally having fun. However, by the time Liz arrived back at work after lunch, her good mood from spending a wonderfully satisfying night with Max and from laughing with Maria was waning. Now that she had nothing to look forward to for the next four hours but a mountain of work, her enthusiasm was dipping. It was back to the grindstone again.

She managed to successfully complete two of her tasks for the afternoon, but not without a serious lack of concentration and efficiency, so when the phone rang at three-thirty, it was a welcome distraction.

“Hello, Liz Parker speaking,” she greeted, putting on her best fake-enthusiastic voice.

“Hey gorgeous,” came the smooth, warm tone.

A smile lit up her face; it was Max.

“Hey, han… you,” she replied with a smile. She’d been about to say ‘handsome’, but quickly changed her mind when she glanced over at her colleagues, who were looking at her curiously. “What’s going on?”

“Well, you know, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since this morning, so I had to call the first chance I got,” he replied. Liz’s heart did a flip at his words. “And also, I wanted to let you know that I’m now free to come see you Friday night…”

“Really?” grinned Liz as she spoke into the receiver.

“That’s not all,” he continued. “There’ve been some problems with the props for the weekend and it turns out that they won’t be available until Saturday afternoon… so as a result, I won’t be needed on set until at least lunchtime, which means I don’t have to leave at the crack of dawn like I did today.”

Liz bit her lip in excitement, “That’s great… no, wait, it’s more than great, it’s wonderful! I can’t wait.”

“Me neither,” Max told her.

They continued to speak for a few more minutes, until Liz heard someone calling to Max on the other end of the line and he sighed.

“Look, I’m sorry, I have to go – I’m needed on set,” he apologised a moment later. “But I’ll see you tomorrow night, okay? I’ll give you a call when I’m on my way.”

“Yeah, tomorrow,” she agreed with a smile, as they said their goodbyes and she hung up the phone with a dreamy sigh.

Maybe this relationship wasn’t going to be all that hard to maintain after all.

TBC…

[Heavenli24]

Hey, everyone, thank you for your feedback :

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A/N: Okay, here's part 2 - it's a little short (and total fluff), but that's the way it turned out when I started writing last year ...


***


Part Two

Max hummed to himself as he got out of the cab, paid the taxi driver and turned to face the four-storey building that housed Liz’s apartment. Despite the delay that the props issue had put on the filming schedule, he’d been secretly pleased that it meant he had a few more hours free to spend with her. A grin slid across his face as he approached the front door and pressed the buzzer to her flat.

“’Lo?” came her sweet voice a few seconds later.

“It’s me,” he spoke into the intercom.

“Hey, Max,” she greeted happily, “come on up.”

“Thanks.”

The door clicked and he let himself in, strolling through the lobby area and then began climbing the two flights of stairs to the second floor. It was strange, he mused, as he made his way to her flat, that what the British called the second floor, was in fact the third floor back home in the States. He reached the second floor, smiling at an older couple heading for the stairs as he passed them, and then heading for Liz’s door.

He knocked gently and barely a moment later the door swung open, revealing a sight that took his breath away.

“Wow,” he breathed as his gaze roamed Liz’s scantily clad frame, his body reacting instantly to the sight of her dressed in a sheer white nightie that barely brushed her thighs and did almost nothing to hide the matching lacy bra and panties set underneath. She looked like a vision, with her long, dark, shiny hair flowing down her back and over her shoulders, a stark contrast to the white barely-there clothing adorning her body.

“You like?” she murmured with a sultry smile, lifting one stiletto-covered foot in the air and running it slowly up and down her calf.

“I –” he swallowed audibly, unable to form words to describe exactly how much he liked it.

She smirked, biting her lip sensually as she gaze up at him with hooded eyes.

“Come here,” she commanded then with a smile, reaching out to grab his shirt and pull him inside the flat, pushing the door shut with her foot.

“God, I –” was all Max could manage before he gave in, dropping his bag, sliding his arms around her waist and pressing his lips to hers urgently.

He felt her hands slide up his chest and under his jacket, easing it over his shoulders and down his arms. He let go of her briefly in order to dispose of the offending article, letting it fall to the floor, before firmly clasping her waist once more. His hands roamed her back and he could feel the heat of her skin through the flimsy material of her nightie. It made him shudder with anticipation. While he revelled in the warmth of her petite body as they kissed, Liz was making quick work of his clothes, her hands now slipping beneath his dark T-shirt, her fingers tracing patterns on his hot skin as she slid the material upwards.

They broke apart, breathing heavily and gazing down into each other’s eyes, as Liz pulled the T-shirt over his head, letting it fall to the floor unceremoniously before running her hands from his shoulders, down his chest and over his well-muscled stomach to the waistline of his jeans.

“Liz,” breathed Max, her fingers played across his skin, occasionally dipping tantalisingly beneath the material of his jeans and then reaching for his buckle. She unfastened it quickly and pulled down his zipper before reaching in and cupping him with one hand as the other slid around to caress his lower back.

He sucked in a breath at the feel of her hand on him, gently squeezing through his boxers. Her lips met his shoulder, nipping gently at his warm skin, before kissing a sizzling trail across his collarbone to the other side. In response to her amorous gestures, he slid his hands beneath the material of her short nightie letting them roam her flawless lower back briefly before moving them downwards to cup her lace-covered bottom. She moaned against his skin as he pressed her lower body to his, trapping her hand between their bodies.

“God, Max,” she murmured softly, lifting her head to look into his eyes. She removed her other hand from his back, slid her arm around his neck once more and shifting her upper body so that her lace-covered breasts pressed against his chest. “I need you.”

“I need you too,” he breathed, before lowering his hands from her butt to the back of her thighs. She eased her hand away and then eagerly jumped up, wrapping her smooth legs around his hips and he turned around, pressing her up against the front door as he captured her lips with his in a passionate, frenzied embrace.

Once he was sure that she was fully supported between himself and the wall, he allowed his hands to slide up her sides, over the soft material of the nightie until he reached her perfectly formed breasts. He cupped her gently, running his thumbs across her rapidly hardening nipples and watched as her eyes closed and her head fell back against the door.

He smiled down at her flushed face and walked the fingers of one hand back down over her stomach towards her panties. Sliding the loose material of the nightie up to her waist, he traced her soft skin with his fingers for a moment before slipping them beneath the lacy material, lower and lower until he encountered her wet heat.

“Oh, God,” she gasped, her back arching as he stroked her intimately. Her legs tightened around his waist and his hips rocked in response, wanting to get closer, wanting to be inside her.

However, he continued is ministrations, wanting to see the beautiful expression on her face when she was in the throes of passion. His fingers caressed her sensitive clit, gently at first, but getting faster as her breathing became heavier and she began to move her hips in time with his strokes. As she approached orgasm, he lowered his head to her breasts, teasing each one with his mouth, not ceasing the movement of his hand. Her arms came up around his neck, holding onto him tightly as she arched against him, trying out as his fingers finally tipped her over the edge. She came with a desperate cry, her legs tightening around him, her chest pressed against his mouth as she rode out the waves of pleasure.

Max removed his hand from her panties and slid his arms around her back, supporting her as she came down from her peak. She buried her head in his shoulder as her breathing began to return to normal.

“Wow,” she sighed happily against his ear. “That was… wow.”

“We’re not done yet, sweetie,” he murmured, urging her to lift her head. He smiled down at her as he brushed her hair, now damp with sweat, back from her face.

He lowered his head and brushed her lips with his as his rolled his hips against her, causing her to buck against him in response.

“Do you have protection?” he asked then, “I have some, but they’re in my bag… which is all the way down there.” He glanced down at the floor.

“You’re in luck” she grinned, raising an eyebrow. “I just happen to have something tucked in my bra.”

“Your –?” he was about to ask why she would want to keep a condom in her bra in the first place, but quickly decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. “Okay,” he nodded as she reached in and pulled out the small, square packet.

Max moved to take it from her, but she shook her head, “No, let me.”

He let out a rush of air as she lowered her hands, pushed his jeans down over his hips a little and then reached in to free him from the confines of his boxers. Quickly, she tore open the packet and rolled the condom into place. Then she moved her hands to her panties and pulled the thin material aside.

They each let out a gasping moan as Max entered her gently. He gave her a moment to get used to the feel of him, before he began to move his hips in a steady rhythm, his hands lowering to her waist so he could guide her movements to match his. As their lovemaking became more intense and his trusts became more powerful, he shifted his hands so that one was supporting her back, while he braced the other against the door, above her head.

“Look at me,” he requested urgently, gazing down at her lovely features. Her eyes were closed and she was biting her lip, her brow furrowed in concentration. “Please.”

Her eyes fluttered open and he smiled down at her tenderly. Their gazed remained locked as Max increased his pace, the tension between them building steady as they each neared their peak. Liz was the first to let go, her inner muscles tightening deliciously around him as the orgasm swept through her body and she cried out his name over and over again. The sight of her in the throes of orgasm was enough to send him over the edge too and he came with a cry just a few short moments later. He gathered her up in his arms, smoothing her hair and pressing kisses to her face and neck as they came down from the high together.

Eventually, when their breathing had slowed, Max pulled back to look down at Liz with an indulgent grin on his face, “Hi.”

She let out a soft giggle, “Hi.”

“Well, this was a nice greeting,” he teased.

“Only nice?”

“Okay, maybe ‘nice’ isn’t the word,” he mused. “How about ‘wonderful,’ ‘breathtaking,’ ‘incredible’?”

“That’s better,” she nodded happily and they shared a kiss. “So, how was your day?” she asked when they parted.

“No,” he shook his head, “no small talk tonight. Tonight I just want to spend hour upon hour ravishing your perfect body like there’s no tomorrow. We can talk in the morning. Come on, let’s go to bed,” he suggested, walking them towards her bedroom.

Once inside, he placed her down on the bed, so he could kick off his jeans and boxers before he went about divesting her of that sexy outfit. As he did so, she reach down to remove her stiletto heels, but Max placed his hand over hers, stopping her.

“No, don’t,” he murmured as he climbed onto the bed and began his ministrations on her body. “Leave them on.”

TBC…

[Heavenli24]

Hey, everyone, thank you for your feedback :

begonia9508 - Thanks .

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mary mary - Thanks .

Alien_Friend - Thanks . Unfortunately, they won't have a whole weekend together though - Max's filming was only delayed by a few hours, so he'll have to leave sometime on Saturday morning .

Natalie36 - Thanks .

katydid - Thanks . Yeah, they will have to talk... but how will they work things so they can be together?

Author's Note: So, I've decided that the current parts are way too short, so I'm combining part 3 and part 4 into just one part today .

***

Part Three

Max yawned, rubbing one hand over his face as he pried open his eyes and came face to face with Liz, who was sleeping peacefully at his side. He smiled softly as he took in her lovely features and, careful not to disturb her, he reached out his fingers and stroked the soft skin of her warm cheek.

“Mmm,” she moaned, turning her face slightly to nuzzle his hand as her eyes fluttered open.

“Morning,” he greeted, getting lost in her dark, sleep-filled eyes.

“Hmm, morning,” she mumbled, shifting her body closer to his and meeting his lips in a kiss.

“Sleep well?” he asked when they parted.

“Definitely. You?”

“Like a log,” his eyes twinkled as he waited for her reply.

“Real or chocolate?” she grinned, repeating the words she’d used that morning at New Years. He chuckled.

“Come here, you,” he announced suddenly, pulling her into his arms and kissing her deeply.

He rolled them so she was lying beneath him and gazed down at her for a moment, taking her in, before giving into temptation and ravaging her passionately.

Thirty minutes later, they lay side by side on their backs, thoroughly satisfied from an energetic round of early-morning lovemaking.

“Wow,” breathed Liz. “That was…”

“Yeah,” agreed Max wholeheartedly.

“I’d better go take a shower,” stated Liz a moment later, as she made a move to sit up. “It’s getting late and we only have a few hours until you have to leave. I want to spend some time with you before you go.”

Max frowned, puzzled, “Well, what exactly are we doing now? This looks like spending time together to me.”

Liz pushed against his shoulder playfully, “I meant quality time, you know, to talk and stuff… without being naked.”

“Fine,” Max shook his head with a smile. “You go shower. I’m gonna try and fix us some breakfast.”

“Okay, great,” she smiled, giving his lips a quick peck before climbing out of bed and walking naked to the bathroom.

Max watched her go before smiling happily to himself and then reluctantly getting out of bed too. He reached for his boxers, which were lying on the floor and pulled them on, before running a hand through his hair and heading towards the kitchen.

However, when he got there, he froze, just standing helplessly in the middle of the small kitchen. Despite several late-night visits to Liz’s flat, he’d never actually spent any of that time preparing food and suddenly the thought of it was daunting. Not only did he not know where anything was kept, but also he vaguely remembered from staying with the Parkers’ at Christmas, that the cooking utensils, measuring quantities and even the food itself was slightly different here.

After a few moments of contemplating his options, he eventually decided to just open and close cupboard doors until he found something he could use. However, just as he’d finally managed to locate a frying pan, spatula and a jug and had discovered where the eggs and milk were in the fridge, the sound of the doorbell interrupted him. He glanced quickly towards the bathroom door, but he could still hear the water running. Liz was still in the shower, so what should he do? Did he open the door to whoever it was or did he just leave it and hope they went away. The decision was made for him, however, when a female voice shouted through the door.

“Oi, Liz are you in there or what? Come on, open up!”

Looking toward the bathroom once more, Max decided that he’d better just answer the door. He had a feeling that this woman wasn’t going to give up and leave that easily. He made his way to the door, briefly looking down at his attire of only boxer shorts in embarrassment, before turning the handle and opening it.

“Well, it’s about time, Lizzie,” huffed an annoyed voice as a small, blonde woman bustled into the flat. “What’s with you today? I’ve been standing out there for – Oh My Lord!”

Max clocked the exact second that she noticed him standing there instead of Liz.

“Um, hi?” he greeted sheepishly, but the woman simply stood there in front of him, her mouth hanging open in shock.

“Liz?” she called frantically a moment later. “Liz? Liz?!!”

The door of the bathroom suddenly opened and Liz appeared, a large, fluffy towel wrapped around her body, her wet hair draped around her shoulders and a smaller towel in her hand.

“What? What is it?” she asked quickly, stopping suddenly as she took in the scene before her: Max standing in the middle of the room in nothing but boxers and her friend Maria a few feet away looking completely shell-shocked as her eyes shifted between Max and Liz. “Maria, hi. What are you doing here? And how did you get up here?”

“Wh-what am I doing here?” she stuttered. “Lizzie, I thought we had plans for this morning? And for your information, one of your neighbours held the door open for me.”

Max watched, as Liz looked first at the girl called Maria, then at him and then down to the floor guiltily.

“Maria, I’m so sorry,” she apologised. “Something came up,” her eyes slid to him again and he had to suppress a smirk. “And our plans completely slipped my mind.”

“Something came up, huh?” Maria raised an eyebrow and Max looked down self-consciously as she eyed him speculatively. “I bet I can guess what that was.”

“Look, it wasn’t Max’s fault, it was mine, okay? I’m sorry,” Liz apologised again.

“Max?” wondered Maria as she looked at him again. “So it is you? Max Evans, the film star, right?”

“Um, yeah,” Max crossed his arms over his chest, feeling rather exposed. “That’s me.”

He sighed in relief when he spotted his discarded T-shirt from last night lying on the floor and quickly reached down and grabbed it, slipping it over his head.

Maria nodded faintly, “So, tell me, Liz, how exactly is it possible that Max Evans himself could be half-naked in your flat on a Saturday morning?”

“Well, I, um…” Liz started uncomfortably.

“Wait,” interrupted Maria, “is this the reason you’ve been all secretive about your love life the last few weeks? Because your new boyfriend is a Hollywood star?”

Liz shrugged sheepishly.

Maria was silent for a moment, before, “Wow, this is so unreal.”

Liz glanced at Max and gave him a smile, which he returned, “Yeah.”

“I’m Maria Deluca, by the way,” she held out her hand to him. “Nice to meet you.”

“Max Evans,” he confirmed, reaching out to shake her hand.

“Hey, what’s taking you ladies so fucking long?” came another voice from outside the door, a male voice this time, an American one in fact. “I’m parked on double yellows down there.”

“Just a minute, okay?” Maria snapped at the door, but the guy was already inside.

“I swear to God, Maria–” he started, but stopped as soon as he saw Max.

Max himself was surprised at the guy’s sudden appearance, but as he got a better look at him, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.

The other guy just stood there for a moment, staring at him, before a smirk appeared on his lips and he nodded, “Well, well, well, if it isn’t Max ‘Movie Star’ Evans himself! What the hell are you doing here?”

Max’s own lips curled up into a smile, “Michael Guerin, long time, no see. I could ask you the same thing.”

“Man, it’s been a long time,” agreed Michael, as he approached Max and they gave each other a manly hug and pat on the back. “I hear you’re making the big bucks these days.”

Max opened his mouth to reply, but Maria beat him to it.

“Hang on a minute, what the hell is going on here? You two know each other?”

“I was wondering the same thing,” spoke up Liz from across the room.

Michael stepped back and grinned at Max, who took it upon himself to explain.

“Michael and I grew up together back home in Roswell. He, Isabel Ramirez and I were close friends, but we lost touch after high school, when Isabel and I moved out to LA,” he revealed. He looked to Michael, “Never thought I’d see you again, man, but here you are in London – this is insane.”

Michael shook his head, “Not as insane as you turning up half-naked in my girlfriend’s best friend’s flat, thousands of miles from your home. Care to explain that one?”

Max shrugged, “I’m in London because I’m making a movie here.”

“Okay,” Michael nodded, “but that doesn’t explain the part where you’re apparently sleeping with Liz.”

“Do you remember the British couple who lived opposite my house in Roswell when we were kids?” he began

Michael thought for a moment, “Yeah, I do, but what does that have to do with Liz?”

“That couple was Mr and Mrs Parker – they’re Liz’s parents.”

“Really?” murmured Michael, glancing over at Liz for a moment.

“They moved back home to England when we were five, but my mom stayed in touch with Liz’s mom over the years and when they found out I’d be in the UK, the Parkers’ invited me to stay with them for Christmas. Liz and I met there… and well, we’ve been seeing each other for a few weeks.”

“Okay,” Michael took this in, before finally giving Max a nod and a smile. “Wow, that’s cool, man.”

He and Michael spent the next few minutes catching up on life and exchanging phone numbers, until Maria cleared her throat and suggested that they ought to make a move. However, Max realised then that there were only a couple of hours left until he had to leave for the film set and so had to decline Maria’s offer for him to join them for the day. He was pleased though, when Liz also declined in favour of spending the time with him, leaving Michael and Maria to spend the day together instead.

Once they had left, Liz went to get dressed, while Max re-attempted his breakfast effort and they spent the rest of the morning curled up together on the couch and catching up on the various happenings in their lives, before Max had to leave to get back to the film set.

***

Liz sighed with pleasure as Max made his way down her body, showering the delicate skin of her stomach with gentle kisses. His fingers dug into her hips, holding her steady beneath him when his mouth reached her most sensitive spot. She gasped, clutching his thick hair between her fingers as his tongue briefly darted out to tease her clit once, twice, before taking it into his mouth and sucking gently.

“Oh, God,” she moaned, as she felt her stomach muscles contract in response to his ministrations. “Don’t stop.”

Her eyes slid closed and her head fell back against the pillows, her back arching, as his oh-so-talented tongue brought her to orgasm over and over until she collapsed back down onto the mattress in exhaustion, her breathing laboured.

“Oh. My. God,” she managed breathily, her eyes still closed. Opening them would have taken too much effort.

She heard Max chuckle from his position between her legs, his breath was warm on her thigh, sending tingles through her whole body. He pressed a gentle kiss to her stomach, just below her belly button, before moving back up her body. He nuzzled her neck before capturing her lips in a long, languid kiss as he settled his hips between her thighs, his arousal pressing against her intimately, the position causing her hips to buck as he brushed her clit.

“Make love to me, Max,” she whispered, folding her arms around his neck, allowing their upper bodies to come into intimate contact.

“My pleasure, beautiful,” he returned with a soft smile.

Liz sighed as he eased himself into her slowly, the friction causing them both to gasp with pleasure. The tension began to mount once more as Max began moving inside her and she could feel yet another orgasm approaching…

“Oi, Liz, have you been listening to a word I’ve been saying?” came an annoyed voice from her left, snapping Liz out of her daydream.

“What?” her head shot up in surprise. “Oh, sorry, Steve,” she apologised to her co-worker, who was currently standing beside her desk, a cup of coffee in his right hand and a frown on his face. “Did you want something?”

“Liz, I’ve been trying to discuss this month’s issue with you for the last ten minutes, but you don’t seem to have heard a word of it,” he sighed. “What is the matter with you lately? You’ve been distracted for weeks.”

“Have I?” asked Liz. She frowned, she knew she’d been spending a lot of time thinking about Max the last few weeks, but she hadn’t realised that anyone else had noticed her distraction. “I’m really sorry. It’s just… there’s a lot of stuff going on at the moment – I’ve had a lot on my mind.”

Steve shook his head with a small smile, “It’s okay, Liz. We all get distracted sometimes when we’re in love.”

“What–?” wondered Liz, her head snapping towards him once more, but he was already halfway across the room.

Had she heard him right? She was in love? No, no, she couldn’t be, not yet at least. She’d only known Max for a few weeks; surely that wasn’t enough time to fall in love.

Right?

***

Two hours later, Liz popped down to Pret à Manger to buy a baguette and a chocolate chip muffin for lunch, stopping quickly in the newsagents across the road to pick up the latest issue of Closer magazine before heading back up to the office. Usually she would meet Maria for lunch, but her friend was on a training day in Manchester today and wasn’t available, so Liz decided to eat at her desk today instead.

She flicked through the pages of her favourite celebrity gossip magazine as she tucked into her baguette, but as she did so, she wondered what Max would think about her reading it, especially when he knew firsthand how everything got blown out of proportion in magazines such as these. After all, she’d read many a story about him in the past and until she’d actually met him, had almost believed them to be true. The thing was, no matter how much she knew that gossip magazines were just that: gossip, she just couldn’t bring herself to stop buying them each week. It was like an addiction.

She turned the page to an exclusive entitled, ‘The truth about Katie and Peter’s marriage’ and although she wasn’t particularly a fan of Katie Price, aka ‘Jordan’, nor of Peter Andre, she couldn’t help but read the article. Halfway through, though, her desk phone rang.

“’Lo?” she answered distractedly, her attention still drawn to the words on the page.

“Hey, it’s me,” came a smooth tone across the line.

“Max?” questioned Liz, taking a quick glance around the office to make sure no one was around; luckily everyone else had already left for lunch, leaving her alone in the room. “What’s going on? I thought you had a busy schedule this week?”

There was a slight pause, “Yeah, actually that’s kind of what I’m calling about…”

“What’s wrong?” she asked, absentmindedly flicking to the next page in the magazine and scanning the content. Her eyes widened and a smile crossed her lips as she read one of the small paragraphs there. “Oh, hey, I didn’t know you shopped at Ann Summers… Max, is there something you’re not telling me?”

“What?” he questioned, clearly confused. “Liz, what are you talking about?”

“It’s right here in my magazine, on the Celebrity Sightings page,” she explained, biting her lip in amusement. “Listen, ‘Max Evans, of ‘Blue Murder’ fame, spotted exiting Ann Summers on Oxford Street with a bag of purchases. Is he getting in on some British action while filming on location in London?’ So come on, spill; what were you buying?”

There was another pause, “Oh, um, nothing.”

“Nothing? Max, you don’t buy ‘nothing’ in a lingerie-slash-adult-entertainment shop,” Liz chuckled, enjoying embarrassing him. “Come on, ‘fess up.”

“Aww, come on, Liz, don’t make me say it, it was supposed to be a surprise.”

“A surprise? For me?” she perked up.

“No, for the Queen of England,” he deadpanned, “of course for you.”

“Oh, well, in that case, I’ll let it slide for now. But all I can say is that this surprise better be worth it.”

“Oh, it will be,” he practically purred down the phone.

“I can’t wait,” she murmured, her mind suddenly spinning with the possibilities.

“Speaking of waiting…” he spoke up then, his tone more serious now. “It might be a while before I can give you your surprise; I have some bad news.”

“Oh?” questioned Liz faintly, fearing the worst.

“Yeah, here’s the thing: I have to go on location outside London for a while, which means I won’t be able to see you again until we’re finished there.”

“Ok-ay,” Liz let that sink in. “And how long is ‘a while’ exactly?”

“Two weeks, maybe longer,” he admitted softly.

“Two weeks?” her face fell. “Really?”

“I’m afraid so,” he told her. “And from what I’ve seen of the filming schedule, it’s going to be very busy and gruelling. I don’t think I’m going to have any free time to see you.”

Inside, Liz’s heart sank, but she put on a brave face, “Okay, well I guess I’m just gonna have to be patient for a couple of weeks then.”

“I really am sorry,” he apologised. “I know this isn’t the best, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Liz forced a smile. “I’m sure I can wait a couple of weeks. And you never know, maybe once or twice you’ll be able to sneak out for a few hours to see me.”

“Maybe, but I doubt it though,” he sighed regretfully, “We’ll be filming somewhere in Yorkshire, I think.”

“Yorkshire?” Liz’s face fell once more. “Oh, well, I guess a quick tryst in your filming breaks is definitely out then.”

Talk about unfair, she sighed inwardly, Yorkshire was up north, at least three hours’ drive from London, maybe more. It was hard enough trying to find time to spend with Max when he was only a few miles away, but it was going to be impossible with him on the other side of the country for the next two weeks.

On the other end, Max chuckled, “Yeah, I guess it is. But I promise, when I get back to London, we’ll more than make up for all that time apart.”

“What about before you leave?” wondering Liz hopefully. “We’ll see each other before you go on location, right?”

“Yeah, um…” Max murmured uncertainly, “honestly, I’m not sure, Liz. We leave on Friday morning and the director’s hell-bent on getting several scenes wrapped up before then. I’m gonna do what I can to see you again this week, but I can’t guarantee anything, okay?”

“Sure, okay,” muttered Liz in disappointment. “Well, if I’m not gonna see you before you go, I’d better wish you good luck now. So, good luck on location, Max.”

“Thanks,” he replied warmly. “Look I’d better go now, but I’ll see what I can do about getting together this week and I promise I’ll call you whenever I can while I’m away, okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed reluctantly. “Bye, Max.”

Liz exhaled slowly as she replaced the phone on the receiver, staring at it for a moment as she took in Max’s news properly. God, what was happening to her, she wondered? Less than two months ago she was free and single and enjoying life without the ties of a relationship and now… now just the prospect of spending two whole weeks apart from Max Evans was almost too horrid to think about.

Maybe Steve really had been right earlier. Maybe she was falling in love with Max?

TBC…

[Heavenli24]

Hey, everyone, thank you for your feedback :

begonia9508 - Thanks .

If she wants to have a serious relationship with Max, she should really think about what it means to have a boyfriend who is a wellknown actor bc it's like what her future is going to look like!
But hey, she will have plenty of times to make her work collegue happy!!

Lol - yeah, it's not going to be easy being in a relationship with Max, especially when he has to return to LA again soon .

abbs007 - Thanks .

Lairabehr4 - Thanks, hon .

sarammlover - Thanks . Yeah, let's hope they can manage to be together without too many obstacles in their way.

Alien_Friend - Thanks . Yeah, it's gotta be hard on them, but they definitely make the most of their time together .

Natalie36 - Thanks . It may be, but we'll have to see.

Alysluv - Thanks .

mary mary - Thanks .

katydid - Thanks . Yeah, Max has a busy schedule , but he's still trying to make things work with Liz.

Now Maria may end up being an issue...

In what way are you thinking? (just curious)

elci - Thanks for the bump .


Author's Note: Sorry the update is so late today - I was going to post before I left for work this morning, but by the time I remembered it, I only had 10 minutes left before I needed to leave the house!


***


Part Four

“Good work today, Evans,” congratulated Jacob Nicholson, patting Max on the back as he walked past him and headed towards the makeshift car park at the edge of the field they were standing in.

“Thanks. You too,” he told his British co-star with a tired smile.

They had just finished a long day of on-location shooting out in practically the middle of nowhere and Max was exhausted. It was times like this, when he had to stand out in the cold and rain for hours on end, trying desperately to get that one take right, that he wished he had a normal job… one he could do indoors, where there was heat and comfortable chairs and coffee. As he climbed into the large minibus that would take them back to their temporary accommodations in a small village a few miles away, he sighed, suddenly longing for the warm sunshine and blue sky of California… a far cry from the dismal, windy, cold climate of England in February.

He spent the journey back to the small hotel staring out of the bus window, trying to view the passing countryside as beautiful and quaint, but failing miserably, unable to find much pleasure in anything today. They finally pulled up outside the hotel and he relaxed a little, wanting nothing more than to curl up in bed and make a certain phone call. However, his co-stars had other ideas and instead dragged him into the small pub across the road for a hot meal and a few beers around the fireplace. The slightly rude banter and joking atmosphere of his mostly British colleagues cheered him up a little, although he only managed a half-hearted contribution to the conversation and after a couple of pints, he made his excuses and headed back to the hotel.

Once in the sanctity of his room, he exhaled loudly, closing his eyes as he leaned back against the closed door. His head was spinning slightly, a mixture of tiredness and the two beers he’d consumed at the pub. He’d learned quickly that British beer was generally stronger than the American stuff and it only really took one or two pints before the alcohol began to affect him.

He shook his head and moved away from the door, pulling his cell phone from his pocket and flopping back onto the bed. He flipped open the phone and scrolled down until he found Liz’s number. He pressed the ‘call’ button and held it to his ear.

“Hello?” came her distracted voice after a couple of rings.

“Hey, it’s me,” he greeted softly.

“Max, hey!” her tone brightened considerably. “It’s good to hear your voice.”

Max’s expression turned apologetic as he spoke into the phone, “Yeah, sorry, I’ve barely had a free moment all week; my schedule is terrible right now.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” he sighed, “I’ve been working eighteen-hour days… I’ve hardly had any time to sleep, let alone do anything else.”

“You poor thing,” her gentle tone was soothing and it made him smile. “What on Earth can I do to help you relax?” she wondered, her tone suggestive. “You wanna know what I’m wearing?”

Max wanted nothing more than to indulge her, but he was so tired he didn’t think he’d be able to stay awake much longer… not to mention the fact that he had to be up at five a.m. for another long, gruelling day of work. He didn’t know how his co-stars managed it; staying up drinking until all hours and then working on set all the next day.

“As much as I’d love to know what you are – or maybe aren’t – wearing right now, I’m totally exhausted, Liz. I’m sorry,” he told her regretfully.

“Oh… well, okay.”

He could hear the disappointment in her tone and immediately felt bad. They’d barely gotten the chance to talk to each other in the last week and now, when he did have a free moment call her, he was too tired to make the most of it.

“I really am sorry,” he apologised again. “I wish I could do this with you now, but I think I might fall asleep on you and I wanna be totally awake when we’re, er… talking.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” she told him and he could hear the smile in her tone. “Get some sleep; we’ll talk soon, okay?”

“Okay,” he murmured gratefully, his guilt easing a little at hearing her understanding tone. “Thank you.”

They spoke for a few more minutes, before saying their goodbyes. As Max hung up the phone, he made a determined decision: as soon as possible, he was gonna persuade the director to give him some time off and then he was going to spend some quality time with Liz.

***

Liz sighed as she returned the phone to its hook and let her head fall back against her pillows; she understood that Max was tired, she really did, but it had been days since they’d spoken and even longer since they’d spent time together – Max hadn’t been able to get away to see her before he’d left for Yorkshire after all – and she had been excited when he called tonight. Not for the first time in the last few weeks, she wondered if she and Max would ever be able to have a ‘normal’ relationship.

She turned over in the bed, cradling her cheek on one hand and bringing the other up beneath her chin. She closed her eyes in an attempt to get to sleep, but thoughts of Max kept invading her mind. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop remembering the time they’d spent together over Christmas; how good it had felt to be in his arms, how she’d thought she’d finally found the one person she was meant to be with, how she’d fallen for this wonderful man. Yet somehow, now that the holiday season was over and she’d returned to normal life, she was having doubts. After all, who in the hell met a Hollywood star, fell in love with them and lived happily ever after? Come on, this was real life, not some movie.

She closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep, but thoughts of Max kept floating round and round in her mind, not allowing her to relax. As sure as she was that she and Max would have trouble maintaining their relationship, she was also as sure as anything that she didn’t want it to end. As she began to drift off, she made a conscious decision; if Max couldn’t come down to London to see her for a while, she would see what she could do about paying a surprise visit to certain little hotel in the Yorkshire countryside in the next few days.

***

Three days later, Max was still having a terrible time; everything was just going wrong he had no idea why. This morning it had taken him seventeen takes just to get one quick, two-minute scene right and he’d spent all afternoon forgetting his lines and then dropping his props at the most inopportune moments. Maybe it was this horrible, damp, cold weather that had him off-kilter at the moment; or maybe it was being stuck out in the middle of nowhere with no one to talk to but his colleagues… or maybe it was because he hadn’t seen Liz in almost two weeks, hadn’t been able to touch her soft, warm skin, hadn’t been able lose himself in her perfect body… God, he missed her. More than he’d ever thought he could miss someone.

“Okay, that’s a wrap,” called the director tiredly after Max dropped his prop cell phone for the fifth time in a row. “Good work today, people.”

Max sighed with relief as the other actors began gathering their belongings and the film crew starting packing up the equipment. He didn’t think he could handle any more today… he just wanted to take a nice hot shower and sink into a warm, cosy bed for some much-needed rest.

“Oh and Max?” added the director just as Max was about to leave the set. “I don’t know what’s going on with you right now, but we can’t carry on like this much longer, okay? We’ve got a schedule to stick to and we can’t keep doing take after take on every scene because your concentration is off.”

Max forced a smile, inwardly knowing that his work standard the last couple of days had been unacceptable.

“Sure thing. Won’t happen again.”

The director nodded seriously, before softening his gaze slightly, “Look, Evans, just go home, get a good night’s sleep and come back to set tomorrow fresh and alert, okay? You got that?”

“Fresh and alert,” Max gave a nod of agreement. “Got it.”

His response was a knowing smile and a nod towards the van waiting for him a few feet away, “They’re about to go without you.”

Max quickly grabbed his things and headed for the transportation that would return the cast back to the hotel. Their accommodation wasn’t all that far away, but for some reason tonight’s journey seemed to take forever and Max spent the majority of the drive slouched in his seat with his eyes closed and head back against the headrest as he attempted to figure out a way to get out of the depressed funk he was in. Unfortunately, all his thoughts kept returning to a certain petite brunette who he couldn’t seem to get out of his mind. She was the answer to his problem; he knew deep down that if he could just see her, even maybe spend some time with her, everything would suddenly be so much better. But alas she was currently more than three hours away in London and there was no chance of that happening until they’d finished the location filming.

God, it had been too long since he had held her in his arms. Too long since he’d kisses her soft, supple mouth and held her naked body against his own as he make her come over and over again… just the thought of what he would do to her if she appeared before him right now caused his body to react and it was with an embarrassed shuffle that he realised where he was and quickly covered his lap with his jacket.

Man, he really needed to get laid.

No, not get laid… that was too crude a term to describe what he and Liz did. No, they made love. Yes, it sounded cheesy, but in all honesty there was no other way to describe it. And if he really was being honest, he would have to admit that there was a very real possibility that he was falling in love with her, with Liz Parker. They might have only known each other for a couple of months, but he’d known she was something special from the moment he’d laid eyes on her at Christmas and now, as time went on, he was finding himself thinking about her more and more.

However, there was just one tiny, niggling thought at the back of his mind; one he’d been trying to ignore for the past few weeks in favour of pretending to be blissfully ignorant. He was only here in England temporarily; his work visa was only valid for the duration of his filming schedule… and that was due to finish in a few weeks. He barely even had a month left to spend time with Liz and as soon as filming was done, he had to return to LA. With a soft sigh, he opened his eyes to look out of the window into the darkness of night.

What on Earth were they going to do then?

TBC…

[Heavenli24]

Hey everyone, thank you for your feedback :

sarammlover - Thanks .

so sad for those two. Will they ever get any time. I wonder what they will do at the end of the shoot....will Max stay? Probably not. Will Liz go with Max? Doubtful....how will you EVER get them out of this pickle?

Yeah, at the moment things do seem impossible for them, but let's hope they can make things work .

Lairabehr4 - Thanks .

Alien_Friend - Thanks .

Gosh, yes what will they do then. It sucks when life doesn't accommodate your feelings. I hope they find away to push through.

It's tough for them, but I think they can work it out (let's hope so anyway) .

Max is sweet. At least we know he means well but I get where Liz is coming from. It's hard to know how much of yourself to invest on uncertainty. But I admire their determination to make the best of the moments they have when they can. I think that's really cool.

Yeah, all they can really do right now is make the most of things. For Max, he's just met this incredible woman and even though they have so many obstacles ahead, he's not willing to let her go . Liz is understandably more uncertain because of who Max is, but at the same time she's hoping that they can keep their relationship going despite his celebrity status.

mary mary - Thanks .

keepsmiling7 - Thanks .


Author's Note: Next week's update will be on Wednesday night instead of Thursday, because I'm going to London on Thursday and will be out from 5 a.m. until about 11 p.m. that day (no time to update)!

***

Part Five

Max let out a sigh of relief when they finally pulled up outside the hotel. Without wasting a second he climbed out of the van and headed straight for the entrance of the quaint building. He vaguely heard his co-star, Jacob, call out to him about why he wasn’t joining them in the pub tonight, but he was too tired and frustrated to explain, so he just mumbled a quick sorry and told his friend that he was having an early night.

As he entered the hotel, he nodded to the receptionist, who gave him a twinkling smile and greeted him cheerfully.

“Good evening, Mr. Evans,” she beamed as he walked past with a quick smile and a nod. “Have a lovely night.”

He briefly frowned in puzzlement at her unusually friendly greeting, but simply smiled and nodded, “Thank you, I will.”

Still slightly confused about the receptionist’s strange reaction to him, he made his way upstairs to his room and pulled out the key. Unlocking it quickly, he pushed open the door and slipped into the room, turning to lock the door behind him. He was so focused on turning the key in the lock that he failed to notice that the bedside lamps had been turned on, giving the room a romantic atmosphere.

“Hey.”

The soft voice that came from behind startled him and he jumped, whipping round with a sharp intake of breath to find that he wasn’t alone. His mouth fell open as he took in the scene before him; right there on his bed, looking positively dangerous clad in a tight black and red corset, matching lacy underwear and garters, was Liz.

“W-what…?” he couldn’t get his mouth to form coherent words.

But she just grinned and raised herself up onto her knees in the middle of the bed, “Miss me?”

“Liz…” he breathed in wonderment, his eyes raking over her perfect form as he began moving towards her. “What are you doing here?”

“Well,” she began airily, reaching out to run her fingers over his shirt as he came to a stop in front of her. “I was missing you and I knew you weren’t having the best time out here, so I decided to pay you a surprise visit.”

She bit her lip as she looked up at him from under her lashes. It made her look very seductive and he felt his body react accordingly.

“You like?”

“Oh, yeah,” he murmured, letting his eyes drop to her rather delectable breasts encased in barely-there fabric as his hands came up to rest on her hips. “Very much.”

“I’m glad,” she replied with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

Max swallowed harshly as he took her in more completely. He couldn’t believe she was really here, in front of him, dressed in the most alluring outfit he’d ever seen. He felt a tightening in his chest as he gazed down into her eyes and he couldn’t help the grin that tugged at his mouth as she lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck. Her fingers tangled in his hair as she leaned in closer and took his lips in a breathtakingly passionate kiss.

“God,” he mumbled against her mouth as they embraced. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you too,” she replied, her voice barely above a whisper as she began kissing him more thoroughly now.

“Liz,” he breathed, tightening his arms around her back as he lost himself in her.

They fell back against the bed, locked in each other’s arms as they made up for lost time. Max let his hands wander and was just about to run his fingers across the exposed skin of her breast when a sudden thought occurred to him and he stopped, moving to support his upper body on his arms and lifting his head to look down into her flushed face.

“How did you get here?”

She gave a small frown of puzzlement, before her features softened and she gave him a grin, “Well, they have these new-fangled contraptions called trains, which travel across the country and allow you to get from one town to another–”

“I didn’t mean that,” he interrupted with a roll of his eyes and a chuckle. “I meant, how did you get here… to my room? They don’t just let anyone in, you know; and when you’re as famous as I am, they have to be careful.”

“‘As famous as you are’?” she teased, raising an eyebrow. “Not that you have an ego or anything.”

“You know what I mean,” he tutted good-naturedly. “You could have been anyone; a fan… or even a stalker… so how did you manage to persuade the hotel to give you the key to my room?”

“Well…” she grinned impishly. “It turns out that one of my colleagues knows a friend of a friend who happens to know your director, so I pulled some strings, got on the phone with him, and managed to persuade him to get me in.”

His eyes widened in amusement, “You did what?”

“I know,” she nodded. “I didn’t think it would work either, but apparently the director thought you were in need of some serious TLC and was eager to comply.”

Max rolled his eyes as he thought back to the conversation he’d had with the man just before he’d left the set this evening. Of course, he’d known all along about Liz being here waiting for him.

“Well then, in that case, remind me to thank him tomorrow,” he murmured as his eyes locked with hers and he lowered his lips to hers once more, capturing them in a hungry kiss.

“I will,” breathed Liz, her head falling back against the pillows as he moved his lips lower, nibbling along her jaw.

“But right now,” he added between soft kisses, “I’m going to make love to you… all… night… long.”

***

“Hmm,” mused Liz sleepily as she curled into Max’s warm, sweaty, naked body several hours later. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” he wondered, amusement colouring his tone while his fingers traced smooth patterns along the back of her neck.

“Okay, then, I can’t decide,” she amended, looking up at him with a small smile.

His brow furrowed, “What’s to decide? Either you like it or you don’t.”

“Well, sometimes I like it and sometimes I don’t.”

“Huh,” he was getting confused now.

“It’s all about the texture, you see,” she explained patiently, lifting her head to shoot him a smile. “I only like it if it’s soft, springy and moist.”

“Right, okay.” he gave a warm chuckle, tugging her closer into his body. “You know, it’s a good thing we’re talking about cake here, because I’m not sure I want to know what else you might like soft, springy and moist.”

“Oh, shut up!” she pulled a face and nudged him with her hip.

“Sorry,” he shrugged with a grin.

“How did we get onto this topic of conversation anyway?” she wondered, adjusting her body so that she was almost on top of him as she slipped her leg between his.

He looked towards the ceiling, deep in thought, “Hmm, I can’t remember now.”

“Well, maybe…” she leaned up to press her lips against his warm neck, “… we should stop talking…” she trailed kisses down over his collarbone, “… and turn our attention to the more pressing issue at hand.”

She let her fingers drift across his stomach and then lower still…

“Yeah… I think… we should,” his reaction was punctuated by a sharp intake of breath.

He grasped at her hips with his hands, lifting her fully atop him and she eagerly complied, letting her legs fall either side of his hips as she braced her hands on the pillow beside his head.

“So,” she leaned down to kiss his lips. “What time do you have to be up in the morning?”

“Early,” he muttered distractedly as his hands roamed her naked body. “Very early actually.”

“Like, how early exactly?”

She was rocking her hips against him now and he fought to retain control as he took a quick glance at the clock.

“Like in four hours.”

“Oh,” she pulled back and frowned down at him for a moment, before shrugging nonchalantly. “Well, um, you weren’t planning on getting any sleep tonight, right?”

“Um, well…”

“’Cause,” she continued casually, “what I have planned for you will definitely take up the best part of the next four hours.”

He gulped audibly, “It will?”

“Well, you know… if you don’t wanna, then we could always–” she started to climb off him, but he stopped her with his hand on her arm.

“No, no, I definitely wanna,” he insisted, pulling her back down again. “The others will just have to deal with a sleep-deprived Max on set tomorrow.”

“See, I knew you’d agree,” she murmured smugly, settling her body fully against his once more. “You just can’t resist me.”

“Is that right, huh?” Max smirked, tightening his grip on her hips and pulling her lower body even closer.

“Yep,” she raised an eyebrow and rolled her hips against him.

“Okay, you know what,” he murmured suddenly. “You’re right, I can’t resist you… in fact, you make me so hot I can barely control myself right now.”

Without warning, he flipped her over onto her back and pinned her to the bed with his body.

“Max…” she gasped in surprise at their sudden change in position.

“These last two weeks have been almost unbearable without you,” he murmured, showering her soft, smooth skin with eager kisses. “And now that I have you here, I intend to make the absolute most of you.”

Liz’s eyes drifted closed and a small contended moan escaped her lips as he slid inside her welcoming body once more. Her breathing quickened and her lips parted as they began to move together in a delicious rhythm that she just couldn’t get enough of.

Suddenly, all the worry and uncertainty about the future of their relationship seemed completely unimportant and totally irrelevant; all that mattered was that she’d never felt more happy, and things had never felt more right, than when she was in Max Evans’ arms. Los Angeles, London and Hollywood fame be damned, she was going to do everything in her power to make this work.

TBC…

[Heavenli24]

Hey everyone, thank you for your feedback :

begonia9508 - Thanks .

I know that it won't be easy to have a relationship so far away but if they really want it, they are going to work something to stay together!

Yeah, they're not going to give up without a fight .

Loved what Liz did to be one night with Max! Even if he did not sleep a lot he must feel really better now.... he was missing Liz too much...

Lol - yeah, Liz was determined to see him, but I think Max can get over the lack of sleep .

katydid - Thanks .

Wow, the both of them need each other to function! That kind of happens in the early stages of a relationship. Later on you can spend some time apart without worry. Lovely update by the way.

Yeah - they spend so little time together as it is that they have to make the most of every moment they can .

As for Maria, without meaning to, I see her having discussions about Max out in the open. Truthfully the US trashy magazines are relentless, but the UK rags are sometimes far worse.

I don't know - I think Maria might be okay... after all, Liz is her close friend and Michael knows Max well too, so maybe she'll be discreet about it . You're right about the UK tabloids/mags being worse though... they can be terrible with speculation and gossip.

Now, I'm thinking their families will have to find out about their relationship, and I think the families could really be the clincher in 'making it work.' Sorry, had to be done! The families pretty much got them together in the first place, and Liz' has lived in the US.

Lol - yeah I think you could be right. Obviously Diane and Nancy were already plotting to get them together, so I doubt there will be much of an issue with their families .

Of course, unlike other people, I no longer jump at the chance to move to LA (a while back I would have). I like LA, but I no longer have a desire to live there permanently, I'm an East Coast girl.

I've visited LA twice and I really enjoyed it, but I'm not sure I could live there though (unfortunately, the only time I've been on the East Coast was 4 days in NYC for my 21st birthday).

POM - Thanks .

Great couple of chapters...Max will be sleep deprived but he might get his lines right...cuz at least he got what he wanted the most... Liz. <333 I love this story!!

Yeah, I think Max's day might go a little better now .

sarammlover -

So hot! They make me tingly!! I am glad they are going to make this work...some how some way!

- they will make this work... somehow!

Alien_Friend -

I love the chemistry they have together!! It's awesome!!!

Thanks .

Liz is great. I love how she is so adventures and take charge. She knows how to get what she wants. It's cool.

It actually wasn't intentional that Liz is like that - it just happened as I was writing, lol.

I can't wait to see how they work things out. They seem like they are on the right track.

Yeah, they're going to do what they can to stay together.

Looking forward that earlier update! Hope you have a good trip.

Here you go... I hope the trip goes well too, but it's going to be a long day - my train leaves at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning, so I'm gonna have to get up really early!


***

Part Six

“Ugh, turn the light off,” mumbled Liz in annoyance as she turned over in the bed, burying her face in the pillows to block out the bright light coming from the ceiling.

“Sorry.”

There was some shuffling, followed by a click as the bedside lamp was turned on and then the bed dipped as Max sat down on the edge.

She felt his warm hand rest on her bare shoulder for a moment and then electricity raced down her spine as his lips found her neck.

“Is that better?” he murmured against her skin,

“Mmm, yeah, definitely,” she purred, keeping her eyes closed and turning her head to the side as she savoured his kisses.

He pulled back slightly and gave a soft chuckle, “I meant the light situation.”

“Huh?” she carefully pried open her eyes and was relieved to find that the ceiling light had been switched off and had been replaced with softer light from the bedside table. “Oh, yeah. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“What are you doing up this early?” she asked a moment later, taking in his jeans and bare chest. “Come back to bed.”

“I can’t, remember?” he replied, amused. “I told you I had to get up early for work.”

“No, you didn’t,” she denied unconvincingly, snuggling further under the warm covers. “I think I would have remembered that.”

“Well,” he breathed, lowering his mouth to her neck once more as his hand crept under the duvet to caress her naked back. “You were otherwise occupied at the time, so I wouldn’t blame you for not remembering.”

“Oh, yeah,” she muttered, her skin tingling from his touch. “That’s right.”

He grinned against her skin and placed a kiss just behind her ear before moving off the bed.

“Hey, I was enjoying that,” Liz frowned and sat up, holding the sheets to her chest.

“I’m sorry,” apologised Max, looking genuinely regretful as he reached for a clean T-shirt and pulled it over his head. “I really have to go… the bus leaves for the set in a few minutes.”

“Oh,” she looked up at him with a playful pout, “but I wanted to spend some time with you.”

“I know,” his face softened. “I want to spend time with you too.”

“I don’t think I planned this out very well at all,” she admitted then. “I have no idea what I’m gonna do with myself all day.”

With a smile, Max held his hand out to her. She took it and, taking the sheets with her, climbed out of the bed to stand before him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

“I think you planned it out very well,” he assured her. “Last night was amazing.”

“It was, wasn’t it?” she grinned, gazing into his eyes and she lifted herself up on tiptoes and gently kissed his lips.

“Hey, I have an idea: why don’t you come with me today?”

“To the set?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “You can hang out in my trailer and watch us filming and stuff.”

“I don’t know, Max…” she murmured uncertainly.

“I’m sure no one will mind,” he added. “And we’d get to spend some time together when I’m not on set.”

“Well, if you’re sure…”

“Of course I’m sure,” he tightened his arms around her and kissed once more. “Go on, get dressed… we have to get going in a minute.”

“Okay, then,” she flashed him a quick smile before stepping back and hurrying to grab some clothes.

***

Ten minutes later, the couple appeared down in the hotel lobby together, much to the surprise of Max’s co-stars who were waiting for them.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” speculated Jacob as Max and Liz approached the small group. “Looks like someone got lucky last night, eh, Evans?”

“Whoa, Max, where did she come from?” added another of his co-stars, a young actor by the name of Tom White, as he raked his eyes over Liz’s jean-clad form appreciatively. “I’d like to get me one of those.”

“Hey!” frowned Max, slipping his arm around Liz’s waist. “Fuck off, she’s not a piece of meat.”
“And ‘she’ can speak for herself, thank you very much,” added Liz, trying not to roll her eyes at the chauvinistic display.

She stepped forward and held out her hand to Jacob who was standing closest, “Hello, I’m Liz, Max’s girlfriend. Very nice to meet you.”

“Oh, um…” Jacob glanced towards Max in slight confusion, before taking the offered hand. “Jacob Nicholson. Nice to meet you too.”

He let go of Liz’s hand and turned to Max with a frown, “Sorry, didn’t know there was a girlfriend in the picture, mate.”

“Well, not many people do,” replied Max. “We’re trying to keep things low-profile.”

“Oh, right… okay,” nodded Jacob, although he continued to look at Liz curiously.

“Liz will be joining us on location today,” announced Max, as the van pulled up outside. He shot his co-stars a glare, which said, ‘try anything funny and you’re dead’. “If that’s okay with everyone else.”

“Oh, yeah, sure.”

“No problem, mate.”

“Fine with me.”

“Great,” Max smiled. “Shall we go?”

As the group of actors headed out of the door to the minibus, Liz hung back a little to speak with Max.

“What was that about?” she questioned impatiently.

“What? They thought you were a hooker!”

She rolled her eyes, “Max, they were just being blokes. Nothing I haven’t heard before from the builders on the street outside my office.”

“Still, that was uncalled for,” he muttered, taking her hand in his as he tried to manoeuvre them towards the door.

“Maybe, but I’m perfectly capable of defending myself.”

“Liz,” he stopped and turned to look at her. “I wasn’t going to let them just stand there and leer at you like that. It’s just not in my nature.”

A smile crept onto Liz’s face, “Well, I suppose that’s not a bad thing.”

“Damn right it’s not,” he agreed emphatically. “My parents raised me right… and I’m not going to apologise for defending my girlfriend’s honour, okay?”

“Okay,” she nodded, humouring him, although inside she couldn’t help a feeling of warmth from rising in her chest in response. “I guess I’ll just have to suck it up and let you defend my honour more often then.”

“Yeah, you will,” he grinned briefly before glancing out of the window at the bus, which was about to drive off without them. “Shit, we’d better go. Come on.”

***

Liz couldn’t help smiling with awe as she watched Max in action later that morning. She was sitting in Max’s personalised chair next to the crew, eagerly taking in the film-set atmosphere. It was strange, she mused, as Max discussed the scene with the director briefly before beginning the next take. When they were alone together, everything seemed so normal… they were just Liz and Max, two ordinary people enjoying each other’s company; but seeing him now, surrounded by cameras, hair and make-up artists, boom mics and crew, she was reminded how different his life really was compared to hers.

She turned her attention away from the actors for a moment to take in her surroundings. As her eyes swept over the set, her eyes suddenly locked with Max’s and he flashed her a grin. Her lips curled up into a smile and she gave a small wave in return. The director called out for everyone to take their positions and with a quick nod in her direction, Max turned his attention back to the scene.

It was another fifteen minutes before the director finally called ‘Cut!’ and everyone broke for lunch. Liz climbed down from Max’s chair and stood to the side while the crew headed over to the food table. However, rather than joining them to get food, Max made a beeline for her, took her hand and, with a smile, pulled her in the direction of his trailer. He held the door open for her and she stepped inside, looking around the large space in awe as he closed and locked the door behind them.

“Welcome to my humble abode,” he announced with a playful grin, guiding her over to the long sofa at the end of the room before sliding onto the cushions and stretching his arms out along the back. “Ahh, just what I need: some relaxation.”

“Yeah, you poor thing… all that standing around all morning must have worn you out,” teased Liz as she slid onto the sofa beside him and rested her head against his shoulder.

“It wasn’t the standing around, darlin’,” he drawled with a smirk. “It was all that sex last night that did it. I barely slept a wink.”

“Damn right,” she nodded firmly in agreement.

He gave a small chuckle and let his arm fall around her, hugging her to him. She looked up to see him shaking his head.

“What?”

“I think I’m rubbing off on you,” he told her. “You’re sounding more American every day.”

Her eyes widened in surprise, “Oh no, am I?”

He laughed again, “It’s not a bad thing. Honestly.”

“Well, no, but I didn’t even realise I was doing it.”

“Come here,” he said then, tightening his arm around her so that her upper body was pressed against his chest and leaning down to kiss her.

Her eyes fluttered closed and she let out a small sigh against his lips as she let herself sink into his warmth. The kiss deepened and she soon found herself lying back against the soft cushions as Max covered her body with his.

“Hmm, aren’t we supposed to be eating lunch right now?” murmured Liz between kisses, her eyes still closed as she focused on the pleasurable sensations floating through her body.

“Yeah,” mumbled Max, nuzzling her neck now. “But who gives a shit?”

“You’re gonna be hungry later,” she warned, although her voice was breathy and soft … and rather unconvincing.

“Really don’t care,” he muttered, his concentration focused on tugging her shirt over her head without breaking contact with her skin.

“Okay, fine,” she smiled, rolling her eyes as she lifted her torso to allow him to rid her of the offending article. “Just starve to death then, see if I care.”

“Fine by me,” he replied distractedly, kissing a trail of nibbling caresses down over her collarbone as his hands fumbled with the zip on her jeans.

He eventually got them open and she shimmied out of the tight denim, settling back down beneath him as she reached for the zip on the black slacks he’d been wearing for filming and pulled it down slowly. With a mischievous smirk, she pushed him away from her and, urging him up into a sitting position, she swung one leg over his lap so that she was straddling him seductively, clad in just her underwear.

“Liz,” murmured Max appreciatively, his eyes roaming across her bra-clad breast as his hands came up to grasp her bottom and pull her close.

“This,” she murmured softly, reaching for the buttons on his shirt, undoing them one by one, “has got to go.”

When she had undone all of the buttons, Max eagerly shrugged out of the cotton shirt and as Liz let her fingers trace the well-defined muscles of his chest, he reached down to free himself from the confines of his trousers. Pulling her underwear to one side, he guided himself to her entrance and she gasped softly as she sunk down onto him.

Their lovemaking was both gentle and passionate at the same time. Liz wound one arm around Max’s neck, pressing her mouth to his in a scorching kiss, as the other hand roamed his bare skin. As the kiss deepened, Max’s left hand came up to cradle her neck, while his right held her waist tightly as they moved together sensually. The whole time, Liz couldn’t help but savour the closeness between them and the incredible feelings that being with Max like this created in her.

“Wow,” murmured Liz, as they came down from their high several minutes later. “That was… wow.”

“Just needed to work off some tension,” grinned Max, breathing heavily as he tried to recover. “I couldn’t concentrate on my lines this morning and it got me frustrated.”

“You seemed pretty calm and cool out there earlier,” observed Liz, stroking the damp hair off his forehead.

He shrugged, “Can’t let my frustrations show on set – it’s unprofessional.”

She nodded in understanding, “How do you do it all day every day though? I think I’d go crazy spending all that time hanging around on a film set without actually getting much filmed in one go.”

“You just get used to it, I suppose,” he shrugged again, adorning her shoulder with gentle kisses.

“Yeah,” she murmured distractedly, the feel of his lips on her skin causing her to lose concentration.

He pulled back to look at her with a smile, letting his fingers run through her long hair.

“It’s just… I love what I do, you know?” he explained. “I love taking those words on the paper and making them into something real, something emotional. And knowing that I created this character on screen for everyone to see… it’s just incredible.”

“Yeah,” breathed Liz, entranced by the emotion displayed in his eyes.

He smiled widely and gently stroked her cheek with his thumb as he tilted his head up to capture her lips… but before he could kiss her, they were interrupted by a loud banging on the trailer door.

“Oi, Max, are you in there? They want you in wardrobe for a fitting.”

Max pulled back and rolled his eyes, causing Liz to giggle softly.

“Tell them I’ll be there in five,” he called back.

“Will do, mate.”

As the owner of the voice retreated, Max turned back to Liz with a sigh, “I guess I’d better get dressed and head over there.”

“Yeah,” she agreed disappointedly as she climbed off his lap so he could stand up.

“You’re welcome to stay here and make yourself at home though,” he added as he reached for his shirt and pulled it on. “And, you know, feel free to stay dressed like that too. I, for one, certainly wouldn’t mind coming back to you wearing nothing but that.”

Liz gave a scoff, shaking her head at his words, but even so, she had no qualms about pulling herself up onto her knees and suggestively cupping her lace-covered breasts in her hands.

“I bet you wouldn’t,” she retorted playfully.

“Ugh,” groaned Max, moving back over to the sofa and leaning down to kiss her. He pulled away reluctantly, “Okay, I really gotta go.”

He finished rearranging his clothing and then, with one last heated look, he left the trailer. Watching him leave, Liz grinned to herself happily. He was so hot!

TBC…

[Heavenli24]

Hey, everyone, thank you for your feedback :

Lairabehr4 – Thanks .

Natalie36 – Thanks .

hope max's co-stars can respect max wishes

Let’s hope so.

Alien_Friend – Thanks .

This is such a joy to read. I love how fun and light it is. It is totally what I needed right now. They are so frggin fantastic together.

Thanks . Although there’s a not-so-fun-and-light part coming up right now

The cutest moment for me had to be watching Liz admire his passion for acting. It's cool seeing the different levels of in tuned they are with each other.

Yeah, they’re definitely in tune with each other .

I'm completely jealous of Liz. She gets to spend the day with her movie star boyfriend who she totally has wrapped around her little finger. What more could a girl want? And he was so hot defending her honour. She's one lucky girl.

Ahh, if only we could all have one .

Gosh, 6 a.m. you poor dear. I can barely get out of bed at 8 a.m. lol

Yeah, it wasn’t a fun day – got up at 4.50 a.m. and was at the station by 5.45!

POM – Thanks .

loved that he willing brought her on set, so that way she wouldn't have to spend the entire day alone and waiting for him to get back to his hotel.

Yeah, it was pretty cool that he took her with him .

begonia9508 – Thanks .

Must be really interesting to be behind the screen when you know nothing about it....

Yeah, it would be really interesting to see behind the scenes .

mary mary – Thanks .

sarammlover – Thanks .

our horny little couple is at it again.

That they are .

I am glad Liz came to the set and seeing Max a little jealous is good for the soul. It shows Liz he is a little protective.....loving this story!!

Yeah, Max probably isn’t used to being the jealous one, lol.

Alysluv – Thanks .

katydid – Thanks .

Also, I'll take your word on Maria! I never thought she would do it on purpose, but she does get a little rambunctious!

We’ll have to see about Maria then .


***


Part Seven

It was several long hours before filming ended for the day and everyone piled into the van to head back to the hotel. When they arrived back, Max took Liz’s hand and began to lead her towards the hotel entrance, but before they got very far, Jacob called out to them.

“Hey, Evans, you two not joining us in the pub for a couple of drinks?”

Max shook his head, “No, I don’t think so. Thanks, anyway”

Beside him, Liz frowned in concern, “You don’t wanna socialise with them?”

“Nah.”

“Do you usually go with them? Is it because of me that you don’t want to go?”

He shrugged, “Well, uh, you know… I’m not really a big drinker, so…”

Liz rolled her eyes, “Honestly, Max, what’s one night gonna hurt?” Calling out to the group of actors making their way to the pub across the road, she added, “Actually, Jacob, we’d love to join you.”

“Great,” grinned Max’s co-star, as he headed across the road.

Tugging on Max’s reluctant hand, Liz led him into the pub behind the others and they all took a seat around a large table in the corner of the cosy lounge room. A couple of the guys headed for the bar to get the first round and soon the drinks were flowing. Liz was seated near the end of the table with Max on one side and Jacob on the other. Although she focused most of her attention on Max as she tried to join in the conversation, every so often she would look away to glance around the room and find Jacob giving her a friendly smile. He didn’t seem to be taking part in the group chatter, so she decided to make polite conversation with him.

He was laidback and pleasant as he answered her questions about how he got into acting, but on a couple of occasions, when he was telling her about himself, he casually brushed her leg with his fingers. At first, Liz told herself that it was just an accident, but after the third time it happened, she shifted away and moved a little closer to Max, picking up her drink and taking a sip as she tried to forget about it.

A little while and a couple more drinks later, Max’s Los Angeles agent called his cell phone to discuss a new possible project for him and Max excused himself from the table to take the call outside. Liz watched him go and turned back to her third drink feeling a little uncomfortable. However, soon Jacob moved away from the table to talk to some people by the bar and she relaxed, turning her attention to the lively conversation around the table. Max returned about fifteen minutes later to tell her that he had to head back over to the hotel to make an important phone call to the US. Despite her earlier reservations, the alcohol was giving her a pleasant buzz now and so Liz decided to stay in the pub for a little longer while Max made his call.

Half an hour later though, she was beginning to get tired and so she decided it was time to turn in for the night… only problem was, Max’s co-stars kept trying to get her to join them for more drinks.

“Okay, I really should get going now,” she insisted after one more round. She tried to sit up straight at the table, but her head was feeling very light from the alcohol. “Max will be wondering where I am.”

“Aww, come on,” murmured Jacob, suddenly appearing beside her and leaning in close to her ear, his hand on her arm. “You can stay a bit longer.”

“No,” protested Liz, fumbling for her jacket. “I really need to go.”

“You’re kinda drunk, Liz. I don’t think you should be walking back alone.”

“It’s only across the road,” she shrugged, shaking her head to clear it as she stood up. “I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll walk you back,” Jacob insisted, standing up beside her and taking her elbow. “Come on.”

“No, I’m okay, really…”

But Jacob was already guiding her out of the warm building and into the cold night air.

“It’s chilly out here, isn’t it?” he commented casually as they rounded the corner of the pub.

“Y-yeah,” shivered Liz, a blast of biting wind suddenly whipping around her.

Jacob stopped walking and glanced towards her with a grin, “You know, maybe you could do with a bit of warming up.”

“What do you–?”

Her question was cut short when he suddenly grabbed her upper arms and brought her up against the wall of the pub building, his body pressing her against the rough stone as he forced his mouth onto hers.

Her eyes widened in shock and she struggled to free herself, but his grip was strong and his body heavy against hers and she found herself trapped.

“No…” she tried to speak, but his mouth was hot and heavy on hers and the word came out muffled.

Eventually he pulled back and she struggled to catch her breath… only to find him panting for an entirely different reason.

“Come on, Liz,” he taunted, keeping his face close to hers. “You know you want it.”

He thrust his hips against hers and she tried not to gag in disgust when she felt his arousal pressing against her insistently.

“Get the fuck away from me!” she growled, trying hard not to show her fear as her heart beat fast in her chest. “Leave me alone.”

“Aww, now I know you don’t mean that,” he shook his head, a twisted smile on his face, his alcohol-scented breath hot against her skin. “I heard you and Evans going at it in the trailer this afternoon. Something tells me you’re a real thrill-seeker in that department.”

“No!” she shook her head firmly and tried to break free of his grip once again. “Get off me.”

“Oh no, I don’t think so,” he said tauntingly, sliding one hand up under her top to grab her breast while placing the other against the wall beside her head. “See, I think you want this as much as I do.”

“Fuck off!” she bit out, trying her best to ignore the feel of his hand on her skin as he ran his fingers down over her stomach and then began unzipping her jeans. “No… stop!”

She was helpless to stop him as he shoved his hand into her panties and began touching her roughly.

“Oh God,” she whispered in anguish and shut her eyes tightly in an attempt to block out what he was doing to her. “No.”

God, he was going to rape her. This was her worst nightmare… she’d heard enough stories of women being abused by men that she’d always sworn that she’d never let herself get into a situation where something like this could happen to her.

“Help!” she cried out when he started to pull her jeans down over her hips. “Please…. Somebody help me!”

“Shut the fuck up!” hissed Jacob angrily, covering her mouth with his hand to muffle her voice.

Struggling not to cry, Liz racked her brains to think of anything that she could do to get out of this horrible situation. She tried to push him away from her, but her arms were partially trapped beneath his weight and she couldn’t find enough strength to do it.

How was she going to get away?

Max, she thought desperately, Max, where are you? I need you. Please.

Liz balked as Jacob lowered the hand covering her mouth and reached for his own zipper. She couldn’t let this happen, she just couldn’t. Thinking fast, she swallowed her disgust as she managed to lift her hand to his face, pulling his mouth to hers in a nauseating kiss meant to distract.

When she felt him relax slightly, she took action, lifting her knee to his crotch with as much force as she could muster. Her heart started pounding frantically as he cried out in pain and buckled in front of her, his hands covering his crotch.

It was now or never.

Making use of his momentary immobilisation, she pulled up her jeans and ran for the hotel as fast as she could. As she reached the hotel lobby, the tears finally began to fall and without even a glance towards the concerned receptionist, she ran for the stairs. It seemed to take forever to reach Max’s room… like everything was running in slow motion, and when she got there, she fumbled with the key, unable to get it into the lock properly. She breathed a sigh of relief when the lock finally clicked and she rushed into the room, slamming and locking the door behind her.

At the sudden sound, Max’s voice filtered through from the bathroom, “Hey, you’re back. I was just gonna head back down to find you. Sorry the phone call took so long–”

He stopped short when he came into the room in a T-shirt and sweats and saw her standing there, pressed rigidly against the closed door, her breathing unsteady and tears streaming down her face.

“Liz? What’s wrong?” his features softened and an expression of concern appeared on his face. “What happened?”

“I… um–” she stuttered, her voice catching as a sob racked her body. “He – he tried to… oh, God, Max–”

He frowned, his jaw tightening, “Who tried to what?”

“Ja–Jacob,” she managed between stilted breaths, unable to control her emotions. “He said… he would… walk me home… but, he–he tried… to force me.”

“He what?!” cried Max angrily, his fists clenching at his sides. “That fucking bastard! Where is he? I’m gonna kill him.”

“Max…” Liz whispered softly, shaking her head.

His gaze snapped to hers and as their eyes locked, she saw his shoulders slump as he came to a stop in front of her.

“Liz…” he murmured, his eyes full of concern as he reached up to wipe the tears from her cheeks. “Oh, God, Liz.”

“Max,” she said again, her face crumpling as fresh tears leaked from her eyes.

“Come here,” he whispered, taking her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tightly. “I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have left you there like that. If I’d stayed, this wouldn’t have happened.”

She just buried her face in his neck, savouring the comfort of his embrace.

“He didn’t… he didn’t hurt you, did he?”

She shook her head against his neck.

“Not physically… he just–” she shuddered at the memory. “Max, he… he touched me.”

“That little fucker! I swear to God, when I get my hands on him…” he muttered furiously, releasing his grip on Liz and stepping back. “In fact, I’m gonna go do it right now. Where is he?”

“No, Max, please,” she reached out to stop him. “Stay here… I need you.”

He stopped, focusing on her for a moment, before taking a calming breath and then giving a concerned smile.

“Of course,” he reached out to cup her face in his palm. “Are you okay?”

She managed a nod, “I think so… just a bit shaken up.”

“Come on,” he said softly, taking her hand and leading her over to the bed. “Let’s lie down.”

She nodded, kicking off her shoes and climbing into the bed with him, snuggling up against his side as he curled his arm around her shoulders.

“What happened?”

She sighed, wiping at the last of her tears, “I was ready to leave and I was going to walk back on my own, but he insisted on coming too. He took my arm, and I thought it was just to steady me because I’d had a bit to drink, but then when we got outside he… he pushed me up against the wall and kissed me.”

She felt Max stiffen beneath her, but he didn’t say anything, so she continued.

“I tried to push him away, but he was too strong and I couldn’t get free. He put his hand up my top and then he… he undid my jeans.” She felt fresh tears prick her eyes and took a deep breath. “He was touching me… and I tried to get him to stop – I even yelled for help, but he swore and put his hand over my mouth. In the end, I did the only thing I could thing of to distract him: I… I forced myself to kiss him and then when he wasn’t paying attention, I kneed him in the crotch and made a run for it.”

“God, Liz…” Max shook his head. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there.”

“You weren’t to know,” she shrugged sadly. “I guess it was my fault for insisting that we went to the pub in the first place.”

“No,” Max shifted so that he was lying on his side, facing her. “It’s not your fault; not at all. I just wish I hadn’t left you there like that. I could have made the call later on instead.”

“What do we do now… about Jacob, I mean?”

Max shrugged, “I don’t know… do you want to report him?”

“I know I should,” she murmured, dread starting to build up in her chest. “But right now I just want to go to sleep and forget about tonight altogether.”

“Okay, if that’s what you want,” he said softly. “The rest can wait until the morning, okay?”

“Okay,” she snuggled closer to Max, trying to erase all memory of the horrible event from her mind.

“Liz?” murmured Max a few moments later.

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Me too.”

TBC…

[Heavenli24]

Hey everyone, thank you for your feedback :

Natalie36 - Thanks .

Lairabehr4 - Thanks . Well, it can't be fluffy all the time though .

sarammlover - Thanks .

Oh that was awful. I am SO glad she got away. What a dirtbag. I wish Liz and Max would have stayed together....then this wouldn't have happened.

Yeah, it wasn't good that Max had to leave and she ended up alone with him .

begonia9508 - Thanks .

I can imagine why Jacob tried to rape her! He thinks certainly that she is some kind of groupies, just bc she visited Max, not knowing that Max and her had a story together...

Yeah, he obviously thinks that because he's an actor, he can have whatever he wants... obviously he didn't pay enough attention to the 'Max's girlfriend' part .

At least, Liz acted really well and could escape but she should have called the police... but she choses not to certainly bc of the publicity, bad for his film!

It's probably a mixture of not wanting to cause bad publicity and also wanting to forget the incident altogether.

Alien_Friend - Thanks .

Oh my goodness!! That was horrible!! I hope she really does report him eventually. I'm sure it's not the first time he has done something like this. I'm glad she got away though before he could do more damage. Though she's probably damaged enough.

Yeah, he didn't rape her, but it certainly must have shaken her up a bit.

I feel bad for Max too. I doubt he would ever forgive himself. I wonder if he will refuse to work with him and if it will effect the movie. Max was really sweet though the way he took care of her after. I hope not reporting it right away doesn't make him get away with it though. I can see Max getting in trouble if he had to take justice in in his own hands.

We'll have to see what happens with the movie and with Jacob...



***


Part Eight

It was only just after six a.m., but Max was wide awake… a consequence of having to start filming so early each day lately. He was lying on his side, his hand under his head, propping himself up on his elbow as he gazed down at Liz’s sleeping form. His chest tightened with emotion as he noticed her puffy eyes and the dried tear tracks on her face and he reached out to run a gentle finger over the soft, silky skin of her cheek. She was so beautiful in sleep, her face relaxed and unguarded, not a fear in the world.

He let his fingers drop from her face as he ran them down the length of her arm and then under the covers to her waist. Finally, his hand reached her leg, which was draped over his thigh and he let his palm rest there, just above her knee. She was wearing a pair of his sweatpants and one of his T-shirts; having only brought now inappropriate lacy underwear with her, she had borrowed some clothing from him to wear last night instead.

His breath caught in his throat as she shifted suddenly, a frown marring her previously relaxed features as her breathing quickened in sleep. She looked like she was having a nightmare and his heart immediately went out to her. She didn’t deserve what had happened to her last night, no one did. He shook his head as anger began to build inside of him once more. Who did that bastard think he was, attacking Liz like that? He dreaded to think what might have happened if she’d been unable to get away. Jacob Nicholson was going to have to pay for what he’d done.

Liz shifted again, a small, whimpering moan escaping her mouth, and he leaned forward on instinct, nuzzling her warm neck with his nose as his hand drifted up to support her lower back, hugging her close.

“Mmm,” she mumbled in sleep, shifting closer to him as he began pressing gentle, comforting kisses against her skin. “Max…”

He lifted his head to see her eyes flutter open and a soft smile tugged at his lips as he whispered, “Hey.”

“Hi,” she whispered back with a faint smile.

“You okay?” he wondered in concern.

She nodded sleepily, “I think so.”

“Sleep well?”

She let out a small chuckle, before replying with the familiar phrase, “Like a log.”

“Good,” he laughed softly, giving her a gentle kiss. “That’s good.”

He reached up to brush her hair away from her face, his eyes searching hers for any sign that she was still affected by what had happened last night.

“I’m so sorry, Liz,” he murmured throatily.

“What for?” she wondered.

“For what happened… I wish I could have stopped it.”

“It’s not your fault, Max. Don’t blame yourself, okay? I’m fine.”

“Really?” he wanted to be certain that she wasn’t just putting on a brave face for him.

“Yes, really,” she insisted. “I mean, I’m still a little shaken up about it, but I’ll be okay.”

“Okay,” he replied with a smile, his fingers walking a trail down her side to rest on her lower back again. “But you know you can talk to me about it if you need to, right?”

“Yeah, I know,” she lowered her gaze, focusing on tracing her fingers over his t-shirt-covered chest.

“And since you’re going back to London today, maybe it would be a good idea to talk to someone there too… maybe your friend, Maria?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, lifting her gaze to his again. “Maybe.”

“Just… promise me you’ll take care of yourself, okay?” he asked.

“I will,” she smiled.

“Thank you.”

She shifted beside him, her leg sliding up to hook around his hip as she wound her arm around his neck. He looked down into her dark eyes, his mouth just millimetres from hers, and his heart skipped a beat. With a tender smile, he lowered his mouth to hers, capturing her lips in a breathtaking kiss. She pressed herself against him and in response he tightened his grip on her waist, holding her close. He shifted so that she was lying beneath him and he took a moment to drink in the beauty of her flushed skin. With a smile, he leaned down and began a journey of tender kisses along her neck and down to her collarbone. He took his time worshipping her, carefully tugging his t-shirt over her head and then tasting her soft, bare skin with his mouth.

He made love to her slowly and gently, making sure to show her that she was safe with him. He did his best to try to erase the horrible memories of being assaulted last night and to replace those memories with tender, loving ones instead. Liz Parker was fast becoming the most important person in his life and he couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to her again.

***

“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay?” asked Max, as he looked down at Liz in concern later that morning.

“I’ll be fine,” she nodded, giving him a small smile. “Really.”

“You have everything?” he checked for the third time.

She gave a chuckle, trying hard not to roll her eyes, “Yes, I have everything. Stop worrying.”

He shrugged, bring a hand up to touch her lower arm, “I can’t help it. I just want to make sure you get home safely.”

“Again, I’ll be fine,” she insisted. She paused for a moment before wondering, “What about you? You won’t say or do anything, will you?”

After they’d showered and dressed this morning, they had reported the incident with Jacob to the police, but although they had taken a statement from Liz, the officers claimed that without any witnesses or any concrete evidence, there was not much they could do at the moment. Liz had nodded in resignation at this, but Max had immediately jumped up and begun accusing the police of being negligent and unsupportive. Liz had eventually managed to get him to calm down and accept it, but he hadn’t been happy about it. On their way back from the station, Max said he wanted to inform the director about what had happened as well, but Liz didn’t want to draw attention to it or make the situation any worse than it already was, so she’d insisted that he leave it alone for now.

“To be honest, I don’t know,” he admitted. “I know you don’t want it to be public, but I’d going to be hard not to say anything about what happened. I guess you’re right though; after all, Nicholson does have a pretty big part in the film and we’re already over halfway done. If I told them what he did, I don’t think they’d have the time or money to recast and then re-film his scenes with another actor.”

“I know you think I’m stupid for not wanting to tell them what he did,” said Liz with a sigh, “but I just don’t want to cause a big stir with it all. Please, just keep working with him for now, okay?”

“Yeah, I guess,” nodded Max with a grimace.

“Ugh,” Liz shuddered, the thought of having to spend all that time so close to the bastard making her want to run for the hills. “Although, you know, if he does anything else, feel free to punch his lights out for me, okay?”

“Oh, believe me, it’s going to be extremely hard not to punch him,” he muttered. “But I’ll try to restrain myself for you. I’m just gonna have to be professional about it.”

“Yeah,” smiled Liz. “You do that.”

“But enough talking about me… your taxi is gonna be here soon,” he reminded her.

“I know,” she murmured softly. “Part of me really wants to stay here with you, but the rest of me is desperate to get away from this place.”

“I know… and I completely understand,” he nodded. “You need to go, and that’s fine with me. Plus, don’t you have to go back to work tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I do,” she pouted, her heart sinking at the thought of going back to her office job. “And then I already promised Maria that I would go with her to an art gallery on Saturday. They’re displaying some of Michael’s work this week.”

“Really? That’s great,” grinned Max. “I always knew he would make something of himself. How is Michael, by the way?”

“Oh, he’s doing pretty well, according to Maria,” she told him with a smile. “You know, I still can’t believe that you two know each other. Talk about a small world!”

“I know,” he shook his head and gave a chuckle. “Last person I ever expected to see in London.”

She was about to suggest that he gave Michael a call to catch up when he got back to London, but before she could say anything, a car horn sounded from outside, interrupting her thoughts.

“That’s your taxi,” said Max unnecessarily.

“Yeah,” she glanced out of the window at the dark vehicle outside. “Well, I guess I’d better be off.”

He nodded, reaching down to pick up her bag, “Come on, let’s get you downstairs.”

She gave him a small smile, before turning towards the door. They left the room and made their way down to the hotel lobby.

“Maybe you should go out there on your own,” suggested Max as they stopped near the entrance and he put her bag down on the floor. “I’d rather not risk any photos appearing in tomorrow’s tabloids.”

“Okay,” she agreed with a nod. “So, I guess this is it for a while?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m gonna miss you.”

He smiled and shook his head, “It’ll only be for a few more days. I’ll be back in London before you know it.”

“Yeah,” she murmured with a sad sigh. “Don’t work too hard, okay?”

He smiled at that, “I won’t. You either.”

“I won’t,” she repeated, before glancing out at the taxi where the driver was waiting for her. “I should go.”

She reached down to pick up her bag, but was stopped by Max’s hand on her arm.

“Hey, you’re not getting away that easily,” he smirked. “Come here.”

At his puppy-dog expression, she laughed and lifted herself up on tiptoe, wrapping her arms around his neck. They embraced tightly, savouring their last few moments together, and as Liz pulled back, Max leaned down and captured her lips in a slow, gentle kiss.

“I meant what I said earlier,” he whispered, pulling away and looking down into her eyes as he referred to the conversation they’d had in bed earlier. “Take care of yourself, okay? I know you’re still shaken up, but that’s all right… just take some time, talk to Maria about it if you like, and I’ll be back before you know it.”

“I will,” she swore. “Thank you.”

“De nada,” he murmured with a soft smile as he let go of her before reached down for the bag and handing it to her. “Here you go.”

“Thanks,” she nodded, slinging the bag over her shoulder. “Okay, I’m going now.”

“Okay.”

“Right… this is me; going,” she said again, not even moving a muscle as she stared up into his handsome face.

“Liz?” his tone was amused.

“Yeah?” she muttered distractedly, unable to make her feet move as she lost herself in his eyes.

“Go,” he placed his hand on her shoulder and turned her around, guiding her towards the door.

With a sigh, Liz looked out of the door towards the taxi and then quickly turned to kiss him one last time.

”Bye, Max,” she murmured as she opened the door. “See you soon.”

“Bye, Liz. Have a good trip.”

With a heavy heart, she stepped outside and got into the taxi. As the car drove away from the hotel and headed for the train station, she felt a mixture of sadness that she was leaving Max and also relief that she was getting away from the pain of last night’s events.

***

The journey back to London was long but uneventful. Liz spent most of the time curled up in her seat with a book in her hand and headphones in her ears. When the train finally pulled into King’s Cross station, she let out a sigh of relief, quickly gathering her things and making her way out onto the platform. She caught the tube back to her flat, all the way trying not to let her pent-up emotions spill over. She’d meant what she’d told Max earlier, she was fine… pretty much… but now that she was alone, and he was so far away, everything suddenly seemed to weigh on her shoulders.

As soon as she got home, she shut herself in her bedroom and climbed under the covers, hugging the sheets around her body like a lifeline as she let out all the emotion that she’d been keeping inside all day. She cried because of what Jacob had done to her; she cried over leaving Max this morning; hell, she even cried because there was no ice cream in the freezer. She had no idea how long she lay there in bed, burying her face in her pillow, but the next thing she knew, her doorbell was ringing and the clock by her bed read six-fifteen p.m.

Wiping the tears from her eyes with her sleeve, she stumbled out of bed and headed for the door, pressing the buzzer beside it.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Liz, it’s me,” came Maria’s cheerful tone. “You’d better let me up; I have take-away pizza and ice cream.”

“Hey, ‘Ria,” she replied, trying not to sound as if she’d just been crying. “Come on up.”

She pressed the buzzer to let her friend in and then quickly ran back to the bedroom to tidy herself up. However, the moment Maria entered the flat and saw her appearance, she gasped in concern.

“Liz, what’s wrong? You’ve been crying,” she put the food down on the coffee table and made her way over to Liz. “What happened? Was it Max? Did he do something?”

Liz had to suppress a watery smile at the barrage of questions as she shook her head and sank down onto the sofa.

“No, it’s not Max. He’s fine; great, actually.”

“So, what is it?” asked Maria, taking a seat beside her. “Something’s obviously wrong.”

She sighed, dropping her head in her hands, “It was all going really great; I surprised Max in his hotel room and we had a great night. I even went on location yesterday and watched him filming some scenes. It was perfect… until we went to the pub last night.”

“Why, what happened?” Maria reached out and rested a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Liz took a deep breath, before lifting her head and relaying the entire Jacob incident to Maria. Her friend’s reaction went from shocked, to sympathetic, to angry at what he had done to her. After several minutes of ranting and raving that the bastard should be arrested and locked up, she finally calmed down enough to give Liz a tight hug and assure her that she would do everything possible to take her mind off ‘the incident’ and help her out. They spent the next four hours watching rom-com DVDs, pigging out on pizza, ice cream and a bottle of white wine; and by the end of the evening, Liz was feeling much more positive about everything.

The only thing missing now was Max.

TBC…

[Heavenli24]

Hey everyone, thanks for your feedback :

Alien_Friend – Thanks .

Awww that is what friends are for! Glad to see she still managed to some what enjoy the last of her trip with Max and Maria was there for her when she got home. I wish he would get arrested though. I wonder if Max will really keep his cool. It shall be interesting find out.

Yeah, we’ll have to see what happens.

Great part!! It had some nice warm and fuzzes. I appreciated that!

Glad you enjoyed it . (P.S. I haven’t forgotten about your story, honest… just been too busy lately to sit down and concentrate on it).

mary mary – Thanks .

begonia9508 – Thanks .

I was almost persuaded that Max informed Maria when she suddenly appeared behind Liz's door but it's good that she isn't alone anymore...

Lol – I didn’t even think about Max informing Maria… he’s only really met her that one time though, so probably doesn’t know her well enough to contact her.

Natalie36 – Thanks .

katydid – Thanks .

Ugh, how is Max suppose to keep his cool. They may already have information that would go public with the police...so, why not let the director know. The director helped Liz into Max' room in the first place.

Yeah, the director did help, but at the moment it’s not the right time to make the incident public.

It's great to have friends like Maria! Take away is always excellent, especially if ice cream comes with it!

Definitely .

sarammlover – Thanks .

I am glad Liz told Maria. Its good not to keep these things bottled up. She needed to have a girls perspective and someone she isn't sleeping with....sorry Max. But I am so glad he was so supportive of her feelings and her emotions. Max is such a damn sweetheart! Loved it. hugs, Sara

Lol – yeah, it’s good for Liz to have someone to talk to about it… someone not connected to the situation .


***


Part Nine

Tuesday evening found Liz in Max’s plush hotel room in Knightsbridge. He had returned from location in Yorkshire that afternoon and had left a message on her answer phone to say that he had the evening off and did she want to have dinner with him? However, when she’d arrived at his hotel half an hour ago, there had been several paparazzi waiting outside for a glimpse of a celebrity and she and Max had quickly decided it would be best to stay in for the night instead of braving the press.

“So, what do you fancy?” asked Max, handing Liz his hotel room service menu before heading over to the minibar in the corner of the room and extracting a bottle of wine. “We can order anything you like.”

With a smile, Liz scanned her eyes across the list of delicious-sounding dishes, although she halted, her eyes widening with shock when she noticed some of the prices.

“Oh my God, twelve pounds for fish and chips? That’s crazy!” she exclaimed. “You can buy the same thing from the chip shop down the road for less than half that price.”

Across the room, Max shrugged as he opened the wine bottle and began pouring to cold liquid into two glasses, “That’s room service for you.”

She looked up at him in surprise, “You actually pay these prices?”

“Well, yeah,” he nodded, returning to the sofa she was sitting on and placing the glasses down on the small table in front of it. “You know, it’s not like I can’t afford it.”

“Yeah… I guess,” she murmured, returning her attention to the menu once more. “It’s just such a rip-off though.”

He gave a smirk, “You know, you don’t have to order anything at all if you don’t want to.”

Liz shook her head, “No, I’m really hungry…I guess I’ll just have to suck it up and order.”

Max let out a soft sigh, “I’m sorry. This isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I invited you for dinner. It’s just that there are all those paparazzi hanging around down there, just waiting to pounce the minute I leave the hotel. I don’t want you to have to deal with the attention too.”

“It’s okay,” returned Liz with a smile. “I don’t mind. I’m just glad that the director let you have a night off for once.”

“Yeah.”

There was a slightly uncomfortable pause as Liz perused the menu some more and Max relaxed back against the cushions, lifting his wine glass to his lips.

“So,” he murmured a few moments later, breaking the silence. “How are you? You know, after last week… are you okay?”

Liz lifted her head from the menu to give him a quick smile, “Yeah, I’m okay.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” she nodded in insistence. “I took your advice though and talked to Maria about it.”

“Yeah?”

She nodded again, “It went well. We had a girl’s night in, just talking, eating and watching DVDs… oh, and drinking lots of wine. I felt much better after that.”

Beside her, Max chuckled, “I’ll bet. Sounds fun.”

“Yeah.”

They lapsed into silence once more, Liz going back to studying the menu intently, while Max let his gaze roam around the room, deep in thought. When the silence finally broke again, they spoke simultaneously.

“Okay, I’m ready to order–”

“Liz, I’ve been thinking –”

“Oh, sorry,” apologised Liz with a smile, gesturing towards him with her hand. “You first.”

Max shook his head, “No, it’s okay, really. Let’s order some food first. What did you decide on?”

“Oh, um, I’m gonna go for the Linguine Pasta with Carbonara sauce. What about you?” she held the menu out to him, but he didn’t take it.

“I’m having the Sirloin Steak,” he smiled when she looked at him questioningly and so he explained, “I already know what’s on the menu.”

“Oh, okay,” she nodded.

He gave her a smile before reaching for the phone to order the food. Liz watched him contemplatively as he dialled the number and spoke to the person on the other end. He’d looked like he’d been about to say something important just now, and judging by the less-than-flowing conversation in the last few minutes, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know what that something was.

“Okay, food will be here in about fifteen minutes,” announced Max as he put down the phone and gave her a smile, adjusting his position on the sofa so that he was facing her.

“Great.”

There was a slight pause, before Max spoke up again, “Liz…”

“Yeah?” she wondered, slightly apprehensively.

He reached out to trace her lower arm with his fingertips and she shivered in response.

“What are we gonna do?”

Her eyes widened as her heart skipped a beat, “About what?”

“This…” he nodded to her. “Us.”

“What do you mean?” she played dumb, hoping desperately that this wasn’t some kind of break-up conversation.

He shrugged helplessly, “I mean, we hardly get any time to see each other as it is, and I’ll be going back to L.A. soon… I guess I’m wondering what’s going to happen then.”

Liz racked her brains for a suitable answer, one that would reassure both of them that things were going to be just fine.

“I don’t know, Max,” she murmured eventually, looking down at where his fingers were touching her skin.

He sighed, moving his hand away and running it through his hair, “God, you’re like, the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. You make me feel all these things that I never thought I could feel… I just can’t even contemplate going back to L.A. and leaving you here in London.”

Liz felt tears prick her eyes at his heartfelt speech, “Me either, Max. Before I met you, I was just kinda going through the motions, you know? Not really thinking that I would meet anyone special; but then you turned up on my doorstep and changed everything for me. The thought of you living so far away… I’m not sure what I’m gonna do when you have to leave.”

“God,” sighed Max, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “I really wish I could stay here longer, but I have to be back in L.A. in a month. Why does life have to be so complicated?”

Liz gave a small smile, before moving closer to him and sliding her arms around his waist, letting her chin rest on his shoulder.

“Well, you were the one who decided to become a big film star,” she teased. “You only have yourself to blame.”

“Yeah,” he gave a wry smile, “but if I hadn’t done it, then I would never have met you.”

“True,” she mused. “And I wouldn’t change that for the world.”

His smile widened, “Neither would I.”

“We still have a month, though,” she pointed out. “I know your filming schedule is crazy, but I’m sure we can make time to see each other.”

“Yeah, definitely.”

She lifted her chin from his shoulder as he turned to face her, his expression determined.

“And when you have to go home, we’ll work something out, okay?” she told him, hoping desperately that they would.

“You’re right,” he nodded, relaxing a little more now. “We will work something out; we have to… because I’m planning on having you in my life for as long as possible.”

“Really?” her heart skipped a beat.

“Yes, really,” he chuckled, reaching up to cup her face in his hand. “Come here, you.”

She leaned towards him and her lips met his in a kiss full of promise and meaning. She poured all of her feelings into the embrace as she slid her arms around his neck to hold him close. She knew things weren’t gonna be easy for them and that they would have to work hard at their relationship if they wanted it to succeed, but being here with him now, the feel of his lips on hers making her heart flutter, she also knew that it would be worth it.

***

The food arrived a few minutes later, interrupting Max and Liz, who were now stretched out on the sofa together, hands roaming all over the place. With a reluctant sigh, Max lifted himself up off the couch and, running his hand through his hair and straightening his clothes, went to open the door. As he greeted the attendant, who brought the cart of food into the room, Liz picked up the bottle of wine and their glasses and made her way over to the small table in the corner of the room. The attendant started to set up the meal, but Max was quick to dismiss him, opting to do it himself.

They took their time over dinner, Max offering pieces of steak to Liz while she would occasionally hold out a forkful of pasta and creamy sauce to him. They hadn’t decided on it, but Max had taken the initiative to order dessert as well… in the form of a large slice of chocolate fudge cake.

“I’ll admit that it’s not as good as your Yule Log, but this is pretty good cake,” he told her as she began to dig into the moist sponge.

“Mmm, it’s delicious!” exclaimed Liz as she took a bite, the creamy fudge melting in her mouth. “Just the way I like it.”

“Hmm, let me see if I can remember correctly: soft, springy and moist, right?” replied Max with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

“Yep,” she licked her lips, partly because of the cake, but mostly because of the way Max was looking at her right now: like she was dessert instead.

She dug her fork back into the chocolate mass and held it out to him, “You want some?”

“Uh huh,” he nodded eagerly, leaning forward and closing his lips around the piece of cake as their eyes locked.

Liz had to suppress a shudder at the eroticism of the moment as Max lifted a thumb to his mouth to catch a few errant crumbs and suddenly the cake didn’t seem so important any more.

“Did you know there’s a hot tub in the bathroom?” he murmured, his hand covering hers as his fingers traced gentle patterns on her palm.

“Really?” she murmured as she raised an eyebrow, the atmosphere between them changing suddenly.

“Yep,” he grinned. “Care to try it out with me?”

She returned the grin, “As if I could say no.”

He closed his fingers around her hand, urging her to stand up. As he began leading her towards the bathroom, she turned back to glance at the table.

“Wait, what about the cake?” she wondered, staring at it longingly.

Max shook his head with a grin, “Bring it with you.”

Her eyes lit up as she reached for it, “Okay.”

“And the wine too,” added Max, his grin becoming a smirk as Liz reached for the wine glasses, handing one to him, and he led her into the bathroom.

***

“This is the life,” sighed Liz, several minutes later as she sank down further into the steaming bubbles and leaned her head back against the side of the tub. “I could just stay in here forever.”

Beside her, Max chuckled, “Nah, you’d get bored soon enough.”

“You think so?” she mused, reaching for her glass of wine and taking a sip. “I’m not so sure… I suppose it would depend on whether I was alone or not.”

He raised an eyebrow, giving her a leer, “Really?”

“Yeah,” she nodded with a sly grin. “I doubt I would get bored if I had company.”

At that, Max slid off the small hot tub seat and moved to kneel in front of her. She parted her legs to accommodate him as he leaned in close so that his mouth was barely centimetres from hers.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah,” she breathed, her gaze lowering to his bare chest, glistening with water droplets, for a moment before her eyes fixed on his lips.

“You know,” he murmured as he slid his hands under her knees and pulled her up against him, “I think maybe I could get used to spending more time in here.”

Liz found herself struggling to breath properly as the tension in the room suddenly escalated. She could feel so much of his bare skin pressing up against her that she bit her lip in response as her body reacted to him shamelessly.

“God, Max.”

“C’mere,” he smiled, capturing her lips with his in a hungry kiss as he tugged her forward, supporting her on his lap as he slid back onto the bench.

Liz shuddered as Max’s palm flattened against her upper back and her lower body came into contact with his. She deepened the kiss, slipping her arms around his neck.

“Hmm,” she murmured against his mouth, several long moments later. “So when do I get my surprise?”

“Huh?” Max pulled back to look at her in confusion.

“You know,” she teased, running a hand down his chest. “The one you bought in Ann Summers the other week? You said it was a surprise for me.”

His eyes widened slightly in understanding, before his lips curled up into a sly smirk, “Ohhh, that surprise.”

“Yeah…” she confirmed, before giving him an expectant smile. “So…?”

“Well…” he seemed to be contemplating the idea. “I guess I could give it to you tonight.”

“Give it to me, huh?” she grinned cheekily, her reply laced with innuendo. “Sounds exciting.”

“Oh, it will be,” Max assured her confidently. “But first, I plan to ravish you to within an inch of your life right here in the hot tub.”

“Sounds like a plan,” murmured Liz throatily as Max placed his hands on her hips and brought her naked body flush against his.

“Hey, you want some cake?” his voice was seductive as he reached for the plate over the side of the tub.

“Sure.”

Holding the plate between their bodies, he scooped up a forkful of the gooey sponge and held it out to her. Eyes locked with his, Liz leaned forward with a predatory smirk and opened her mouth for the offered cake, savouring it slowly.

“Mmm… delicious,” she purred, licking her lips when she’d finished and then reaching for the fork. “Your turn now.”

They took it in turns to feed each other the cake, occasionally pausing for a sip of wine, until it was all gone and Liz was dizzy with arousal. As Max shifted to return the now empty plate to the edge of the tub, a jet of water suddenly hit the sensitive skin of her lower body and she gasped in response, grabbing onto Max and muttering in his ear.

“I need you. Right now.”

“As you wish,” he grinned with a devilish glint in his eye, his hands cupping her bottom as he brought her down on him, kissing her hard as they began to move together.

***

“Oh my God, I don’t think I can move a muscle,” sighed Liz, lying back on the large hotel bed an hour later wrapped in nothing but a towel, her damp hair splayed out on the pillow.

“Aww, now don’t give up on me yet,” smirked Max, stretching out on his back beside her, hands behind his head and his own towel riding low on his hips.

“Just give me a sec to recover, okay?”

Max pouted, shifting onto his side and sliding a hand across her towel-covered abdomen as he covered her neck with hot kisses, “Do I have to? I was kinda hoping I could give you your surprise now.”

“Mmm, in a minute,” she murmured, feeling her eyes sliding closed as tiredness overtook her body.

A minute turned into an hour, and then one hour turned into two, and the next thing Liz knew, she was waking up to find Max sleeping beside her, his head on her chest, and arm still curled around her waist.

She let out a yawn and then stretched out her body, shivering slightly due to the fact that she’d fallen asleep with wet hair and only wearing a towel. Max’s head jerked up at the sudden movement and he smiled up at her sleepily.

“Hey.”

“Hi,” she whispered, turning over on her side to face him as he shifted to accommodate her. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.”

“Hey, I fell asleep too,” he reminded her with a smile as he reached over to smooth her hair out of her face. “So… you in the mood for some pampering?”

“Pampering?” wondered Liz.

What was he talking about?

“Your surprise,” he elaborated. “It involves pampering.”

She raised an eyebrow, “It does?”

“Yeah,” nodded Max with a grin. “Come on. You ready?”

”Definitely.”

It turned out that Max’s Ann Summers surprise involved a full body massage, complete with massage oils, and some rather daring lingerie that made Liz feel incredibly sexy… and was rather appreciated by Max, if his reaction to her wearing it was any indication.

After an amazing night of hot tub sex, massage oil sex and daring lingerie sex, Liz and Max finally collapsed in an exhausted heap in the bed at around three a.m.. Max was the first to fall asleep and Liz found herself lying on her side, resting her head on her palm, as she watch him in deep slumber. A contented smile drifted onto her face as she gaze swept over his beautiful features: from his long eyelashes, to the inviting curve of his mouth, right down to the muscles of his chest.

God, he was just perfect.

TBC…

[Heavenli24]

Hey everyone, thank you for your feedback :

begonia9508 – Thanks . Yeah, they’re gonna have to figure some things out in regards to what they’re gonna do.

Alien_Friend – Thanks . Yeah, they’re trying to be honest about the relationship, but they still can’t resist each other .


sarammlover – Thanks .


clueless – Thanks .


katydid – Thanks . Yeah, they do, don’t they? Now they just gotta figure out what’s gonna happen when Max has to leave.


***


Part Ten

Liz couldn’t help sighing with happiness as she sat at her desk the next afternoon. Last night with Max had been incredible and her entire body felt relaxed and rejuvenated. Having said that, it had been so hard to leave him early this morning… in fact, she’d been so reluctant to go that Max had to walk her all the way to his hotel room door, kissing her all the way.

Was it bad that she wanted to lock herself in that hotel room with him and stay there forever?

The phone on her desk rang suddenly, interrupting her thoughts and she shook her head to clear it before reaching for the receiver.

“Hello?”

“Oh my God, Liz!” it was Maria and she sounding rather panicked. “Have you been on the internet yet today?”

“No, why?”

“There are pictures of you online.”

“What?!” exclaimed Liz, her eyes widening and her eyebrows raising in shock. “What pictures?”

“Pictures of you leaving Max’s hotel room in Knightsbridge this morning,” elaborated her friend. “Pictures of you and Max kissing outside said room.”

Liz heart lurched in her chest and she felt her cheeks heating up, “Oh my God, how did this happen? We were being so careful to avoid the cameras and everything. Where are these pictures? I want to see them.”

“Mostly on the E! Online website,” informed Maria. “It’s not too bad though; I mean, they only really got the back of your head, so it’s not like everyone’s gonna know it’s you. The sites are just calling you ‘Max’s new mystery woman’.”

“And that makes me feel so much better,” muttered Liz under her breath as she opened her web browser and logged onto the website… and sure enough, right there on the home page, was a photo of her and Max, arms wrapped around each other and mouths fused together. “Fuck, I can’t believe there were paparazzi outside his room. This is crazy!”

“Welcome to life in the public eye,” pointed out Maria. “If you and Max are gonna keep seeing each other, then you’re gonna have to get used to it.”

“Yeah, I guess,” she mumbled in reply. “I was just kinda hoping we’d be able to stay under the radar for a while longer, you know?”

“Yeah, I know,” replied Maria sympathetically. “Oh, and speaking of not staying under the radar… it seems that the press has also got wind of there being tension on Max’s film set too. They’re speculating about a feud between Max and Jacob Nicholson.”

At that, Liz snorted, “Yeah, well, I wouldn’t be surprised after what that bastard did to me last week. Max can barely stand the sight of him right now.”

“I don’t know how he does it,” commented Maria. “Put on a brave face and pretend like they’re best friends on camera.”

“I don’t get it either, but that’s acting, I guess,” said Liz. “Look at SJP and Kim Cattrall – apparently they hate each other off camera, but you’d never guess from watching Sex and the City.”

“Yeah,” mused Maria, before changing the subject. “So, anyway, how are you?”

“I’m good, thanks, Maria,” smiled Liz. “Had an amazing time with Max last night–”

“So it would seem from the looks of that kiss this morning,” interrupted her friend.

“Shut up, you,” chuckled Liz. “But, yeah, it was a great night. What about you? Michael must be happy about the success of his gallery showing.”

“Yeah, he is. I’m really glad that it’s finally working out for him, you know?” she replied. “He deserves it.”

“Yeah.”

“Things are same old, same old with me though; nothing new to report. After all, not all of us lead exciting lives with Hollywood celebrities, you know.”

“Oh, ha, ha,” deadpanned Liz. “At least your boyfriend lives in the same city as you. In less than a month, Max and I will be five-and-a-half thousand miles apart. Not to mention the eight-hour time difference, which means that when I get up in the morning, he’ll be just going to bed. I’m not entirely sure how that’s gonna work.”

“Oh, hon, I’m sorry. I’m sure you’ll work something out.”

“Yeah, I hope so,” said Liz, trying to stay upbeat about Max’s impending departure. She glanced around the office briefly, only to find her boss watching her through the window of his office. “Look, I’m gonna have to go now, but we’ll talk later, okay?”

“Sure, hon, have a good one.”

“You too.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Liz let out a sigh as she replaced the receiver. This was just great; now there were intimate photos of her and Max out there somewhere and no doubt the gossip mill would start turning very soon with speculation of Max’s ‘mystery date’… so much for being inconspicuous about their relationship and not drawing attention to themselves. She was tempted to pick up the phone and call him to tell him about the photos, but the way that her boss was giving her a suspicious look from his office, she knew that would be a bad idea right now.

***

Max was relaxing in his trailer during a much-needed break from filming later that evening when his cell phone rang. Thinking it was Liz he reached for it eagerly, flipping it open and answering immediately with a cheerful hello.

“Oh, so you are still alive then?” came a female voice from the other end of the line. “Never would have guessed with the complete lack of phone calls.”

“Anna?” Max sat up straight on the sofa. “Hey. What’s up?”

“What’s up?” she questioned, giving a snort of amusement. “Well, for starters, I’ve been wondering if you were ever actually going to call me while you were away in London. You know, to let me know how you were getting on?”

“Oh, well, I’m sorry,” he apologised. “I meant to call, but… you know, I’ve been really busy with filming and stuff lately.”

“Really?” she wondered, her voice sounding slightly suspicious now. “And that ‘stuff’ wouldn’t have anything to do with those photos of you kissing some woman now, would they?”

Max stiffened, his grip tightening around the phone, as he ground out a reply, “Photos… what photos?”

“You tell me,” she replied. “You’re the one with your mouth firmly attached to hers outside your hotel room. They’re all over the internet this morning.”

Max closed his eyes as realisation dawned. There must have been a paparazzo outside in the corridor when he walked Liz to the door this morning. All this time, he’d taken so much care to stop the press getting wind of their relationship, yet now they had pictures of them together and it was all his fault.

“Shit!” he groaned aloud. “Fuckin’ paps… they never leave me alone.”

On the other end of the line, Anna scoffed, “Well, what do you expect? You’re big news; remember the first time you took me to a premiere… the press had a field day!”

“Yeah, don’t remind me.”

“So… what’s with this girl in the photos then?” she asked. “Was it like a one-night thing? I mean, I have to admit, she doesn’t really seem like your type.”

Max frowned, “No it wasn’t. And what’s that supposed to mean, ‘not my type’?”

“Well, you know, I thought blondes were more your thing… not forgetting the occasional redhead, of course,” she added, in obvious reference to herself. “So, this girl… if she wasn’t a one-night stand, then what is she exactly?”

Max let out a small sigh, his thoughts drifting to Liz for a moment, “You know, I’m not really sure exactly. All I know is that I can’t get enough of her and I have no idea what I’m gonna do when filming finishes and I have to come home.”

There was a slight pause before Anna replied, “Right. So, um, who is she… this girl?”

He hesitated for a moment, debating how much he should say to her. She was his friend and he trusted her, but at the same time very few people actually knew about his relationship with Liz and he was hesitant to tell anyone else yet.

“Her name is Liz,” he started. “We met at Christmas, when I was staying with my mom’s old friends from Roswell for the holidays. Liz is their daughter.”

“Wow, so it’s been a few weeks, then?” she gave a small chuckle. “Seems serious.”

“Yeah,” confirmed Max with a grin. “At least, I’d like to think so.”

“I guess that means our arrangement is off now then?”

“Uh huh.”

“Aww, that’s too bad; I was looking forward to doing some serious catching-up when you got back.”

“It has to be over,” reminded Max. “That’s what we agreed – if one of us found someone, we would stop. I’m just a one-woman guy, you know.”

“You are?” replied Anna teasingly. “Never would have guessed… after all, weren’t you sleeping with both me and Tara Wilson at one point last year?”

“No!” Max denied instinctively, but then he thought about it and relented. “Well, okay, maybe… just once… or twice. But it wasn’t like I was actually dating Tara or anything. It was just a couple of bad dates with a bit of good sex at the end.”

“Ugh,” muttered Anna in response. “You are such a guy sometimes. Does this Liz know what you’re like?”

“I’m not like that… usually,” defended Max. “The Tara thing was just, I dunno, a thing, you know?”

“Right,” returned Anna, her tone slightly disbelieving and Max could picture her rolling her eyes at him.

“Liz is… God, she’s like, everything I’ve been missing all this time–”

“Well, thanks a lot!” scoffed Anna. “Nice to know I can satisfy you.”

“You know that’s not what I mean,” he clarified. “It’s not just about sex, it’s about everything else too. You and I… we didn’t work as a couple, remember? But with Liz, it’s different. When I’m with her it’s like the rest of the world disappears and it’s just us. I think… I think she could be The One.”

“The One? Really?” she sounded surprised. “Max, are you sure? You’ve only known her for a few weeks.”

He shrugged, even though she couldn’t see him, “Well, I don’t know, really. I’ve never felt like this about anyone else before. But being with her… it just feels right.”

“Wow… Max Evans in love – I never thought I’d see the day!”

“Well, I don’t know if I’d go that far,” Max was quick to respond. “We’ll just… see how it goes.”

“Yeah, okay,” she replied, her tone giving off a ‘whatever you say’ vibe.

“Yeah,” stated Max – although it was more to reassure himself than for Anna’s benefit – as he glanced over at the clock on the trailer wall. “Look, I gotta go now; my break is almost up and I’ve got to get back on set.”

“Okay, but we’ll talk soon, yeah?”

“Sure,” replied Max. “And I’ll be back in LA in about three weeks anyway.”

“Great,” said Anna. “Looking forward to it. Don’t work yourself too hard.

“I won’t.”

“Bye, Max.”

“Bye.”

Max looked down at his phone for a moment as he ended the call. Anna was a good friend and he was so glad that they could be honest with each other about things like this.

“Evans!” came a shout from outside. “Time to get moving!”

“Be right there,” he called out, pocketing his phone and stepped out of the trailer.

As he headed back onto the film set, he spotted a couple of paps lurking across the road and his thoughts went to Liz and the internet photos that Anna mentioned. Did Liz know about the photos? He had tried so hard not to let the press get wind of his relationship with her and so far he’d been successful, but obviously his luck had run out now. He just hoped that Liz wouldn’t be scared off by the unwanted attention. He would have to call her later about it, but for now he had to face the prospect of spending the rest of the day on set with Jacob Nicholson… and what a fun few hours that was gonna be.

Although he had promised Liz that he would be professional with Jacob, it definitely wasn’t easy when the bastard kept shooting smug grins in his direction and just before they’d wrapped up the on-location filming over the weekend, the jerk had said something about Liz as he came out of his trailer and Max had snapped. He’d pinned Nicholson up against the side of the trailer and told him in no uncertain terms that if he ever mentioned Liz’s name again, he would barely live to regret it. And as he’d walked away, he’d sworn to himself that after this he would never work with Jacob Nicholson again

TBC…