Roswell Fanatics

Hey everyone, thank you for your feedback :

mary mary – Thanks .

Lairabehr4 – Thanks, hon .

sarammlover – Thanks .

maybe he needs to ditch america and become the next hugh grant...minus the hooker.

Yeah, maybe, lol!

keepsmiling7 – Thanks .

that Jacob is just asking for it.......he's gonna keep pushing Max I'm afraid......He's such a jerk!

Yeah, he’s not the nicest!

Natalie36 – Thanks .

did max give anna to much info

We’ll have to see…

katydid – Thanks .

Ah, they knew they couldn't stay in Max and Liz land forever.

Yeah, they had to go public eventually.

Of course, we'll see what happens next...well, you're in charge of that, too!

That I am … let’s see what happens…

begonia9508 – Thanks .

I guess it's the price to pay when you're in love with a girl and you want to enjoy your time with her and not only in bed!.... Max isn't married and has right of a life without being stalked!

Yeah, he’s not married, but he is a Hollywood celeb .

Alien_Friend – Thanks .

Little by little the real world is crawling in it seem. They have done well to keep it together no matter what so far though.

Yeah, they’re not gonna be able to say under the radar forever.

Jacob deserved that. I hope Max doesn't have to see him again after this.

Well, Max still has to finish filming with him, but we’ll see what happens.

I wonder what Liz would think of Max's friend. That must be a little weird.

Well, she knows who Anna is (mentioned in the first story), but she doesn’t know about the ‘friends with benefits’ arrangement that she and Max had going on before his trip to the UK.

Alysluv – Thanks .


***


Part Eleven

“So, Max, did you always want to be an actor?” asked Maria curiously from beside Max, as she topped up his glass of wine and then placed the bottle back down on the dining table.

It was Wednesday night, a week after the photos of Liz and Max had appeared on the internet, and the four of them – Liz, Max, Maria and Michael – were enjoying a quiet dinner at Maria and Michael’s flat. So far, no one else had discovered Liz’s identity from the photos and despite some tabloid speculation over Max’s new ‘female acquaintance’ last week, the photos hadn’t caused too much of a stir – something that Max was very glad about, especially as he didn’t want Liz in the public eye any more than she had to be.

“Well,” Max replied thoughtfully, briefly glancing across the table at Michael, who just gave him a smirk. “Actually, it wasn’t something I really gave much thought to until I moved out to L.A. with Isabel after high school. She was the one who wanted fame and fortune and I just went along for the ride, but then she persuaded me to come to an acting class with her and I loved it so much that I changed my mind.”

“Wow,” Maria raised an eyebrow. “And here I was picturing you acting in all the school productions when you were little.”

At that, Michael gave a snort from across the table, and Maria turned to him with a frown.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Michael shook his head, as he attempted to hide a grin. “It’s just that Max was definitely not the school production type.”

“Shut up, Mike,” hissed Max, shooting him a glare.

On the other side of Max, Liz glanced between him and Michael suspiciously, “Okay, guys, what’s going on?”

Michael raised an eyebrow, “Well, let’s just say that Max and acting were completely incompatible during high school. In fact, he was a bit of a science geek up until after graduation.”

Liz’s eyes widened in surprise and she looked to Max, who was now holding his head in his hands.

“You were a science geek?” she wondered with a grin.

Max lifted his head and rolled his eyes, “Yeah, okay, I admit it… I was a science geek. I had no interest in acting at all until I was eighteen; in fact, when I moved out to L.A. I had been accepted to UCLA on a partial scholarship… I was going to be a Chemistry major.”

“No way!” exclaimed Liz with a laugh. “I never would have guessed.”

“So what happened?” wondered Maria. “How did you get from majoring in Chemistry to being a big Hollywood film star?”

“Well,” shrugged Max. “Something went wrong with the scholarship award and I didn’t get as much support as I was hoping for. My parents couldn’t afford the full tuition and even if I got a job, there was no way I’d have enough money to cover it, so I had to drop out in the first semester. There wasn’t really anything for me in Roswell, so I stayed in L.A., found a job and then Isabel dragged me along to her acting classes. The rest, as they say, is history.”

“Wow,” murmured Liz. “I never knew any of that.”

“Well, it’s not something I really feel the need to broadcast to the world,” explained Max. “Most people assume that I moved out to California to act anyway so it doesn’t seem worth going into all the details.”

“I’m surprised it hasn’t come up at all though,” mused Maria. “Aren’t the press notorious for digging up all the dirt they can possibly find on celebrities?”

“I don’t know,” Max shook his head and gave a small smile as he shrugged. “I guess I just have a really good publicist.”

“You must do,” piped up Michael then. “’Cause I can think of a few things from high school that the press would have a field day with if they found out about them.”

“You keep your mouth shut, Guerin,” Max warned with narrowed eyes, as he pointed a finger at his old friend. “Or I might have to tell Maria here about a certain incident in gym class junior year.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” replied Michael, eyes widening in alarm.

“Oh, you bet I would,” smirked Max, cocking an eyebrow and leaning forward across the table. “Just watch me.”

“Hey now, you two, stop it,” Liz held up her hands between them. “We’re supposed to be having a pleasant dinner here. No bickering allowed, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” muttered Michael, shooting Max a dirty look. “Whatever.”

“Sure,” Max relaxed back in his seat, before taking Liz’s hand in his and running his thumb across her skin as he leaned in and placed a gentle kiss to her jaw. “I’m sorry.”

Liz gave him a look that said, ‘don’t think you can always get away with using your Hollywood charm on me’, but she smiled anyway.

Dinner continued relatively peacefully for the next hour, with Michael and Max catching up over cans of beer in the living room, while Maria and Liz chatted in the kitchen. At ten o’clock however, as Liz and Maria returned to the living room and settled down on the sofa, Max’s cell phone rang.

“It’s my director,” he rolled his eyes as he checked the caller ID. “Why does he have to call on my one night off?” He flipped open the phone, “Max Evans.”

“Max, hey, I’m glad I caught you,” came the slightly harried-sounding voice of the director. “Something’s happened.”

“What is it? What’s going on?” Max frowned in concern.

“I’m afraid there’s been an incident… involving Jacob Nicholson.”

Although he kept a calm exterior, Max was seething inside at the mention of his co-star’s name, “What is it?”

The director sighed, “Nicholson’s been arrested on suspicion of rape.”

“What?!”

“Yeah. Believe me, I’m as surprised as you are.”

I wouldn’t be so sure about that, thought Max, before asking aloud, “What happened?”

“I don’t know all the details yet, but apparently some woman is claiming that he attacked her outside a nightclub in the early hours of this morning. The police caught up with Jacob after filming tonight and arrested him.”

“Wow,” Max ran a hand through his hair as he glanced toward Liz, who was watching him with concern in her eyes. “So, what happens now with the movie and everything?”

“Well, until we know what the deal is with this arrest, we’re gonna have to carry on as normal, just with some different scenes.”

“And if he’s charged?” questioned Max, his heart beginning to pound in his chest as he thought of what had happened to Liz last week… what could have happened if she hadn’t been able to get away.

“We’ll have to deal with that when we come to it, I suppose. Nicholson’s scenes are mostly finished now and any that aren’t will have to be re-worked without him.”

“Right,” he nodded. “Well, thank you for telling me.”

“Wait, Max… that’s not all,” the director spoke up. “The police informed me that someone else also made a complaint against Nicholson the other week, when we were up in Yorkshire. I’ve noticed the tension between the two of you the last few days… am I right in thinking that person might have been Liz?”

“Well,” he looked to Liz again, who was starting to gather what the conversation was about and was watching him intently. “She didn’t want it to cause an issue on set, so I agreed not to say anything to you about it, but yes, something happened a couple of weeks ago.”

“Damn, I suspected as much,” sighed the man on the other end of the line. “I’m sorry, Max.”

“It’s okay,” dismissed Max. “And Liz is okay too… but we’d both like to see him get what he deserves. Especially if it wasn’t a one-off occurrence and others are getting hurt too.”

“Right. Yes, I understand completely,” said the director. “Well, I’ll let you go now… and we’ll see you on set tomorrow morning, okay?”

“Tomorrow morning,” he confirmed. “See you then.”

“What happened?” asked Liz immediately after Max hung up the phone.

“Nicholson’s been arrested,” informed Max, turning to look into her concerned eyes. “On suspicion of rape.”

“Oh my God,” she murmured, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. “Really?”

“Yeah, apparently he attacked a woman outside a club early this morning and she went to the police. They got him tonight.”

“Wow,” she breathed, moving closer to him and resting her head on his shoulder. Max slid his arm around her as Michael and Maria looked on, their expressions a mixture of shock and surprise. “God, Max, we should have done more to stop him. If only I’d given more evidence or something, he could have been arrested last week and that poor woman wouldn’t have suffered.”

“Shh,” soothed Max as Liz sagged against him. “There was nothing else you could have done, Liz. It’s not your fault this happened, okay?”

“I guess.”

“Listen to me,” he insisted, sliding a finger under her chin and forcing her to lift her head and look at him. “He’s been caught now, okay? And if this accusation is true and they find evidence of rape then he’s gonna do down and he won’t be able to hurt anyone else again.”

“Yeah, I know,” nodded Liz. “You’re right.”

“But let’s not let this ruin our night, okay? I say we forget all about that phone call for now and enjoy ourselves for a while.”

“Sounds good,” piped up Maria then, as the heavy moment passed and the tense atmosphere began to lift. She shot Liz a reassuring smile as she added, “So, who’s up for a game of charades?”

***

“Do you think he’ll be charged?” wondered Liz, as she curled up next to Max in bed later that night.

“I don’t know,” replied Max, running his hand up and down her arm in a comforting gesture as he looked up at the ceiling of Liz’s bedroom. “I hope so.”

“Oh God, what if I have to testify against him or something?”

“Then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“I hate this,” she decided then. “Everything was going so well and then he had to come along and ruin it all.”

“He didn’t ruin it all,” Max denied with a shake of his head. “We’re still here and together. He just… got in the way for a while.”

“Yeah,” agreed Liz, although she wasn’t completely convinced.

Max seemed to pick up on her uneasiness though and his arm tightened around her.

“What’s wrong?”

“I dunno,” she shrugged. “I just wish it hadn’t happened.”

“Me too,” nodded Max, pressing a soft kiss against her hair. “But it did and now we just have to move on from it.”

There were a few moments of silence, as Max berated himself once again for not being there for her that night and Liz tried to put the incident to the back of her mind and concentrate on her relationship with Max instead.

“So when do you have to leave for L.A.?” she couldn’t help asking, even though she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“My flight is March fifteenth,” he murmured from above her head. “Two-and-a-half weeks from now.”

“Right.”

Max’s arm tightened around her once more, pulling her close into his body.

“You know I don’t want to leave, right?”

Liz adjusted her position, sliding her leg over his as she rested her head on his chest.

“Yeah.”

“But I have to go back. I have commitments in L.A. that I can’t get out of,” he added, trying to reassure her.

Liz let out a small chuckle; he sounded so concerned that she wouldn’t understand.

“I know that, Max.”

“I just… I don’t want you to think that I’m just gonna up and leave and forget about you or something.”

Liz slipped her arm around his bare waist, “You don’t have to worry, Max. I know it’s not like that and I understand that you have to go. I mean, sure, I don’t like it all that much, but that’s life.”

“We’ll stay together,” he assured her in a confident tone. “I promise.”

Emotion swirling inside her at his determined declaration, she just nodded against his skin. Max’s hand moved to her leg briefly, before sliding up to rest on her hip.

Liz revelled in the feel of his fingers brushing against her skin as she asked, “So what are your plans for when you get back to California?”

He let out a sigh, “Well, first I have to go into the studio to finish off some scenes for the movie and I’ve got a couple of TV appearances scheduled after that. Oh, and Isabel’s been trying for ages to persuade me to go back to Roswell with her for a visit… I’ve managed to put her off so far, but I think she’s about to reach the end of her tether, so I’m gonna have to go with her soon.”

“Don’t you want to go back home?” wondered Liz in puzzlement.

“Not really.” He sighed, “I mean, of course I miss my family and everything, but it’s just that… well, it’s hard to go back there now.”

Liz frowned, unsure of what he meant by that, but before she could ask, he spoke up again.

“When I was growing up, I was always the good kid, you know? Everyone expected me to go to college and make something of myself academically, but then the college thing fell through and I got into acting instead. The next time I went home after dropping out of UCLA, it was like the whole town had decided I was a disappointment.”

“But that’s not fair,” interrupted Liz, lifting her head to look up at him. “It wasn’t your fault you had to drop out.”

“Yeah, but not many people actually knew that,” he admitted. “I didn’t really broadcast the fact that I left because I couldn’t afford it. So, the people of Roswell generally just saw me as the college drop-out who gave up on his promising future.”

“But look at you now, Max; you’re rich and successful. That’s hardly a disappointment.”

“Maybe not, but Roswell is a small town and everyone sticks together. They see my face all over the papers and the TV and they judge me. I just… God, if it weren’t for my parents still living there, I’d never step foot in Roswell again.”

“Wow,” Liz didn’t know quite what to say to that. “I’m sorry, Max.”

He shrugged and shook his head, as if to say, ‘that’s life’.

“Hey, you know what?” he said then, as if a light had just turned on in his head. “You should come back with me. To L.A.”

“Oh, no, Max,” Liz shook her head, although inside her stomach was doing excited flip-flops in response to his suggestion. “I couldn’t. I have my work and my life here in London.”

Max gave a small chuckle, “I’m not suggesting you move there or anything… but how about a vacation? I know all about your life here in England now… and I could show you mine in California.”

“I don’t know, Max,” Liz was still hesitant, despite the fact that she would love to go to L.A. with him. “I’m not sure if my boss would let me take the time off at such short notice.”

“But there’s no harm in asking, right?”

“Yeah, I guess not,” she agreed, wanting to be able to say yes, but knowing that it was unlikely that she would be able to get the time off right away. “But I can’t promise anything right now.”

“That’s okay… just think about it, okay?”

“Sure.”

Liz looked up at him with a smile, which Max returned as he lowered his head and captured her lips in a deep kiss. Trying to get as close to him as possible, Liz pressed her body against him, her hand roaming his bare chest. Max’s hand slid from her waist round to her back as he pulled her up against him and Liz eagerly sank into the embrace. As Max’s tongue slid into her mouth, Liz let out a soft sigh, vowing to do whatever she could to persuade her boss to give her some time off work soon.

TBC…

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the US (for the rest of us though, it's just a normal Thursday ).

Thank you for your feedback :

Lairabehr4 – Thanks hun .

sarammlover – Thanks .

I am SOOOOOO glad Jacob was caught. He needs to go down!

Yeah, he needs to pay the consequences of what he did.

And I really hope Liz takes Max up on his offer and goes to california with him for vacation!!

Let’s hope she does .

begonia9508 – Thanks .

I'am happy that the raper was arrested and that all the women he agressed are going to go to the police: the more the better...

Definitely .

Even Liz should go bc it has nothing to do with Max... but I guess he won't be pleased to be associated to his work collegue and with the press harrassing him...!

Yeah, we’ll have to see what happens.

katydid – Thanks .

Wow, they talked about so much in a short amount of time!

Yeah, they did!

Glad to see Jacob got caught. I hope Liz stops blaming herself for not getting everything out about her encounter with the evil one.

Hopefully everything will work itself out .

Now, Liz visiting LA, that would be nice. However, it would be much better to get the both of them in Roswell.

We’ll have to see what happens on that front .

Also, I have a feeling Liz' identity will come out soon. Her friends from home may end up letting the cat out of the bag.

Could be that her identity is discovered soon. I would like to think that her friends from home would have more respect for their privacy than to blab to anyone though .

Alien_Friend – Thanks .

So Max is just a simple small town boy at heart. That's sweet. I love the part of his charm. Sucks about Roswell turning against him like that though. The poor dear.

Yeah, Max has pretty humble roots . As for Roswell, a lot of it is assumption on the part of the other residents – people can get pretty bitchy when someone they know is so successful.

I love this idea of Liz going back with him on a vacation. I hope it can happen. It would be interesting to see what they will be like in L.A.

Let’s see what happens… it would be cool for Liz to experience Max’s life, since he’s spent a lot of time learning about hers.

I'm so glad they arrested Jacob. Sucks about him having another victim though. But finally justice can be served.

Let’s hope this is the final straw for him now .

Loved the whole double date premise. It was fun.

Alysluv – Thanks .

mary mary – Thanks .

I hope that Jacob gets everything he deserves without Liz having to come forward as a witness, those things get really ugly.

Let’s hope so .



***

Part Twelve

Liz let out a sigh and rested her chin on one hand as she stared at the Polaroid photo she held in her other hand. Last week she and Max had been messing around with her old camera in her flat and they’d taken a number of pictures together. This one here was her favourite: she and Max were curled up on the sofa and he’d reached for the camera, holding it out at arm’s length to take a photo of the two of them together. They’d been having so much fun at the time, but now it was just a bittersweet memory of the amazing time they’d shared here in London.

It was Sunday afternoon and Max had returned to L.A. earlier that morning. Despite requesting some time off work to fly back with him for a visit, Liz’s boss had stressed the importance of her being present at work until the latest issue of the science magazine was ready to go to press. What that meant was that although she was allowed to take a couple of weeks off to visit LA, she would have to wait until the end of the month to go. She’d been disappointed that Max would have to leave without her, but when she spoke to him about it, he pointed out that waiting a while might actually be a good thing.

For a start, he had several commitments to attend to as soon as he returned to L.A. and would be tied up almost non-stop for the first couple of weeks, so wouldn’t have much free time to spend with her. Also, he pointed out that even though the speculation surrounding those pictures taken outside his hotel room had died down now, they would certainly cause a fuss if they turned up at the airport together when he had to leave the UK… especially as Heathrow was one of the busiest, most high-profile airports in the world, and it was best to try to avoid drawing attention to themselves.

Although at the time, Liz had been feeling frustrated with the situation, she soon realised that Max was right about the unwanted attention. The last few days of his time in London had been spent avoiding the press and the scores of fans that had suddenly found out which hotel he was staying in and were spending their days hanging around outside the building hoping for a glimpse of their idol. Then there was the issue of Max going to the airport this morning. At first, she’d wanted to come with him to say goodbye, but he’d insisted that they say their goodbyes beforehand and that she stay at home instead. After he had gone, she understood why… he called her from the VIP lounge at the airport to inform her that there had been paparazzi everywhere when he’d arrived and the entire time, from checking in to reaching the VIP lounge, he’d been surrounded by cameras and fans.

So, sure, it sucked not being able to spend much (or any) time out in public with him while he was here, but deep down she realised that it was for the best. Once the press found out who she was, which probably would be inevitable at some point if they continued their relationship, there would be no peace for them at all. So now she just had to get through the next two weeks without Max and try not to spend too much of that time pining for him.

At least she had other things to take her mind off his absence… like this whole issue with Jacob Nicholson, for example. After the phone call from Max’s director three weeks ago, Jacob had been charged with rape and an investigation was being carried out into the assault that she and Max had reported in Yorkshire a few weeks ago. So far, she’d had to give further statements to the police and had been told that if the case went to court she might have to testify. At the time, she hadn’t been able to bear the thought of going through it all, but Max had been there with her through it and had assured her that everything was going to be okay. According to the police, Nicholson had been released on bail and it could be several months before the case made it to court, if it did at all, so there really wasn’t much more she could do for now but get on with her life.

***

“Is there anything else you need, Mr. Evans?” enquired the sugary-sweet voice of his first-class flight attendant. “We’ll be landing in L.A. shortly.”

Max forced a smile onto his face, as he replied, “No, thank you. I’m fine.”

“Very well, then. Enjoy the rest of your journey,” she smiled softly, batting her eyelashes at him.

He nodded but had to stop himself from rolling his eyes as she continued to move down the aisle. It had been a long flight from London and already he was missing Liz, who he’d left behind in her flat early that morning after a long, emotional goodbye, and he’d just spent the last ten-and-a-half hours trying to fend off the unwanted attention of his young, obviously star-struck flight attendant. Thankfully, they would be landing in LAX in less than an hour and he would be home shortly after that, so he could finally relax.

For about the twentieth time today, he found himself reaching into his jacket pocket and retrieving the Polaroid photo of Liz that he’d taken in her flat a few days ago. She was sprawled out on the sofa in just a small T-shirt and a pair of shorts, her hair spread out on the cushions, her eyes gazing up at the lens–up at him–in adoration and lust. She looked absolutely breathtaking and his heart clenched once again at the thought of leaving her there in London while he flew back to L.A. alone.

He knew it wasn’t her fault that she couldn’t join him today – she couldn’t get any time off work until the end of the month – but at the same time, he really wished that she could be with him right now. Having said that though, it was probably a good thing they weren’t travelling together as he’d garnered a lot of attention from the press and the other passengers at Heathrow this morning and if Liz had been there too, her face would have ended up all over the papers tomorrow morning too. At least when she flew out here in a couple of weeks, she would be able to travel easily without drawing any attention to herself.

He smiled as he remembered their conversation about her trip a few days ago. After she’d informed him that she wouldn’t be free to visit for another three weeks and began talking about finding some cheap economy flights for the end of the month, he’d put his foot down right away and had told her the flights were on him. At first she’d protested, saying that she could pay for them herself and that he shouldn’t be spending that much money on her, but he’d insisted and had proceeded to purchase the best first-class seats he could get at such short notice. To start with, she’d been annoyed and a little putout that she was essentially being treated like a ‘kept woman’, but he’d been very persuasive and eventually she’d relented.

“Flight attendants, please prepare for landing,”the captain’s voice suddenly boomed over the PA system, bringing Max out of his thoughts. With one last smile down at the photograph, he tucked it back into his pocket, dutifully returned his seatback to the upright position and closed his eyes. No matter how many times he’d flown in the past few years, he still got a little nervous during take-off and landing.

***

Ninety minutes later, he’d passed through immigration and picked up his baggage and was making his way out to the arrivals lounge. He’d called ahead to his manager, Sandy, who said she would arrange for someone to pick him up for the airport, but he wasn’t entirely sure who that was going to be. As he walked out into the arrivals section, he began scanning the waiting crowd for a sign bearing his name, however, it turned out that he didn’t need to look for long as suddenly a cry of ‘Max! Over here!” rang out from his left and he turned his head to see Anna waving at him from the side of the crowd. With a smile, he made his way over to her and then nearly dropped his carry-on when she flung her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

“It’s great to see you again, Max, “ she grinned as she pulled back to take a good look at him. “Life’s been so boring around here without you around.”

“Hey, Anna,” he grinned genuinely. “What brings you here? My manager said she was sending someone to meet me.”

At that, she pouted, resting her hand against his chest, “What, I can’t come and meet my friend at the airport after he’s been gone for three months?”

Max chuckled and rolled his eyes, slinging his arm around her shoulder as they headed for the exit, “Of course you can… I just wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“Well, actually, Sandy called me this morning and asked if I wouldn’t mind coming to pick you up – apparently everyone else was tied up with other commitments.”

Max just nodded, before a grin spread across his face and he closed his eyes as they stepped outside into the warm L.A. sunshine.

“Wow, I’ve missed this weather,” he sighed. “England is just too damn cold and grey in the winter.”

Beside him, Anna laughed, “I can imagine. I don’t know how you coped all this time without your regular sunshine fix.”

“Well, I had a little help to take my mind off it,” he smiled secretly.

“Of course, you were… otherwise occupied out there,” teased Anna. “How is she, by the way?”

Max sighed, a desolate expression forming on his face, “It is totally pathetic that I miss her already?”

“Yes!” laughed Anna. “You’re so whipped.”

After his prolonged silence with Anna over the last few months, he’d felt a little guilty for not contacting her sooner and so they had spoken on the phone a couple more times in the last two weeks. Of course, most of the conversations ended up centring around Liz, and Max’s feelings for her, and as a result Anna knew a lot more about the relationship than he’d intended on telling her.

“So, I notice she’s not with you today. Was she not able to make it back with you?” wondered his friend as they reached her shiny SUV and climbed inside.

Max shook his head, as he closed the car door and reached for his seatbelt, “No, she has to stay at work until the end of the month, but she’s gonna fly out here in a couple of weeks.”

“That’s great, Max,” Anna gave him a genuine smile as she started the car and pulled out of the parking space. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

“Who said I’m even going to introduce the two of you?” Max shot back with a grin.

She gave him a withering look and threatened, “You’d better. I wanna meet the girl who’s suddenly turned you into such a moony-eyed sap.”

“Hey, I resent that!” he protested. “I am not a moony-eyed sap!”

“Whatever you say, Max,” Anna shook her head, as she turned the car onto the freeway, heading for Max’s large home. “Whatever you say.”

***

“Hey, hon, how are you holding up?” asked Maria sympathetically as Liz slid into her seat at their usual table in Angelo’s coffee shop at lunchtime the next day. “Did Max get off okay yesterday?”

“Yeah,” she nodded sadly. “I can’t believe he’s gone though… the last three months have completely flown by.”

“You’ll see him again in a couple of weeks though, right?”

“Yeah and I can’t wait to go, but I miss him already.”

At her friend’s crestfallen expression, Maria scooted closer to Liz and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders, “Hey, it’ll be okay, honey. I promise.”

With a small sniff, Liz nodded and tried to compose herself. It wouldn’t do any good to start crying in the middle of the crowded coffee shop.

“Here,” added Maria just then. “I got you a hot chocolate with extra cream and marshmallows to cheer you up.”

Liz gave Maria a grateful smile, “Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Probably curl up in a ditch and cry yourself to death,” joked Maria, in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere.

It worked and Liz let out a chuckle, “Yeah, probably.”

“So, you fancy doing something tonight? Take your mind off the absence of Mr. Evans?” asked Maria, reaching for the discarded newspaper on the next table over and flicking through it. “How about a trip to the cinema? Let’s see what’s on…”

“I don’t know, Maria…”

“Oh, come on,” Maria rolled her eyes as she turned the pages of the paper, trying to find the cinema listings. “You can’t just stay at home and mope for the next two weeks… oh, shit.”

“What?” Liz frowned when Maria stopped on one page, her eyes widening at something printed on it. “What is it?”

“Oh, um… nothing,” Maria quickly backtracked, trying to close the paper quickly. “It’s nothing.”

But Liz wasn’t convinced and reached out to stop her.

“No,” Liz shook her head. “It’s not nothing – what is it? What did you see?”

“Um, Liz, I don’t think–”

But it was too late, Liz had grabbed the newspaper from her and her eyes were scanning the page in question.

“Oh my God,” whispered Liz, eyes widening in shock.

There in front of her was a picture of Max arriving at LAX yesterday afternoon. His arms were wrapped around a beautiful redhead… the very same beautiful redhead he’d been seen pictured with in the past. The one that Max had denied being involved with back at Christmas, saying they were just friends… only the embrace in the picture looked like they were much more than just friends. Her heart beating rapidly in her chest, her eyes skimmed the caption beneath the photo, Max Evans and Anna Davies’ emotional reunion at LAX Sunday afternoon.

“Oh, God. This can’t be happening,” she murmured, mostly to herself. “He told me they were just friends.”

“Maybe they are?” piped up Maria just then, trying to offer her friend some support.

Liz turned to her with tears in her eyes, “Does this look like a ‘just friends’ reunion? I don’t think so. I mean, what’s she doing meeting him at the airport if they’re just friends? God!”

“I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation, Liz. Look, why don’t you call him and ask?”

Liz shot her a funny look, “I can’t – it’s only like four a.m. in L.A. right now. Plus, it’ll cost me a fortune to call America from my mobile.”

“So call later.”

“Well, I don’t know, he’s going to be really busy with work now too.”

“Hmm,” Maria sent her a suspicious look. “It sounds to me like you’re just making excuses not to call.”

“No,” she denied. “It’s just… I don’t know when he’ll be available to talk.”

“Right,” replied Maria, obviously humouring her. “Just promise me you’ll talk to him, okay?”

“Yeah… yeah, I’ll talk to him,” nodded Liz, looking back down at the picture again.

She really wanted to believe that there was a reasonable explanation for the photo, but at the same time, as she looked down at the woman’s arms wrapped tightly around Max’s neck and his free arm around her waist, not to mention the happy expressions on both their faces, she couldn’t help the pangs of jealousy and worry that were forming in her chest.

What if she had been wrong about Max all this time? What if she really was just a ‘holiday fling’ for him? She didn’t think she could handle it if that was the case.

TBC…

Hey, everyone, thank you for your feedback :

begonia9508 – Thanks .

If she wants to have a real and great relationship, she must really separate private and professional life: if Max was involved with this girl, do you think he would have been more private and careful with the hugging and kissing at the airport?...

Good point – it was just a friend meeting a friend at the airport, so Max probably didn’t even think of how his reunion with Anna might have been portrayed in the press.

Being with a star must be not easy anyway, especially if you live so far away from each other!...

Yeah, it can’t be easy for them .

Natalie36 – Thanks .

sounds like it was a little plan from anna

Maybe, maybe not… we’ll have to see on that one.

mary mary – Thanks .

I'm with Natalie, I don't think Anna wants her "friend" to have a friend...we'll see.

Perhaps, but as you said, we’ll see.

Alysluv – Thanks .

Alien_Friend – Thanks .

Oh dear. This is what can happen when one omits. I kind of feel bad for Max because he does care a lot for Liz and would hate for her to feel like he wasn't serious about her but at the same time I don't. He should have just told her that way this situation could have been avoided.

He should have told her, but he didn’t see it as important because the ‘benefits’ part of his relationship with Anna ended for him when he met Liz (obviously it ended for Anna when he spoke to her on the phone). To be honest, though, the press don’t really know much about Max and Anna’s real relationship – he’s taken her to premieres etc. just as a friend, but then the press will make of that what they like.

It's sad they have to spend a couple weeks a part. But I hope they can get through this next hump ok.

Oh, I think they will .

Lairabehr4 – Thanks , hun .

sarammlover – Thanks .

Liz liz liz....you HAVE to know how Max feels. Come on, get over yourself. And I really hope she calls Max.

Liz is having an insecure moment . Read on to see what happens…

***

Part Thirteen

It was only six a.m. when Max woke up on Monday morning – much earlier than he would normally be awake on a day off, but then he was still on London time and had jet lag working against him. For several moments, he simply lay in his large, king-size bed, eyes closed and a smile on his face as remnants of his dreams flitted through his mind. In them, he and Liz had been hiding away on a desert island, spending their days soaking up the sun and their nights making love under the stars.

It wasn’t until the drowsiness faded and he opened his eyes to the familiar ceiling of his L.A. home, that his mood dipped. On the one hand, it felt great to finally be home and sleeping in his own bed, instead of living out of a hotel room, but on the other hand, he was alone here… and Liz was thousands of miles away in London. However, the soft California sunshine streaming in through his bedroom window, in contrast to the drab grey days in England, did lift his spirits a little and with a soft sigh he climbed out of the bed, ready to face the day.

Thankfully, he didn’t have any work commitments today – the hard work was to start tomorrow – and so for lack of anything better to do, he headed downstairs to his personal gym for an early morning work-out. It was a bit of a slog to start with, his body not used to his usual intensive routine after being away from home and without his workout equipment for so long, but eventually he got back into it and an hour later, he re-emerged from the gym room feeling re-energised, albeit rather sweaty.

After a quick shower, Max found himself downstairs in his newly designed, state-of-the-art kitchen, his nose buried in the large refrigerator as he attempted to find something to eat for breakfast. Before he’d left London, he’d put in a call to his housekeeper to get some food in for when he returned. However, after spending the past three months eating full English breakfasts and fancy hotel food, he wasn’t quite sure that a makeshift breakfast of Cap’n Crunch and Toaster Strudel really cut it anymore. Problem was, he didn’t have much of a choice and so he ended up munching on a bowl of the cereal as he leaned against the counter.

As he ate, he looked out of the window, his gaze sweeping across the spacious backyard. The pool was still covered, having been out of use since before Christmas, although the bushes and lawn were still as neat and tidy as ever – he’d asked the lawn guy to keep coming round, even though he was going to be out of the country. He would also have to call the pool guy this week to open up the pool again. Finishing his breakfast, Max rinsed out the empty bowl in the sink and then made his way into the den, flicking on the TV and settling down on one of the plush couches. However, he just couldn’t concentrate on the screen this morning… instead he felt completely restless. And he knew the exact reason why – he needed to talk to Liz.

Glancing at the clock, he made a mental calculation of the time in London… eight a.m. in California meant four p.m. in the UK. Liz would still be at work right now… and as much as he was tempted to pick up the phone and call her office, he knew that now would be a bad time for her. With a sigh, he let his head fall back against the sofa cushions; he would have to wait at another hour-and-a-half until she got home from work. Unfortunately, the time passed much more slowly than he was hoping for. He started off trying to relax and focus on the TV, but when that didn’t work, he resorted to putting in a call to Sandy, knowing she would be at the office already, to discuss his upcoming schedule.

Finally nine-thirty arrived, and with a grin spreading across his face, Max reached for the phone again and dialled Liz’s landline number. It rang once, twice, three times… and continued to ring, but just when he was about to hang up, after the sixth ring, there was a click and a breathless voice answered.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me,” he murmured softly.

“Max?” she sounded slightly uneasy and caught off-guard, and he frowned in response.

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “Just calling let you know that I got back all right yesterday. You okay?”

“What? Oh, yeah… yeah, I’m fine.”

She didn’t sound completely fine, but he decided to let it go for now.

“So, um, how was your flight?” she asked then.

“Long, boring and tiring,” he sighed, before joking, “And I had to deal with the flight attendant trying to hit on me the entire journey!”

“Oh,” her voice was sullen.

Uh oh, that didn’t sound good. Something was definitely up.

“Liz?” Max questioned softly. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

She let out a laugh, one that sounded forced, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Max wasn’t convinced, but he let it slide for now, “God, I’m missing you already… I’m not sure I can make it two whole weeks until I see you again.”

There was a soft snort on the other end of the line, “Well, I’m sure Anna Davies will be happy to keep you company in my absence.”

“What?” he wondered in genuine surprise. “What are you talking about?”

“Like you don’t know.”

“Liz, I don’t understand. What’s going on? And what does Anna have to do with anything?”

“Have you seen the papers yet today, Max?”

Oh shit. What had she seen?

“No.”

“Well,” her tone was frosty. He didn’t think he’d heard her sound frosty before; she was usually so playful and unfazed by everything. “Maria and I were having a nice, quiet coffee at lunch, when she picks up a paper and there’s a great big picture of you getting all cosy with Anna Davies at LAX yesterday. Is there anything you’d like to tell me, Max?”

Fuck. He rested his head in his hand. What was he thinking hugging Anna at the airport? He should have known they’d be spotted by the press.

“Liz, I’m sorry,” he apologised quickly. “It’s not what you think, okay? I didn’t even know she was gonna be there.”

“Yeah, okay,” her tone was disbelieving.

“Really,” he insisted. “Before I left London, I called my manager to arrange for someone to pick me up at the airport, but everyone she tried was busy, so she asked Anna if she wouldn’t mind meeting me instead. Which she did. We’re just friends, Liz. I promise.”

“Really?” she seemed doubtful. “Because the article in the paper seemed to imply there was more to it than that.”

“Liz, you know Anna and I were involved a while ago… I told you that at Christmas,” Max told her calmly. “But in the end, it didn’t work out and we decided to stay friends.”

“Okay…” she still sounded unsure, but he could tell her resolve was wavering.

“It’s the truth, Liz,” he swore. “She hugged me in the airport because it’s been three months since we last saw each other.” Despite the seriousness of the conversation, a small chuckle escaped his lips as he recalled something Anna had said yesterday, “She wants to meet you, you know?”

On the other end, Liz scoffed, sounding sceptical, “Really?”

“Yeah… she said she wants to meet the girl who’s turned me into a ‘moony-eyed sap’,” he admitted, hoping it would lighten the situation… and that she would realise that he was telling the truth.

It was working, he realised, when he heard her let out a small noise that sounded suspiciously like a muffled laugh.

“‘Moony-eyed sap’, huh?”

“Her words, not mine,” he defended quickly. “Honestly, Liz. We’re just friends. It’s you I want. I thought you knew that.”

He knew that he’d eventually have to come clean with her about his previous arrangement with Anna, but it was definitely a moot point now that he’d found Liz, and it was something he’d much rather do in person rather than over the phone, especially as she was so far away.

“I do know that, Max,” Liz let out a sigh. “And I’m sorry. I’m not usually this insecure; it’s just that I miss you too. I know it’s only been a day, but life is lonely without you here.”

“It’s lonely here too,” murmured Max softly. “Tell me again why you couldn’t come back here with me?”

“You know why, Max,” her voice was teasing, but he could detect the sadness in it too. “Believe me if I could have come, I would have.”

“I know.”

“But I’ll be there soon.”

“Yeah,” he smiled. “I can’t wait.”

“Me either.”

There was a pause, before Liz changed the subject, “So what are your plans for today?”

He broke into a smile, “Today? Absolutely nothing. I actually have a day off. But from tomorrow it’s going to be hectic as hell.”

They spent a few more minutes discussing his upcoming busy schedule and making tentative plans for her trip over, but then Max’s cell phone rang and interrupted their easy conversation.

“Crap,” he muttered as he glanced at the caller ID. “Sorry, Liz, I have to go – that’s my publicist calling and I have to take it.”

“Hey, no worries,” she replied, her tone understanding. “I need to fix some dinner anyway.”

“Thanks – I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

“Okay.”

They quickly said their goodbyes and then Max reached for his cell phone to take the call from his publicist.

***

More than a week later, on Tuesday night, Liz was curled up on the sofa at home wallowing in a carton of Ben and Jerry’s as she waited for the TV advert break to be over. Max had called her yesterday and told her to look out for his interview on Jay Leno, which would be aired in the UK tonight. Although she was eagerly awaiting the interview, which would be on any minute, just the thought of watching him on TV was making her eyes well up with unshed tears and her heart clench painfully. It had only been ten days and even surviving that was hard enough. She wouldn’t have to wait much longer to see him now though – she was flying out to LAX on Saturday morning.

“Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen,” came Jay’s voice suddenly, interrupting Liz from her thoughts as the show came back on. “Now, you’ll all know my first guest from last year’s big hit Blue Murder. His new film Love’s Complication, is being premiered here in L.A. next week. Here he is; just back from a three-month stint in the UK, please welcome… Max Evans!”

The Tonight Show band began playing and Liz’s heart skipped a beat as Max appeared from backstage clad in well-fitting jeans, a white T-shirt and a casual jacket. She sucked in a breath at the sight of him; he was as handsome as ever and seeing him in the spotlight like this, she almost couldn’t believe that just over a week ago he’d been sitting right here on this very sofa… and been naked in her bed. A dreamy sigh escaped her lips as she recalled what it felt like to feel his arms… and his body… wrapped around her. She couldn’t keep the smile off her face as he greeted Jay with a handshake and then took a seat in the comfy chair beside Jay’s desk.

“Good to see you, Max.”

Max nodded and glanced out towards the still cheering and screaming studio audience with a smile as he replied, “Good to see you too, Jay.”

“So, then,” began Jay when the shouts and squeals finally began to die down. “How are you these days? I hear you’ve been busy filming in England?”

“Yes, that’s right, Jay,” confirmed Max with another nod, as he made himself more comfortable in his seat. “It’s a new film set in London called Intelligent Crime. Should be out sometime early next year, I believe.”

“And how was it in England? I hear they don’t have the best weather out there.”

At that, Max raised his eyebrows and let out a soft chuckle, the sound of which caused Liz to let out a wistful sigh.

“Yeah, it’s definitely not the best… especially this time of year, but it wasn’t that bad really. I guess you just get used to it.”

“Right,” nodded Jay, although Liz couldn’t quite tell if he was being understanding or just agreeing for the sake of it. “So, um, from what we’ve heard in the news lately, there were a couple of issues between co-stars on set out there. Most notably, this Jacob Nicholson incident…”

It was barely perceptible to anyone else, but Liz saw Max tense at the mention of Nicholson and his eyes narrowed slightly.

“Yes, well, I’m afraid I can’t really comment on that at this time.”

“But Mr. Nicholson was arrested for rape, right?” pressed Jay.

Max shrugged, “Again, you’ve seen the headlines, but it’s not my place to talk about it, I’m afraid.”

There was a moment of awkward silence as Jay shifted in his seat, before he reached for something on the desk.

“Okay, then, we’ll move on,” he said quickly. “I have here a copy of this months’ People magazine.” He held it up to the camera. “Which features their Top 20 Sexiest Men countdown…”

At that, Max smiled in embarrassment, shook his head and let out a small groan as he brought his hand up to his forehead. Liz grinned at his expression.

“…Now it says here that you’ve been voted number three. How do you feel about that? Is it hard dealing with all this sex symbol stuff?”

“Man,” Max chuckled softly, looking uncomfortable as members of the audience began shouting their appreciation. “It’s so weird, you know? I mean, growing up, I never thought of myself as being a symbol of any kind. And even now – I’ve been out here in L.A. for almost ten years now – I can’t quite get my head around it all, but then I guess it’s not something you ever really get used to.”

Jay nodded, “You’ve been known in the past for playing the field somewhat… you always seem to be pictured on the arm of a beautiful woman…” Max looked sheepish at this, but Jay chuckled. “Hey, I’m jealous here! If only we could all get that much female attention.”

Max laughed and shook his head.

“But it hasn’t escaped our notice here that we’ve barely seen anything of you out on the town the past few months. There’ve been rumours going around that you were seeing someone while you were in London.”

“Well,” Max shifted in his seat, looking contemplative.

Liz froze in the middle of scooping out some ice cream, wondering how he was going to handle the question. He’d called her on the weekend and they’d briefly discussed his TV appearances and whether or not he should mention their relationship if asked. For obvious reasons, Liz had been fine with the idea of him confirming that he was off the market now, but Max wasn’t so sure. He’d explained how important it was to keep your anonymity for as long as possible in this business and he was hesitant to bring her into the spotlight unnecessarily. In the end, she’d left it up to him to decide how best to deal with the inevitable questions.

“Max?” probed Jay, when he hesitated.

“Let’s just say that I’m not currently looking to date anyone.”

“As in you’re not looking to date right now, or as in you’re off the market?”

Max shrugged with a small smile, “I’ve said all I’m gonna say.”

Jay looked as if he wanted to probe further, but when it was obvious that he wasn’t going to say anymore, he changed the subject.

“Right then, so Love’s Complication is coming out in a couple of weeks, right? Tell us a little about the film.”

Liz tuned out slightly as Max launched into a description of his new movie – a mainstream romantic comedy. She already knew what it was about as he’d talked about it a few times with her before he’d left London – apparently it wasn’t originally scheduled for release until the summer, but it had been bumped up to early April so as not to compete with the latest Steven Spielberg.

The interview ended a few minutes later and Liz lamented the loss of Max on the screen. He might only be on TV, but it was the only way she got to see him at the moment. God, she sighed, how sad was she… mooning over his pictures and videos in the media like she was a lovesick schoolgirl.

He did look amazing on screen though… no wonder all those women threw themselves at him on a regular basis. At that thought, she couldn’t help but let out a girly giggle… sometimes she still couldn’t believe her luck – that she actually had Max Evans in her life; that he actually wanted her, plain old boring Liz Parker over any one of the amazingly gorgeous, tanned women who lived in L.A.. God, this separation was almost unbearable; even just thinking about him now got her all hot and bothered.

Suddenly, Saturday couldn’t come around fast enough.

TBC…

Hey everyone, thank you for your feedback :

begonia9508 – Thanks .

Lairabehr4 – Thanks .

Alien_Friend – Thanks .

Max some what dodged a bullet there. I hope when he finally comes clean Liz is understanding.

We’ll have to see how it goes. He will come clean soon though, I promise .

I love this perspective of watching Liz get the star. I felt like I was right there on her couch with her watching him on Jay. I wanted to hug her. But that's her guy. The lucky girl. Usually we're all watching wishing we were. lol

Lol – how weird would that be if you were actually in that situation… watching him on TV and knowing that he was all yours?

sarammlover – Thanks .

YEAH!!! I am glad Max didn't let it go that something was bothering liz and I am glad she said something even though it was a little snarky. Oh well.....jealousy and insecurities do weird things to people. I am so excited for their reunion!!

Yeah, the Anna thing was definitely something they needed to talk about and they sorted it out . The reunion is coming right up…

mary mary – Thanks .

Great part...that life has got to be tough, even for a moralistic person. I'm not sure all of that money would be enough compensation for losing my identity. Oh well, I don't have to worry about that

Lol – yeah, it’s a high price to pay for being a movie star .

keepsmiling7 – Thanks .

Sure glad Max called Liz and explained.....wonder if she still has doubts...???

We’ll have to see…

Can't wait for their reunion in LA.....will they go to Roswell too?

Read on for the reunion… we’ll see about Roswell though .

They still have lots to sort out.....the distance and his profession are a real problem.

Yeah, it’s going to be tough to maintain the relationship when they are so far apart (and when Max is who he is).

katydid – Thanks .

How did I miss two updates? Hmmm, some how I can reply to an email, but not notice an update, ughh.

Sorry you missed them… glad you’re caught up now though .

Liz is in those beginning stages of 'was that real', 'does he really like me', etc. It's all the insecurity that comes with any type of long distance relationship.

Yeah, I think if she’d seen those pictures when Max was still with her in London, it wouldn’t have been such a big deal… but him leaving and returning to his life away from her just brought her back down to Earth .

I liked the way Max handled the probing questions of Jay. I think he did it wonderfully well.

Glad you thought so .

Now, Liz remaining out of the spotlight may not last during her trip to LA. However, they may be able to manage it.

Yeah, we’ll have to see. Part of me thinks that because LA is so full of celebs anyway, they might be able to get away with not drawing too much attention to themselves… but at the same time, Max is very sought after, so maybe it won’t be so easy after all.

Now, if we could only put a smack down on all of the flight attendants that hit on him and others in real life. Of course, I usually end up getting to know my attendants. It's good if I have layover somewhere, they tell you the best and cheapest places to eat! Of course, I've given them advice too.

Lol . I don’t think I’ve ever really got to know my flight attendants, but then I’m not all that chatty on planes… I think the only time I talk to the attendants is when they come round with food/drinks .

Also, I don't think friends mean to give things away, but sometimes you get to talking and things slip. Maria seems to be about the gossip rags, so without thinking she may let it slip. Maybe not, too. Again, all up to you.

To be honest, I haven’t worked it all out properly yet, but at the moment, my feeling is that Maria won’t be too much of a problem in regards to the media .

Of course, Jacob could really let things out. She may have to testify, and then she would be questioned on how she met him. They could paint her as a celebrity chaser or out her entire relationship with Max.

Yeah, we’ll have to see how the Jacob thing pans out…

ps-I still don't always get the entire celebrity hype. I do have some signed items, but most of them are about the item or how it was gotten. I'd prefer to have a pint and discussion with a person than take their picture!

No, I’m not a big fan of the whole celebrity thing either… not that I’ve ever met many of them though (unless you count sitting on the next table from a couple of UK TV stars in the café at the gym). I can’t believe some of the stuff I’ve heard/seen about obsessed and screaming Twilight fans lately… I almost feel embarrassed the actors having to deal with it all!

behrluv32 – Thanks .

aww great part id miss max too lol

Me too


***


Part Fourteen

Liz’s heart pounded anxiously in her chest as she stepped off the plane at LAX and made her way through to immigration. It had been two very long, very boring weeks alone at home and now that she was finally here in L.A. she could barely contain her excitement. Just a few more minutes and she would see Max again!

It seemed to take forever to get through immigration, but eventually she breathed a sigh of relief when she was able to collect her baggage and make her way out of the airport, where eyes scanned the huge throng of people waiting in the arrivals lounge. Max had told her he would be sending someone to pick her up from the airport as he didn’t want to attract any more attention by coming to meet her himself.

She had to admit though that she was feeling pretty nervous as she looked around for whoever was supposed to be meeting her. This was the first time she’d been to the States and the whole experience had her feeling both excited and slightly apprehensive. After what seemed like a lifetime, she finally spotted a short man in a black suit and sunglasses holding a cardboard sign bearing the name ‘Ms. E. Parker’ and she let out a breath, heading towards the man with a smile.

“Ms. Parker?”

“Yes, that’s me,” she nodded in confirmation.

“Welcome to Los Angeles, ma’am,” the man smiled politely. “The car is just outside. May I take your bag?”

“Oh, yes, of course,” replied Liz, feeling slightly flustered at the prospect of being waited on by this man; she was used to doing things for herself, not having someone offer to do them for her. “Thank you.”

She followed him through the arrivals lounge and out into the warm sunshine of Los Angeles. A wide smile broke out on her face as she took in her surroundings. She could hardly believe she was actually here.

“This way, ma’am,” the man nodded towards his left and began walking towards a row of cars alongside the airport terminal building.

Liz followed again, shifting her carry-on bag to a more comfortable position on her shoulder as she walked. Her gaze travelled across the shiny cars in front of her and she wondered which one was theirs.

“Here we are,” announced the man as he came to a stop in front of one of them and Liz’s jaw dropped as she took in the sight in front of her.

This wasn’t just any old car; this was a sleek, shiny black limousine!

“A limo? Really?” she gasped, her hand flying to her mouth in shock. “God, this is too much.”

“Hey, this is L.A.,” the man shrugged as if that would explain everything, as he opened the boot of the long car and lifted her suitcase inside before walking round to the side of the limo and reaching for the door, gesturing in invitation. “Ma’am?”

Liz smiled and, with a nod, climbed into the sleek car. She didn’t want to show it, but she was feeling rather overwhelmed right now. Thankfully, the overwhelmed feeling didn’t last for long, as she quickly realised she wasn’t alone in the car. There, sitting by the window with a huge grin on his face, was Max.

“Oh my God!” exclaimed Liz with a gasp, once more covering her mouth with her hand in shock. “What are you doing here?”

Max chuckled as he shifted across the seat, closing the distance between them, “You didn’t think I would spend two whole weeks alone here without you and not be here for your arrival now, did you?”

“But… you said… I thought you couldn’t…”

Max grinned, reaching out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, before cutting off her breathless rambling with a searing kiss. Liz’s eyes slid closed as she felt herself sink into the wonderful embrace. God, he felt so good, his lips warm and soft on hers, his hand burying in her hair, tugging her face towards his as he deepened the kiss. It had been way too long since they’d kissed and now she craved his touch like a man lost in the desert craved water.

“Oh, wow,” she breathed when they finally parted. “That was…”

“I know,” grinned Max, as he ran the back of his finger down her cheek. “I’ve missed you.”

“Me too,” she smiled up at him, lost in his beautiful eyes.

“Um, excuse me, sir,” came the slightly awkward sounding voice of the limo driver from the front of the car. “Are you ready to leave?”

“Oh, yeah, thanks,” nodded Max, not taking his eyes off Liz as he replied and then reached out to press a button. “If you don’t mind, we’re just gonna…”

He left the rest unsaid, but it became obvious what he meant when the partition separating the driver’s seat from the rest of the limo began to close. Liz glanced towards the driver and thought she saw a twinkle in his eye just before he disappeared from view.

“So…” murmured Max, when they were alone and the care pulled away from the curb.

“So…” grinned Liz as she slid her hands around his neck and moved to straddle his waist.

“Hi.”

“Hi,” she let out a small giggle.

“You’re finally here,” he breathed, as if in awe.

“Yep,” she murmured airily.

“How was your flight?"

“Long… and kinda boring,” she admitted. “But first class certainly has its perks… so thank you for that.”

“It was my pleasure,” he smiled, leaning forward for a kiss.

As he pulled back and looked into her eyes, it suddenly hit her that she was in Los Angeles, sharing a limo with Max Evans and she let out an excited squeal.

Max laughed, his arms slipping around her waist, holding her to him, “What was that?”

“Nothing,” she tried to deny, but he raised an eyebrow and she relented. “I’m just excited, that’s all. I can’t believe I’m here!”

His eyes darkened and he leaned in closer, “Well, you’d better believe it, baby.”

Now it was Liz’s turn to laugh, “God, that was cheesy.”

Max pouted, “Cheesy? You’re calling me cheesy?”

“Well…” she contemplated, “…if the shoe fits.”

“Hey!” came his indignant retort.

But Liz wasn’t listening anymore; instead her gaze was fixed on his mouth; his gorgeous full lips beckoned to her and she felt a shiver run down her spine.

“God, I’ve missed you so much,” she groaned softly before pulling his face to hers once more and kissing him with as much passion and eagerness as she could muster.

“Liz…” murmured Max against her lips, his fingers gripping her hips and pulling her even closer so she could feel exactly how much he’d missed her.

“Max…” Liz let out a gasp, breaking the kiss as her head fell back and he began peppering her neck with fervent kisses.

Suddenly Max grinned against her skin and he lifted his head to look at her with a playful glint in his eye, “Hey, have you ever done it in a limo?”

“Max!” she exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock as if the idea was scandalous, but then she smirked wickedly. “Of course not… this is the first time I’ve ever been in a limo!”

He chuckled at that, “So you’re not opposed to the idea then?”

“Well…” she pretended to contemplate his suggestion, although if she was honest, the idea of having sex with Max Evans right here in his limo was more than appealing. “In theory, no…”

“But?”

“But,” she smiled at him gently, “this is my first time in L.A. and right now I’m missing seeing all the amazing sights because I’m sitting here with you instead of looking out the window.”

Max glanced out of the window for a moment before turning back to her with a shrug, “It’s really not all that interesting out there anyway.”

“Not that interesting?!” Liz’s jaw dropped in shock. “Max, I’m in Los Angeles! Home of palm trees and beaches and Hollywood and Disneyland… it’s like a dream come true that I’m even here, let alone that I’m here with you. You can’t expect me to come here and not want to do the tourist thing!”

At her emphatic reply, Max burst out laughing, “Okay, okay, you can look out of the window all you want.” He gestured to the seat beside him with an amused grin, “Go right ahead.”

“Thank you,” she returned with a smile, climbing off his lap and moving to the leather seat next to the window.

“But I’m telling you,” Max murmured close to her ear as he slung his arm around her shoulders and settled down beside her. “It’s just a city like any other.”

“Easy for you to say,” Liz stuck her tongue out at him playfully. “You’ve had ten years to get used to it. I’m an L.A. virgin here.”

“All the more reason to do it in the limo then,” he whispered in her ear, causing her to giggle.

“Not gonna happen, Evans,” she retorted. “At least not on this occasion.”

“What, are you telling me you expect there’ll be other occasions on which we’ll be alone in a limo together?”

“You tell me. You’re the big star… don’t you guys travel around in limos all the time?” she grinned.

“I’ll have you know that limos are only reserved for extremely special occasions, like awards ceremonies or premieres,” he replied airily.

“So picking me up from the airport in one is on a par with a trip to the Oscars then, is it?” she asked sceptically, holding back a grin when Max lowered his head sheepishly.

“Um, well, this was kinda the only way I could meet you at the airport without being seen,” he admitted softly. “When I flew in the other week, I went home in an SUV.”

“Right, okay,” smirked Liz with a nod, before turning to look out of the window again.

A wide smile graced her features as they passed palm tree after palm tree along the side of the road. She could see people out and about, doing their shopping and skating along the pathways; there were shiny open-top convertibles and huge expensive-looking SUVs lining the streets and as they were so close to the ocean, even seagulls flying up above. California was so different to England that even though she’d only been here for about thirty minutes, Liz wasn’t sure she ever wanted to go back to rainy old London.

“Enjoying the view?” came Max’s voice close to her ear as he dropped a kiss to her hair.

“Definitely,” murmured Liz happily. “I can’t wait to get out there and experience it all.” She turned her head to smile up at him, “Will you show me all the sights?”

“Sure,” he nodded with a smile, before giving a small grimace. “Although, I can’t guarantee how much privacy we’ll have while doing it.”

“Oh, yeah,” her face fell slightly as she looked down at her hands.

“Hey,” he murmured, sliding a finger under her chin and lifting her gaze to his. “I’ll take you wherever I can and we’ll try to stay under the radar,” he told her gently, before his lips pulled up into a grin, “but I can’t be seen riding around on one of those ‘Movie Star Homes’ sightseeing bus tours or anything, so if you wanna do that, you’re on your own.”

She laughed at his mortified expression and joked, “Oh no, Max… if I’m going on a bus tour, you’re coming with me. You could entertain everyone with stories of your Hollywood lifestyle. Ooh, and maybe we’d even get to see your house on the tour!”

“No,” Max shook his head firmly, although his eyes were sparkling with amusement. “No way.”

“Aww, relax honey, I’m only joking,” she smirked, lifting a hand to cup his jaw, letting her thumb run across the small amount of stubble there.

“You’d better be,” he warned, though there was no animosity in his tone.

Liz rolled her eyes and pulled his face down to hers, letting her lips brush against his briefly before her tongue snaked out and traced his lower lip. Max’s reaction was immediate and he captured her mouth with his almost forcefully as his free arm came around her waist, tugging her closer. The remainder of the journey was spent cuddled up together on the leather seats of the limo, just talking and kissing and watching the streets of LA go by and before they knew it, the car was pulling up to the gates at the end of Max’s driveway on the outskirts of Santa Monica. After a few moments, the gates opened and the limo drove inside, pulling up in front of a large house.

“We’re here,” said Max unnecessarily as the driver got out of the car and began unloading Liz’s luggage.

He pressed one last brief kiss to Liz’s lips before the door opened and their driver gestured for her to step out into the warm sunshine. Max followed, grabbing her bag and flinging it over his shoulder before thanking the driver and then taking her hand with the intention of leading her towards his home.

“Come on, I’ll show you around.”

But Liz didn’t move; she was too busy staring open-mouthed at the huge house in front of her, as she breathed an amazed, “Wow.”

Max turned towards her with a grin, “What?”

“Just…” she struggled for words. “This is where you live?”

“Yep,” he nodded. “Come on, let’s go inside.”

“But… it’s huge!”

“It’s not that big,” he gave a sheepish shrug, glancing up at his home.

“Max,” she shot him a disbelieving look as she took in the expanse of the white stone house with its numerous windows and palm trees framing the large wooden front door. “This place makes my flat look like a closet. It’s unreal.”

Max just shrugged again slightly awkwardly before clasping her hand more firmly in his and leading her towards the front door. They entered the house and Liz barely managed to hold back a gasp as she took in first the airy foyer and then the enormous living room, where Max put her bags down and then stood watching her as her gaze roamed the place in wonder.

“You want a tour?”

Unable to form words, she simply nodded and he smiled, “Come on then.”

He showed her round the living room first, then the adjoining kitchen, followed by the TV den, which housed a huge flatscreen TV, comfortable leather recliners and sofas and a pool table. Then came his personal gym, the sight of which had Liz raising her eyebrows and making a suggestive comment about a hot, sweaty Max, and after that it the downstairs bathroom, before Max led her outside to the patio, garden and pool, which was now open, the blue water glistening in the sunshine. Last but not least was the upstairs of the house, which had Liz feeling very overwhelmed by the sheer size of Max’s home compared to her own… he had eight count ‘em, eight bedrooms, four of which had accompanying en suite bathrooms!

“God, Max,” she murmured as she entered the master bedroom – Max’s bedroom – which was by far the largest of the eight. “This is just insane.”

“You like the house?” he asked from the doorway, watching as her eyes swept over the room, taking in everything from the enormous bed in the middle, to the walk-in closet, the massive TV on the wall, and the amazing view from the window.

“It’s incredible,” she breathed flashing him a smile in an attempt to hide her nervousness. “But it’s kind of…”

“Kind of what?” he wondered, closing the door behind him and walking further into the room, coming to a stop in front of her.

“Just sorta… overwhelming,” she admitted, before shaking her head sadly. “I don’t think I belong here, Max.”

“What are you talking about?” he murmured, slipping a finger under her chin and lifting her head to look up at him. “Of course you belong here.”

She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, “It’s just… my life is so far away from yours. I’m just an ordinary girl with an average-paying job and a small, rented flat, you know?”

He frowned, “Money and nice houses aren’t everything, Liz.”

She shrugged, still feeling uncomfortable, “Being here in L.A.… seeing where you live… it’s just hitting me what your life is really like. Back in London, I could pretend that maybe we weren’t so different from each other, but here… God, I feel so out of my depth, Max.”

“Liz,” Max shook his head, gazing down into her lost expression. “Maybe my life here is… more extravagant… than what you’re used to, but I’m still the same person I was in London, okay?”

“Yeah…” she murmured, although she wasn’t quite convinced.

“Seriously, Liz,” he leaned down to let his forehead rest against hers as his free arm wound around her waist. “I’m just an ordinary guy. I like beer and dirty jokes and hogging the Playstation.” Liz gave a small chuckle and he smiled, running his thumb across her cheek, “I never pick up after myself, I’m terrible at doing laundry, I routinely forget my parents’ wedding anniversary and my mom’s birthday… and I appreciate a beautiful woman, especially when she has a killer mind to match.”

He punctuated the last part with a soft kiss to her lips and Liz sighed in response, her heart melting at his words and the intense look in his eyes. As she registered the rest of his speech though, a small smirk appeared on her face.

“You know, apart from the beautiful woman bit, you’re not really endearing yourself to me here,” she admonished, earning her a grin from him. “You’d better not forget my birthday or important anniversaries.”

“Why, Miss Parker,” his eyes sparkled and she could see relief in his gaze. “Are you insinuating that there might be some important anniversaries in our future?”

“I–well–I…” she stuttered, her eyes widening at what she’d just let slip from her mouth.

“Hey,” he smiled. “Relax. I’m just kidding.”

“Ha, ha, very funny,” she rolled her eyes at herself.

“But enough with the kidding,” he murmured, his gaze suddenly darkening as he pulled her even closer, causing her knees to weaken in response. “I think we have some serious making up to do right now. It’s been a very long, lonely two weeks without you.”

Liz gasped at his suggestive tone and let herself melt against him as his mouth found hers in a passionate, spine-tingling kiss. Her arms wound around his neck and she unashamedly moved her lower body against his, her stomach tightening in anticipation as she felt the evidence of his arousal pressed against her. Before she even had time to comprehend what was happening, she found herself being lowered onto the king-size mattress as Max began tugging her clothes from her body. It wasn’t long before they were both naked and locked in the throes of passion. Their love-making was passionate and frantic and desperate all at the same time, neither wanting to let go of the other until they were both completely satisfied.

Needless to say, it was a long time before either of them emerged from the bedroom.

***

“So,” started Max later that afternoon as he and Liz sat together at the island in the kitchen eating homemade ham and cheese sandwiches. “What you want to do for the rest of the day?”

“Well,” replied Liz, placing her sandwich down on the plate in front of her. “There’s tons of things I’d love to do, but it’s like midnight for me right now and I’m tired after the long flight… and well, certain other things,” she added with a smirk, which Max returned, along with a wink. “So I don’t think I’ll last much longer.”

“Okay,” he nodded, with a smile. “How about a quiet evening in and an early night? We’ll have all of tomorrow to do stuff instead.”

“Sounds great,” she replied, returning the smile.

Max leaned towards her then, placing his hand on her knee as he dropped a soft kiss on her lips.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” he murmured. “I’ve really missed you.”

“Me too,” she nodded, kissing him a little more forcefully than he had her. “I’m sorry about earlier… you know, when I freaked out a bit. Can I blame it on the jetlag?”

Max let out a soft chuckle, “Sure, go right ahead.” His expression turned serious then, “But I want you to know that it doesn’t matter to me where you live or how much money you have… none of that matters when I’m with you.”

“Max…” murmured Liz, touched by his words.

“And,” he continued solemnly. “I’d hate to think that my lifestyle here has a bearing on how you see me, because underneath all the fame and everything, I’m really just no different to you. I’m just a small-town boy from Roswell, New Mexico.”

“I know, Max… I guess I just got a little overwhelmed by everything earlier. I’m sorry.”

“Hey,” his hand cupped her cheek. “No need to apologise. Why don’t we just have a nice, normal evening in? How does pizza and a DVD work for you?”

“Sounds wonderful,” she smiled happily. “Thank you.”

“What for?” he looked puzzled.

“For everything,” she replied. “For making me feel welcome here, for calming me down earlier.” She leaned forward to kiss him gently before giving him a suggestive grin, “And for the fantastic sex we just had… it was incredible!”

He chuckled, giving a shrug, “Well, I aim to please.”

“That you do, Max Evans,” Liz murmured, licking her lips as he eyes drifted down to his mouth. “That you do.”

TBC…

Hey everyone . Sorry for the late posting - I had intended to post the new part before work this morning, but I woke up with a terrible migraine and could barely even get out of bed. First, I called in sick to work, but then the headache started getting better about 45 minutes later, so I called work back and said I would be coming in a bit late instead (as I was still in bed at the time I would normally leave the house) - as a result, I went into work 30 minutes late and I didn't get a chance to go online .

Anyway, thank you for your feedback :

sarammlover – Thanks

those two are so damn cute. and max....love him! he is so delicious. I could actually imagine myself walking into his house! I loved it!!

Thanks . I actually spent a whole afternoon looking through various LA properties to find one close to what I pictured Max’s house to be. This one seemed to fit the best: http://www.trulia.com/property/photos/3 ... s-CA-90049 (should be 7 photos, but if they aren’t showing up, I have them saved to my computer and I can link to them).

Addicted2AmberEyes – Thanks .

WOW!! What a fantastic arrival for Liz!!

Wasn’t it? .

Intersting how she came to the realization that their worlds are so different... almost half a world away from her own home. Absolutely loved it!! I can't wait to see what the next few weeks have i store for them, maybe Max can convince her to stay....there is obviously plenty of room!!!

Yeah, it’s really hitting Liz now that Max actually is this big star, with a Hollywood lifestyle. It would be great if Liz could stay with Max… only problem with that is US immigration! But don’t worry, I’m gonna see what I can do on the US and UK immigration fronts in regards to their future .

keepsmiling7 – Thanks .

wonderful reunion......Max being in the limo was a great surprise.

I couldn’t resist… it didn’t seem right that Max wouldn’t be there to meet her at the airport.

Max's life style is certainly different from Liz's........

Yeah, it’s different, but let’s hope that doesn’t many cause issues for either of them .

begonia9508 – Thanks .

Sweet part!.... and I understand Liz's reactions when she was confronted with his life: two differents worlds!

Yeah, two very different worlds!

mary mary – Thanks .

Great update...it's really hard to imagine that some of these stars actually manage to keep a level head and live normal lives but some of them do.

Yeah, it must be really difficult to keep some semblance of a normal life and not get too caught up in the glamour when you’re the centre of attention all the time.

katydid – Thanks .

Lovely update! What a sweetheart that Max is! I did love Liz' little freak out. However, he was staying in hotels back in the UK.

He was staying in hotels, but seeing Max in a swanky hotel isn’t quite the same as seeing him in his own swanky home It’s really made her realise that his life is actually like this all the time!

Hope all is going well, and thanks for the update-Kate

Mostly going well, thanks… but been getting frustrated lately about the contract for my new job not arriving in the mail! Should get it this week though… and then I can book flights to New York and South America for Feb and March !!

Natalie36 – Thanks .

Alien_Friend – Thanks .

That was so lovely and extremely pleasant to read. I was smiling the whole time reading it.

Thanks – it’s actually been my favourite part to write so far (although this next one, part 15, is up there too).

I love how he met her at the airport. I don't blame the girl for getting overwhelmed. My goodness. Anyone would. That's just crazy to have the realities laid out right in front of you like that. Max was so sweet about it though, making her feel not too different from him.

I was going to have Max meet her at the house, but it didn’t feel right, so I had him meet her in the limo instead . Yeah, it’s two different things thinking you know what someone’s life is like and then experiencing it firsthand!

I adore this story. Thanks for another awesome part! This is why I love fanfics.

Thank you so much – a few months ago I was starting to feel like writing was becoming a chore and that I was losing my enthusiasm for it, but lovely comments like that make me realise that I still love it .


Author's Note: This part is currently un-beta'd, but I wanted to post it today anyway, so please excuse any typos


***


Part Fifteen

“Max…”

The whispered voice barely registered as he let out a small grunt and shifted, burying his face in the pillow in an attempt to remain sleeping for as long as possible.

“Hey, Max…” the voice continued eagerly, making it hard for him to ignore it.

“Hmmph,” he managed, eyes still closed and face still pressed against the pillow.

“Hey, wake up.”

There was movement at his side and then he felt a warm body pressing up against him… a warm naked body… and suddenly he was wide awake. His eyes opening abruptly, he turned onto his side to find Liz gazing at him with a smirk on her perfect lips as she snaked an arm around his waist, pressing him against her. A smile drifted across his lips as their eyes locked.

“Good morning,” she murmured, leaning forward to kiss his lips gently as her fingers traced patterns on his lower back, making him shiver.

“Hi,” he responded, shifting so that his right leg slipped between hers as his hand came up to tuck her unruly bedroom hair behind her ear. “You seem very chirpy for…” he glanced at the clock and groaned, “… six a.m…. damn, so much for sleeping in on the weekend, huh?”

“Sorry,” she looked sheepish, but her lips were turned up in a small smirk. “It’s the jet lag. My body thinks it’s two p.m. right now. You’re actually lucky that I slept this late.”

“Well, you seemed pretty exhausted by the time we got to bed last night,” he teased, remembering their late-night activities just a few hours ago.

“Exhausted, maybe,” she conceded, “but I’m also excited… and I have a very regulated body clock which doesn’t let me sleep late, especially when I’m jet-lagged.”

“Right,” nodded Max, trying to keep a straight face at her curious explanation.

Liz narrowed her eyes when he couldn’t help but smirk, “Are you laughing at me?”

“No,” he replied quickly. “Of course not.”

“Hmm,” she gave him a suspicious look as she pressed herself up against him, causing his body to react in response. “I don’t believe you.”

“Whatcha gonna do about it?”

She studied him intently for a moment before flashing a conspiratorial grin, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

His eyes darkened as she moved to straddle him and he managed a throaty, “Why don’t you just show me instead, Ms. Parker?”

“Oh, I intend to, Mr. Evans,” she replied breathily, lowering her mouth to his for a scorching kiss. “I definitely intend to.”

***

“Mmm, this is the life,” murmured Liz with a contented sigh as she closed her eyes and sank into the warm depths of Max’s swimming pool later that morning.

“Yeah,” came Max’s soft voice followed by small splash as he slid into the water too.

There were a few moments of silence and Liz let herself drift through the water, eyes still closed as she tilted her head up to feel the warm sun on her face. A smile graced her features as she let her body relax, just enjoying the feel of floating in the calm water.

“So,” came Max’s soft tone from behind her a moment later, causing her to jump and scramble to an upright position in the water.

He chuckled as she spun around to glare at him.

”Shit, don’t do that, Max!”

“Sorry,” he replied with a cheeky grin as he moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, urging her to sit on his lap in the water. “So, what do you want to do today?”

Liz shrugged and gave a small chuckle as she adjusted her position on his lap to get more comfortable, “God, there’s so much I want to see, I don’t even know where to start!”

Max shook his head and laughed along with her for a moment, enjoying the relaxed expression on her face.

“Okay, so let’s think…” he murmured, his hands gently sweeping up and down her back creating small ripples in the water. “…What’s most important for you to do? Like, what would you regret not doing while you’re here?”

“Well,” she bit her lip, looking up at him shyly. He narrowed his eyes; what on earth could she be shy about? “I kinda want to do all the typical L.A. stuff you see on TV.”

“Like what?” he tried not to grin at her vague answer as he moved them both towards the edge of the pool.

“Like…seeing Rodeo Drive,” she mused thoughtfully. “And shopping in Santa Monica… ooh and skating along Venice Beach is another. Plus I want to see the handprints and stars on Hollywood Blvd, then maybe a trip to Universal Studios… oh, and I kinda have to go to Disneyland,” she looked a little embarrassed at that final admission.

“Okay,” smiled Max, his heart swelling with emotion as he watched her getting excited about it all. “Well, let’s see. I’m free today, but I have kind of a busy week coming up, with interviews and meetings and things, so I may have to leave you to your own devices for some of it.”

Liz nodded and Max wondered for a second if she was unhappy about the fact that he had work commitments while she was here, but her expression didn’t give anything away.

“Okay, well I guess it might be better if I did the really touristy things on my own…” she considered. “After all, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to draw attention to yourself by visiting places like the Walk of Fame as if you’re a tourist.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” he nodded in agreement, before pausing for a moment as he wondered how to broach the next subject. “Uh, so speaking of drawing attention… we haven’t really discussed what we should do while you’re here.”

“What do you mean?” she leaned back slightly, letting her fingers swirl in the water as Max supported her weight on his lap.

“I mean… as much as I’d like to, we can’t really hole ourselves up in my house for the duration of your trip,” he looked wistful as he spoke, “but if we venture out in public, there’s going to be pictures and press attention… we’re not gonna be able to go unnoticed for long.”

“Right,” she nodded, straightening up and placing her hands on his bare shoulders for support. “Yeah.”

“So, we need to decide what to do about that,” he hedged, his hands coming to rest on her thighs, fingers tracing gentle circles on her skin.

“I know we do, Max,” she sighed. “I just… I don’t know what the best thing to do is. I mean, of course, I’d love to go public with you, let everyone know that we’re together…”

“But what happens when the press get your name and address and start hounding you because of it?” he finished and she nodded in response. “You’ll lose all your privacy… and I don’t want that for you. It’s not fair.”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “And it’s not fair on you either.”

He shrugged, “It’s part of my life anyway… I don’t have a choice anymore. But you do. Right now, you’re still anonymous and you can stay that way if you want to, but once we go public, you’ll lose that anonymity and the whole world will know who you are.”

“Yeah,” she murmured again, thoughtfully this time. “But at the same time, we can’t just keep hiding away like this, pretending we don’t even know each other. I don’t want to live like that.”

“So what do we do then?”

Liz sighed heavily, “Can’t we just go out there and see what happens? I mean, obviously we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves, but if we tried to stay low-key and avoid the popular places, maybe we’d be okay for a while.”

“Yeah, maybe,” mused Max with a slight nod at first, but then he became more resolved. “Okay, how about this: today we’ll just go out for a quiet drive; I’ll show you some of my favourite spots around here and we’ll try to be as discreet as possible.”

Liz gave him a small smile, “That sounds good.”

“Okay, great,” he returned the smile. “That’s what we’ll do then.”

“Whew, I’m glad that’s sorted out!” she exclaimed a moment later in a teasing tone. “I was starting to get cold just sitting here in the water.”

Max chuckled as suddenly she slid off his lap and began swimming away, making fast movements in an attempt to warm up.

“What, my body heat suddenly not enough for you?”

Liz rolled her eyes and splashed him playfully, “Not when you’re as cold as I am, Evans.”

Before he could retaliate with a splash of his own, she ducked under the water and quickly made her escape. She swam around the pool for a couple of minutes, stretching her limbs and warming up a little.

It wasn’t until she heard a strangled “Liz…” that she stopped moving and lifted her head to find Max now standing at the side of the pool, elbows propped up on the edge as he stared at her with a lustful expression.

With a playful grin, she swam the few feet over to him and in response he sank down lower into the water, feet planted on the floor and knees bent so that he was eye level with her.

“What?” she grinned, coming to a stop right in front of him.

His gaze raked over her briefly before his eyes locked with hers and he gave her that infamous half-smile that made her knees weak every time she saw it.

“Nothin’,” he murmured in reply, his voice slightly throaty. “Come here.”

Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, Liz shot him a mischievous smirk before moving closer to him and settling herself back on his lap, only this time she was much more aware of his half-naked wet body barely inches from hers. He sucked in a breath as her hands sank into his wet hair and she pulled his face to hers for a hot kiss.

“You know,” she murmured, peppering his face with gentle kisses once their lips had parted. “I’ve never done it in a swimming pool.”

“Really?” he managed, his mind apparently more focused on the fact that their lower bodies were currently pressed together intimately than on her words. “Well… I guess we’ll just have to fix that now, won’t we?”

“Oh yeah,” she breathed, rolling her hips against him, feeling how much he wanted her.

“God, Liz…” he hissed out between clenched teeth, his hands moved under the water and gently slid up the length of her torso, not stopping until they reached her bikini-covered chest.

“Max…” she let out a low moan, her head falling back as he palmed her breasts, gently kneading the soft skin as his thumbs flicked across her rapidly hardening nipples.

As he tugged the material of her bikini top aside, Max leaned forward and nuzzled her exposed neck, savouring in the feel of her warm skin against his. Liz shuddered in response, feeling heat pooling between her legs as the sun beat down on their already heated bodies.

“Oh, God,” she groaned barely a moment later when she felt his hand slid back down over her stomach and his fingers slip beneath her bikini bottoms. Her hips bucked involuntarily and she cried out breathlessly as his thumb brushed across her clit and in response, she took his head in her hands and kissed him thoroughly.

“Shit, I’ve missed this,” groaned Max gutturally against her mouth. “I need you, Liz.”

“I need you too,” she murmured, breaking the kiss and pulling back to look into his eyes.

Balancing herself on his lap, she reached down beneath the water to tug on the strings of her bikini bottom, releasing them quickly and pulling the offending material away from her skin. In response, Max’s free hand went to her top and freed the ties there too so that she was completely naked in his lap.

“Your turn,” she whispered with a smile, leaning in to press a chaste kiss to his lips as her hands reached for the elastic on his swim shorts. Obviously eager to be free of them, he helped her tug them down and then kicked them off into the pool.

Liz sucked in a sharp breath as she pressed her body flush against his, her breasts brushed against his torso as her groin met his.

“Yes,” she sighed breathlessly as she felt his hands on her hips, guiding her body to where he needed it most.

Her heart hammering in her chest, her eyes slid closed as she sank down onto his length. God, this felt amazing. Thank God Max had his own pool!

They moved together slowly at first, savouring the feel of making love in the water, but then need quickly took over and their movements became more desperate, more frantic in an attempt to reach that release that they both so desperately craved. For Liz, this moment right here was total perfection. She was with this amazing, perfect man, having sex with him in his own private swimming pool with the Los Angeles sunshine beating down on them. It was like an incredible dream… and she never wanted to wake up from it.

***

“Okay, you ready to go?” called Max from downstairs in the foyer.

“Yeah, I think so,” replied Liz, who was in Max’s bedroom searching through her suitcase for her new pair of sunglasses. “Just gotta find something.”

Turning back to her bags, she scratched her head, wondering where on earth she’d put them.

“Come on, where are you?” she muttered in confusion. “You gotta be here somewhere.”

“Everything alright?” asked Max from the bedroom doorway, having come upstairs to see what was keeping her.

“Yeah,” she nodded, still gazing down at the suitcase. “I just can’t find my sunglasses.”

“You’re welcome to borrow a pair of mine,” he grinned, stepping into the room and crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall.

Liz shook her head, “Thanks for the offer, but if there’s any chance I’m gonna get photographed today, I want to at least look good for the camera… and I’m not sure men’s sunglasses are the way to go with that. Plus, I bought these sunglasses specially for my trip.”

Max nodded and offered to help look for the offending glasses, but Liz forbid him to go anywhere near her suitcase for fear that he might uncover something in there that she didn’t want him to see just yet. Thankfully though, she found them just a couple of minutes later hidden in a pair of shoes at the bottom of the case, and within five minutes, they were out of the house and heading towards Max’s car.

Or perhaps that should have been cars.

Liz’s mouth dropped open in awe as Max led her into his garage and her eyes fell on its contents.

“Oh my God, Max,” she gasped in amazement. “How many cars do you have?!”

“Just four,” he shrugged, as if it were trivial. “But I only really drive two of them regularly. The SUV,” he pointed to a large, black car with tinted windows. “is what I use for work, when I’m headed to the studio or an interview. And the Aston Martin,” he indicated the sleek, silver convertible to his left, “is my weekend car. The other two,” he waved towards the BMW and Cadillac in the corner, “are just collection pieces really. I don’t drive them often.”

“Right,” murmured Liz faintly, barely even able to comprehend owning so many vehicles. As it was, she didn’t own her own car – you didn’t exactly need one in London anyway, and when she went home, she just borrowed her mum’s family estate. “So which one are we using today?”

“Well, normally I would take the Aston Martin, but the SUV has darker windows and is less conspicuous, so it would probably be better for us today.”

“Okay,” nodded Liz, feeling slightly relieved that they wouldn’t be driving around the city in the expensive, flashy convertible.

“Come on,” he nodded towards the SUV, moving over to it and opening the passenger side door for her. “Get in.”

She gave him a smile as she climbed into the large car and he shut the door behind her. As Max made his way around to the driver’s side, she took a moment to survey her surroundings, while fastening her seatbelt. The interior of the SUV looked new and very expensive. The seats were black leather and appeared not to have a single mark on them, which was such a contrast to the old car her mum owned at home. The dashboard was covered in a multitude of different buttons and gadgets, and she could barely even figure out what they were all for. She recognised a GPS system and a DVD player, but the rest was a mystery.

“Okay,” said Max, as he got in, pulled on his seatbelt and started the car. “Let’s go.”

They drove out of the garage and started down the driveway, but suddenly, Max groaned and cursed under his breath.

“What is it?” wondered Liz.

“There’s a photographer down there, by the gate.”

“Oh,” her heart sank; maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. “So what do we do?”

“Um,” Max pondered as he continued to drive slowly toward the gate.

“Never mind,” Liz cut in, “I got an idea.”

Quickly, she undid her seatbelt and ducked down, sliding off the seat and crouching on the floor.

“Liz?” hissed Max in confusion, as he kept his eyes on the road. “What are you doing?”

“The windows are tinted and they won’t see me down here,” she reasoned. “So when you drive out, they’ll think you’re driving alone.”

“Liz,” sighed Max. “I don’t think that’s gonna work.”

“Why not?” she pouted up at him from her position on the floor.

“Well, what if they follow us? It’ll look even weirder if one minute I’m alone and the next you’re sitting next to me.”

Liz took that in and sighed, moving back to sit in her seat again.

“Okay, fine. I’ll stay up here,” she pointed a finger at him, “but I’m blaming you if they get my picture.”

“Aww,” grinned Max. “It’ll be alright; I’ll protect you.”

She just rolled her eyes and shot him a smirk as they made their way out through the gates and onto the street, trying their best to ignore the guy with the camera on their way.

“So, where are we going?” asked Liz as Max drove down a street lined with palm trees… not that that was anything unusual though, as it seemed that every street in L.A. had palm trees along it.

“It’s a surprise,” grinned Max. “So stop asking questions.”

“So not fair,” she gave him a mock-evil look, before amusing herself by looking out of the window instead.

She couldn’t help but smile contentedly as Max reached forward to turn on some music and then relaxed back in his seat as he drove. She sent a quick glance his way and her heart skipped a beat as she took in his handsome profile. Dark sunglasses covered his eyes, but that didn’t take away from his attractiveness in the slightest. In fact, the combination of the sunglasses and the relaxed smile on his face only served to make him look even sexier than usual. An involuntary sigh escaped from her lips as she realised how at home he was here in Los Angeles, how the California lifestyle completely suited him and how looking back on the last few months, it seemed that London was smothering him… the cold, grey days and drizzly rain preventing him from reaching out and enjoying life to the full.

Hell, if she was honest, London did the same thing to her. Not that she wasn’t happy there; she was, it was just that the combination of big, bustling city and constant low, heavy cloud could be rather stifling. Everything here in California seemed much more open and much less constricting. The sky even seemed higher and bigger here because the only clouds up there were tiny and much higher than the ones she was used to seeing every day.

“You okay?” asked Max when she hadn’t torn her eyes from the window for a full five minutes.

“Yeah,” she smiled. “Just thinking.”

“Only about good things, I hope.”

“Yeah,” she nodded, letting her gaze roam over the view from the SUV. “God, I think I’m in love with L.A.”

“Already?” he smirked and raised an eyebrow. “You’ve barely even seen any of it yet.”

“I know,” she shrugged, “but there’s just like this atmosphere here that you don’t get in England. It’s so sunny and open… it makes me feel happy just being here.”

“The sunshine makes you happy?” he murmured incredulously. “And here I thought I was the cause of your happiness.”

“Oh, you are,” she assured him, reaching over to place her hand on his knee. “You definitely are; but the sunshine just kind of magnifies that happiness, you know?”

“Yeah, okay,” he nodded, although it was pretty obvious to Liz that he wasn’t really sure what she was talking about.

“So, are we almost there yet?” wondered Liz when they turned off the Pacific Coast Highway and began driving through more rural terrain.

“Nearly,” replied Max with a roll of his eyes. “Just be patient, okay?”

Liz made a face, but remained quiet until they eventually pulled into a clearing in the middle of nowhere.

“Okay,” announced Max, turning off the engine and unfastening his seatbelt. “We’re here.”

She peered out of the windscreen, taking in the vast scenery before her, “And where is here, exactly?”

Max flashed her a grin, as he reached for his door handle, “Only my favourite place in L.A.”

Liz was still confused as Max got out of the car and then opened the door for her. She climbed out and then watched as Max grabbed two backpacks from the car before locking it and handing one to her. He slid the other onto his back and then took her hand in his with a soft smile.

“Come on, I’ll show you.”

Liz just shook her head and with a chuckle allowed him to lead her toward a dirt trail leading up towards the trees. They walked hand-in-hand through the forest for several minutes and Liz took the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful natural scenery around her.

“Wow, this place is amazing, Max,” she breathed, unable to contain her excitement as she spotted the L.A. skyline through a gap in the trees.

He grinned down at her, “Just wait until you see the rest.”

“God, you’d never think places like this existed so close to the city,” she mused. “I mean, when I think about Los Angeles, I think of movie sets and expensive homes, traffic and smog, fast food joints and fad diets… not extremely beautiful views and idyllic hiking trails.”

“I know,” agreed Max, “but the area is actually pretty well-known for hiking and outdoor recreation. This trail is nice and secluded so we shouldn’t get any unwanted attention here, but other areas, like Runyon Canyon, are hotspots for celebrity sightings.”

Liz nodded in understanding, before adjusting the bag on her back and wondering what on earth Max had packed in it this morning.

“So, what exactly are we carrying in these bags anyway?” she asked suddenly.

“While you were getting ready to leave, I packed some food and water for us,” he replied, giving her hand a gentle squeeze as they continued to walk. “I thought we could picnic up here today.”

A wide smile lit up her face, “That sounds perfect, Max.”

It wasn’t long before they reached the top of the tree line and Max led Liz across the grass and slightly rocky terrain to a secluded little clearing just over a small hill.

“Okay, here we are,” he announced with a grin. “You like?”

Liz came to a stop just in front of him and let out an awed gasp as she took in the amazing view. She could see the whole of sprawling Los Angeles from up here!

“Wow, this is incredible!” she exclaimed, looking up at Max excitedly. “How did you find this place?”

“I came across it just after I moved here for college. I was looking for new places to explore and I overheard someone talking about it with a friend. I came up here just after dropping out of UCLA, while I was trying to figure out what to do with my life and discovered this great spot as I was walking,” he explained. “The trail isn’t all that popular, so I don’t have to worry too much about being followed or spotted. I like to come up here sometimes to escape the craziness that is my life.”

Liz didn’t say anything, not really feeling the need to, but instead just placed her bag on the ground and took a seat on an area of soft grass, before patted the spot beside her in invitation. Max smiled and settled down on the ground next to her, shrugging his backpack off and then slipping an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his side.

“Wow, this view is amazing,” she murmured, snuggling closer to Max as they looked out over the city.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I love it here.”

They continued to take in the scenery for a few more moments, before Liz reached for her camera and began taking photos of the city skyline. After a minute, Max offered to take a picture with her in it too and they soon began snapping away, capturing their time together on camera forever. It wasn’t long before things began to get silly, however, and Liz found herself laughing loudly as she tried to grab her camera back from Max and he refused to give it to her, instead holding it above his head and looking down at her with an evil smirk. What started as Liz jumping up to try and reach it ended in them rolling around in the grass in the midst of a tickle war.

“Aha, I got it!” exclaimed Liz triumphantly as she managed to pry the camera from Max’s hand while distracting him by straddling his waist. “I won.”

“I beg to differ,” replied Max coolly, although his expression was mischievous as he gazed up at her from his position on his back. “Come here.”

Before Liz could react, he had her rolled over and pinned to the floor as he captured her mouth in a deep, slow kiss.

“God, Max…” she murmured breathily when his mouth left hers and began kissing a trail of hot kisses down her neck. “I think… I think we should… have lunch.”

“Huh?” he lifted his head and looked down at her in puzzlement.

She smiled at his confusion but then let out a heavy breath, before whispering, “We’re in public here.”

He shrugged, glancing up at their surroundings, “But there’s no one around.”

“Even so, we probably shouldn’t risk it.”

“You’re right,” Max sighed, dropping one last kiss to her lips before moving off her. “Come on then, let’s eat.”

The picnic lunch was a casual affair; Max had packed sandwiches, along with snacks of potato chips and dip, fruit and cookies and Liz couldn’t help but smile as she watched him tuck into the food eagerly.

“Was English food so bad?” she wondered with a smirk. “I mean, you never ate with this much enthusiasm there.”

“Huh?” he turned to her with his mouth full, swallowing quickly so her could answer. “Oh, no… I’m just hungry. This is good food, you know?”

Liz laughed lightly and shook her head in amusement, “Honestly, you spend three months living and eating in a five-star London hotel, but put a homemade sandwich in front of you and you’re gone!”

“Well, I need my energy too, of course… what with you here for the next two weeks and everything.”

“Really…” Liz’s eyes sparkled at his implication. “Well then, by all means, eat up.”

As lunch was winding down and Max and Liz settled down together again, Max spoke up about their plans for the rest of the day.

“How do you feel about meeting some of my friends today?” he asked softly, gently running his fingers along her arm as she relaxed into him. “I hope you don’t mind but I invited a few people round for a barbeque later this afternoon. If you don’t want to though, I can cancel.”

“That sounds nice,” replied Liz. “I’d love to meet your friends; after all, you know all of mine now… it’s only fair I get to meet yours too.”

“Okay, great. Barbeque it is.”

They remained up in the hills for a little longer, just enjoying each other’s company and the fact that there was no one there to disturb them. Of course it was only a matter of time before someone discovered who Liz was, but for now she was content just to take whatever privacy they could get.

TBC…

Hey everyone, I’m so sorry about the wait for an update with this story – as you might have seen on my Christmas story thread, I’ve been sick with the stomach flu this week (only just fully recovered now) and so I didn’t even manage to make a start on the new part until a couple of days ago . Just finished it, so I thought I’d post today instead of waiting until Thursday for the usual update. Hopefully I’ll have another part ready to post on Thursday as normal .

Thank you for your feedback :

mary mary – Thanks .

Alien_Friend – Thanks .

Aww that's so cute! A beautiful scenery and a picnic. What more could you ask for? It's really all about the simple things and spending time with someone you really care about. They really know how to enjoy each other's company. They are always so into each other and dedicated to the moments they have with one another. It's so easy to get lost in everything that goes on in life but they always seem to just find a good comfort and peace with being together.

Yeah, I wanted them to have some alone time together (outside the house) without being thrust into the limelight just yet .

I wonder who Liz will meet. That should be interesting. It's nice to see Max in his surrounds and that would be another element to add to it.

The barbeque is coming right up…

Aww I'm glad I could help. Writing is all about love and passion for the craft. If you don't have that it can seem empty. It's never a good place to write from. I'm thrilled you're still writing and loving it. I would totally miss your work and presence.

Thank you . I’m trying to keep up with writing as much as I can, but at the moment it’s been hard to find the same excitement I had when I was writing Between The Covers… just need to find ‘that’ story to write again . Unfortunately, though, I’m gonna have to put the writing on hold in Feb and March (and possibly some of April) as I’m going travelling for 2 months in South America (with a brief stop in the US) (leaving in 4 weeks!). Hoping to get this story finished before I go, but we’ll see how it goes .

Eagerly awaiting more! Awesome part. It made me smile and lose myself in the moment. That's my other favourite part about this.

I’m glad… that’s just what I’ve been going for with the last couple of parts .

keepsmiling7 – Thanks .

Liz is just like a kid in a candy store......she's having a great visit.

She is, isn’t she? As I’m writing, I’ve been remembering all the fun, touristy things I enjoyed doing when I visited L.A. .

Natalie36 – Thanks .

i hope they like liz

Let’s hope so .

begonia9508 – Thanks .

Nice hollydays for Liz!.... Of course her companion makes the most of it and I hope his friends are nice too....

Yeah, she’s having a great time so far .

sarammlover – Thank you .

I want to be having a picnic on a hill....that sounds fun. But alas, I am working. Lame.

Yeah, picnic on a hill would be nice … would have to be a hill in L.A. though as going to a hill near where I live would be cold, windy, cloudy and probably very wet !

katydid – Thanks .

It's nice that there are places to go in LA. Not everything is set up for celebrities!

Yep, I wanted to show that there are other things to see and do in the area apart from the obvious .

I hope the contract came in the mail, and I hope you have fun booking your flights.

Actually the contract came the same day I posted the last part . Booking the flights was fun, but receiving my credit card bill won’t be, lol. It’s only 4 weeks until I leave the UK now though… then 2 months of travelling awaits !!


***


Part Sixteen

Standing in Max’s elaborate en-suite bathroom that afternoon, Liz smoothed her hands down her skirt and adjusted her top, trying not to feel too nervous about the prospect of meeting his friends in just a few minutes. Gazing at herself in the mirror, she felt a mixture of appreciation – she knew that this particular outfit really suited her – and apprehension; because while she knew she looked nice, she was about to spend the evening with some of most beautiful people in the world.

Max had told her that Isabel Ramirez would be coming tonight… Isabel Ramirez! She was like the ultimate fantasy of just about every man Liz knew. How was she going to compete with that? Not to mention that Anna Davis would be here too. Despite Max’s reassurances, she still didn’t quite know what to make of Anna. The woman was gorgeous, there was no denying that, but at the same time, she did believe Max that they were just friends.

Friends who used to date, though, she reminded herself with a sigh.

“You okay?” a soft voice from the doorway startled her out of her musings and she lifted her gaze, her eyes catching Max’s in the mirror.

He was leaning in the doorway, clad in a casual button-down shirt and dark trousers, arms folded over his chest as he smiled at her.

“Yeah,” she nodded, following his movements in the mirror as he pushed away from the doorframe and made his way over to her.

“Nervous?” he enquired, slipping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder.

“Kinda,” she admitted softly, as she let her hands cover his and they looked at each other in the mirror.

“You’ll be fine,” he assured her, gently grazing the side of her neck with his lips. “And they’ll love you, I’m sure of it.”

“I just… it’s kind of scary,” she told him. “I mean your friends are all famous… and beautiful; and I’m just, well, me.”

“Okay, so maybe you’re not famous,” he conceded. “And that’s a good thing, believe me… but you’re more beautiful to me than all those ‘Hollywood starlets’ put together.”

“Yeah, okay,” she all but snorted.

“I mean it,” he insisted, his arms tightening around her.

“Even Isabel Ramirez?” Liz couldn’t help but wonder timidly, hearing his words, but not quite believing them.

“Definitely,” he murmured, peppering soft kisses down the side of her neck. “Although she’d kill me for saying that… so don’t tell her I told you.”

Liz couldn’t help but give a small chuckle at that, before they settled into a comfortable silence. She watching their bodies in the mirror as Max continued his caresses and her heart swelled with emotion for him.

“You’re the most beautiful person in the world to me too,” she murmured softly, reciprocating his earlier declaration to her.

Max lifted his head to gaze at her in the mirror, emotion swimming in his dark eyes, “I am?”

“Well,” Liz’s lips twitched with amusement. “You already know you’re gorgeous… but, yeah, you are. No one else could ever compare.”

At her words, he released his grip on her waist and spun her around to face him. He gazed down at her with a heat-filled expression before cupping her chin and capturing her lips in an intense kiss.

“Come on,” he whispered when they parted, “they’ll be here soon. We should go downstairs.”

Stepping back from her, he took her hand in his and led her out of the bathroom, through his large bedroom and down the stairs. They soon found themselves in the kitchen, where Max began checking that all the food was ready for the barbeque later on. As he did so, Liz slipped onto one of the stools at the island and started rearranging the numerous bottles of drink set out on the countertop.

“So, who else is coming tonight?” she wondered. “Apart from Isabel and Anna?”

“Well, I think Isabel is bringing a couple of friends over too,” replied Max as he opened the fridge to count the number of beers inside. “Then there’s Andy, an old friend of mine from when I first moved out here; Tom, Joe… and I think maybe a couple of the guys I play basketball with are gonna come too.”

“Cool.”

They continued to set up the food and drink in the kitchen, until the buzzer sounded a few minutes later and Max pressed the intercom button to let the guests in. The first to arrive were Tom Jackson and Joe White, who were also actors, signed to the same agent as Max, but who were still finding their feet in Hollywood.

“Hey, guys,” called Max when they let themselves in. “We’re in the kitchen.”

Liz’s eyes widened when the two of them stepped into the room and immediately moved to give Max a high-five and a handshake. They were both young, fit and very handsome, with the typical ‘Hollywood good looks’.

”Max, buddy, how’s it hangin’?”

“It’s good, Tom, thanks,” Max nodded toward the stocky blond, as he shook hands with the leaner brunet.

“And who’s this then?” grinned Joe, letting go of Max’s hand and heading over to where Liz was standing next to the countertop.

She shifted, feeling a bit like a museum exhibit when his eyes appraised her as he grabbed a beer from the island.

“Hi, I’m Liz,” she smiled, holding out a hand to him.

He took it, but instead of shaking it in greeting, Joe simply grinned, quirked an eyebrow and raised her hand to his mouth, smoothly placing a kiss to her skin.

“Enchantée, my British beauty.”

She couldn’t help but let out a small giggle his suave gesture, but then a snort from across the room broke the moment.

“Oh, man, give it a rest!”

“What?” grinned Liz, raising an eyebrow at Max, who was rolling his eyes at his friend. “I think it’s sweet.”

Tom made a gagging sound from across the room, but Liz ignored him and turned back to Joe again.

”Very nice to meet you, Joe.”

“This your new girl, Max?” Tom stepped in then, moving Joe out of the way so he could greet her too. “Nice to meet you, Liz. I’m Tom.”

“Nice to meet you too, Tom.”

“So, you and Max met in England, huh?” he asked, making conversation as he took her arm and began leading her outside to the patio. “How did that come about?”

“Well, actually,” started Liz, glancing back over her shoulder at Max, who simply shrugged and grinned at her. “Our parents are friends and when my mum heard that Max would be in England over Christmas, she invited him to stay with us over the holidays.” She laughed lightly, “I didn’t even know my parents knew him until I walked into the kitchen on the morning of Christmas Eve and there he was, eating breakfast in our kitchen!”

“Wow,” nodded Tom as they took a seat on two of the patio chairs. “That’s some coincidence.”

“It certainly was,” came Max’s smooth voice as he stepped out of the kitchen and onto the patio with a drink in each hand. Smiling down at Liz, he handed her one of the drinks, “Here, thought you could use one of these.”

“Thanks, Max,” she nodded, taking it from him as he handed the other to Tom.

The buzzer sounded again, indicating more people arriving and so Max headed back inside to answer the door. Liz watched his retreating back for a moment, before settling back in the patio chair with a contented sigh as she sipped her as the sound of feminine chatter filtered through from the kitchen and Max stepped outside onto the patio once again, followed by three more people. Once was Isabel Ramirez and she could only assume that the other two, who had immediately headed over to greet Tom, were friends of Isabel’s.

“Liz,” Max gestured to her and she stood up with a nervous smile, placing her drink down on the table in front of her. “I’d like you to meet my good friend, Isabel.”

Making her way over to them, Liz finally glanced up and took notice of the woman standing beside Max… and gulped. Isabel really was even more beautiful and glamorous in person than she was on the big screen.

“H-hi,” she stuttered, gingerly holding out her hand towards Max’s friend as her eyes took in the other woman’s appearance.

Isabel was dressed in a pair of immaculate expensive-looking, figure-hugging jeans with a gold, silky top draped over her shoulders… well, one shoulder really, as the material on the other had slipped down over her arm, exposing an expanse of soft, creamy-looking skin. Her feet were clad in impossibly-high, matching Manolo Blahniks, causing her to tower over Liz, making her feel rather inadequate in comparison.

“Liz, hello,” smiled Isabel warmly as she shook her hand. “It’s lovely to finally meet you. Max has been telling me all about you.”

“Has he now?” letting out a nervous chuckle, Liz looked to Max who only shrugged and gave her a smirk. “Only good things, I hope.”

“Of course,” Isabel smiled, stepping closer to Liz and linking arms with her. “Now come on, let’s sit down… I want to get to know you.”

Shooting Max a slightly panicked look, to which he only laughed, Liz allowed Isabel to lead her over to a couple of the sun loungers near the pool, where she began chatting to her about the latest fashions.

The afternoon began pleasantly enough and Liz found herself relaxing and enjoying the company of Max’s friends. Isabel was so much more friendly and down-to-Earth than Liz had been expecting and it wasn’t long before she realised was a nice person she was. Isabel seemed to have a way of making you feel at ease and, talking to her, it was easy to forget how famous she was. They laughed and joked together, rolling their eyes in amusement when the guys got up to start the barbeque and Joe and Max got into an argument about the best way to grill steaks. It was fascinating for Liz to see Max interact with his friends like this. He seemed so relaxed and carefree and his obvious happiness only served to make her happy too. Every now and then, he would look over to her, their eyes meeting and she couldn’t hold back her answering grin.

About thirty minutes later, the buzzer rang again and, leaving the grilling duties to Tom and Joe, Max headed back inside to open the door. A small knot of apprehension appeared in Liz’s stomach as her eyes roamed the backyard and she mentally counted off who was here. So far, everyone Max had mentioned had turned up except for his friend Andy and of course, Anna. Sure enough, Max reappeared a few moments later with a tall, lean blond guy and the gorgeous redhead. The guy, who she could only assume was Andy made his way straight over to the grill, but Anna and Max stayed on the patio. Liz couldn’t help but narrow her eyes at how close they were standing, talking quietly in hushed tones.

She couldn’t dwell on it for long though, as a moment later, Max left to tend to the food and Anna began walking over to where she and Isabel were sitting.

“Hi, Liz,” smiled Anna politely, holding out her hand, her red hair gleaming in the afternoon sunshine. “I’m Anna. It’s great to meet you.”

“Hi, Anna,” Liz nodded, standing up to shake hands with the woman. “Likewise.”

“I’ve been looking forward to meeting the woman who–”

“Turned Max into a ‘mooney-eyed sap’?” finished Liz with a grin, somehow feeling at ease with Anna, despite her reservations. “Yeah, I heard.”

Anna laughed, “He told you that, huh?”

“Yeah,” Liz rolled her eyes.

“It’s true though,” confirmed the redhead. “He’s different with you… and that’s a good thing – trust me.”

“Oh, um, thanks.”

There was a slight moment of unease where no one seemed to know what to say next, but then Tom announced that the food was ready and everyone moved back over to the patio to eat.

Afternoon turned into evening and Liz found that she was thoroughly enjoying herself in the company of Max’s friends. She was even warming to Anna, who really did seem like a nice woman. The best part about the meal though, was the fact that, due to lack of patio chairs around the table, she was forced to sit on Max’s lap for the evening… well, perhaps ‘forced’ was too strong a word, but either way, she wasn’t complaining.

After dinner, everyone spread out and relaxed around the patio and poolside, chatting quietly amongst themselves. Liz found herself dragged into a conversation about London vs. L.A. fashions with Isabel and her friends, while Max was busy clearing away the food. It was still fairly early, but by nine p.m., Liz was beginning to flag, the eight-hour time-difference still not having caught up with her. Regretfully, she said goodnight to Isabel and the other two girls, then to Tom, Joe and Andy, before heading inside to find Max and let him know that she was heading to bed. He wasn’t in the kitchen and she frowned in confusion when she didn’t see him anywhere. Walking through the house, she eventually heard voices coming from the den and, moving toward the door, she was about to make her presence known, when the sight before her made her stop in her tracks.

Max was sitting on one of the large couches, but he wasn’t alone. Anna was sitting next to him, her elbow propped up on the back of the couch, hand supporting her head as she looked over at him.

“She’s lovely, Max. Really,” said Anna with a smile, as she lifted the wine glass in her other hand to her lips. “I like her.”

“I like her too, Anna,” he replied, the tender expression on his face making Liz’s heart skip an excited beat. “A lot.”

“Just like?” enquired the redhead. “Or is it more?”

“Well,” Max gave a small grin. “It’s certainly heading that way.”

For me too, thought Liz with a grin of her own as she pressed her side against the doorframe, so as not to be seen.

“You know, I really missed you when you were gone,” admitted Anna, taking another sip of wine. “When you first told me you’d met someone I kinda… well, I was jealous.”

“You were?” wondered Max, raising an eyebrow in what looked like amusement. “But you knew that–”

“Yeah, I know,” nodded Anna, leaving Liz wondering what exactly they were talking about. “But it still didn’t stop me from hoping I might still get to experience that amazing body of yours one more time.”

At that, Liz frowned in confusion, her heart suddenly starting to pound anxiously in her chest. What was going on here? She’d thought Max had told her the truth when he’d said they were just friends, but the way Anna was talking right now, it sounded like maybe that wasn’t the case.

“Anna,” Max shook his head, with a hint of a smile. “We agreed that we would stop if either of us got involved. You knew that.”

“Yeah, I know,” she nodded slowly. “But I guess it was just wishful thinking on my part. You’re my best friend, Max… I guess kinda thought you’d always be there, you know?”

“Hey, come here,” murmured Max, moving to slip his arm around her shoulders and hugging her close. “You’ll find someone, you know. Someone you’ll love more than
life itself who you can share your life with. It won’t always be like this.”

Suddenly feeling like she was intruding on a private moment, and not really knowing what to make of the conversation she’d just overheard, Liz stepped away from the door. She was tempted to walk right in there and demand to know what exactly Max hadn’t told her about Anna, but at the same time, she was tired and a little tipsy and she just wanted to lie down and go to sleep. Careful not to make any noise, she tiptoed up the stairs and into Max’s bedroom. Undressing quickly, she slipped into his warm bed and settled down against the fluffy pillows. Tomorrow she would talk to Max properly about Anna, but right now, she just needed to sleep off the jet-lag.

***

Max pressed a soft, platonic kiss to the top of Anna’s head before releasing her from his arms and moving to stand up from the couch.

“You okay now?” he asked, holding out his hand to help her up.

“Yeah,” nodded Anna, standing up and smoothing down her skirt. “Thanks for the support… I guess I’m just feeling sorry for myself right now. I mean, you’ve found this amazing girl, who is just perfect for you, I might add, and here I am, still alone.”

“Like I said: it won’t be for long, I’m sure of it,” he grinned. “Come on, I’d better go and save Liz from Isabel’s group of gossips out there.”

He and Anna headed out of the den and through the kitchen to join everyone else in the backyard. Once outside, Max made a beeline for Isabel, but stopped short when he realised Liz wasn’t with her any more.

“Hey, ladies,” he shot them a devilish grin, “have any of you seen Liz around?”

“Hey, Max,” smiled Isabel warmly, before shaking her head. “Liz just headed up to bed a few minutes ago… said the jet-lag was gonna take over her body if she didn’t get some sleep soon.”

“Oh, okay,” Max glanced back at the house, wondering for a moment why she hadn’t come to say goodnight to him. “Thanks, guys.”

“Look,” said Isabel then, standing up. “Maybe we should head off now; call it a night.”

“Oh, you don’t have to go,” he shook his head. “It’s still early – you’re welcome to stay for a while longer.”

“It’s okay, Max,” Isabel shook her head. “I have to meet with my agent in the morning anyway.” She turned to her friends, “You girls ready to head out?”

They nodded and grabbed their purses, before the three of them bid Max goodnight and made their way back through the house.”

Tom and Joe were next to get going, thanking Max for a great evening before getting into Tom’s car and pulling out of the driveway, leaving just Max, Anna and Andy to begin clearing up the patio.

“Liz seems like a really great girl,” acknowledged Andy as he helped Max carry several empty beer bottles into the kitchen, while Anna excused herself to go to the bathroom. “Perfect for you, in fact.”

“Yeah?” Max looked over at his oldest L.A. friend with a small smile. “You think so?”

“Definitely,” Andy nodded. “She’s like a breath of fresh air. Not to mention that accent.”

His friend wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and Max found himself laughing in response.

“Yeah, the accent is pretty hot,” he agreed with a grin. “But, she’s just… she’s so different from anyone else I’ve ever met. She’s kind of… amazing.”

“Yeah,” agreed Andy, as they headed back outside to clear away the remainder of the food. “Not that there’s anything wrong with the women out here, mind you, but it must be nice to be with someone who’s not all about the fame and the money and the plastic surgery.”

“You’re right, there,” laughed Max, collecting up various plates and dishes.

“I’m glad you’ve found Liz, you know,” murmured Andy, as they retreated back into the kitchen again. “Kinda wish I was that lucky, though.”

At that, Max frowned and looked over at his friend to find his expression somewhat sombre, “What’s up? Things not going well with you and that girl… Karen, was it?”

Andy gave a small snort and shook his head, “Nah, man, that ship has sailed. It didn’t work out.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he frowned in concern.

“Don’t worry about it,” his friend dismissed with a wave of his hand. “It wasn’t going anywhere anyway.”

“So, any other potential dates on the horizon?”

“Nah,” Andy shook his head, before stopping and seeming to contemplate something. “Well… there’s kind of–”

He stopped abruptly as Anna reappeared in the kitchen.

“Hey, Andy, I’m gonna have to get going in a minute. You still want a ride home?”

“Oh, um, sure, Anna,” Andy stumbled over his words slightly, while Max simply looked on in amusement. “T-that would be great.”

“Cool,” Anna shot him a smile, before moving across the room and out to the patio to grab her purse.

“What?” muttered Andy self-consciously, as Max folded his arms and looked at him suspiciously.

“Nothin’” he shook his head, although he had to hide a smirk at his friend’s suddenly uncomfortable stance; seemed like Anna had an admirer already.

They left together ten minutes later and Max sighed as he tidied away the last of the barbeque remnants, before heading upstairs for bed. A soft smile graced his lips as he thought about Liz sleeping in his bed just a few feet away; he almost couldn’t believe she was really here and he was going to do everything possible to make the next two weeks last as long as possible.

Entering his bedroom, Max found the room dark, although he could just about make out the silhouette of Liz lying beneath the covers of his large bed. With a quick glance and a smile in her direction, he headed for the en-suite bathroom to get ready for bed, brushing his teeth and then stripping down to his boxers and a grey T-shirt, before walking back into the bedroom again. Careful not to disturb Liz, who was sleeping on her side, her back to him, he climbed into bed and shifted so he could slip his arm around her waist, spooning behind her. She shifted and let out a small sound at his touch and he couldn’t resist nuzzling her neck and dropping a soft kiss to her warm skin.

“Hmm,” she sighed, before shifting in his arms and lifting her head to look at him sleepily.

“Hey,” he whispered with a smile. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“S’okay,” she murmured, turning to face him now. “I was just dozing.”

“You okay?” he asked quietly, rolling onto his back and pulling her with him so she could snuggle up at his side. “I didn’t realise you’d gone to bed until Isabel told me.”

“Oh, I was going to tell you…” she trailed off uncertainly and Max frowned.

“But?”

“Well,” she shifted uncomfortably, her fingers tracing gentle patterns on his shirt-covered chest. “I came inside to find you, but you were with Anna in the den.”

“Oh,” murmured Max. “Well, you should have come in and told me anyway.”

“Should I?”

There was something odd in her tone, but Max couldn’t quite figure out what.

“Max…?” she murmured after a moment of silence. “What’s really going on with you and Anna?”

At her question, Max’s heart sank and he closed his eyes; she must have overheard part of his conversation with Anna earlier.

“I mean, I know you said you were just friends,” she continued softly. “And I believe you, but I heard some of your conversation in the den… and it sounded like maybe there was more to the story than that.”

“Liz…” started Max, lifting a hand to his forehead as he cursed himself for not thinking to set things straight earlier. “I’m sorry… I should have told you in the beginning, but I didn’t think it was important, especially as it was over anyway…”

“What wasn’t important?” her tone was strained and he could feel her body tense slightly.

“I told you the truth when I said Anna and I were just friends,” he explained. “We hung out, went for coffee… she accompanied me to premieres if I didn’t have a date…”

“But?”

“But,” he conceded, closing his eyes briefly. “Sometimes we would, uh… hook up… occasionally.”

“Hook up?” she murmured, making a face. “You mean like… ‘fuck buddies’ or something?”

“No, not…” Max sighed heavily, knowing there wasn’t really a nicer way to put it. “Well, kinda… something like that, yeah. But we always agreed that if either of us met someone else, we would stop. And we did… the moment I laid eyes on you, it was over.”

“Right,” her voice was deceptively calm. “Okay.”

“Liz?” he wondered in concern when she sucked in a harsh breath. “You okay?”

She let out a soft snort, “Oh, yeah, I’m just peachy.”

“Liz,” Max shifted from beneath her and turned onto his side so that he could at her properly, albeit in the darkness of the bedroom. “I didn’t tell you because it was in the past. Anna is my friend, but I don’t have feelings for her, other than in the friend category.”

“Well, you seem to have enough feelings for her to keep sleeping with her,” she responded bitingly.

“Fine,” Max sighed. “I won’t deny that she’s attractive, okay, but it was just two single friends seeking comfort in each other every now and then. That’s all.”

“And what about Anna? Does she feel the same way about it?” her voice was timid now.

“Yes, she does,” Max was quick to assure her. “Whatever we had before I met you is over now. And she likes you a lot, Liz… there’s no hard feelings there, I promise.” He paused for a moment, before continuing, “Besides, I’m pretty sure Andy’s got a thing for her… and I don’t think she’d be all that opposed to him either.”

Liz nodded hesitantly, “Right.”

Max reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear, “Are we okay?”

“I guess so,” she murmured after a slight pause. “But you should have told me this earlier… like maybe before I met her tonight.”

“I know, and I’m sorry,” he apologised quickly. “I really didn’t mean for it to become an issue… I just figured that since the whole thing with Anna became moot after I met you, that it wasn’t even worth mentioning. You’re my girlfriend, Liz, not her.”

Liz nodded, “But as your girlfriend, I think I have a right to know what I’m dealing with when it comes to friends of yours that you’ve slept with.”

Her tone was light, but Max could see the underlying tension in her face.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“So, any other ‘friendly relationships’ I should know about?” she asked then. “No secret flings with Isabel Ramirez?”

At that, Max couldn’t help but snort, “Oh, God no!”

“Well, okay then,” she seemed slightly surprised at his amused outburst.

“Sorry, but Isabel’s one of my oldest friends… that would just be weird,” he rolled his eyes. “I mean, this is the girl who peed in my parent’s pool when we were seven!”

“Okay,” she gave a tentative smile. “I get it.”

“We okay now?” he wanted to make sure everything was good between them before they went to sleep.

“I think so,” she nodded, shifting closer to him now. “But promise me you won’t keep stuff like this from me anymore?”

“I promise,” he smiled gently, leaning forward to press a soft kiss to her forehead. “So long as you promise do the same for me?”

“I promise,” she smiled. “Although, there’s not all that much to know.”

He grinned, “I find that hard to believe; a beautiful woman like you.”

She glanced down, “You’d be surprised.”

“Hey, come here,” murmured Max, reaching out to slip an arm around her waist and tug her closer so that her head was resting against his chest. “You underestimate yourself, Liz Parker.”

When she nodded against him, he smiled and kissed the top of her head, before rolling onto his back again and letting her settle beside him. They lay together in comfortable silence for several long moments, before Liz finally relaxed against him, her breathing evening out as she drifted off to sleep. Max sighed softly, hoping that she really did understand that Anna really was just his friend now and nothing more… and he had no plans of letting Liz go any time soon.

TBC…

Hey everyone, thank you for your feedback :

mary mary - Thanks .

Well, I have to admire both Liz and Max for their ability to be open and honest with each other and your Isabelle is a real hoot...hurry back and let's see how they deal with the media.

Thanks . Neither of them want to screw their relationship up, so they're trying their best to keep everything honest .

Natalie36 - Thanks .

begonia9508 - Thanks .

Best friends and fuck buddies? It doesn't schock me but I would never sleep with my best friend, even for comfort if you know what I mean....

But it was b4 Max meet Liz and that's right that he told Liz the truth!

It was before Liz and as long as it's not going to happen again in future, Max shouldn't have to defend himself or make excuses for his behaviour.

sarammlover - Thanks .

well Liz really nailed it right on the head. That is exactly what Anna and Max were.....fuck buddies. there is no easy coating it. And I am glad they are talking and being completely honest....its what has to happen. I can't wait for more.

Max has known from the start that he needed to be honest with Liz about Anna... it was a case of when, not if, in regards to the conversation.

roswell3053 - Thanks .

I just found this story, and I must say AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm glad that they are trying to continue their relationship. I wonder how long it will be before they finally break down and admit that they are in love.

Thank you - I'm glad you're enjoying the story . As for their admissions of love... we'll have to wait and see. At the moment, I don't think either of them are quite ready to admit how serious things are .

Alien_Friend - Thanks .

Oh Liz. I'm glad she let him have it a bit there. There is nothing like not having a warning and not being aware of what is really going on. Max did well explaining himself and making it clear that it's over now though.

I'll admit that originally that conversation was going to be more of an angry argument, but at the end of the day, I want the story to be fairly lighthearted, so the scene ended up being much more civil that originally planned .

It was nice getting to know Max's friends. They seem like a good bunch of people.

Yeah, I wanted Max to have some genuine, good-guy friends to keep him grounded, rather than being surrounded by fake, pretentious types.

Awesome stuff! Glad you are writing this again. I hope you have a great to trip when you go. Good luck flying to the States. I did that last week. It was no fun. At least it was only the international part of my trip that was bad. The delays are crazy. Hopefully things have settled down now.

Thanks . I'm hoping the flying part will go smoothly (I have 10 flights in total, including connections... four of them are long-haul international flights) and that this awful weather clears up soon... the country is in chaos at the moment due to heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures and several of the airports have been closed/flights cancelled over the last few days.

Author's Note: This part is currently unbeta'd, so I apologise for any typos/mistakes


***


Part Seventeen

Liz couldn’t help feeling excited as she waited outside the tour bus company office on Hollywood Blvd… she was about to take part in the most touristy thing you could do here: the Grand Tour of Los Angeles! Max was going to be doing interviews and photo shoots all day, so she’d decided to take the opportunity to do the tourist thing today without him. At first, she’d wanted to be completely independent, so that she wouldn’t draw attention to the fact that she was staying with Max, but then he pointed out that a cab fare from his house to Hollywood Blvd would be pretty expensive and insisted that he get someone to drive her there instead.

The tour guide soon appeared and Liz filed onto the small coach with the rest of the group of people standing in line. The driver introduced himself as he pulled away from the depot and Liz let herself relax back in her seat as they began driving down Hollywood Blvd.

“Hi there.”

She looked to her side to find a young guy with shaggy blond hair smiling at her from the seat next to her.

“Hi,” she smiled.

“I’m Ian,” he introduced in a Northern English accent, holding out his hand in greeting.

“Liz,” she replied, shaking his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“You’re from England too, then?” he grinned when she nodded. “First time in L.A.?”

“Yeah, I just got here on Saturday.”

“Here on your own?” he wondered with a friendly smile.

“Not exactly,” replied Liz. “I came to visit my boyfriend.”

“He not here with you today?”

“No,” she shook her head, trying not to grin at the thought of Max coming along on a bus tour with her. “He had to work today, so I decided to come and see the sights by myself. What about you?”

“Yeah, I’m here on my own too,” he replied. “But I’m only in L.A. for a few days – it’s my final stop on a round-the-world ticket. I just flew here from Hawaii last week, and before that, I was travelling around Australia and New Zealand.”

“Wow,” grinned Liz. “Did you have a good time there? I went to Australia and New Zealand on my Gap Year before uni.”

“Yeah, I did,” nodded Ian. “It was really good. So, how are you liking L.A. so far?”

“Oh, it’s really great,” she grinned. “I’m loving the weather.”

“Yeah, me too,” chuckled Ian. “Certainly beats rainy old England, huh?”

“Oh yeah, definitely.”

Just then, the voice of the tour guide boomed over the bus tannoy system, halting their conversation as the man began a commentary of the roads and buildings they were passing through. Turning her attention to the window, Liz relaxed back with a happy smile as she took in the sights of the city.

***

Max sighed with relief when his morning photo shoot finally came to an end. Usually he didn’t mind these things, but today his heart just wasn’t in it… all he could think of was that he was missing spending precious time with Liz today and that she was out there enjoying herself while he was stuck in here with his work commitments.

“Okay, Max, you ready to head over to the hotel for your afternoon interviews?” asked Jane, one of the PR girls, as she walked over to him, clipboard in hand. “You have twelve scheduled for this afternoon.”

“Sure, Jane,” he forced an enthusiastic-looking smile onto his face. “Bring it on.”

“Great,” she smiled back, before reaching for something on her clipboard and handing it to him. “Although… I think you might want to see this before you go.”

“What is it?” he asked with a slight frown, taking what looked like a magazine from her, before glancing down at the page before him. “Oh.”

His heart sank as he realised what he was looking at; there in front of him, on a whole page spread entitled ‘Evans’ New Secret Love Finally Revealed’, was a selection of pictures of him and Liz.

“Shit,” he swore quietly, shaking his head in disappointment.

The first picture wasn’t too bad: it was of them leaving his house yesterday in the SUV, although the tinted windows thankfully didn’t show either of their faces in detail. The next couple of pictures however, were less pleasing; apparently they hadn’t managed to completely lose the paps yesterday and now they were paying the price: one of the photos showed him and Liz sitting together up on the hill, talking quietly in what looked like an intimate, albeit fairly innocent, moment, but the other was even more damning… the goddamn photographer had managed to catch them in the middle of their heated, post-tickle-war embrace – they were lying on the ground, his body covering hers as they kissed. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the final two pictures showed Liz sitting on his lap as they laughed and joked with his friends at the barbeque last night.

“Fuck it!” he seethed, abruptly shoving the magazine back towards Jane again. “Those Goddamn bastards were at my house, invading my privacy.” He looked up at her, “I thought we’d sorted this problem out before?”

“I know, Max and I’m sorry,” she apologised, despite it not being her fault at all. “I’ll get onto the security team, okay? See what we can do about getting the paps away from your home. But right now, you need to figure out what you’re going to say to the press about these pictures… after all, it’s bound to come up in the interviews today.”

“Yeah, I know,” he sighed with defeat. “I was just hoping to put this off for a while longer.” He stood up then, “Excuse me for a moment, I just need to make a phone call.”

Moving to a quiet corner, he dialled the number of the cell phone he’d lent to Liz to use during her stay. He knew that she was busy being a tourist today, but he didn’t feel right facing the press in regards to their relationship without talking to her about it first.

***

The tour bus stopped at the L.A. Farmer’s Market and the driver gave them thirty minutes to look around and grab some lunch. Liz and Ian climbed off the bus together and then headed over to the food stands to buy some sandwiches. They ate in comfortable silence, occasionally pausing to discuss some of the things they’d seen on the tour so far. After they’d eaten, a few minutes before they were due back on the bus, Ian stopped for a toilet break and as Liz waited outside in the market area, she felt the phone in her pocket vibrating. She pulled it out with a grin, knowing that Max would be the only person calling her.

“Hello?” she answered with a smile.

“Hey, Liz, it’s me,” he answered.

“Hey, what’s up?” she grinned into the phone. “I’m having the best time today; I’ve seen so much already.”

“That’s great, Liz,” he sounded distracted and the smile slipped from her face as she frowned slightly in confusion. “But there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“What’s wrong?”

“One of the PR girls just handed me a gossip magazine,” he said with a sigh. “There’s a whole page of pictures in there… of us.”

“What?” she closed her eyes as her heart dropped. “How?”

Of course, she’d been expecting there to be pictures eventually, but she didn’t think it would happen this soon, especially as they’d been careful to avoid the press so far.

“I think we were followed to the hill yesterday… they have photos of us having lunch… and doing other stuff.”

“Oh, God,” she murmured softly, glancing around her surroundings as she spoke.

“There’s also pictures of us with my friends last night too… on the patio.”

“What?!” her eyes widened in shock. “How did they get onto your property?”

“I don’t know,” he sighed on the other end of the line. “I’m getting my security people on it though.”

“Right.”

“Here’s the thing though, Liz: I have about a dozen interviews to get through this afternoon, and these pictures are bound to come up at some point. I wanted to see what you thought about it first.”

“Well,” Liz exhaled slowly. “I guess, you’re gonna have to say something, right? I mean, we can’t hide this forever.”

“Yeah, I know,” he admitted. “Okay, so if they ask, I won’t deny it… but I’m not going to say more than I have to.”

“Okay.”

There was a pause before he said, “I miss you, you know.”

Liz felt herself relax slightly, as she gave a small chuckle, “Max, you only saw me about four hours ago.”

“I know, but this day is just totally dragging.”

“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “But I’ll be back in a few hours, okay?”

”Yeah, I know,” he replied. “Look, what time does your tour finish? I’ll have the driver come and pick you up from the depot when you’re done.”

Liz glanced at her watch, “We’re supposed to get back by four.”

“Okay, I’ll have someone there waiting for you.”

“Thank you,” she smiled.

“No problem,” he returned. “I gotta go now, though. Have fun and I’ll see you later.”

“Okay, bye.”

She couldn’t help but smile to herself as she hung up the phone and slipped it back into her pocket.

“Hey, everything okay?” asked Ian as he made his way back over to her from the restrooms.

“Yeah, I’m great,” she replied with a smile, although it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Shall we head back to the bus?”

“Okay.”

They climbed aboard the bus and took their seats once more, making small talk while the tour guide waited on the last few people to return before driving on to their next destination. Three hours later, after driving through Beverly Hills, stopping for half an hour in Venice Beach and then making a quick stop at Marina del Ray, the tour bus arrived back at the depot again.

As she stepped off the bus, Liz let a smile spread across her face as she looked around for the car Max was sending to meet her.

“So, it was great to meet you, Liz,” said Ian, as he came up to stand beside her.

“You too, Ian,” she replied, the smile still on her face. “Hope you have a great trip back to the UK.”

“And I hope you have a wonderful time here with your boyfriend,” he said, adjusting his backpack on his shoulder as he turned to leave. “Bye.”

“Thanks,” she nodded. “Bye.”

She watched as he walked away and down the road, before turning back to see if her ride was here yet. It was only a couple of minutes before she spotted the now familiar car and David, the driver, standing beside it… the same man who’d picked her up from the airport on Saturday. Flashing him a quick smile when he gestured towards her, she made her way over to the car and climbed inside when he opened the door for her.

“Good day, Ms. Parker?”

“Yes, thank you,” she smiled.

He closed her door and then got into the car himself, “Well, let’s get going then, shall we?”

David started the car and they began driving through the streets of Los Angeles. Liz relaxed back in her seat and watched the world go by for a few minutes, but after a while she realised they were going in the wrong direction and she leaned forward to speak to him.

“Hey, David, aren’t we supposed to be heading back to Max’s house?”

“Sorry, ma’am,” he shook his head. “I have strict instructions not to take you back home just yet.”

“How come?”

“I’m afraid I can’t divulge that information,” he murmured secretively. “Mr. Evans’ orders.”

“Really?” Liz couldn’t stop a smirk from tugging at her lips as she wondered what exactly Max was planning. “Well in that case, carry on.”

Twenty minutes later, they pulled up at the back entrance of an unfamiliar building and Liz frowned in confusion when David helped her out of the car and gestured towards a non-descript door in front of her.

“What’s going on?” she wondered, both intrigued and confused at the same time.

“You’ll see,” smiled David as he rapped on the door and a moment later, they were greeted by a smiling man in a waiter’s uniform.

“Welcome to Il Cielo. This way, please, madam,” the man ushered her inside, leaving David to take the car back home.

Liz’s eyes widened in awe as she found herself being led through a corridor to a beautiful outdoor garden restaurant; however, instead of leading her to a table in the main seating area, the waiter continued walking across the patio and up a small flight of stairs to a more secluded section. Any confusion she’d had about what was going on quickly vanished as soon as she stepped round a long curtain and grinned when she found Max sitting at a small, candlelit table in a private corner.

“Max,” she gasped, making her way over to him and sliding into the seat beside him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she leaned forward and kissed him happily. “What’s all this?”

He grinned, his arm slipping around her waist as he pressed a soft kiss to her neck, “I wanted to take you out for dinner.”

“Really? This is okay?” she wondered, glancing around to see that they were alone, save for the waiter.

“Yeah,” he nodded with a grin towards the waiter. “I know the owners. No one will bother us here.”

Stepping forward, the waiter nodded in agreement, “That’s right, sir, madam, you’re perfectly safe here. Can I get you something to drink?”

Max ordered a bottle of wine and a basket of bread for them to share and once the waiter had left, Liz pulled her chair closer to Max’s as they got settled at the small table.

“It’s really lovely in here,” commented Liz with a soft smile. “Great choice.”

“Yeah,” replied Max, as he let his fingers slide through her hair. “It’s one of my favourite restaurants. I don’t come here as much as I’d like to though, because although the staff are great at keeping the press away, I don’t want to draw attention to the place by coming here too regularly.”

“Makes sense,” nodded Liz, as the waiter reappeared with their bread and wine and then took their food order. “So, what’s all this in aid of?”

“Does it have to be in aid of anything?” wondered Max. “I realised today that I’ve never taken you out for dinner before… and I knew Il Cielo was the perfect place to go and not be noticed.” He smirked suddenly, “Plus, this is supposed to be the most romantic restaurant in L.A.”

“Is it now?” Liz raised an eyebrow cheekily, before her expression turned thoughtful, “Speaking of being noticed, what happened in your interviews today?”

Max sighed, reaching for his wine glass and taking a sip, “Well, it could have been worse, but I did have a few questions about ‘the mysterious brunette I was seen cosying up to yesterday’.”

“What did you say?”

He shrugged, “Just that I am seeing someone new, but that I didn’t want to discuss it further right now. They don’t have your name or anything yet though.”

“That’s good,” she breathed out a sigh of relief.

His expression suddenly became serious, “It’s only going to get worse from here, though, Liz. The media attention is only just beginning and if we’re not careful, things are going to get out of hand.”

“I know,” she nodded in agreement.

“I was thinking though that maybe we should just get it all out there sooner, rather than later.”

“Right…” murmured Liz, wondering where exactly he was going with this.

“The premiere of my new movie is on Thursday night,” he continued slowly. “And I’d love it if you would accompany me… as my date.”

“Really?” she sucked in a startled breath.

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “It would be like our official ‘unveiling’, if you will. I can introduce you to the press as my girlfriend and that way we’ll be in control of the situation. If we play our cards right and cooperate with the paps at official events, we might be able to maintain some kind of privacy from the media during the rest of the time.”

Liz could only nod in response as she took in his suggestion.

“Look, I understand that this is a big thing for you, so I completely understand if you don’t want to, but I just thought it might be a good opportunity.”

“No,” Liz shook her head, allowing a smile to break out on her face. “I want to… in fact, I’d love to go to the premiere with you!”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” her smile widened as a feeling of excitement suddenly shot through her. “Oh my God, I’m going to a Hollywood movie premiere! This is so cool.”

Beside her, Max chuckled and tightened his grip on her waist, holding her closer, “Yeah, it is, isn’t it?”

“Oh God, what am I going to wear?” Liz murmured then. “I didn’t bring anything fancy enough for a premiere… I don’t think my favourite dress from Jane Norman is quite gonna cut it, somehow. Oh, and what about my hair–”

She didn’t get any further as Max suddenly cut off her rambling with a breathtaking kiss. Her rant cut short, Liz found herself sinking into his embrace, as she sighed against his mouth and let her fingers tug at his hair.

“You okay now?” asked Max with a smile when he pulled away a few moments later.

”Yeah, I think so,” she replied breathlessly.

“Don’t worry about a thing, okay?” he told her firmly. “I’ll get Isabel on it for you… she never passes up an opportunity to shop and she has all these stylists to get her ready for big events – I’m sure she’d love to help out.”

“Really? That would be amazing,” smiled Liz happily. “Tell Isabel I’ll be eternally grateful to her if she can help me out.”

“I will,” he grinned.

The waiter chose that moment to reappear with their food. Liz eagerly tucked into the delicious meal, moaning in appreciation at the amazing mixture of flavours and textures. She looked over at Max as he savoured his own dish and she sighed in contentment as she realised how at home she felt here with him. If only she could stay here forever.

TBC…

Hey everyone, thank you for your feedback :

keepsmiling7 – Thanks .

Lucky Liz.....big movie premiere.......This will be an outing of their relationship in a big way.
Can"t wait to read all about it!

I wonder what will happen… read on to see…

roswell3053 – Thanks .

Great update. I'm glad that Max is taking Liz and not Anna. I think that it would have hurt Liz if he did that.

No, Max wouldn’t have taken Anna … to be honest, he was going to ask Liz anyway, even if the photos of them hadn’t appeared in the magazine (I’d already planned out the premiere part, before I decided on including the photos ).

mary mary – Thanks .

Things are just going too smoothly here...I wonder who Ian really is? I guess I'll have to wait and see...hurry back!

Don’t worry, Ian is who he says he is… a young round-the-world traveller from England . I just wanted to show a contrast between Liz’s reason for visiting LA (dating a film star) and the normal reason for visiting (being a tourist) – and I thought it would be cool for her to meet someone from England during her trip .

begonia9508 – Thanks .

I was worried that Ian was a paparazzo bc if they could film directly inside Max's house, why not get the infos about her plans and send one of these birds behind Liz when she is alone.?!

The paparazzi issues are completely separate from Liz’s encounter with Ian… he was just someone to chat to on the tour .

But now it's going to be official!... Wondering how it will go?

Read on to find out…

sarammlover – Thanks .

They are so DAMN cute and delicious together. I can't get over it. II love them. I cna't wait for their first public outing

Thanks . Let’s see how it goes for them…

Alien_Friend – Thanks .

Aww that's so cool she gets to go to a premiere! That's awesome. I hope that works out for them and press doesn't get too crazy. I wonder if they will have pictures of her with Ian.

I like the approach of light. I love the tone of this story. It always makes me excited to read it.

Great stuff as usual!

Thanks – glad you like it . I didn’t really want it to be a heavy story, but at the same time, constant fluff can get a bit boring .

Aww wow! Weather delays are the worse. 10 flights huh wow. You're a brave one. lol Good luck!

It’s gonna be fun – not! Thankfully I found direct flights to Newark from the UK – the first itinerary I found it was gonna take 24 hours to get from London to Newark, with a 12-hour layover in Chicago!! Not looking forward to making the trip down to Peru though… layovers in both Dallas and Miami!

katydid – Thanks .

Oh my goodness...two updates.

I’m quite surprised I managed to get two written within a week, lol!

Hmm, I have to agree with Ginger about Ian. I have a feeling he may just help to get Liz's name out.

No need to worry about Ian (at least not at this point in time anyway) – he was just a young British traveller who wound up sitting next to Liz on a city tour bus .

Of course, others will be more than willing to give her name out. His friends are nice and all, but he has two guys who are still trying to make it. That means they kind of need money, which they can get by divulging information. It sucks, but it's true.

Maybe, although for Max and Liz’s sake I would hope that they wouldn’t resort to that .

Now, on towards the premier. How wonderful. They'll be able to hit the press quickly at the premier, and then some of the other issues should not be that big. I'm glad Liz enjoys LA with Max. Of course, her career and lack of a work visa, could be the issue to her staying there. Additionally, they could actually move to the UK.

Yeah, hopefully if they can be the ones to break the news, they can set the boundaries with the press. There are a few celebs around that manage to keep their relationships out of the spotlight and not cause too much gossip in the media . I’m working on Max and Liz’s options for how to be together… but we’ll have to see what happens.

Oh, I've heard about your travels, and I'm excited that your journey will start soon! I may drop by briefly during your visit if LB4 is up for it.

Not long to go now . It would be great to see you if you do decide to drop by.


***


Part Eighteen

It was the early hours of the morning and Liz was tossing and turning restlessly in bed, trying her best to get back to sleep… but alas she was still not quite over the jet lag and her body was telling her it was time to get up, despite it only being three-fifteen a.m. With a frustrated sigh, she tugged off the covers and slid out of Max’s bed, careful not to disturb him in the process. She reached for one of his discarded T-shirts and pulled it over her head, before slipping on some socks and padding out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

Grabbing a glass from the kitchen and filling it with water, she was about to head into the den when she noticed Max’s laptop resting on the kitchen table. Remembering that she hadn’t checked her emails since leaving the UK and that Max had said she was welcome to use the computer whenever she needed to, she reached for the laptop and carried it into the den with her. Taking a seat on his comfortable sofa, she turned on the TV, flicking through the channels while she waited for the computer to start up and her email account to load.

Liz grinned when she saw that she had not one, not two, but five e-mails from Maria waiting in her inbox. Trust Maria to want all the gossip from America… it wasn’t like she didn’t have her own American boyfriend in the form of Michael Guerin already though! She spent a few minutes replying to Maria, assuring her that she was having a great time and that, yes, she had seen the pictures of her and Max from the other day. There were also a couple of e-mails from Serena and Alex back home as well as one from her mum asking how she and Max were getting on in California.

She was just about to compose a reply to her mum’s message when something on the TV caught her attention. She looked up to find that she’d stopped on the E! channel and that last night’s E! News was currently showing. She let out a groan as she realised what the female presenter was talking about on the screen.

“It seems Hollywood heartthrob Max Evans may have some competition for his new woman. Max has recently been seen with a mystery brunette here in L.A. and although her identity is currently unknown, our sources tell us that she is the same woman caught on camera with him a few weeks ago in a London hotel. However, this steamy love affair may not be all that it seems as the brunette was pictured enjoying lunch with an unknown blond male at the Los Angeles Farmer’s Market earlier today, while Max was nowhere to be seen.”

A photograph of Liz and Ian eating sandwiches and laughing together flashed up on the screen and Liz shook her head and let out a heavy, disappointed sigh.

“Shit,” she mumbled. “God, they get everywhere, don’t they?”

“Despite intimate pictures of Max with this new woman appearing in the press just this morning, the star has been very tight-lipped the last few weeks in regards to the possibility of a new relationship and after these new pictures emerged this afternoon, speculation suggests that perhaps all is not well in his private life.”

“What the fuck?” she rolled her eyes. “Where on Earth do they get this stuff?”

“They’re all parasites, determined to make our lives a living hell by sneaking around and following us everywhere,” came Max’s voice from the doorway, making Liz jump in surprise and whip her head round to look at him.

Her heart skipped a beat as she took in his appearance; he was wearing a pair of black, low-slung sweatpants, his torso left bare, exposing all his wonderfully defined muscles to her gaze. His hair was in disarray, sticking up on one side from lying on the pillow, and his eyes were dark with sleep.

“Sorry,” he murmured in apology, as he flashed her a small, sleepy smile and made his way over to the couch, taking a seat beside her. “What are you doing down here? You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she nodded, moving the laptop onto the coffee table. “Just couldn’t sleep. I didn’t want to disturb you, so I came downstairs for a glass of water… and ended up checking my e-mails.”

“Ah, okay,” he nodded in understanding.

“What about you? You’re not suffering with jetlag like me, so shouldn’t you be fast asleep right now?”

“Well,” he smiled a little. “You see, I don’t sleep that well when you’re not beside me.”

Liz couldn’t stop the blush that arose on her cheeks at his words and she ducked her head as a smile broke out on her face.

“You know,” he continued thoughtfully, “I’m not entirely sure how I ever managed to sleep properly before I met you.”

“Max…” Liz shook her head in slight embarrassment.

With a chuckle, he slipped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him as he dropped a kiss to her hair, “It’s true.”

She relaxed against him, letting out a small sigh of contentment as she did so.

“So what was that on the TV?” he wondered then.

“Oh,” Liz rolled her eyes. “That. Apparently there were paps following me when I went on the bus tour yesterday – they got pictures of me eating lunch and talking with the English guy who was sitting next to me on the bus. Now there’s all this speculation that I’m cheating on you with him and that you’re having relationship problems.”

Max frowned, “You didn’t mention a guy on the tour.”

Liz gave a small chuckle, “Max, I didn’t get a chance; you bombarded me with that wonderful, romantic meal and the news about the premiere… I wasn’t exactly thinking about anything else!”

“Oh, right… yeah,” he gave a small smile.

“It’s no big, anyway,” she assured him. “The guy sitting next to me was an English gap-year student called Ian. He was from Yorkshire and was just finishing up a round-the-world trip before heading back home. And anyway, he was only like, eighteen or so… much too young for me. I like my men a little older.”

She turned her head to wink at him and he let out a laugh in response.

“Okay, okay, I get it.”

“It’s just so annoying,” sighed Liz then. “Like, what gives them the right to just take people’s pictures without permission? It should be illegal or something.”

“Yeah, it should be,” agreed Max. “But unfortunately it’s not.”

“What about those photos taken of us on the patio? Surely there are laws against them being on private property.”

“There are,” nodded Max. “But there’s no law against them taking photos from a distance as long they are standing on public land.”

Liz sighed and shook her head, “I’m so sorry you have to deal with all this in your life, Max.”

He just shrugged, “Well, I’m more worried about you having to deal with it. Are you sure you can handle all the attention we’re gonna get?”

“Honestly? I don’t know,” she admitted softly, sitting up so that she could look into his eyes. “But it’s worth it if it means being with you.”

“Liz…” he murmured, shaking his head, his expression filled with unspoken emotion.

She smiled and shifted on the sofa, moving to straddle his waist as she looped her arms around his neck. His hands automatically came round to rest on her hips and she leaned forward slightly, brushing her lips against his ear as she whispered,

“There’s nowhere else I would rather be than right here with you.”

“Me either,” he admitted, just as softly when she pulled back from his ear and pressed her lips to his in a gentle kiss. “I have no idea what I’m gonna do when you have to leave.”

“No, don’t,” she whispered, removing her arms from his neck and placing a finger against his lips. “I don’t even want to think about that right now.”

Max just stared at her for a long moment, before a small smile tugged at his lips and he gently kissed her finger, before flicking his tongue out and capturing it in his mouth.

“Max…” murmured Liz, as his eyes bored into hers and she felt her body begin to heat up in response to his ministrations. “God.”

His lips released her finger as his hands moved lower to cup her bottom and in response, Liz let her fingers trail down over his bare torso. He grinned before leaning forward and kissing her eagerly. As their mouths moved against each other urgently, Max slid his hands up beneath the T-shirt Liz was wearing until they came in contact with her bare breasts. Liz arched her back slightly as his thumbs flicked across her nipples and she broke the kiss, quickly reaching down to tug the shirt over her head.

Max let out a small hiss as his eyes raked over her naked body and then his eyes slid closed when Liz shifted on his lap, bringing her lower body into contact with his arousal.

“I need you, Max,” she murmured breathily, her fingers running down his chest again, continuing lower until she reached her waistband of his sweatpants.

He groaned, his hands stilling on her chest when she stroked him through the soft material and then slid her hand inside to touch him fully. Urging him to lift his hips, she tugged his sweatpants down to his knees. With one hand, Max tugged them off and they dropped to the carpeted floor. Wasting no time at all, Liz quickly positioned herself above him and sank down onto his length with a soft sigh. They moved together in unison, slowly at first, savouring the intimate moment, before becoming caught up in the passion and needing more. The TV was still blaring in the background but Liz didn’t notice, her attention instead completely focused on Max and the incredible feelings that were flowing through her body.

***

“Okay, let’s get this party started,” declared Isabel early on Thursday morning, as she stepped through Max’s front door and greeted Liz with a quick hug and a two-cheeked kiss. “I have tons of dresses for you to choose from, so we’d better get going right now if we’re gonna have time to get your outfit sorted for tonight.”

As Isabel stepped away from her and moved to give Max a friendly hug, Liz shot him a helpless look, which he responded to with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. She rolled her eyes in annoyance before plastering a smile on her face when Isabel turned back to face her.

“You ready to go then, Liz?”

“Sure, Isabel,” she replied. “Just give me a second to grab my things.”

“Okay, well I’ll just wait in the car then,” replied Isabel cheerily. “See you in a minute.”

Liz exhaled heavily as Isabel disappeared out through the door and she turned to look at Max uncertainly. She stepped in front of him and slid her arms around his waist.

“Remind me again why I agreed to let her help me?”

“Because you’ve been looking forward to tonight all week, and you want to look absolutely stunning in a designer dress on the red carpet,” he replied with a smile, before frowning thoughtfully. “Although, you look absolutely stunning all the time anyway, so maybe you could get away with wearing something of yours.”

Liz’s eyes widened at that and she shook her head in the negative, “Yeah, maybe I should get out there after all. Even if I did look ‘stunning’ in it, I really don’t want to turn up to a movie premiere wearing a high-street-bought dress that only cost me forty pounds.”

Max grinned down at her for a moment before lowering his head for a kiss, “I’m sure you can survive a few hours with Isabel for the sake of an amazing outfit, yeah?”

“Yeah, I think I can just about do it,” she agreed solemnly, carefully extracting herself from Max before stepping back and looking around for her bag. “Right, where’s my bag gone?”

“I think it’s in the kitchen,” he murmured with a smile, shoving his hands in his pockets.

With a nod, Liz headed for the kitchen and grabbed her bag from the island counter top. Making her way back into the foyer, she leaned up to give Max another quick kiss before walking to the door.

“Have a great day,” she told him. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Bye, Liz.”

She smiled as she left the large house and headed over to Isabel’s shiny convertible.

“Wow, this car is amazing,” she murmured as she slid into the passenger seat and closed the door.

“Yeah,” grinned Isabel as she turned the car around and drove down the driveway towards the gates at the end. “It’s my baby.”

They drove for about thirty minutes, making friendly small talk on the way, before pulling up in front of what looked like an ordinary house, at least from what Liz could see through the metal gates shielding it from outside view. Isabel spoke into the intercom and the gates opened up, allowing them access to a long driveway.

“Come on,” said Isabel with a wide smile as they pulled up in front of the house. “You’ve got to meet Caitlyn.”

“Who’s Caitlyn?” wondered Liz, but Isabel was already out of the car and ringing the doorbell.

She climbed out of the car and followed Isabel over to the house, reaching the door just in time to see it open to reveal a smiling, middle-aged woman dressed in stylish trousers and a silk blouse.

“Isabel!” the woman exclaimed, stepping forward to kiss Isabel on both cheeks. “It’s wonderful to see you again.”

“Caitlyn,” smiled Isabel. “Thank you for fitting us in today.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all,” dismissed Caitlyn with a friendly wave. “Come in, come in.”

Isabel nodded and stepped inside the house, while Liz followed behind, feeling rather nervous and out of place.

“And you must be Liz,” smiled Caitlyn, moving to greet her with a kiss, as she shook her hand. “It’s lovely to meet you. I have a beautiful selection of outfits for you to choose from today.”

The morning passed a whirlwind of different coloured dresses, more shoes than Liz had ever laid eyes on in her entire life and a vast array of accessories, from clutch purses and bags, to necklaces and earrings. It took several hours, but by one o’clock, she had finally found the perfect dress and matching shoes to go with it. Just when she’d been about to give up hope of ever finding the right outfit to wear, there it was; the moment Caitlyn zipped it up and Liz turned to look in the mirror, she knew this dress was the one.

“Wow, you look amazing, Liz,” murmured Isabel from behind her. “That’s the dress, all right. Max is gonna go crazy when he sees you in that.”

Liz couldn’t help grinning at herself in the mirror at Max’s friend’s words, “Yeah, he is, isn’t he?”

“Okay, then, we’d better be going now,” announced Isabel after a few more minutes of dress appreciation. “We’ve still got a lot to do before tonight.”

“Sure, okay,” agreed Liz, although she wasn’t sure she wanted to know what else Isabel had planned for her today.

She slipped out of the dress and Caitlyn wrapped it, the shoes, and the accessories they’d chosen in thin paper and handed them to her in a large bag.

“Thank you, Caitlyn, you’re the best,” smiled Isabel gracefully as they made their way to the front door.

“It’s my pleasure, Izzy,” smiled the stylish woman. “And it was wonderful to meet you, Liz. I hope you enjoy the dress and have a lovely evening.”

“Thank you, Caitlyn,” smiled Liz.

Caitlyn kissed them both goodbye and they headed back out to Isabel’s car, placing the clothes in the back before getting in.

“Thank you so much, Isabel. This was amazing,” said Liz, as they pulled out of the driveway. “But, um…”

Isabel shot her a smile, “But what, Liz?”

“Well, uh,” she started uncomfortably, unsure how to broach the subject. “What about payment? Surely a stylist like Caitlyn doesn’t give away clothes for free?”

“Oh, no, Liz,” laughed Isabel. “Of course she doesn’t, but you don’t have to worry… it’s been put on Max’s tab.”

“Max is paying for all this?” she wondered in shock, before shaking her head. “No, no, I can’t let him do that.”

“Really, Liz, it’s no big deal,” insisted Isabel as they drove away from Caitlyn’s and out onto the freeway. “He’s probably spent more on his suit for tonight than on your dress.”

“Really?” Liz grimaced at that. “I had no idea suits were so expensive.”

“Well,” Isabel shrugged. “Max does like his designer suits. And please don’t go thinking this is all too much, okay? Max asked me specifically to do this for you.”

“Okay,” she found herself agreeing with a smile. “So, um, what’s next on the agenda?”

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. You feel like grabbing some food? I know this really good bistro we can go to.”

“Yeah, okay,” agreed Liz. “That sounds good.”

“Great.”

They headed for Isabel’s suggested bistro for a late lunch and then it was on to a sophisticated salon for hair, make-up, manicures and pedicures. By the time Isabel dropped Liz back at Max’s house at almost five o’clock, she felt much more glamorous than she had a few hours ago. Isabel helped her retrieve the bag containing her outfit from the back of the car and they carried it into Max’s home.

“Hey, we’re home,” called Liz as she opened the door, letting herself and Isabel into the house. “Max? You here?”

There was no reply and it was with a slight frown that Liz placed the bag down on the floor and made her way into the kitchen. She let out a sigh of relief when she noticed a note on the counter.

Liz,

Hope you had a great day with Isabel.
Gone to pick up my suit for the premiere and run some errands. Back around five.
The limo is coming to the house for five-thirty.
Can’t wait to see what you’re wearing tonight.

Max

“Max not here?” asked Isabel when she saw Liz holding the note.

“No, but it says he should be back around now,” explained Liz. “The limo will be here in about thirty minutes.”

“Then we need to get you ready,” decided Isabel, reaching for Liz’s hand and leading her out of the kitchen towards the stairs. “Come on, let’s go.”

She grabbed the bag of clothes from the floor and they made their way upstairs to Max’s room to get changed into the dress and shoes. Max arrived home a few minutes later, but Isabel forbade him from seeing Liz while she was getting ready, so he was banished to one of the spare rooms. It was just before five-thirty and Liz’s dress was zipped up, her feet were squeezed into gorgeous, yet impossibly high heels, a sparkling diamond necklace was draped around her neck and beautiful diamonds dangled from her ears.

“Just wait until Max sees you looking like this,” grinned Isabel excitedly when Liz did a twirl for her.

“Hey, Liz, the limo’s here – are you ready?” came Max’s voice as he knocked on the door.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” she called back. “You can come in now if you like.”

She shot Isabel a grin as the door opened. The moment Max’s eyes met hers from the doorway, it was obvious that she’d chosen the right dress. He simply stood there, his hand frozen on the doorknob, as he stared at her in awe.

***

“God… Liz… you look…” Max struggled for words as he gazed at Liz open-mouthed. “Wow…”

She looked absolutely incredible; her long hair was arranged in soft, shiny curls and her make-up made her look both beautifully innocent and unbelievably sexy at the same time. But the rest of her… well, he was lost for words. Her dress was a deep blue, bandeau-style, one-shoulder number that hugged every curve perfectly and her delicate shoes made her legs look like they went on forever.

“You like?” grinned Liz, giving him a twirl.

“Oh, I more than like,” he nodded eagerly, stepping towards her, his hands itching to reach out and touch her.

“And look at you,” she grinned, her eyes sweeping over his grey-suit-clad form as he approached her and slipped his hand around her waist. He grinned as her fingers reached out to feel the material of his jacket. “Don’t you look handsome?”

“Thanks,” he grinned, unable to resist pressing a kiss to her temple, before moving down and whispering in her ear, “What I wouldn’t give to skip the premiere and have my way with you right now.”

At that, Liz giggled, a slight blush marring her cheeks, “Max!”

“Okay, I think that’s my cue to leave,” announced Isabel just then, standing up and heading for the door.

“Hey, wait a sec, Iz,” called Max, taking a step back from Liz. “We have to get going now anyway – the limo’s waiting downstairs – so we’ll walk you out.”

Isabel nodded and the three of them headed down to the front door. Saying goodbye to Isabel, Max guided Liz to the limo and they climbed inside.

“So, you have a good day with Iz?” he asked as they got settled in the large limo and the driver pulled away from the house.

“Yeah, I did,” she nodded with a wide smile. “I had a lot of fun, actually.”

“That’s good,” he returned the smile. “I’m gonna have to thank her for finding that amazing dress for you.”

He grinned as she glanced down at herself, the hands smoothing the material over her legs, before she reached up and fiddled with the diamonds around her neck.

“Nervous?” he wondered softly.

“Yeah, kinda,” she nodded, biting her lip. “I have no idea what I’m supposed to do.”

“Just be yourself,” he suggested. “I’ll be right there with you the whole time – you’ll be fine.”

“What about if they ask me questions?” she worried. “What am I supposed to say?”

“Well, I’m planning on fielding most of the questions myself,” he assured her. “So hopefully you won’t need to worry about what to say, but if you do get asked something, just stay calm, smile and be polite, but don’t tell them anything you’re not comfortable with.”

“Right, okay…” she murmured, but Max could tell she was still unsure about it all.

“Hey, come here,” he said, shifting closer and hugging her to his side. “It’s gonna be fine.”

She nodded, looking up at him with a smile, “Thanks, Max.”

He couldn’t help but grin as his eyes locked with hers and a wave of desire suddenly overcame him. She was so beautiful, both inside and out, and he almost couldn’t believe that she was right here with him… in his world. Unable to resist any longer, he lowered his head and kissed her, softly at first, but then it escalated into something more and he had to force himself to pull away before things got too out of hand.

“Max, you just ruined my lipstick,” pouted Liz, giving a soft chuckle as he looked down at her sheepishly. “Now I’ve got to try to fix it before we get there.”

She began digging in her purse for the aforementioned lipstick and Max couldn’t take his eyes off her as she pulled it out, along with a small mirror, and began re-applying it.

“We’re almost there, sir,” came his driver’s voice just then, breaking him out of his Liz-induced trance. “ETA three minutes.”

“Thank you, David,” he nodded, taking a deep breath to compose himself, before reaching over to take Liz’s hand, “Okay, you ready for this?”

She sighed, “As I’ll ever be.”

“We’re here, sir,” announced David as they turned the corner and approached the theatre where the premiere was being held.

“Right then,” Max turned to Liz. “I’ll be getting out first and then I’ll help you out. We’ll walk together along the red carpet, but I may have to stop for autographs on the way. Next up will be the press interviews and pictures, but don’t worry about it… you just need to stay beside me, smile and relax – I’ll try to do all the talking. Okay?”

“Yeah, I think so,” she nodded, exhaling a slightly shaky breath.

“Great,” he smiled reassuringly as the car came to a stop and David got out, moving to open the door for Max. “Here goes.”

Plastering a smile onto his face, Max climbed out of the limo, nodding politely as the cameras began flashing and the fans started screaming his name. Taking a calming breath, he turned to face the car again and held out his hand to Liz. His fingers tingled when he felt her hand slide into his and he helped her out of the limo. Suddenly the flashes seemed even more blinding and the screaming seemed to get even louder as he slipped an arm around Liz’s waist, holding her tight against his side. He glanced down to see an apprehensive look on her face as she took in her surroundings. With a soft smile, he leaned down close to her ear.

“Just relax, you’ll be fine.”

She nodded, but didn’t look at him, her gaze fixed on the large crowd of people instead.

“Smile,” he whispered, holding back a grin when she suddenly plastered a wide smile on her face. “Come on, let’s go.”

Ignoring the shouts of “Max! Max! Over here!” and “Max, who’s your girlfriend?” he quickly guided Liz over to the group of fans to their left and began greeting them pleasantly, quickly signing as many of the pieces of paper being waved in his face as he could. Next came the usual pleading for photographs with his fans and not wanting to seem rude, he agreed to pose for a few of them, all the while keeping his hand in Liz’s, squeezing it reassuringly every now and then.

It was several minutes before the excitement of the fans began to die down slightly and Max thanked them for their support before ushering Liz back onto the red carpet and towards the throng of photographers and reporters awaiting them.

They stopped for a couple of minutes so Max could pose for pictures, both with and without Liz and then the shouts of the press started to get louder.

“Max, Max over here!”

“Max, who is your mystery girl?”

“Max, who are you wearing tonight?”

“Mr. Evans, what do you make of the rumours that have been circulating about you this week?”

Taking Liz’s hand in his once more, Max suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at some of the more intrusive questions as he led her over to the first of the reporters, a familiar woman from Access Hollywood.

“Good evening, Max,” she greeted pleasantly. “It’s great to see you.”

“You too, Andrea,” he greeted with a charming smile as he slipped his arm around Liz once again. “How are you doing?”

“I’m good, thanks, Max,” she replied with a nod. “But let’s talk about you. The movie has been getting a lot of good press lately, are you pleased with the film?”

“Oh, yes, definitely,” he nodded. “It’s a great feel-good movie that I think a lot of people can relate to.”

“What about the cast? You’ve worked with some of them before… do you all get on well with each other?”

“Yes, we do,” he grinned. “Despite the long hours spent together, we were kind of like a big, extended family during filming.”

“That’s gotta be a nice working atmosphere,” commented Andrea.

“Yes, it is.”

“But enough about the movie,” she changed the subject suddenly. “I have to ask the question we’ve all been dying to know: who is this beautiful woman beside you tonight?”

“This,” Max smiled widely as he looked down at Liz, tugging her against his side as she smiled up at him. “Is Liz Parker. My new girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend, huh?” Andrea looked at him speculatively. “I think you’ve just broken a lot of hearts with that statement.”

“Well,” Max shrugged, his eyes on Liz once more. “What can I say, she’s amazing.”

There was a pause before Andrea spoke again, “You two have been pictured together here in L.A. the last few days, but there’s also speculation that you met in London during filming. So, what’s the real story?”

“Well…” Max trailed off, trying to figure out the best way to answer without giving too much away.

But he didn’t have to think for long, because just then Liz decided to be bold and speak up.

“Yes, we did meet in London, while Max was filming there,” she confirmed, although it wasn’t quite the truth, as they had met at her parents’ house, not in London. She smiling up at Max before continuing, “I live there, actually. I’m just visiting L.A. at the moment.”

“Wow, you’re English?” exclaimed the reporter, causing Max to give an internal eye-roll as Liz nodded. “You have such a cute accent! And how romantic, finding love across the Atlantic and all that.”

“Yeah,” Max chuckled. “It is.”

“So, you have to tell us, Max: who are you and Liz wearing tonight…?”

Andrea’s questions continued for a couple more minutes and then it was time to say goodbye to her and move on to the next reporter. Max and Liz spent close to an hour out on the red carpet, answering the same questions about the film, their outfits and their relationship over and over again. Every so often, they had to stop to pose for photographs, but all in all, they made it into the theatre relatively unscathed.

“Well, that wasn’t too bad, huh?” murmured Max as they moved across the theatre foyer towards the table of food and group of industry-types scattered around the room.

“No, I guess it could have been worse,” agreed Liz. “But it was kinda exhausting, all those questions and photos and autographs. I don’t know how you do it all the time.”

“You get used to it, I guess,” he shrugged. “I think it went pretty well, telling people about us, though.”

“Yeah.”

“There’s gonna be a lot of press about us now, though,” he warned. “So we need to be prepared for that.”

“I know,” nodded Liz. “But I can handle it.”

“You sure?” he asked in concern.

“Yeah,” she agreed, before reconsidering slightly, “Well, I mean, if that’s what I have to deal with to be with you, then I will.”

“Really?” he took her hands in his looked down at her with a gentle expression.

“Uh huh,” she nodded.

“Thank you,” he grinned then, and leaned down to give her a quick kiss before gesturing to the group of people across the room. “Okay, let’s go eat, mingle and watch a movie.”

TBC…

Hey everyone, I'm finally back with a new part! Thank you for being so patient . I don't think I will get much writing done in the next 6 weeks though (due to the travelling - I'm staying with relatives right now, but from next week, I'll be roughing it in South America). Hopefully I can update again in early April. Unfortunately, I won't be moving or starting my new job now as the company withdrew the contract the day after I posted my Author's Note !

Thank you for your feedback :

Natalie36 - Thanks .

Alien_Friend - Thanks .

Alien_Friend wrote:Aww that was so fun! They did it. They made it through their first public appearance. Yay! That was so cool Isabel helping Liz get ready. Sounded really fun.

Yeah, they made it .

I was wondering if the Ian thing would be documented. lol That was funny. Max seemed kind of jealous there for a second, it was cute.

Lol - yeah, there was a hint of jealousy there from Max .

I love those moments where you can tell they are so in love with each other. It's the sweetest thing.

Aww, thanks .

Nah, I like it though. It's comforting to have some order in the chaos from my life's perspective anyways. At least love can work out simply some where even if it's just in fiction. It's still hopeful.

Yeah, it is .

Man! And I was complaining I had 3 hour layover. lol You're a brave one.

Awesome stuff!!

Eagerly awaiting more!

Yeah, I've been lucky so far - I flew out of Newark just before the big winter storms hit this week. I just have to make it down to Peru on Monday and I'll be fine!

mary mary - Thanks .

mary mary wrote:All in all I would say that their first experience with the press went well, now let's see what the press does with it....hurry back please.

It did go well - let's just hope things don't go downhill from here.

begonia9508 - Thanks .

begonia9508 wrote:It's always a pleasure to read your story bc the parts are so long!
and the story so romantic!

Thanks . This part isn't quite as long though as I haven't had much free time to work on it. My parts are now on average double the length they used to be when I first started writing though .

sarammlover - Thanks .

sarammlover wrote:Liz did very well on the red carpet. I love that they are so good to each other and with each other. And I love Isabel taking Liz under her wing to go shopping....so cute. I can't wait for more. Hugs, Sara

Yeah, they're pretty good together, huh?

roswell3053 - Thanks .

roswell3053 wrote:Awesome update. I'm glad that everything went so well. I'm still wondering if Ian had anything to do with the photos, or if he is just an innocent by-stander...I can't wait to see what happens next. Hurry back soon.

I wouldn't worry too much about Ian .

katydid - Thanks . The travels are going well so far... just hope the snow doesn't get in the way though! By next Monday night I should be in the southern hemisphere, where it is summer!


***


Part Nineteen

“You okay?” asked Max the next morning, turning to Liz as he closed the fridge and placed a carton of milk on the island, next to where she was reading the morning paper.

“Yeah,” she nodded, her gaze fixed on the page in front of her.

Max smiled and stepped behind her, slipping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder as he looked down at what she was reading: an article and photo spread about the Love’s Complication premiere last night. Although there were pictures of several cast members and the director, the prominent theme of both the article and the photographs was Max and Liz’s new relationship.

“You looked amazing last night,” he said softly, nodding to a picture of the two of them smiling and posing for the camera.

She gave a small nod, “I almost can’t believe that’s me. The girl in that picture looks so… glamorous. I’m like the complete opposite of glamorous.” She shook her head, “I mean, look at me: When I’m not in work, I live in jeans and I hardly wear any make-up unless I’m going out somewhere special. I’m a scientist, for God’s sake; scientists aren’t glamorous.”

“Oh, I beg to differ,” murmured Max, his lips ghosting over her cheek as he spoke. “I know this one scientist who can be very glamorous when she wants to be.”

“Yeah?” replied Liz with a raised eyebrow. “Maybe you should introduce me; she could give me some lessons.”

Max gave a small chuckle and he shook his head when he saw a smile tugging at Liz’s lips too. He enjoyed the moment for a second before sobering.

“Seriously, Liz, you do glamour very well,” he told her sincerely, “But honestly, give me the jeans-wearing, make-up-free Liz any day and I’ll be happy.”

She turned her face to look at him, “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” he couldn’t help but smile, before leaning in for a gentle kiss.

They smiled at each other for a long moment before Max turned his attention back to the newspaper article.

”So, what are they saying about us today?”

Liz shook her head and gave a roll of her eyes before leaning over the paper and reading aloud,

“‘The new romantic comedy certainly proved popular with the critics, the big surprise of the evening was the unveiling of Evans’ new love interest, a British beauty named Liz Parker. While little is currently known about Ms. Parker, other than that she hails from London and that the couple met while he was filming in the city earlier this year, inside sources tell us that Max is besotted with her and one close friend states the couple can’t get enough of each other. It’s widely known among L.A. circles that Evans has enjoyed playing the field in the past and has also had an on-off relationship with close friend, Anna Davies, for the last few years, but could the appearance of this gorgeous English beauty in his life signal the end to the star’s playboy ways and his friendship with Davies?’”

“Well, they got one thing right,” murmured Max with a small grin, tightening his hold on Liz’s waist as she finished reading. “I am totally ‘besotted’ with you.”

Liz smiled and rolled her eyes in response, “What, no reaction to the fact that they just called you a playboy and accused you of playing the field?”

He just shrugged in response, “Well, it is kind of true, you know. My life has been splashed all over the tabloids for years now – I can’t exactly deny it when it’s all in print anyway.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Besides, I’m not like that anymore, so it shouldn’t matter.”

“Doesn’t it bother you, though?”

“No… well, maybe a little,” he conceded, “but I’ve learned to just get on with life and not let it get to me.”

Liz nodded, but didn’t say anything more.

“Look,” he spoke up a moment later, “let’s not get bogged down by all this press stuff, okay? You’re only here for another week, so I propose that we forget about all this,” he gestured to the paper, “and have some fun.”

At his suggestion, Liz grinned and turned around on the bar stool to face him.

“What did you have in mind, exactly?”

“Well, I have a free day today, so what do you say to a little trip to Disneyland?”

Liz’s grin widened, her eyes lighting up with excitement and Max couldn’t help but think how great she looked when she was happy.

“Really?”

“Yep.”

Her expression turned cautious, “We won’t get hounded by paparazzi?”

“Well, I can’t guarantee they won’t leave us alone,” he admitted. “But to be honest, I just don’t care right now. I just wanna spend the day with my beautiful girlfriend.”

“Well, when you put it that way…” Liz mused thoughtfully, before breaking into a wide grin. “Let’s go!”

Max just shook his head and chuckled with amusement when she jumped up and flung her arms around his neck, before bouncing out of the kitchen and up the stairs to get ready.

***

Liz grinned widely when she felt Max’s arm settle around her shoulders and she relaxed into him as they walked down Main Street, U.S.A. two hours later. It was wonderful to be walking with him, in broad daylight, without being paranoid about reporters and paparazzi. Of course, there had been some staring, pointing and a few photos taken while they were waiting in line for tickets and they were certainly drawing some attention, but she could handle that.

“So, where do you want to go first?” murmured Max, lowering his lips to her ear as he spoke.

“I don’t know,” she shrugged with a grin, lifting her fingers to touch his hand, where it was resting on her shoulder. “You’re the one with the inside knowledge on this place; I’ve never been here before, remember?”

He laughed, his fingers linking with hers as he gently kissed her temple, ‘Of course, how could I forget?” He paused for a moment, before suggesting, “Okay, then, first off, I vote for Indiana Jones.”

“Indiana Jones?” wondered Liz, turning her thoughts back to the park brochure she’d been reading in line earlier. “That’s the one where you sit in the big trucks, right?”

“Yep,” nodded Max. “That’s the one. Come on, let’s go.”

Liz grinned as she allowed him to steer her away from Main Street and towards Adventureland. On the way to the ride, they were stopped by a couple of young girls asking for autographs, to which Max happily obliged, and a few whispering adults, nudging each other and staring at both her and Max shamelessly, but for some reason the attention didn’t bother her as much as she’d thought it might. Maybe it was because they were in Disneyland where the reality of the outside world had been left at the gate, or perhaps it was because the people here generally seemed to be very accepting of their presence, but either way, watching Max interact with his fans here only served to put a smile on her face.

“Sorry about that,” apologised Max when they finally escaped the small throng of people that had gathered around them and they entered the ride.

“I don’t mind,” she replied softly.

“Really?” he raised a sceptical eyebrow.

“Really,” she nodded.

“I thought maybe you wouldn’t be comfortable with the attention,” he shrugged as they walked through the dark corridor of the ride entrance.

“Hey, I’m in Disneyland,” she replied matter-of-factly. “Nothing’s gonna bother me today.”

“Well, okay, then,” Max chuckled, shaking his head.

The line for the ride wasn’t too long and it only took a few minutes to reach the front. Due to Max’s celebrity status, they were escorted onto the ride quickly and the ‘cast members’ as they insisted on calling the staff were very polite and eager to please.

“Okay, you ready?” asked Max, shooting her a grin as they fastened their seat belts and gripped onto the safety bar in front of them.

“Yep,” replied Liz as the truck started to move.

Her eyes lit up in excitement as the ride got underway and she found herself being bounced and flung around in the car, Indiana Jones style.

“This is amazing!” she exclaimed, glancing at Max who was grinning down at her.

She felt her stomach drop as they hit a bump in the track and then a rush of exhilaration when they approached the rolling boulder. Her eyes widened and her heartbeat quickened as they watched the boulder descend upon them, and then she let out a sigh of relief and excitement as the truck suddenly jerked downwards and moved out of the boulder’s path.

“Oh my God!” exclaimed Liz breathlessly as the ride came to an end and they climbed out of the trucks. “That was so cool.”

“I know,” chuckled Max, slipping his arm around her waist as they exited the ride. “Indiana Jones is pretty cool.”

“Let’s go on again.”

Max shook his head, “How about later? We’ve still got lots to see and do.”

“Aww, come on, Max,” Liz gave him her best pout. “Please?”

“But I want to show you the rest of the park,” he returned with his own playful pout. “And I wanna go on Pirates of the Caribbean.”

Liz couldn’t help but let out a small giggle at his ridiculous expression.

“Okay, fine,” she relented. “Let’s go to Pirates of the Caribbean.”

They spent the next two hours experiencing the rides of Adventureland, New Orleans Square, Critter Country and Frontierland, before stopping in the Blue Bayou restaurant next to Pirates of the Caribbean for lunch. The afternoon was filled with experiencing Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, as well as a small incident involving a group of over-zealous fans and running for cover into Mickey’s Toontown! Once the attention had died down, though, Liz found herself smiling happily as Max led her out of the main park and over to Disney’s California Adventure Park, where she experienced the incredible Soaring over California ride, the California Screamin’ rollercoaster and the Grizzly River Run rapids.

It was after eight p.m. by the time Max and Liz returned home that evening and Liz immediately sank down onto one of the large couches in the den, her feet tired from walking all day. She smiled softly as Max took a seat beside her, motioning for her to lay her head in his lap, which she did eagerly, as he gently stroked her hair.

“I had an amazing day today, Max,” she murmured sleepily. “Thank you.”

“It was my pleasure, Liz,” he replied with a grin. “Anything to make you happy.”

“Aww,” she returned playfully, “that’s so sweet.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, Max running his fingers through Liz’s hair, while she fought to keep her eyes open, before Max spoke up again.

“So, we should think about dinner. What do you fancy?”

“Anything that takes as little effort as possible,” she mumbled sleepily.

Above her head, Max chuckled, “Okay, so... pizza then?”

“Sounds good.”

“Great, I’ll get right on that.”

She heard him reach for the phone and press a speed-dial button, and within a couple of minutes, the pizzas were ordered. While they waited for the food, Max turned on the TV and relaxed back against the couch, his fingers still working their magic in Liz’s hair.

***

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny, as usual, and Liz smiled contentedly as she stretched lazily in Max’s comfortable bed and then snuggled into his chest. She’d had the best day with him at Disneyland yesterday and it seemed that the happiness she’d felt all day had still not worn off yet.

“Morning,” came a sleepy voice from above her head as she slid her arm around Max’s bare waist and let her fingers linger on his warm skin.

“Hey,” she whispered with a smile, lifting her head and pressing her lips to his for a good morning kiss. “Sleep well?”

“Definitely,” he grinned, before snaking his arms around her and pulling her on top of him.

“Hey!” she yelped in surprise as she suddenly found herself straddling his hips and looking down at him.

“Sorry,” he replied, looking anything but.

His less-than-innocent expression caused Liz to smirk deviously and she lowered her mouth to his in a hungry kiss, before letting her lips and tongue trace a trail down his neck, over his torso and down to his stomach.

“God, Liz,” hissed Max, his eyes sliding closed and his fingers tangling in her hair her mouth crept lower and lower... until the shrill ringing of Max’s cell phone interrupted her ministrations and killed the mood.

“Dammit,” cursed Max harshly as Liz abandoned her mission and crawled back up his body again, watching as reached for the phone, rolling his eyes when he noticed the caller ID and answering irritably, “What is it, Sandy?”

For a moment, Liz was confused as to why another woman would be calling Max at eight a.m. on a Saturday morning, but then she remembered that Sandy was his manager and she relaxed, moving off Max and propping herself up on one elbow as she watched him converse with the other woman.

“What am I doing?” he glanced at Liz with an annoyed grimace and she offered him a smile in return. “I’m trying to enjoy a relaxing weekend with my girlfriend, that’s what.”

Liz watched as he listened to what his manager was saying and she sighed when his face fell even further.

“What? You can’t be serious, Sandy; come on!” he responded with a frown. “I thought we agreed not to do those interviews for another two weeks? I can’t just–”

He stopped and Liz heard Sandy’s voice rising on the other end of the line.

“No, Sandy,” he said, more firmly this time. “I’m not doing this, okay? You’re gonna have to reschedule.”

“This is the worst possible time for this,” he tried again, but Liz could see by his expression that he was facing a losing battle. “Can’t you just tell them I can’t make it?”

He listened for a moment longer, before sighing in defeat.

“Fine, fine, I’ll be there.”

He hung up the phone and let out a curse as his head fell back against the pillows, his lower arm covering his eyes.

“What’s going on?” asked Liz tentatively.

He sighed heavily, lifting his arm and sitting up so that he could look at her, “I have to do some more interviews. Sandy told me that they had been rescheduled for after you’d gone home, but apparently they can’t fit me in any other time, so I have to do them now.”

“Well, that’s okay,” murmured Liz, reaching out to touch his arm. “I don’t mind if you have some work commitments to attend to. I’m sure I can find a way to amuse myself for a couple of hours.”

“Liz,” his expression was almost pained, “it won’t just be a couple of hours... the interviews are over three days and they’re in New York City.”

“What?” Liz’s eyes widened in shock. “New York? But that’s like... the other side of the country!”

“Yeah,” he nodded grimly. “I have to fly out tomorrow afternoon and I’ll be tied up there until Wednesday night.”

“Shit.”

Liz lay back down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling as her wonderful mood evaporated. How could Max be going to New York City? She only had seven more days left with him and he was about to spend four of those days three thousand miles away from her.

“Liz, I’m sorry,” he apologised, reaching out to run his fingers through her hair. “I wish I could get out of it and spend all my time with you, but there’s no way.”

“No, I get it, Max,” Liz shook her head, trying to stop the tears from welling up in her eyes at the thought of spending the next four days alone in this big house without him. “It’s okay.”

“But I promise I’m going to get each interview over with as quickly as possible so we can spend as much time together in the Big Apple as possible.”

“I understand, Max. I’ll be fine here without you,” managed Liz. “Wait... what?! Together?”

Her eyes wide, she looked over to find Max grinning at her mischievously, “What, you didn’t think I was gonna leave you here all alone, did you? You’re coming with me, Lizzie.”

“Oh my God, really?” she sat up straight, her good mood returning. “I’m going to New York?”

“Of course you are,” chuckled Max, slipping his arms around her and capturing her lips with his. “If I have to spend four days in New York, then you’re gonna have to do it with me.”

“I can’t believe this!”

“I’m afraid I’m not gonna have much free time though, but we’ll make the most of the time we do have, okay?”

“Definitely,” nodded Liz eagerly, almost unable to believe this was happening. “I can’t believe I get to go to both LA and New York in one trip... this is amazing!”

“I’m glad you think so,” smiled Max. “It makes me feel better about having to work while you’re here.”

“I’m sure I’ll be able to find plenty to do while you’re at your interviews,” said Liz then. “Just think, I can visit the Empire State Building, see the Statue of Liberty... go shopping on Fifth Avenue... oh, and I have to go to Bloomingdales and Macy’s too!”

“I think you’ll be just fine,” agreed Max as he kissed her again and pulled her back down to the bed. “But now that we’ve got New York sorted out, I think we need to finish off what we started earlier...”

TBC...

Hey guys, I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update - I got back from travelling 3 weeks ago, but I've been busy catching up with things at home and doing jury service at the court for the last 2 weeks that I didn't had the time or the motivation to write until this week!

However, I am happy to say that the next part is now finished and coming up right now .

Thank you for your feedback and for being patient:

Alien_Friend - Thanks .

Alien_Friend wrote: Aww that put a smile on my face. I've missed this!! You are so great to find some time to post.

Thanks . I had some spare time while I was visiting my relatives .

Alien_Friend wrote:NYC and LA. Liz is one lucky girl! I'm glad they get to stay together.

Yep, it would have been terrible if Max had to leave Liz all on her own in LA while he went to New York.

Alien_Friend wrote:I'm glad you got out of there before the snow came. I even got some here too from it all. Enjoy the rest of your trip. I hope the rest of the flights go well too. I'll definitely miss this. April seems so far away but I guess it's kind of close.

Thankfully I got out of the snow into nice hot weather just after I last updated! The rest of the trip was great and luckily all my flights were on time (although there was some worry about flying out of Santiago the other week because of the earthquake damage). It's hard to believe that it's April already, though!

Alien_Friend wrote:Sorry to hear about your job.

Thanks

begonia9508 - Thanks .

begonia9508 wrote:How!!!!! that was so sweet! This guy is really a fantastic friend and lover, taking her in his trip to NY!! ... and I guess first class!

Oh yeah, definitely first class, lol!

begonia9508 wrote:Loved how Liz enjoyed Walt Disney and its evil machines!!

Lol!

begonia9508 wrote:You should be happy to have the possibility to travel to South Afrika bc in my country it's snowing since b4 Xmas and hasn't stopped yet!!!

Yeah, definitely... we had 3 weeks of snow in the UK before I left, then 1 week of snow in New York and 1 week of snow in Arkansas. So it was lovely flying to Lima, Peru and it being 25 degrees Celsius!

roswell3053 - Thanks .

roswell3053 wrote:Great update. I'm so glad that Max is taking Liz to New York with him. I hope that nothing happens while they are there. I can't wait for more. Hurry back soon.

Let's hope everything goes smoothly for them in NYC!

Natalie36 - Thanks .

keepsmiling7 - Thanks .

keepsmiling7 wrote:Sorry to hear about the new job contract......but thanks for the great update.

Thanks . Now I just have to get back into the job hunt again!

keepsmiling7 wrote:Guess we'll just have to enjoy what and when you have time to work on this story.
I'm glad Liz will get to go to NY with Max.....they should have a great time!

Yeah, I think NYC will be a good trip for them .

mary mary - Thanks .

mary mary wrote:Oh, this was just too cute...glad your back and found some time for us. Looking forward to more soon.

Thanks - sorry to make everyone wait for an update... I was hoping to post at Easter, but I had nothing written !

sarammlover - Thanks .

sarammlover wrote:I am so excited you get to travel for 6 weeks! What a great trip. I hope you have a fabulous time!

Thanks - it was a great trip... 3 weeks in Peru, 2 weeks in Bolivia and 1 week in Chile!

sarammlover wrote:And I loved their trip to Disneyland and unfortunately morning after nookie was interrupted by stupid sandy. But at least Liz gets to accompany Max to NYC! FUN! Have a great trip and see you when you get back!!! Safe travels. Hugs, Sara

Yep, Disneyland was good and now Liz gets to see New York City too!

katydid - Thanks .

katydid wrote:Well, I hope you've made it to the Southern Hemisphere! What a wonderful after event day...and now, they're on their way to NYC.

Enjoy your time in "Summer"-Kate

I did make it to the southern hemisphere, thanks ... summer was great (well, apart from the cloud, rain and cold of the mountains) !


***

Part Twenty

The bright California sunshine peeked through the master bedroom curtains and fell upon Liz’s sleeping form as she shifted in her sleep, one hand reaching out for Max under the covers…but her fingers encountered only empty space. Prying first one eye open and then the other, she frowned in confusion when she realised she was alone in the large bed. Letting out a yawn and stretching her arms above her head, she sighed heavily before reluctantly sliding out of the bed. Slipping on one of Max’s discarded shirts, she padded out of the room and went in search of her boyfriend.

As she made her way down the stairs, she heard the sound of female laughter coming from the kitchen. With a frown, she continued to the bottom of the stairs and along the hallway, stopping in the kitchen doorway when her eyes fell on the sight of Anna Davies sitting at the island. Max was standing beside her, his head close to hers as they laughed at something on the counter in front of them. Liz couldn’t help feeling a slight twinge of jealousy in her stomach when Max slung a casual arm over Anna’s shoulder as they shared an amusing joke. Taking a step forward into the kitchen, Liz cleared her throat to catch his attention.

“Liz,” he smiled, his eyes softening as he looked up to see her standing there. “You’re up.”

“Yep,” she gave him a small smile and a nod as she crossed the room and reached for the coffee pot, pouring herself a steaming mug of coffee.

“Morning, Liz,” added Anna with a friendly smile. “Good to see you again.”

“You too,” replied Liz a little stiffly, lifting the mug to her lips as she raised an eyebrow at Max, giving him a questioning look.

He just smiled in response, “Anna just popped by to say hi.”

“Oh,” murmured Liz, still not quite sure what to make of Max’s ginger-haired friend as she nodded in Anna’s direction. “Well, hi.”

“I thought maybe the two of you might like to spend some time together this morning,” he added, and Liz’s eyes snapped back to him. “I have some errands I need to run before we leave for New York later.”

“Oh,” repeated Liz, feeling a bit putout that her hoped-for relaxing morning with Max was apparently now off the cards. “Right. Okay.”

“Yeah, it’ll be fun,” grinned Anna with a sly smile. “We can gossip about Max.”

Despite feeling a little uncomfortable around Anna since the barbecue last weekend, Liz couldn’t help but smile at the devious look on the other woman’s face.

“Okay, okay, girls,” Max held up his hands in protest. “Don’t get too carried away now.”

“Oh, don’t worry, we won’t,” replied Anna sweetly, giving Liz a discreet wink.

“Of course not,” replied Liz with a grin.

“Okay, well I’ve got to go now,” murmured Max, giving the two of them a suspicious look as he walked over to Liz and placed a hand on her arm. “Our flight leaves at two-thirty this afternoon. I’ll try to be back before we need to leave, but if not, I’ll meet you at the airport at one-fifteen, okay?”

“Sure,” nodded Liz. “Okay. I’ll see you later.”

“Bye,” murmured Max with a soft smile that made Liz’s stomach flip.

His hand slid up her arm to her neck and he lowered his head, his lips finding hers and caressing them gently. Liz couldn’t help but sigh as she felt heat begin to swirl in her belly… and then quickly cursed her body for its sudden reaction to him. If only they were alone right now and he wasn’t about to walk out of the door and leave her alone with his… well, with Anna.

All too soon, though, he had released her and was heading out of the door. Liz watched him go with a pout; how was she gonna survive without him for another four hours?

“Wow, you two are something else,” whistled Anna, causing Liz to whip her head around in surprise.

“Hmm?”

“You and Max,” Anna nodded towards the door Max had just disappeared through. “You’ve got something special there.”

“You think?”

“Definitely,” the other woman nodded again. “I’ve never seen him be like this with anybody else.”

Liz raised an eyebrow, unable to resist asking, “Not even with you?”

“With me?” Anna looked surprised as she shook her head. “No, not with me… what exactly did he tell you about us?”

Liz shrugged awkwardly, inwardly wishing she’d never mentioned it at all, “He told me about your relationship before he came to London… you know, how you were sleeping together.”

“Oh…” murmured Anna, glancing down at the kitchen counter for a moment, before looking up at Liz again and saying sincerely, “You know it was never serious between us, right? It was just two friends–”

“Hooking up occasionally,” interrupted Liz quickly. “Yeah, I know.”

“Seriously, Liz, that’s all it was,” insisted Anna. “Neither of us were seeing anyone seriously and you know, Max and I get on well together… and well, it was convenient, I guess…”

When she trailed off and didn’t say anything more, Liz suddenly felt a flash of anger, or maybe it was frustration, she wasn’t sure, but she couldn’t stop the next words from tumbling out of her mouth.

“Convenient?!” she exclaimed incredulously. “You were, like, fuck buddies or something… that’s not exactly normal, you know. I mean, I have guy friends that I’m close to, but I wouldn’t dream of sleeping with them just because I wasn’t seeing anyone and they were there.”

“I’m sorry, Liz,” murmured Anna, obviously not expecting the sudden tirade. “We didn’t mean for it to hurt anyone. And of course, nothing at all has happened since before he left for the UK at Christmas. It’s over.”

“Yeah, he told me,” conceded Liz, a dozen emotions suddenly running through her, confusing her.

“I meant what I said earlier, Liz. You’re the only girl I’ve seen him get this serious over in all the years I’ve known him. You’re different for him.”

Liz nodded as she moved to the island and took a seat on one of the stools, and resting her arms on the surface.

“I’m sorry for all of this.” She shook her head. “I guess I just don’t know where we stand right now. I mean, I’m going back to London in a few days… and then what? We’re gonna be, like, six thousands miles apart again and the thought that he might find someone else just…” She looked up at Anna, “It scares the shit out of me.”

Anna gave her a gentle smile and, making her way around the island, placed a hand on Liz’s lower arm.

“Don’t you think it scares him too?” she smiled sympathetically. “The thought that you might meet someone else back in London and leave him behind?”

Liz scoffed at that, “Why would he be worried about that? He’s a fucking movie star! He could have anyone he wanted. I’m just a nobody.”

“Not to him,” countered Anna. “He hasn’t admitted it yet, but you mean the world to him, Liz.”

“You think so?”

Anna nodded, “Definitely. You know, before you got here, I caught him doing some research on the Internet. He was looking at property in London and a UK immigration website.”

“He was what?” Liz’s eyes widened in shock. “No, no, he can’t live in England!”

“Why not?” Anna’s expression turned confused. “You don’t want him to?”

“No, I mean… that would be amazing,” she admitted. “But, he just can’t. His life is here, in L.A.. The movie studios and the jobs are here.” She sighed. “He would miss out on so many career opportunities if he came to England. I can’t let him do that.”

“What if that doesn’t matter to him?” countered the redhead.

“No…no, I just can’t let him do that just for me.” Liz shook her head. “That just seems so selfish and I have no intention of standing between him and his career.”

“Yeah, maybe,” murmured Anna, although Liz thought she didn’t look entirely convinced. “But as you said, you’re leaving soon, and then what? It can’t be easy to maintain a relationship when you’re six thousand miles apart.”

“Tell me about it,” muttered Liz under her breath, before sighing and telling Anna, “I don’t know, Anna. I really don’t.”

***

“So,” said Max, as he and Liz headed towards the airport a few hours later. “I was talking to my publicist earlier…”

“Yeah?” asked Liz, turning her head away from the window to face him in the back of the large car.

“… Well, she wanted to discuss the content of my interviews this week,” he continued, his expression serious. “Specifically what I’m going to say about our relationship.”

“The relationship you have with your publicist?” wondered Liz with a grin.

“No,” Max shook his head and rolled his eyes at her teasing tone. “Our relationship. Yours and mine.”

“Yeah, I got that,” she smiled, reaching out to caress the back of his hand with her fingertips. “And what did she decide?”

“Well, ultimately it’s our choice,” he told her, trying very hard not to react to the feel of her fingers teasing his skin. “But she suggested it would be wise to keep the details of our private lives out of the press as much as possible.”

“Makes sense,” agreed Liz with a nod as she shifted closer to him and let her head rest against his shoulder.

Max glanced down at her with a soft smile, “We decided it would be best not to bring you into the spotlight unnecessarily; try to keep you under the radar for as long as we can. So, I thought I’d just say that we met in London while I was filming, that things are going well, and that I would rather keep my private life private at this time.”

Liz nodded again, but Max could feel her tense slightly against him.

“What’s wrong?”

She gave a sigh, before lifting her head and straightening up, “I get that you’re trying to protect me from the press, Max, but don’t I get a say in this too?”

“Of course you do, Liz,” Max frowned. “I’m not trying to dictate things for you, but I’ve been in this business for a while and I’ve seen what a lack of privacy can do to people… it’s not pretty and I don’t want that for you.”

“I know that, Max,” Liz assured him, “and I understand where you’re coming from. I just don’t want you or your publicist to start trying to run my life for me, okay?”

She had a small smile on her face, which allowed Max to relax.

“Okay,” he nodded in agreement. “I get it. I’ll do my best not to run your life for you.”

“Thanks,” she smiled, leaning up to give him a quick kiss on the lips. “I appreciate it.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, before Liz spoke up again, “So, what exactly is the plan for the next few days?”

“Well,” said Max thoughtfully, running through the details of the trip in his mind. “I don’t have anything scheduled for tonight, but tomorrow, I have magazine interviews in the morning and then I’m due to appear on Letterman late afternoon. It’ll be similar on Tuesday and Wednesday too, I’m afraid.”

“Okay, so I guess I’ll have to find something to do by myself while you’re busy.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Well, unless you feel like hanging around behind the scenes for several hours, but that can get really boring.”

“Yeah, I think I’ll give that a miss,” replied Liz quickly. “After all, I’ll be in Manhattan… I need to be out there, exploring… shopping… having fun.”

“You do that,” chuckled Max, tightening his arm around her. “But you have to promise to leave some time for me in there too… I won’t be busy the whole time.”

“I should hope not,” she shot back quickly, with a grin. “Otherwise, what would have been the point of bringing me?”

“Very good point, Ms. Parker,” he agreed as he relaxed back into his seat and savoured the quiet privacy they had for the moment.

Fifteen minutes later, the car pulled up outside the airport and his driver collected their luggage from the trunk. As discreetly as possible, Max and Liz climbed out of the car and headed inside the terminal. The check-in desks were fairly empty and there weren’t many people around, so they managed to get checked in and through security without attracting too much attention. However, as Max slipped his hand into Liz’s and they made their way towards the VIP boarding lounge, several people spotted Max and suddenly a commotion broke out around them, with young teenagers pointing their camera phones at him and calling his name. Max tightened his hand around Liz’s and she leaned into him as they increased their speed through the terminal and he let out a sigh of relief when they finally entered the VIP area and could have some privacy.

“For fuck’s sake,” he muttered under his breath as he led Liz over to a group of comfortable chairs and they sat down. “Don’t they ever give up?”

“They’re just excited to see you,” reasoned Liz. “They’re just kids, most of them.”

“I know,” he admitted sheepishly. “It just gets a bit too much sometimes, you know?”

“Yeah,” she gave him a smile. “I know.”

***

The flight to New York was pretty uneventful. Max dosed off just after take-off and so Liz spent the majority of the five-hour trip trying to read a book. However, she found herself spending more time watching Max’s face as he slept than she did concentrating on the printed words in front of her. Due to the three-hour time-difference, it was late when the plane finally landed in New York… almost eleven p.m., and by the time they arrived at their hotel on Columbus Circle, it was close to midnight.

“Wow…” murmured Liz in awe as she stepped into their hotel suite at the Mandarin Oriental in Manhattan late that night. “This place is amazing!”

“Pretty nice, huh?” agreed Max as he entered the large room behind her and then stepped aside to let the bellboy bring their bags inside.

“Nice?!” Liz exclaimed incredulously as she moved further into the suite and turned in a circle, taking in her elaborate surroundings. “It’s fucking incredible.”

By the door, she saw the bellboy raise an eyebrow at her colourful language, but she couldn’t bring herself to care right now. Barely able to contain her grin, Liz moved towards the living room area and her fingers across the silky couch cushions for a moment, before she turned back to Max who was giving the bellboy a tip.

“You realise that this suite is bigger than my whole flat back home, right?”

“Is it?” he shrugged sheepishly in reply, as the bellboy left the room and closed the door behind him. “I hadn’t noticed.”

At that, Liz scoffed and rolled her eyes, “Right, of course not, Mr. I-earn-millions-of-dollars-per-movie-and-can-afford-to-stay-in-the-most-expensive-hotels-in-the-world. You’re probably so used to staying in places like this you don’t even notice the size anymore.”

“Well…” Max shrugged again.

“Very convincing.” Liz couldn’t help but laugh at his attempt at an innocent expression. “You know, you’ll make a great actor someday.”

“Oh, ha ha, very funny,” Max rolled his eyes at her as he picked up their bags from their position next to the door and carried them over to the bedroom.

“Yeah, I thought so,” she shot back, playfully sticking her tongue out at him as she followed him into the room.

She was about to make another retort when the wall-to-ceiling windows caught her eye and she moved get a better looked, letting out a gasp at the view before her. “Wow, you can see practically all of Manhattan from up here!”

“I know,” replied Max, coming up behind her and slipping his arms around her waist. “It’s a great view, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” breathed Liz, letting her body relax back against Max’s chest, a lazy smile sliding onto her face as she savoured the moment they were sharing. “It’s gorgeous.”

“You’re gorgeous,” he countered, his warm breath tickling her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

She grinned, turning in his arms and slipping her arms around his neck as she stared up into his eyes and whispered a soft, “Thank you.”

Max smiled in response, tightening his arms around her.

“And of course, you are too,” she was quick to add. “Although you already knew that.”

“Well, yeah… but I just love to hear you say it,” he grinned mischievously, before swooping down and capturing her lips with his in a heated kiss.

At the unexpected, but welcome contact, Liz sighed into his mouth, her eyes sliding shut as she focused on the feel of his lips against hers. She needed him. Right now. Right there in that large bed, amongst the silk sheets.

“Come on,” murmured Max several moments later, pulling away briefly to look down at her. “Let’s go to bed.”

At his words, Liz nodded enthusiastically, running her hands down his chest suggestively. “I thought you’d never ask.”

“What?” frowned Max, looking at her with confusion in his eyes. “Oh, no, I meant to sleep. It’s after midnight and we’ve had a long day.”

“But it’s only nine in L.A.,” protested Liz with a pout.

“Maybe so, but my interviews are on New York time… which means I have to be up and ready to go in about seven hours,” countered Max with a wounded expression of his own. “And I need my beauty sleep.”

Liz gave him a funny look, “Didn’t you just sleep for, like, four hours on the plane?”

“Well, yeah…” he shrugged unapologetically, releasing his grip on her and moving to unzip his bag and pull out a T-shirt, a pair of sweats and a wash bag. “But that wasn’t real sleep; I was just snoozing.”

At that, he walked across the bedroom and disappeared inside the bathroom, leaving Liz staring after him in exasperation.

“Fine,” she huffed, as she headed after him and leaned against the bathroom door, watching him get ready for bed. “You win. We’ll go to bed.”

“Great,” Max flashed her a grin, before reaching for his toothbrush. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

With another pout, Liz went back into the bedroom and began searching through her bag for some nightwear. She could hear Max moving around in the bathroom and her eyes flitted between his direction and the large, inviting bed. She knew he needed to be refreshed and bright-eyed for his long day tomorrow, but at the same time, her body was craving his right now and this expensive, Asian-style hotel suite wasn’t exactly doing much to calm her amorous mood. With a sigh, she changed into her nightclothes and sat down on the edge of the bed while she waited for Max to be done in the bathroom. She let her fingers run over the silk sheets covering the bed and she shivered in response to the feel of them against her skin.

This was going to be one long night.

TBC…