“Max!” I tried to pull away, but he held metight.
“I said ten minutes.” He breathed the words against my neck, which resulted in me leaning against him and sinking into his grasp. My knees felt weak when he touched me, sending my emotions into overdrive. His arm around my waist tightened, and the other was caressing my arm. It took me a second to realize what I was wearing while we were standing there. I pushed Max awayquickly.
“You could at least give me some space when I’m practically naked.” We were face to face now, and I knew if I looked down, he would, too. It didn’t matter though. I already knew he had seen my grey polka-dot hipsters and matchingbra.
I pushed a little, but he didn’t let me go too far. Both hands were on my waist, and his eyes were now scanning my body. I watched them stop intermittently, seeing the dilation with each passing movement. I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks. “Stop looking at me like that and let me getdressed.”
He let go of me without a word and started to walk backwards to the door. He always liked to keep eye contact with me, like he thought I would disappear. I almost turned back towards my closet when I saw him stop just at the door. He stood there staring, his hands in fists at his side. His jaw was clenched, fists balled at his side, like he was trying to restrain himself. The way his legs twitched, I didn’t know how much restraint he hadleft.
“I can’t leave without doing this.” He was already walking towards me, but it seemed more of asprint.
“Wha—” I couldn’t get my question out to him before his lips were crashing against mine. I didn’t stop to think; I just reacted. My arms naturally went up around his neck, bringing him closer to me. One of his hands was in my hair, steadying my lips against his, and the other at the center of my back, bringing my core closer tohim.
His lips tasted sweet like honey, which wasn’t something I expected, but it made me want to kiss him more. We both kept ushering the kiss along until I had to pull away in order to breathe. His lips automatically went to my neck, moving up to my jawline and back down to my throat. I pulled his lips away and held his face in my hands. It was the first time I was getting a good look at his face. There were a few light scars adorning his jaw and a few grey hairs along the side by hisears.
I kissed his lips, but this time neither one of us rushed it. He was tender in his kiss and nipped my bottom lip occasionally. While his hand on my lower back rubbed circles into my skin, his other was moving from behind my head and down to my shoulders, and soon rested against my bra strap. The soft hand quickly turned into a fist. His whole body stilled against mine and he pulled away. He turned away and readjustedhimself.
“Get dressed and meet me downstairs whenever you’re ready.” He didn’t look back before he left the room. I just stood there with my fingertips on my lips as I heard the front door slam shut. They were stilltingling.
“What the hell was that about?” Lilly’s question was asked before she even got into the room fully. She didn’t wait to ask more questions. “Did he kissyou?”
I couldn’t formulate words right now, so I just stood there and nodded myhead.
“Well, no wonder. You look hot in just your underwear and bra.” My look towards her was scathing. She wasn’t helping the situation, and I didn’t fully comprehend what had just happened. Clearly, he wanted to kiss me, but he also wanted to respect me by not going too far. My heart thumped a little harder knowing that I had just figured out that situation perfectly. From what I had heard from Lilly, I knew that Max was someone who could get any woman he wanted, and maybe that was part of why I was so scared tonight. But with what had just happened, maybe he was trying to change from what he normally did. Forme.
Lilly pulled out a black dress that I had never worn. It was hidden in the back on my closet. The pink and yellow flowers dotted on it matched well against my pale skin, and she found a perfect pair of black flats to go with it. I twirled in front of the mirror one last time. I loved the way this dress hugged my curves, and it even had slits along the shoulders. I went to grab my purse, but Lilly slapped my hand and shoved me towards the door. She spanked my ass after she handed me my keys and phone. The door slammed in my face and I couldn’t have been moreconfused.
Max was on the phone when I finally got downstairs, leaning against a black town car. He hung up without saying goodbye right when he saw me, and opened the car door. We both scooted in, but left ample space between us. We were off in second and the tension in the air was strong. Neither one of us had said a word yet, but his hand slowly moved closer to me the farther we drove. Max’s driver pulled up to a park. The sign read,Atlanta Botanical Garden. I gushed, thinking that we were going into the garden. Now this was my kind of place. Before Max helped me out of the car, he reached for a bag that I hadn’t seen before. I looked at him warily as he still hadn’t spoken to me, but when I opened the bag, my gasp filled thecar.
In it was my e-reader, a notebook, my laptop, and my camera. I looked up at Max, who had a smile on his face, his hand outstretched toward me. I let him lead me toward the gardens, not paying attention to what was around me, just the man beside me. He had to have had Lilly help get this bag together, that’s why he had texted her and notme.
We stopped at a small alcove. When I finally looked away from Max, I was taken aback by the beautiful scenery in front of me. Trees lined the paved ground in front of us, and a white garden swing sat in the middle. I couldn’t hear anything but the birds chirping around us. There was a small white fence lining the back of the swing, and a few plants were plotted around, but in all, it was ours. I walked to the swing, setting my bag down beside me, and sat down, rocking back and forth. My head hit the back of the swing and I took it all in. The smells, the sounds, the air, everything seemed so perfect at thismoment.
The swing dipped a little besideme.
“What is this?” I was looking Max in the eye now. The swing swayed usgently.
“This is normally used for receptions, but I made sure the area was clear for today.” He said it with confidence, as if it was supposed to mean something more. I looked away from him and back towards the sky. It was getting late, and the sky was turning from a bright blue to an orange-purple color. He pulled up my bag and handed me my laptop, like heknew.
“You said before that you did content edits, and I’ve heard you talk about writing to Lilly. I want to see you in action.” My hands started to shake as I took the computer. He wanted to see me write? This man was surprising me at every damn turn. “I thought this would be the perfect place forit.”
“This is beyond amazing, Max.” I opened the laptop, pulling open my last document, a story I had been working on for years but just couldn’t quite get right. I looked around, then back at Max, and it hit me. The words started to flow and I couldn’t stop them. How had I not seen it before? He was the perfect inspiration for my main character, and this date was exactly what romance stories were made of. The only thing that snapped me out of my reverie was a loud chirping next to me. A robin landed on one of the bushes—so close to us I was stunned. I moved the computer over to Max’s lap and grabbed my camera to snap a photo. It was when I captured it that I realized it was almost completely dark outside and I wouldn’t be able to take the picture without the flashon.
I turned back towardsMax.
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t know we had been here this long!” I moved closer to pack my things away, trying to think of more words for being the worst date ever. But instead of him being mad or upset, he only laughed. “What’sfunny?”
“You.” He took my computer and packed it up, grabbed the bag, and then took my hand. I was still holding my camera. We stood there, surrounded again by the quiet abyss of the gardens. He checked his watch. “One moreminute.”
I waited with bated breath. I counted down the seconds as I watched the little hand tick slowly on his watch. The second the clock struck seven, light surrounded us. I turned around to see small twinkling lights adorn the trees and bushes. It seemed almost like a fairy tale, but I didn’t know if I wanted to be the princess just yet. I knew looking back at Max, though, that he was definitely theprince.
“These lights here are no comparison to you when I watched you write tonight.” He moved closer to me, my bag in one hand and the other resting against my neck. He used his thumb to tilt my head up. “You light up the darkest parts of myheart.”
I didn’t have words to say to him. What could you say to a man who basically just laid his heart out on the line for you? He broke the trance first, and I was thankful, but my heart sank when I saw his smile fade. I was bringing him happiness and sadness at the same time. I was sabotaging everything that we were trying to work on. This man was on a completely different level than I was, and I just didn’t know if I could ever live up to not just his expectations, but what everyone around us would see and think. I was the kind of girl to stay out of the spotlight, but that was definitely notMax.
“We should start heading out to dinner. Our reservation is at eight.” We started to head back towards the front of the park, but I knew I had forgotten the one thing I needed in order to remember this night always. I took the chance to look at Max once more, and then I ran. Not away, but back to the swing. I let the lights engulf me. I held up my camera, clicking it on. I tried to take as many pictures as I could. Of the swing, of the lights, of the trees, and even the robin that was still perched in the area, but on a different bushnow.
Thinking back to everything that had happened with Max, all I could focus on were his dominant and commanding ways. He went from being a pain in my ass, to a friend, a trusted colleague even, and now to something I wasn’t even sure I wanted. The man who was here tonight was not one of Max’s personalities that I was ready for. He was not one I was ever expecting to have the pleasure of meeting, but as I smiled down at my camera, looking back through my pictures, I knew that little pitter-patter of my heart was telling me to give in. But I couldn’t. Notyet.
