Max stands ramrod straight, runs his hands through his hair, and pulls at it roughly. “I can’t change your mind?”
I shake my head. “We want different things. One day, I want to settle down. I want a family of my own. I want to be loved. I know you can’t give me any of that. What started as a one-night stand, some fun and excitement, has led me to this…” I hold my hands up and bang them down on the bed. “A mess with a broken heart.”
Max looks like he wants to say something, but he doesn’t. He just turns around and walks out of my room and out of my life. It’s for the best because I can’t take any more of this pain. Now, we can move on with our lives as we see fit.
Chapter 14
Max
I’ve laid on my bed for the last two hours drinking whiskey from the decanter, listening to sad, pathetic music on Alexa. How ironic that I’m listening to a fucking Alexa device when I’m drowning my sorrows over messing things up with my Alexa.My Lexi.
I’m turning into a sad sap of a man.
I’ve tried to send Lex several texts this evening, but I ended up deleting them. I won’t be the one to cause her any more pain. Watching her break down in her room this morning was soul-destroying. I did that to her. That scene is what I need to replay in my head to stop me being a selfish bastard. She deserves more than I can give her, but it doesn’t stop me craving her touch, her voice, her scent… I’m just driving myself insane.
Tomorrow is my official opening day. Lexi is pencilled in on my rota for being here tomorrow and the rest of the week to make sure everything runs smoothly, and I honestly don’t know what the atmosphere is going to be like. She didn’t want to blur the lines between work and pleasure, and as far as I’m concerned, as much as it will kill me, I can put on a face for everyone around us and play the part.
I get up off the bed, walk into my bathroom, and bang my hands down on the sink unit. I gaze over at the bath via the mirror in front of me and remember the last happy occasion I saw Lex. Okay, she was ill, but she was still smiling and givingas good as I gave. The only thing I regret is not taking her right there in the bath. The thought of Lexi riding my dick in the water makes me rock solid and I can’t even do anything about it because nothing will be Lexi. Nothing will alleviate the pain like Lexi does.
A knock sounds on my suite door, and I stumble through to open it. My brother is standing there with pizza boxes in his hand with a bag of what I assume are bottles of beer clunking around. I open the door wider and allow him to enter.
When I launch myself down on my bed, Brendan sighs, puts the boxes down beside me, and kicks off his shoes. “Drinking like this isn’t you. What’s going on?” He sits at the bottom of the bed and takes out a slice of pizza. The smell makes my stomach growl. It’s only now that I think about food that I can’t remember the last thing I ate.
“Nothing you need to worry about, kid. I’m good.”
“Is this about Alexa?”
Why does my kid brother have to be so fucking immature one minute, but so perceptive the next? I never once said there was anything going on with me and Lexi, but if he has picked up on our sneaking around then who else has?
“Don’t worry, I won’t say anything. I saw you sneak out of her office one day last week. I put two and two together.”
I reach over and take out a slice of pizza. “It’s complicated.”
“Aren’t all things about women complicated?”
“Some women are worth the fight.”
“So why are you in here looking like shit? Fight for her.” Brendan shrugs.
If only life was as simple as that. It’s complicated when emotions get in the way. It’s even worse when you have two people that are strong, independent workaholics, who have probably had their fair share of shit to deal with in the past.
“Why are you here?” I suddenly wonder why my brother is gracing me with his presence at this time on a Sunday evening.
“I love you too. I was just checking up on you. I didn’t want to go out with Clive and the gang since I’ve got work early in the morning, and I thought you’d be the safer bet, but now I’m not so sure. You’re being a right Debbie Downer.”
“I’ll give you kudos for being sensible. How times have changed, huh?”
“I guess you’re rubbing off on me, which is what Dad wanted.”
I might be fucking things up with Lex, I might be drowning my sorrows tonight, holding the pieces of my broken heart together by a piece of thread, but at least I can say that I’ve done something right with my brother.
“Right, let’s get this pizza party for two started. I’ll give you fucking Debbie Downer.”
Chapter 15
Lexi
I’ve come into the hotel, set everyone in my team to work, taken my new supervisor aside to train her on all things technology, set her desk up in the corner of my office, and just stayed out of the way of all the parts of the hotel I know Max will frequent. It has been dreadful because I want a coffee, but I don’t want to walk into the lounge to get one. I look down at my watch and smile at the time. It’s twelve o’clock on the dot. It’s lunchtime.
