She squeezed her sister’s hand and Alya walked away.
A smile tugged at the corners of Max’s mouth. Oh, yeah, he was more than fine with alone time with Natasha. “So, about those bushes...”
“I’m hungry,” Natasha interrupted, giving him side-eyes. “And not that kind of hungry.”
But there was a flash of heat in her gaze, too. She definitely wasn’t against the idea of slipping away.
The warm breeze rustled the trees overhead, and Max rested his hand on the curve of Natasha’s back as they wove through the web of tables, over toward the buffet. The soft glow of the candles around them glittered in her hair and washed over her bare skin.
The closer they got to the buffet, the more crowded the place was. A little huddle of women fanned out as he passed, openly sizing him up appreciatively. He looked over at Natasha. Damn, she’d seen their looks. He got them pretty regularly from women, whether he encouraged them or not, but for the first time, it pissed him off. He was clearly walking with another woman.
Were they intentionally ignoring this detail, or had they assumed he wasn’t with her? He didn’t like either of those possibilities. Natasha’s step faltered for a beat, but she straightened up and turned for the buffet. Good for her. Max scanned the restaurant, looking for a secluded place to sit, away from stares like this, but there was nothing.
By the time they reached the banquet table, her smile had returned. The spread was beautiful, full of fruits, cheeses, salads, maki rolls, some fish...things and other foods he didn’t recognize. Max leaned over Natasha’s shoulder to grab a plate, closer than he needed to.
“You think we were swimming around with any of these entrees earlier?” he asked.
She wrinkled her nose. “I doubt it.”
“Let’s get some food and find a spot of our own, away from here,” he said gesturing out into the dark green tangle of trees.
“No bushes, Max,” she said dryly. “Let’s go to the beach.”
“That definitely sounds sexier than the bushes,” he whispered in her ear as she picked up a bunch of grapes. That earned him a chuckle.
They loaded up their plates. Max nicked some silverware and napkins from a nearby table, shoving them in his pocket, and stopped at the dessert display for a few of the little chocolate squares, all arranged in the form of a manta ray. Waiters wandered through the groups of guests, carrying trays of champagne, and he grabbed two glasses for them before heading for Natasha, who had already started for the boardwalk.
The murmur of voices faded as Max followed Natasha off the patio, back into the trees. They walked along the path, turning away from their cabin, heading for the far side of the island.
“You’d think I’d be fine in that world after all the events with my mother and sister, but it still has a way of making me feel second-rate,” she said quietly, not turning to face him. “Stupid, I know.”
“Sweetheart, you are first-rate in every way.” Max’s urge to reach for her was thwarted by the plate and glasses he was currently juggling.
Natasha looked over at him with a small smile. “Thanks. I know I should have gotten over this kind of thing long ago. Everyone is beautiful in their own way, blah, blah, blah. But there really are people who are just strikingly beautiful, more than others. And those people happen to include my mother and my sister. And not me. Most of the time, I don’t care.”
For once, Max had no idea what to say. Where did he start? With the fact that he found her far more attractive than anyone else on that patio they had abandoned? The reasons were a mystery to him, and telling her this would sound insincere, like a consolation. His worry must have showed because she waved him off with her free hand.
“I’m fine, Max. Really. It doesn’t bother me as much as it did growing up.” She brushed his cheek, as if she was the one consoling him. “And there are definitely disadvantages to startling beauty. It’s very hard for my sister to be taken seriously since everything is seen through the lens of her looks. You should hear her stories from her stint in nursing school. But sometimes it can be hard to walk in her world. Like tonight.”
He nodded. “I don’t think the high-profile life is easy for anyone. Each person’s reasons might be a little different, but being in this world has a tendency to rub us all raw.”
Natasha tilted her head to the side, as if she were thinking through that idea, figuring out what exactly it meant for him. She was quiet for a while.
“How did you get involved with Blackmore Inc.?”
“Cameron and I were roommates at Princeton,” he said. “He needed help when he took over as CEO of the Australian division. His father hadn’t left it in good shape. He brought me on for business strategy, but I wanted a piece of the on-the-ground action, too.”
She raised an eyebrow. “And, of course, Max Jensen gets what he wants.”
“Hell, no,” he snorted. “I had to work my ass off to train for it. I was in pretty good shape from rugby, but there was a lot I needed to learn.”
“You like working hard, don’t you?” she said. “Especially if it’s something money can’t buy.”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah. I do.”
The boardwalk came to an end at the beach. It was low tide, and a long stretch of flat, hard sand spread out for them to walk on. The ocean was quiet, and parts of the reef peeked out from the glassy water. The sun had sunk behind mainland mountains in the distance, and tiny dots of light glowed along the shoreline.
Natasha slowed at the edge of the water and kicked off her sandals. She sat next to them in the wet sand, her legs stretched out in front of her and her plate balanced on her lap. Max moved in behind her. He settled his thigh beside hers, just touching, and she was close enough that she could lean back against him if she wanted. He handed her one of the champagne glasses.
