CHAPTER ELEVEN
NATASHA’SHEARTGAVEa leap, and she tried so hard to fight the swell of messy emotions his words stirred in her. Max’s fingers lingered on her skin, and a shiver ran through her. His eyes were hot, intense, and there was no teasing smile on his lips. Something was happening between them, something more than just the sexy fun he had promised. She swallowed. Her breasts brushed against his shirt as she breathed, in and out, caught in this endless moment of intimacy. God, she could fall for Max so easily. Maybe she already had.
Max seemed to be doing some of his own contemplating.
She tilted her head, thinking through his words. “Does it work that way? That you can make someone happy?”
Max was quiet for a long time. “That sounds like a leading question,” he finally said with a hint of a smile.
“Really, it’s not,” said Natasha. “It’s just that I’ve always assumed it was the opposite with my mother.”
“What do you mean?”
“The career she chose, the men she chose.” She shook her head slowly. “It was all her doing. She made herself unhappy, and then, finally, she met her most recent husband and decided to make herself happy. But before that...” Natasha rolled her eyes.
“Even with your father?” asked Max after a while.
“Especially with my father,” she said with a snort. “He’s as volatile as my mother is. Thank God I was young when they split up. I don’t think I could have handled the drama.”
“What made things better?”
“She finally got out of the entertainment business,” Natasha said. “No more secret affairs with directors, no younger actresses ‘stealing’ her roles, no tumultuous relationships with other self-involved actors.”
His fingers made a trail up and down her arm. “Why did she leave?”
“One director told her in no uncertain terms that she was too old for lead roles.” Natasha tamped down the memories of that day that threatened to take over. “But I’m actually grateful that asshole was so blunt. If he hadn’t been, she’d still be scraping the bottom right now.”
“Where is she now?”
“In Malibu. Barrett, her latest husband, is a lawyer for one of the studios,” she said. “Nice guy, soft-spoken. Quite frankly, I thought she married him for the money, but they seem surprisingly happy together.”
A crease formed between Max’s eyebrows. “Maybe she just met the right person.”
“Yes, that helped. But she probably wouldn’t have noticed that right person if she was on the set of a movie. She had to get herself away from the lure of stardom.” She was quiet for a while. “You know what drives me crazy about it? It’s like my mother still doesn’t understand this. She’d never make the choice to leave acting on her own. Why doesn’t she see how much better her life is without it?”
“Maybe she loved it. People want to choose with their hearts, not their minds.”
“Maybe.” She sighed.
“But you want to do the opposite? Choose with your mind?”
He reached up and tucked a stray lock of her hair behind her ear. The hum of attraction between them kicked up a few notches.
She met his gaze and held it, studying him. This was getting very...intimate. Finally, she smiled. “We’re supposed to be analyzing you, not me.”
He chuckled. “But you’re so much more interesting.”
Natasha gave him a skeptical smile. “That’s one way of saying it.”
“Natasha, I find you very interesting.” His gaze was warm, tender.
She waved off his comment. “It’s the fish thing. Trust me, it’ll wear off.”
Max shook his head. “I’m pretty sure I’d never tire of listening to you talk about fish.”
She stilled. This was dangerous territory. Thewhat-ifsandmaybesof something more. It was the first step toward the cliffs of Illana Petrova insanity.
Natasha pulled away from the heat of his body. “Thanks, but I’m pretty sure that after a few months you’d be running back to women who didn’t bring up the surprising drops in the sea cucumber population at dinner parties.”
