The Billionaire Playboy's Regret (Lark and Max) novel Chapter 30

Lark was giggling hard at the sight in front of her right now. After convincing Max how they needed to raid one of his spas for product, which had resulted in his security team showing up when he failed to know the code for the security panel, they returned to Ollie’s condo.

Now they were all wearing mud masks while taking turns playing a racing game on the video console. Each round the winner got a massage, foot, hand, or shoulders, from the loser. They each had a beer beside them and the giggling which kept coming from Lark’s lips as Max massaged her feet kept them all chuckling.

“She’s so damn ticklish. Each time I touch her she’s laughing.” Max complained as he yanked her foot forward while Ollie and Johan cursed each other as they raced the screen.

“My face feels like it’s cracking,” Johan whined through lips which could barely open. “What the hell is in this stuff?”

“I don’t know but I bet it’s going to be hard to get out of your eyebrows,” Ollie teased him.

“I didn’t know you weren’t supposed to put it all over.”

“Because you didn’t wait and listen for the instructions,” Lark giggled as Max drew his index finger up the middle of her sole, eliciting her need to yank her foot back but he held firm.

“He’s horrible at waiting for instructions,” Max teased him. “Remember in the chemistry lab when he simply went ahead and started before the teacher finished explaining.” He lifted his hands in the air mocking an explosion, “kaboom.”

“We got out of school for the day for a long weekend,” Johan grinned before complaining it hurt his cheeks.

“Remember when on his first day of driving school he drove the car through the stack of pylons?”

“I was eager.”

“You don’t listen,” Max corrected with a chuckle.

“I’m getting better,” Johan argued.

“Says the man who has concrete on his face and in his eyebrows,” Max mocked him.

“Yeah, why is everyone else’s not as crunchy as mine.”

“Because you didn’t mix the right water to product ratio,” Max laughed openly as Lark squealed when he dropped her foot, grabbed her other one and dumped a handful of cold oil onto the top of it. “Don’t be a baby, Lark. It’s only cold for a minute.”

“It feels good, but it tickles.”

“That’s what she said,” Ollie snorted.

“Hey Johan,” Lark leaned her head against the back of the sofa trying to forget the tickles, “how did your date go? You bailed on a sleepover at my place for the cowgirl, yet you didn’t tell us anything about the date.”

He pursed his lips and visible cracks appeared on the mask on his face. He scratched his face, “She’s beautiful and incredibly smart.”

“Yeah?” Lark smiled.

“There was good conversation, though most of it was about farming and her telling me how hard she works.”

“She would definitely work hard.”

“Then this guy came up to us while we were at dinner. She introduced him as a lead hand on her family farm. This guy was six four, solid muscles and even I would have bent over the table for him, and I don’t bend the ways Ollie does.” Johan sighed, “I could tell they had history. He came over to check me out and size up his competition. I know the move. She’s a great girl but I don’t stand a chance in comparison, and I know it.”

“Just because there is history doesn’t mean there’s a future.” Lark said bluntly and then gasped when Max pinched her toes. “Ouch!”

“There’s always a possibility.” Max grumbled.

“Not always. Sometimes, for example, me and Doug. What’s done is done.”

“What if you needed to work with him every single day, watching him ride around topless on a horse while he wrangles steer and -”

“Yeah, I’ve seen him do that and it wasn’t appealing.” Lark cut off Johan’s comment with a grin and her three friends all paused for a half moment before erupting into gales of laughter.

Moments later, Ollie threw her controller to the floor and whipped off her shirt, leaving her in a sports bra. “I win, you lose. Shoulders now. The delicious smelly stuff I pilfered from the massage room.”

Johan groaned grabbing the bottle moving next to Lark on the sofa with Ollie between his knees. “This is weird. I don’t know how I feel about touching your naked body, Ollie. It’s making me feel things.” He joked.

“I’m not naked. I have a bra on and my shorts.”

“Fine.” He sighed pouting.

Lark and Max both looked at Ollie who let out a loud moan at the way Johan’s fingers massaged her neck.

“Jesus, get a room,” Max sneered, disgust on his face at the sounds his sister was making.

“How the f**k has nobody tied you down yet, Johan. How did you learn to do this?” Ollie sighed blissfully.

“When Max was setting up the spas, I took a handful of massage therapy classes to better understand the product I was going to have to peddle. It’s paid off.”

“It’s why the girl chased you with the boombox,” Ollie groaned. “I’m about to make you do my entire body but starting with my back.”

“Shoulders only,” Johan protested. “You’re cute but I only give back massages if my d**k is getting wet, Ollie.”

“I can fake the attraction for the back massage.”

“Yeah, but I can’t.” Johan countered. “I don’t think my d**k would even come out to play.”

“It would. I’m good at being convincing.”

“Are you crazy? It’s Johan!”

“I know.”

“Why?”

“I trust him.”

“You trust him?” A thought occurred to Lark, “he lied. Houston guy lied. He’s not divorced?”

“Nope. I got my guys to check it out and he’s not. He sent her away because she’s crazy but there was never actually a divorce.”

Max cut in, “what guy from Houston?”

“I’ll tell you tomorrow. Right now, I’m going to talk to the one person I trust more than you two and see if he can’t help me get a monkey off my back.” She wiggled her eyebrows as Lark and Max stared at her incredulously. She rushed off in Johan’s direction.

“Is it only me or did this escalate way too fast?”

“Do you think they’ve always been into each other?” Lark asked in response to Max’s question.

“I don’t know but between Johan feeling second rate from comparing himself to the cowboy and Ollie clearly feeling duped over some guy in Houston, they are about to make the worst decision of their lives. This will ruin everything between them. We need to stop them.” Max’s head reared back at the sound of Ollie giving a loud guffaw of laughter before squealing Johan’s name.

“I can’t be here for this,” Lark looked to Max with wild eyes. “Once at Grandpa Gael’s house, she brought this guy home and she’s a screamer, Max. A screamer. I don’t care how soundproofed she thinks her bedroom here is, it’s not going to be enough.”

“Fuck.” His shudder was visible. He looked down the hall and then rose to his feet. “My place is five minutes from here. You can come there and get cleaned up. I have a spare room. You can sleep in it.” He paused and stared in the direction of his sister and best friend, “I really think we should stop them. Maybe they’re screwing with us?”

“I don’t think so, Max,” Lark was gasping for breath as she tried to put her greasy feet into her sneakers. “I saw the look in her eyes. She has an itch to scratch and she’s angry at the Houston guy.”

“Who is he?”

“Some cartel leader your grandfather did business with. Ollie was in deep with him and then found out he was entering an arranged marriage. She broke it off because she didn’t ever want to be the other girl. She called in a favor about Doug, and he wants her back now. He told her he divorced his wife, and they don’t have kids. I should have known Ollie wouldn’t simply take him at his word and would check it out.” The sound of laughter was dying down in the other room and she and Max exchanged worried glances. “They’re probably kissing.”

“Nope. It’s a nope for me. I’m outta here.” Max grabbed his coat.

“You have face mask everywhere. We can’t go out like this!”

“Don’t care. I’ll shower at home. Let’s go.” He was pulling her through the condo, slamming the door harder than necessary.

Lark let him drag her away praying her two closest friends from childhood weren’t making an epic mistake.