The Billionaire Playboy's Regret (Lark and Max) novel Chapter 42

Dinner was a subdued affair with Ollie uncharacteristically quiet, Max eyeballing Lark and his sister curiously and Grady and Bobby talking about a slew of cases between them which Lark wasn’t working on yet. Johan was texting on his phone for most of dinner and from the look on his face it wasn’t a friendly conversation.

Overall, by the time dessert was cleared from the table, Lark was more than ready to get back to her room, take a hot bath and then crawl into bed. She knew Max wanted to spend time with her alone but the way he was critically staring at her and Ollie, made her worried he was onto them. She really wanted to avoid him.

In reality she was still unnerved about the incident from earlier in the day. She never pointed an actual gun with real ammunition in it at a human being before. She went turkey hunting with Gael and shot a buttload of clay pigeons Gael got his butler to toss into the air like frisbees, but she never once considered shooting another person. Today she might have needed to if Ollie hadn’t of gotten her team to get them out of there. Her stomach rolled with the thought.

Max and Johan were laughing by the elevator, and she slipped past them and headed to her room and entered it cautiously. What if the cartel people sent a hitman to get her in her room and then shot her dead in retaliation?

Closing her door with a click she checked under the bed, in the wardrobe and bathroom and then back under the bed a second time before letting out a quiet sigh of relief. Returning to the bathroom she began filling up the tub and dumped half of her bottle of bubbles in it. She’d pilfered them from the bathroom at Max’s place and they smelled divine.

In no time she was neck deep in bubbles, her phone sitting on the vanity with soothing music playing and her eyes closed. She did her breathing techniques her therapist taught her over the years and then a few moments of tapping on her thighs as she relaxed in the bath. No bad men were going to come and kill her for being stupid and following Ollie’s plots. Many paragraphs are missing. Read the complete book on Jo b ni b.c o m. When was she going to learn. As the anxiety crept back up, she groaned and tried again to force it down.

“You know, for a woman in a bath, you look terribly stressed.”

Lark gave a scream of terror as she leapt forward, landing on her knees her hands gripping the side of the tub. “Maximilian Villeneuve I’m going to strangle you!” tears of frightfulness edging the corners of her eyes.

Max looked away, “jeez, Lark get back under the bubbles before my boner pokes your eye out.”

She ragefully splashed him with water before sinking back into the tub embarrassment coating her skin. It was a good thing the water was already steaming hot and turned her skin red otherwise he would have known how mortified she was from the all over blush. “Why are you in my bathroom?”

“I knocked but you didn’t answer so I used my room key.”

“You don’t have a room key.”

“Uh, yeah, I do. See, the lady at the front desk gave you two and I took one.”

“Why are you here?”

“You said we could spend time together.” He grinned as he closed the lid of the toilet seat and plunked down.

“I didn’t think you meant right now.”

“Well, when? It’s already nine thirty,” he looked at his wristwatch. “Any later than this and it would be bedtime.” He grinned widely, “unless you wanted me to be here at bedtime.”

“Max, I’m in the bath.” Weirdly she wasn’t as uncomfortable as she should be.

“I know.” He looked her over as she pulled bubbles to her chest. “This is a fantasy of mine right here.” He waved his hand nonchalantly at the image in front of him. “This is enough fodder for my wet dreams for the next sixty years. My only regret is when you jumped up you were completely coated in the bubbles, and I didn’t get to see your boobs.”

She groaned and sunk deeper into the water at his playfulness, “you’re being intrusive.”

“I can leave. Do you want me to leave,” before she could answer, he spoke again, “or I could stay, sit here and observe for scientific purposes.”

“Observe what for scientific purposes.”

“Want to do an experiment with me?” he asked his elbows resting on his knees, his chin in his palm. His dark eyes were flickering with an emotion she wasn’t sure she could name, and his tongue darted along his lips.

“What kind of experiment?” What the hell was wrong with her? When it came to the Villeneuve twins, her common sense went out the window the minute one of them produced a silly idea.

He grabbed her phone and changed out her soothing music to Call Out Your Name by The Weekend and she lifted an inquisitive eyebrow in his direction.

“Is this a song you play when you’re getting rowdy, Max?”

“You mean when I’m f*****g?” he asked bluntly. “No. I don’t usually play music. I have enough trouble staying focused on the face in front of me instead of fantasizing about someone else,” he smirked broadly at her gasp, “but since the subject of my dreams is right in front of me and I don’t need to pretend, I can let loose.”

“You’re incorrigible.”

“I am.” He didn’t deny it. “Well, want to help me with my experiment or not?”

“Depends on what it is.”

“Orgasms.”

“Excuse me?” her breath felt it was stolen out of her lungs and replaced with water as she garbled the question at him. “We’ve had a handful of really great kisses. I have been trying really hard to be respectful and understanding of the fact you’re still working through your past relationship. I want very much to take you to bed and keep you there for an indiscriminately long time, however, you’re not ready. Despite what Ollie thinks about you getting under a new guy helping you get over the old one, I think your heart isn’t quite ready for such a big step. Especially the kind of lovemaking you and I will engage in.”

She frowned at him, “you’re speaking as if once we get into bed I’m going to be ruined for any other man.”