Innuendos (It Had 2 B U Book 1) (9 page)

I blink at him, tears sticking to my eyelashes. How did I end up this lucky? I smile at him, still swiping my tears. Max’s hand clamps down on mine, and we link fingers. I love the way his touch always soothes me.

“Thanks, Max. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Be miserable. I’m pretty awesome.” He grins and completely fails to get his food in his mouth with chopsticks. I’m not sure why he insists on using them every time we eat Chinese. He has a forty percent success rate of getting food into his mouth.

Once lunch is over, he walks me back to my office and hugs me goodbye. I made sure we stand on the side of the building where we can’t be seen. I’m still hiding him. I feel badly for it, but I really want things with Travis to work out. Keeping Max a secret is the best thing for my relationship right now.

Once inside the building, a strong arm grabs me by my elbow and pulls me away from the doorway. It’s Travis. He seems a little angry.

Did he see me on the elevator with Max?
Crap, this isn’t good. Not now, not when I’m still vulnerable.

“Hey, Travis,” I say carefully.

“Where have you been?”

“Lunch, with a friend,” I answer truthfully.

“I went up to your office, and your stupid secretary told me you were out with another man—a hot one. She made sure to sneak that one in there. Are you cheating on me?” He’s running his hand through his hair, his eyes drilling through me.

“Of course not!” I snap. “How could you even think that? You know how much I love you. A friend from high school stopped by and asked if I wanted to go to lunch with him. I accepted because you and I didn’t have any definitive plans for lunch. It was harmless. You have nothing to worry about.”

He gives me a look that pretty much says “screw you, I don’t believe you”. I glare back, showing him damn well, that he has nothing to worry about—especially with someone like Max. He grabs my shoulders and sighs. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t fair to you. Lori cheated on me, and anytime that I think about it, I get a horrible pain in my stomach. I hate liars and cheaters, Bree. I don’t want to go through another relationship of lies like I did with Lori. So if you’re cheating on me, or having feelings for any other guy, I need to know now before I fall even harder for you.”

I wind my arms around his waist and hug him tightly. “Travis, the only man who is on my mind, is you. You’re amazing. I don’t picture myself with anyone but you.”

He looks down at me in surprise. “Do you really mean that?”

“Yes, I do. You mean a lot to me. I really see a future with us. Don’t you?” A future? Did I just say future?
Holy crap, I did!

“Every day, Bree, I’m sorry I got all crazy for a second. I had brief flashbacks of Lori. The thought of you doing the same thing was driving me bonkers.”

I grab his cheeks and pull him down so I can kiss his lips. “I promise you, Travis, the only man for me is in my arms right now.”

He smiles against my lips and pulls me away. “Good, then I think it’s time I meet your roommate.”

“What?” I exclaim.

“It’s been five months, Bree. I think it’s time. Besides, I have big plans for us, and I want to share that with your family and friends. Since you don’t really have a family, then your roommate/best friend is the next best thing.”

Did he have to bring up family?
A tear slides down my cheek.

He frowns. “Hey, you’re not going to cry again, are you? Bree, you can’t cry every time I want to meet your roommate.”

“I know. I’m crying about something else. I’ll introduce you to my roommate this weekend. How’s tomorrow night?” I ask reluctantly. I knew this day was going to come. I just didn’t realize it would be so soon.

“That sounds perfect. I’ll take you out to dinner afterwards. Your roommate can join us if she likes.”

“My roommate usually has plans on Friday, but I will mention it. I have to get back up to my office. I love you.”

“I love you too, Bree. I’ll walk you up to the elevator.” He takes my hand; as we walk, he starts swinging them. He’s way too happy about meeting Max. Inside I’m dying. I don’t want him to meet Max. I’m so afraid he’ll run like all the other guys I’ve dated in the past. I don’t want us to end. I love Travis. I actually
love
him.

A feeling of dread engulfs me as he gives me a kiss goodbye, and the door closes between us. What the hell am I thinking? I can’t introduce him to Max right now. Things are good. Things are better than good. Now it’s all going to end because my stupid conscience doesn’t want to lie anymore. Today’s secret spy mission to hide Max from Travis was completely insane. I’ve gone from concerned girlfriend, to straight up Kooksville. I need to come clean, if for anything else, to keep my last little bit of sanity intact. My only hope is that Travis will understand why I lied. He’s an understanding guy. He’ll stay with me right?

Chapter Eight

Max

Breezy has flipped her ever loving mind. She’s cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs and riding the crazy train. I think I need to buy her a strait jacket for Christmas. I can’t believe she actually pushed me into a damn tree, so her little boy toy wouldn’t see me. I love the girl, but I refuse to be hidden in the shadows because she has some crazy notion that I’m the reason all her relationships fail. Sure, it’s partly my fault, but the real reason they fail is because she keeps dating these pansy-ass wussies with no dick. Grow up; grow a dick, and fucking fight for your girl for god’s sake. A woman like Breezy is worth fighting for.

I get back to the gym around three. Maggie is waiting for me when I get there. I’ve been working out with her for the last month and a half. She’s successfully dropped ten pounds and slimmed down her waist. Right now, it’s all about building up her core. I want to get her to the point that she can run on the treadmill without looking like she’s going to die.

“Hey, Max,” she exclaims excitedly.

I notice a few guys in the gym are laughing at her. She’s wearing black sweat pants and a tank top. She looks perfectly fine; the guys are just being assholes. I glare at them and direct her over to one of the treadmills. She gets on it and must realize that the guys are laughing at her, because she frowns.

I put a friendly hand on her back and smile up at her. “Don’t worry about them. You focus on you.” She grins as I start the machine for her. I get up on the treadmill next to her. I like to motivate my clients. By actually participating in their workouts, it shows that I’m devoted to getting them into shape.

Dashawn walks in a few minutes later. He’s finally back from his sabbatical. It sucks that his grandmother was sick, but I’m happy he’s back.

The guy is a monster. When he enters a room, everyone notices. He’s six feet five inches of solid thick muscles. He weighs a good two hundred and fifty pounds and could probably bench press me if he tried. His head is shaven, and he has a nice black Fu Manchu that I’m totally jealous of. I can’t grow facial hair. It’s the McGowan curse. Sure, I can get facial scruff in the mornings, but anything remotely looking like a beard, actually ends up resembling pubes on my face.

He walks over to us, grinning like an idiot.

“What’s up, Max? Did you miss me, you vanilla asshole?”

“First day back and you’re already calling me white. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were the one who missed me, Dashawn.”

He notices Maggie next to me and smiles. “Hey, I’m Dashawn, the far superior trainer at this gym. Who might you be?”

“I’m Maggie.”

His smile widens. “Maggie, I like it. How about you dump this two pump chump and get on board with a real trainer?”

“Ah, but I’d feel like I was cheating on Max if I did that. He’s worked really hard on trying to impress me. Plus, I know for a fact he’s not a two pump chump.”

“Do you now? Wow, Max, I didn’t know
real
women were your type.”

“I like
all
women. I don’t judge.”
Unless you count orange-haired girls who have holes in their face.

“Are you a couple?” Dashawn’s eyes shift between the two of us.

Maggie laughs. “Max wishes. Unfortunately, he can’t keep up with me. I have the sexual stamina of a jackrabbit.” At that exact moment Dashawn is drinking from a water bottle; he ends up spitting it all over the machines and us.

I wipe it off, laughing hysterically. “Maggie, I think you get some kind of sick pleasure out of making people do that,” I tell her.

“Definitely! Who doesn’t love an old-fashioned spit take.”

“Is this girl for real?” Dashawn asks me.

“Yup, she’s one in a million. Come on, Maggie; let’s go do some weight lifting.” As I suspect, Dashawn follows closely behind. One thing I’ve noticed about Dashawn is that he’s a lot like me. He has a soft spot for girls who don’t normally get noticed. It’s obvious that Maggie has successfully captured his attention.

I start showing Maggie how to properly lift the ten pound weights, when Dashawn steps in.

“No, you’re having her do it wrong, Max. It needs to be like this,” he says, saddling up behind her. He grabs her waist and then uses his other arm to correct her form.

Maggie is grinning like an idiot.

“Did you know that fat girls have a weakness for chocolate?” She asks as she leans back into his chest. The guys who were laughing at her a few minutes ago, are now ogling with shocked faces. Yeah, that’s right assholes. Who cares if she’s overweight? This girl is the epitome of sexy.

Dashawn laughs. “Is that right?”

“Oh yes, it’s quite an obsession, really. I’ve often thought about starting my own cult to worship a Chocolate God.” She looks at him with a straight face and smiles. “Do you want to be my Chocolate God, Dashawn? I promise to properly worship you.”

Dashawn is holding one of her weights in his hand and somehow loses his grip on it. It drops right onto his foot; he jumps back, howling in pain. Maggie is laughing her ass off. Obviously she finds her random hilariousness as funny as I do.

“Max, can I talk to you for a minute?” Dashawn asks, stealing an unnerving glance towards Maggie.

“Sure, Dashawn. Maggie, we’ll be right back. Oh, and by the way, you get an extra five minutes for saying the “F”word.”

She groans.

Dashawn pulls me into the men’s locker room and crosses his arms over his chest. “Okay, give it to me straight. Are you fucking that girl?”

I almost laugh. “We have once. You know I don’t do relationships.”

“So, you have no interest in pursuing her romantically?”

“No, I don’t. I only have eyes for one girl.”

If his smile could talk it would say,
“I’m going to become a Chocolate God.”

He pats me on the shoulder laughing. “I needed to know,” he smirks.

“She’s something special, isn’t she?”

“I’ve only just met her, and I’m already putty in her hands. My dick’s hard. She fucking made my dick hard, man.”

“Well, I know it’s probably inappropriate to say, but I can confirm her stamina of a jackrabbit. I barely kept up with the girl.”

“Yeah, I don’t need to think about being with your sloppy seconds, Vanilla.”

“Just saying.”

“I’m asking her out. Hopefully, she won’t say no.” He pushes past me and marches back into the gym where Maggie is still lifting weights.

“And here I thought you two sexy man specimens forgot about me. Is one of you going to come spot me? I’m afraid I’ve lifted this weight so much my arm is about to fall off.”

I make a move to help her, but Dashawn is already there.

“Here, let me help you with that, Maggie. Hey, do you like dinner? Do you eat dinner? Of course, you eat dinner. That was a stupid question. What I meant to ask is if you would like to have dinner with me, tonight?”

Wow, he doesn’t waste time at all.

She grabs his bicep and purrs, “I think that sounds wonderful. Although, there are a few things you should know about me. I’m monogamous, and I expect my man to be the same. I don’t take shit from anybody. If you try to feed me or rub food of any kind on my body without my permission, you’re gone. Oh, and I do fuck on the first date if you’re really, really lucky.” She looks over at me and winks.

“Okay . . . here are some things you should know about me. When I love, I love hard. I don’t share. I like my women in all shapes and sizes, but I prefer them to have junk in the trunk, so I have something to grab onto. Max’s “F” word is my “F” word. Don’t you dare use it in front of me. Oh, and I find you to be the most fascinating woman I’ve ever met in my life.”

“Well, that’s a good thing, because I find you to be the sexiest man I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

They’re totally eye fucking each other right now, and it’s making me uncomfortable. I’ve suddenly become the third wheel in a bizarre dating show. I’m not sure how to describe what just transpired between them, but obviously it’s working for them, because he’s already kissing her. Granted, it’s just a cheek peck, but man, that was fast
.

“Um, I’m going to take off and meet Breezy at the house. You guys have a good night.”

They don’t even notice me leave.