Rescued by the Bad Boy (Bad Boys on Holiday Book 4) (7 page)

H
aley was
glad for the rescue, grateful that Max didn’t want to talk about her family or Brian. Despite all evidence to the contrary, she didn’t like talking about them either.

But she
did
like having a secret. A delicious, dirty secret that made her feel wild and spontaneous, freer than she’d felt in years.

God, the things he’d done to her…

Haley’s stomach swooped, her thighs clenching as she replayed their stolen moments in the closet. The way Max had touched her, tasted her, commanded her body like he knew exactly what she needed…

He
does
know. Hence the parade of endless orgasms.

Haley smiled to herself. Orgasms, exactly! He was great at giving them, and she was great at receiving them. No reason to send him away just because her family situation got a little overwhelming sometimes. Just because every moment spent in Max’s company was another moment she was rethinking her anti-relationship stance…

No. This wasn’t—couldn’t be—a relationship. It was fun, that’s all. Didn’t have to be anything more than that. So what if he made her laugh? If he made her feel beautiful and desired? If he looked at her as if she was the only woman in the whole room? If his every touch made her weak and delirious? Nope. Didn’t matter. Not one iota. She wouldn’t let any of that nonsense go to her head, because there was absolutely no room in her heart for relationships. Only fun. Hot, sexy, incredible fun.

As long as she held fast to that rule, everything would turn out just fine.

* * *

D
angerous Cliffs
! No climbing!

“We put that there to keep the tourists away,” Max said, nodding at the sign. They’d reached the northernmost point of the beach, a natural boundary with a wall of steep cliffs that curved back toward them like a giant fishhook. “It’s steep, but not that dangerous. Just a good spot to get away when you need to.”

“That’s funny,” she said. “I always wondered about that. You know, when you live in the place where most people come to get away, where do
you
go to get away?”

“Now you know.” He leaned in close, wriggling his eyebrows. “Hey, baby. Ever see the top of a sea cliff?”

“Still bringing that A-game, I see.”

“What can I say?” He stroked his thumb across her cheek, tracing a path down to her jaw. “I’m a sucker for the freckles.”

He lowered his mouth to hers, capturing her in another passionate kiss.

Just for fun… just for fun… just for fun…

After stashing their shoes on a rocky outcropping, they climbed up the path to the top. Max was right; it wasn’t that dangerous. A little slippery under her bare feet, maybe, but with her hand held firmly in Max’s grasp, Haley wasn’t worried about falling.

“This is… wow.” Standing at the top of the cliff, Haley lost her words. The vista was so endless, so breathtaking, it made her dizzy. From up there, it felt as if she could see all the way down the coast, all the way across the Pacific. The wind buffeted her face, tossed her hair around, made her eyes water, but she loved every minute of it.

It was still light out, but back down the shore, the lights from the restaurant and the surrounding cottages shone like a string of bright orange-and-white party lights. They were only a fifteen-minute walk from civilization, but to Haley it felt like a different world.

Max was seated on a large, flat rock behind her, also admiring the view. Wordlessly, she sat down next to him, and he put his arm around her, pulling her close. Mistaking her shivers for chills, Max removed his sports jacket and draped it over her shoulders, pulling her close again. His scent was intoxicating—like soap and spice and the ocean, wrapping her up in warmth.

“See that red dot, right down there, a little ways past the Beachcomber?” He pointed, and Haley squinted, trying to see what he was talking about.

“Look for the bright blue boat,” he said. “The house is right behind it.”

“Now I see it.”

“That’s my place. Only red house on the strip. So later tonight, if you can’t sleep, you can swing on by. I’ll leave the door unlocked. I sleep naked. Feel free to show yourself in.”

“I’ll keep it in mind, pervert.”

He nuzzled her neck, biting her until she squealed. “You know you love it.”

“You wish.” She pretended to squirm away, but hell, she
did
love it. Too much.

They sat in silence for a while, just enjoying the view, decompressing from all the family interaction. Haley felt like she could stay up there for days. Southern California was so crowded, so packed with people and cars and tourists, it was easy to forget that places like this still existed, practically in her own backyard.

“I can’t believe you get to live here year round,” she said. “That’s amazing.”

Max nodded. “Comes with the gig. I don’t even have to pay rent.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Nope. Head lifeguards and staff supervisors have to stay close to the water. We get called in a lot, so… makes sense.”

“So, like, where do I sign? I can train, right? Will you write me a recommendation? I think I’d make an excellent lifeguard.”

Max’s eyes clouded over, his attention suddenly far away. She wasn’t sure he’d even heard her, but before she could ask, he changed the subject.

“So what’s your story, Haley Marie?” he asked, turning his blue eyes back on her. “I assume there’s more to your days than dodging your family and sneaking into closets with horny lifeguards.”

“What are you talking about? That’s
totally
my life.” Haley laughed. “Well, that, and I own a little shop in Corona del Mar. Vintage clothes, jewelry, stuff like that. It’s nothing, really. Just… I always wanted a place like that. Since I was a kid playing dress-up with my mom’s old stuff.”

Haley lowered her eyes. She knew she was downplaying it—she worked her
ass
off for that shop, and she was damned proud of herself—but after the way Brian had treated her, she was reluctant to open up about it. She was tired of feeling ashamed, feeling like her work and her dreams weren’t important or worthwhile. But some scars ran deep, and this was one of them.

But when she met Max’s gaze again, he was staring at her, his eyes serious. “Doesn’t sound like nothing to me. You own a fucking store. You went after a dream. You know how many people can say that?”

Haley shrugged.

“I’m serious. You should be proud of yourself. Really proud.”

At his encouragement, she opened up a bit more, telling him about the store, the crazy customers who always kept her on her toes—everyone from socialites to celebrities to college kids to drag queens.

“Wait…” He tapped his lips, concentrating. “Are you talking about Throwbacks?”

“You know it?”

A smile stretched wide across his face. “Are you kidding me? I get empanadas at El Gaucho’s at least twice a week!”

“Oh my God! I love that place!” Haley couldn’t believe it. The Argentinian restaurant was her shop’s neighbor—she’d eaten her weight in empanadas a few times herself. “That’s insane… Imagine we crossed paths there before?”

Max shook his head. “No. No way. I’d definitely remember you.”

Haley shivered again. Max pulled her closer, rubbing her arm to warm her up. She didn’t bother telling him she wasn’t cold.

“That’s cool as hell. I mean, wow. You had a dream, and you fucking went for it.” Max beamed at her. “I really admire that. It’s fucking badass.”

“What? I just sell stuff. You’re the one risking your life, punching sharks, saving people.”

“Shark-punching, right. You’ll need to take that class if you want to join up.” Max sighed, his gaze drifting out over the Pacific. “It’s actually not all that glamorous. Mostly I drive around yelling at teenagers for playing their music too loud on the beach. That, and bust people for smoking.”

“Now you’re being modest.”

Max shrugged. Haley couldn’t be certain, but the mood seemed to shift. Max, who’d been listening to her with rapt attention, suddenly seemed anxious. Uncomfortable.

She stood up, walking toward the edge of the cliff.

“How high are we?” she asked.

“Dunno. Fifty, sixty feet.”

She peered over the edge, trying to imagine what it would be like to dive in. Way down below, the deep blue water was calm and serene, almost like an invitation. “You ever jump it?”

“Once,” he said.

“Think I could make it?”

“I’d rather you didn’t try.”

“I could make this jump, easy.”

“Making the jump is one thing. Swimming in that undertow is another.”

She shrugged. “Then I guess you’ll have to jump in and rescue me.”

She’d only been joking, but Max turned instantly serious. He reached up and grabbed her wrist, yanking her back away from the edge.

“Haley.” His tone was flat, but the look in his eyes was fierce. Dangerous. “Quit fucking around. It’s not safe.”

She was so shocked by the mood swing, it took her a full minute to realize what’d just happened.

Her cheeks heated with shame.

“I wasn’t… I was just…” She let the words die on her tongue. She wasn’t really going to jump—of course it wasn’t safe. But there was more to Max’s comment than safety. She’d hit a nerve, and she had no idea why.

“Max?” she asked tentatively.

He gave a noncommittal grunt.

This sucked. Haley had no idea what she’d done or said, but she had to change the subject. Fast.

“Okay,” she said. “So you bust smokers, and yell at teenagers like a grumpy old man… How do you find time to prance around in the sand, posing for the bikini girls?”

Max laughed, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. The levity was gone, and she hated herself for killing the mood. But she couldn’t really figure out what she’d said that was so wrong.

She was about to ask, but Max stood up abruptly, dusting off his pants and turning back toward the path.

“Come on,” he said. “I should get you back before they come looking for us.”

“But… didn’t you want to show me your place?” Haley couldn’t hide her disappointment. She’d been looking forward to their night alone.

“Tonight’s not a good idea,” he said. “You’ll need to be up early to help your sister, and I have to check in with my staff and make sure everything’s set up for the ceremony… Let’s just call it a night.”

He sounded as defeated as she felt, but she didn’t push it.

As they picked their way back down the path, Max held her hand to steady her, but the mood between them had totally chilled. She didn’t know what to say.

They were halfway down the shore, almost back to the Beachcomber, and still, he hadn’t uttered a word. The silence was driving her mad.

Finally she stepped in front of him and put her hands on his chest, stopping him in his tracks. “Max, I don’t know what happened up there, but I wasn’t going to jump. I didn’t mean anything.”

He looked at her for a long moment, assessing, a deep wrinkle forming between his eyebrows. Haley reached up and smoothed it out with her fingers, wishing she could read his thoughts.

“Haley, listen.” He grabbed her hand, placed a kiss on the center of her palm. “There’s something we need to get straight before we take this fake relationship any further.”

“Okay.” Haley’s voice was barely a whisper. Her cheeks heated with shame, and she kept her eyes on the sand, afraid she’d pushed him too far.

But Max slid his fingers beneath her chin, tilting her face up until she had no choice but to meet his intense gaze.

His mischievous smile had returned.

“I don’t pose,” Max said. “And I sure as
fuck
don’t prance.”

Haley laughed. “Guess I can scratch that class off my lifeguard school schedule.”

Max took her hand, and she laced her fingers with his as if it was the most natural thing in the world. As if they’d done it a thousand times before, and would do it a thousand times after.

The feeling that shot through her scared the hell out of her.

But she didn’t let go.

T
his was a bad idea
. Fucking terrible. The
worst
.

Haley was supposed to be a distraction—something to get Max through the weekend until he met the next distraction. That was his life now. His grand fucking plan. One distraction to the next, the next, the next, for as long as it took to outrun his demons.

He wasn’t supposed to be thinking about her like this. Noticing her. Playing the fucking “what if” game in his head.

What if we were for real? What if I came home to that smile every day? Curled up with that soft, warm body every night? Made her laugh like that every single day, just for me?

All through the pre-wedding brunch, as they continued to put on appearances for her family and drive each other wild with their under-the-table games and innuendos, he couldn’t stop those thoughts from churning in his mind.

Even now, watching her stand under the arbor on the beach with her sisters as the couple took their vows, Max couldn’t stop thinking about how beautiful she looked. How sweet. Didn’t matter that she was holding a bouquet the size of a harbor seal, or that the purple bridesmaid dress was even more hideous than she’d described.

She looked like fucking Grimace up there, and all he could think about was how much he wanted her. More
than wanted her. He fucking
liked
her, and it was totally screwing with his head.

“Bad idea, man,” Luke said, as if Max needed him to spell it out. “Really bad idea.”

“You think?” Max shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned back against the fire pit. Since the wedding was taking place on the beach, he still had to supervise, just like any other beach party, despite the fact that he was technically a wedding guest today. Luke and a couple of the recruits had shown up to help keep an eye on things—they’d gotten a storm warning that morning, which could make things dicey. No rain yet, but that wind was picking up, the surge coming in hard and fast. The ocean was already frothing mad.

Max hadn’t planned on telling Luke about Haley—about how he felt—but Luke hadn’t left him much choice. Max’s best friend could always see through his bullshit.

“All those girls last summer,” Luke said, keeping his voice low. “The summer before that. Ten fucking years of this, and
now
you find one you actually like? With everything else going on?”

“Don’t remind me.”

“I’m just saying,” Luke said, “it’s shit timing.”

Luke wasn’t telling Max anything he didn’t already know. It
was
shit timing. A one-night stand—even an extended one like theirs—was one thing. But how could he even
consider
getting seriously involved? Exposing her to his shitshow of issues? He still didn’t know what was happening with his job—he could end up losing it. Losing his house. Losing his fucking mind. It wouldn’t be fair to drag Haley into that mess. The way he’d snapped at her last night at the cliffs was all the reminder he needed.

“Have your fun this weekend,” Luke said, clapping him hard on the shoulder. “But then you gotta let her go, man. Focus on getting your shit back together.”

Max nodded. It was sound advice, and Luke had always had his back. But the moment he glanced up at the ceremony again, he caught Haley’s eye, and Luke’s words evaporated. The wind kicked up, messing up her fancy hair-do and blowing it into her face, her purple poof billowing out around her, and she just laughed it off, beaming at him the whole time.

The sound of her laughter carried up the shore and sucker-punched him right in the gut.

On account of the wind, they kept the ceremony short, eager to move everyone further up the beach, away from the churning sea. On the other side of the fire pit, the caterers had set up tables and chairs, a bar, a long buffet table covered with chafing dishes, but the wind wasn’t dying down. Max wasn’t sure how long the party would last.

“You get a hold of the Beachcomber?” Max asked, more than ready for a subject change.

Luke nodded. “They’ve got another big party tonight, but they said they’ll make it work if they have to.”

Max hadn’t bothered the bride about this, but it was standard operating procedure for them to put the restaurant on standby in cases like this. In his experience, people wanted their postcard-perfect beach wedding, no matter what Mother Nature had to say about it, but they almost always needed a backup.

Max looked up at the ominous sky, black clouds rolling in fast. “Call them back,” he said. “Tell them they’re gonna have to make it work.”