“Jesus, Princess, you make me so hard when you get all fiery like that. You can rile me up in no time flat. Feel.” Max grabbed my hand and guided it under the table, placing it on his dick and in the meantime letting me know just how hard he actually was for me.
Did he just do that in public? Put my hand on his erection? God, if he only knew how difficult it was for me to pull off that act of indignation. I may look confident and controlled but at the same time, I was trying to banish my demons. It was true; he was the typical playboy, always thinking with his dick.
“Is that really all you think about, sex? Or how soon you can put your ‘schlong’ to good use? You know, this marriage idea is never going to work. We’ve only seen each other a couple of times since I’ve been back, and there is absolutely no way my father’s going to buy it.” I panicked. My God, what about Mia? She knew everything about me, everything. We didn’t have any secrets between us.
“Let me think,” he muttered to himself, leaning forward across the table, only inches from my face with a triumphant gleam. “Ah, yes…If I recall correctly, the last time my ‘schlong’ was hard; you seemed to enjoy it a lot, sweetheart. You didn’t seem to think it was a stupid idea then, now, did you?” He laughed a deep laugh that unfurled an unwanted reaction low in the pit of my stomach.
Shit. He was so good at getting me aroused by just one look, one touch.
“I never imagined you would be scared, Princess. And since when does a lady and high fashion model like you use such informal language like ‘schlong’? One minute, you are so formal and classy, and then the next…”
“Excuse me?” I spat at him. “You may have forgotten where you came from, but I sure haven’t. I’m still a country girl at heart, and what exactly would I be ‘scared’ of?”
“Me.”
“Good Lord, that’s ridiculous! Why would I be afraid of you?”
“I think you are afraid of the fact that I can make you fall in love with me.”
“Make me fall in love with you? The only thing you make me want to do right at this very moment is kick you in your balls.”
“See? Your sarcasm is a defence mechanism. You. Are. Afraid. Of. Me.” He punctuated every word and closed the distance between us. “You are purely masking your fear, babe.”
“Oh. My. God. I knew you had a big ego, but—”
Before I knew it, Max grabbed me around the waist, slid me closer to him in the booth and clamped his hands onto my butt. I shrieked but he still held me tightly, jerking my lower body much closer to his.
“My ego isn’t the only thing that’s big about me; you would know that first-hand, sweetheart. How about you take another ride on it, babe? We could go all night long this time,” he whispered seductively in my ear.
Holy Hell. Whenever he came near me like this, I just lost my train of thought. I had to resist him this time and not give in to my lust so readily like I did in the pool house.
“Keep your voice down, Max. People are beginning to stare,” I retorted, hoping he would move away from me. No chance in Hell; he only moved closer.
“Babe, there’s no shame in admitting you want me.” He nuzzled the skin in front of my ear and a shiver trilled down my neck.
“You will say yes, Jada; you have no other choice. Consider me your saviour. We will both get what we want. Your father will have his financial freedom and as for myself, I will have the best of both worlds, the Sinclair Winery and you. Every delicious inch of you will be mine.”
I couldn’t think straight. Admittedly, there was a certain appeal in his off-the-wall proposal. Max was right; it was probably the only way. If Turner ever came back looking for me, he wouldn’t stop this time; he’d kill me.
Max whispered huskily, “I can tell you’re warming to the idea.”
“How?”
“You’re pushing yourself against me instead of away from me.”
I am? Holy crap! What is wrong with me? I put my hands firmly on his chest and tried to shove him off me. Damn it, he was so solid he didn’t budge; instead, he squeezed me closer. “Nah ah ah, is that any way to treat your future husband?”
“You do realise that we have to convince both our families we are a couple, not to mention the media. We haven’t seen each other in years, Max. It’s not going to be easy, especially with Mia.” Max never knew his sister had spent a large part of the year with me in Sydney, helping me through my rehabilitation and my therapy.
“All you need to do, is smile at me adoringly. As for everyone else, we tell them the reason we didn’t go public with our relationship, even with families, was because of our busy schedules and living in different states. Now that you’re home in the Barossa, it’s different. We say we crossed paths again in Sydney recently and secretly dated a couple of times. I no longer saw you as my little sister’s pesky best friend, and each hour that we spent together, we connected.” Max folded his arms over his chest, looking complacent and self-assured.