Control Me(26)

“Well, la-de-da,” Milan whistled as she walked past me. “This place totally rocks. I’m so jealous!”

Milan plonked herself on the plush, tan, comfortable-looking couch while I dumped my handbag on the oak coffee table. I heard a door slam behind us, and then heavy footsteps coming down the stairs and into the living area. Both of us turned toward the sound, and Max walked in.

Holy. Freaking. Hell.

I clenched my jaw to prevent it from falling to the floor. I looked over at Milan and she was literally drooling. Max stood there almost naked with a towel barely wrapped around his waist and droplets of water cascading down his torso, emphasising perfectly defined muscles. Beads were glistening on his smooth, tanned skin. His wet hair made him have a wild look about him, and Max looked reckless and dangerous. His mouth curled up in a sultry smile when his gaze connected with mine.

Shit! I had stupidly assumed when Max had texted me earlier that morning, that he’d be out. He told me he would leave the key card to the penthouse at the front desk of the resort and for me to go on up anytime. A surge of powerful lust steamrolled me. Max crossed the room with panther-like grace. My body stiffened when he nuzzled the side of my neck and smacked a wet, delicious kiss on my lips.

“Hey, Princess; I’ve been waiting ages for you. What took so long? I thought I would be running late from my session at the gym, but it looks like I beat you to it. If only I had waited, we could have taken a shower together.” He gazed over at my sister, who making herself ever so comfortable on the couch, still gaping at him. “I didn’t realise Milan was with you; otherwise, I would have put on some clothes.”

“Yeah, right, like you’re really shy, Max,” Milan scoffed at him.

Max grinned wickedly at Milan and pulled me in even closer. Oh, hell. He smelled delectable. With his body so close to mine, he felt so warm and hot; I thought my clothes were going to get singed. Speaking of clothes, I was only wearing a blank tank and denim cut-offs. I needed to be comfortable to unpack all my clothes, and luckily, I hadn’t unpacked all my suitcases at my parents’ house the last few days. If I’d known Max was going to be home, I would have worn something less revealing. Or maybe I wore these clothes on purpose knowing they were revealing, hoping I would run into Max. Shit. This man was definitely playing with my mind. He was rubbing his hands underneath my tank, and his fingers were splayed dangerously close to the underside of my breasts.

“Max, I wasn’t expecting you to be home, and Milan is here to help me unpack. You don’t mind, do you?” I asked him.

“Babe, your sister is welcome here anytime, as long as she stays away from my brother.” Milan gasped at Max’s declaration. “Don’t look so shocked; I saw the way the both of you were eyeballing each other the other night. It was pretty hard to miss. You two are definitely not suited. He’s only after one thing, so I’d stay away from Marco if I were you.”

Milan gasped but retaliated with, “Mmm…and that would be expert advice coming from one playboy about another, is it, Max? That would be a case of the pot calling the kettle black, wouldn’t it?”

Milan had a point. Max was renowned as Australia’s notorious playboy, and he had the audacity to warn my sister off his brother and what the hell made him think my heart wasn’t going to be broken? He said the other night that he wouldn’t need to look anywhere else as long as I…my cheeks flushed just thinking about that conversation we had.

“Always the sweet-talker, aren’t you, Milan? Just remember what I said, and don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Max held Milan’s gaze quite sternly as he spoke. “Anyway, ladies, I’m afraid I can’t stay long. I need to quickly grab a fresh shirt and head back upstairs to change; I have an important conference call in about half an hour. Babe, the bedroom is the first one on the left and if you need more closet space, the guest room is across the hall.”

Thank God, he mentioned the spare bedroom; with me being a fashion model, I could only fit so much in the space of one closet. I’d collected so many beautiful items of clothing, shoes and accessories over the years that I wanted to keep them all. I was such a hoarder!

“I’ll be back in a few hours and we can make up for lost time.”

With that, he gave me one of his hot, wet kisses that made me weak at the knees and walked out the door.

***

Milan tugged me into the state-of-the-art kitchen and whispered quietly, “Okay. I’ll admit he pisses me off, but man, has that guy got sex appeal. Not only is he unbelievably good-looking, he’s got an amazing body and he seems to have changed his playboy ways for you.”