Undressed by the Rebel: The Honourable Maverick

He tried to smile but that ability had clearly deserted him along with the power of speech. So he did something that seemed to come naturally. He bent his head and brushed her lips with his own. A kiss that wasn’t really a kiss. Only reassurance. The kind you could give any female friend.

So why did it feel like a very different kind of kiss? The first stroke of something he wanted to dive into headlong. He was so aware of the scent of this woman in his arms. The feel of her body. He wanted to taste her. To hear the kinds of sounds she might make when she wasn’t scared or shy. When she was more than merely happy, in fact. Max was good at eliciting sounds that came with intense physical stuff. A sigh of pure pleasure perhaps or the groan of ultimate satisfaction.

He could—

Whoa! Max managed to stop his mouth descending again. He even managed to straighten up. To suck in enough air to resuscitate his brain.

‘How—’bout I put them in the oven, then?’

‘Huh?’ Ellie’s eyes snapped open. When had she closed them? And why?

‘The fish and chips. Would they be all right if we reheat them, do you think? I’d hate to give you food poisoning.’

‘Oh…’ Colour was flooding Ellie’s cheeks and she wriggled free of his arm. Or maybe he’d dropped it already. ‘I’m sure they’d be absolutely fine.’

‘Right. I’m onto it, then.’ Of course they’d be fine.

He would be too as soon as he was far enough away from the feel and scent of Ellie.

It hadn’t been a kiss.

Not a real kiss.

It didn’t mean anything. Not to him, anyway.

To Ellie?

The world had tilted so sharply beneath her feet at the merest touch of his lips on hers that she knew she was in real trouble. She’d seen it coming, though, hadn’t she? She’d known how easy it would be to fall in love with him. She’d tried, God help her, to maintain some distance. Just a shred of independence—both physical and emotional—and where had that landed her?

Here. In his apartment. In his clothes, for heaven’s sake.

In love.

But just because you felt that strongly about someone it didn’t mean you had to act on it, did it? It didn’t mean that Max was going to guess how she felt and run for the hills. And he would run. Why wouldn’t he? He was a gorgeous bachelor, part of a group of them, and they all played with toys like powerful motorbikes and had women lining up for their attention.

Ellie couldn’t afford for Max to want to run. She needed him right now. So did Mouse. They both needed his friendship and his protection. Not for ever. Just for a week or two. Surely she could keep the way she felt hidden for that long? And then she could step out of his life and keep the basis of a friendship that would last for a lifetime.

She had to try. Friendship with this man was an infinitely preferable option to scaring him off so that she never saw him again. They could stay in touch. Visit occasionally, even. It wouldn’t be beyond the realms of friendship to ask him to be a godfather to her daughter and, that way, they would have a link for life. Not that she’d ask him just yet.

With their dinner reheating in the oven, Max had taken himself off to a laundry space. He’d insisted that it was no trouble to disinfect Ellie’s clothing and put it through the washing machine and dryer. It would be good to go in the morning. He’d been so keen, in fact, it had been difficult to avoid the impression that he found her wearing his clothes as disturbing as Ellie did, albeit for very different reasons.

He seemed to keep himself very busy for the rest of the evening as well. He made up the spare bed and helped Ellie sort the baby gear and then he made more than one phone call to speak to Jet, who was on duty again in the emergency department.

‘That guy Nigel looks like he’s going to make it,’ he informed Ellie eventually. ‘He’s been to Theatre. The knife skated over his ribs and the damage was pretty superficial. His ankle’s been fixed. He’s got a good concussion but his C-spine checked out clear.’

‘Oh…thank goodness for that. If it had turned into a murder investigation, I would have had to stay in the country for court appearances or something, wouldn’t I?’

Max gave her an odd look. ‘Yeah…I guess. But you weren’t planning on leaving immediately, were you?’

‘As soon as I can.’ Ellie found a smile to give Max. ‘Don’t worry. We won’t be messing up your lifestyle for too long. We might even be able to go back to the motel tomorrow.’

The look she got now was almost a glare. ‘I don’t think so. Not with the type of clientele that place attracts. The police will be swarming around for days, I expect.’

‘If Nigel’s going to be all right, maybe they won’t need to talk to me again,’ Ellie said hopefully. ‘I was worried about what to tell them.’

‘The truth,’ Max suggested.

Ellie’s eyes widened. ‘You mean my real name?’

‘No, not that bit.’ But Max looked less than sure. Then he gave his head a slight shake. ‘It’s not doing any harm,’ he said. ‘And it seems to be working so far. I’d stick to McAdam if I was you.’

Ellie had reason to remember the advice the next day, well after Max had gone to work and she was alone in the apartment with Mouse. She had her baby in her arms when the knock came at the door. For a moment, panic set in. It could be the police. It could also be Marcus. What if he’d had someone watching and had been informed that she’d moved in with Max? He’d had enough time to catch a plane from Auckland and find her here, without any protection other than a locked but probably flimsy door.

Heart thudding, she went to peer through the peephole on the door.

‘Max?’ A feminine voice called. ‘You home, babe?’

The image through the peephole was distorted. Ellie could see what appeared to be the longest pair of legs she’d ever seen. Long and sleek and black. Like the hair that flowed from the woman’s head. She opened the door and then wished she hadn’t. The woman really was long and sleek. She towered above Ellie, thanks to the stiletto heels that finished the look of her tight leather pants. Ellie was back in her newly cleaned maternity jeans and baggy sweatshirt that had both gone a rather odd, patchy colour from being bleached. She had never felt so short and dumpy and dowdy.

‘Ahh…’ The woman’s rapid up-and-down glance said it all. ‘Is Max here?’

‘No. He’s at work.’

‘Damn. I’ve got something I think he’ll be quite excited about.’

Ellie didn’t doubt that for a second. This woman would be just his type. Heavens, she already had biker chicks’ pants on. She could sling a leg over the back of his bike and put her heavily bangled arms around his waist and ride off into the sunset at a moment’s notice.

‘I’m Gina,’ the woman said. ‘I’m a…friend of Max’s. And Rick’s,’ she added with a confident smile.

Ellie nodded. She tried, and failed, to smile back.

‘And you are?’

It was right then that Ellie remembered the advice and it was simply too tempting not to use it.

‘I’ll Ellie McAdam,’ she said.

‘Oh…’ Perfectly sculpted eyebrows shot up. ‘Max’s sister?’

‘No.’ This time, Ellie managed a smile. ‘His wife.’

Maybe the advice hadn’t involved using the fraudulent relationship as well as the name but Ellie couldn’t resist. She couldn’t even summon sympathy for how Max was going to explain his way out of this after she’d gone.

‘And…’ Gina’s gaze dropped to the baby in Ellie’s arms. ‘Oh, my God…’

Ellie didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to. Gina was obviously having no problem coming to her own conclusion.

‘Um…’ Her visitor had been holding something in her hands, which she now held out. ‘I can see why he’s on the lookout for a new property. This one might be really great for you guys.’ Gina wasn’t one to let an opportunity slip past, evidently. ‘I met Max…and Rick at a bike show recently. I’m a real estate agent and Max gave me his details. Said he was on the lookout for a new property. This just came into the office and it’s kind of special so, of course, I thought of Max.’