Rockin' the Boss (7 page)

“Okay, what’s the matter?” I asked,
laying my briefcase and purse down on the floor.

“Someone not only keyed my Ferrari,
they splashed white paint on it,” Max grimly informed me.

“Good news though, his building does
have security cameras in the parking deck, so hopefully, whoever did this will
be on them. Max requested they check them,” Lee interjected.

“Damn her!”

The four of us decided we’d done all
we could, and that the situation was under control. Nevertheless, Lee suggested
that Max not return to his home right away, if possible.

Once the two men left, I walked over
and hugged him. “Deep breath, everything is going to work out.”

“I know. But it’s a
freakin
’ nuisance, and I hate to impose on you.” He pulled
his cell out of his pocket. “Just look at my car!” He showed me a picture of
the destruction, and I could easily understand his frustration.

“I love you, and you’re not imposing
on me. I rather enjoy your company.” Smiling, I leaned up and kissed him.

Responding in kind, he growled into
my ear, “I love you too, babe. It appears we’re going to be spending a lot of
extra time together over the next week or so. Sure you won’t tire of me?”

“Never.”

* * * *

The following morning, we arrived
before the rest of staff. Not thinking, neither of us locked the door behind
us, as it was almost nine. Everyone would be trailing in at any moment.

Sitting in my office, Max and I were
enjoying the coffee we had purchased when we heard the bell sound as the front
door opened. We were immersed in some personal banter and didn’t think a thing
about it. Then, we heard her voice and froze. Max’s attention shifted toward
the entrance as he looked on in disbelief.

“I sure am glad to see you, baby. We
were all so worried about you, weren’t we, Ashleigh?” The blonde darted a look
of contempt in my direction before she re-focused her attention on Max.

“No, I wasn’t.” Again, Lisa flashed
me a hateful look.

“So, what’s this big, secretive
meeting we’re having this morning, Max? Have you come to confirm what I already
know about your naughty sex life?”

Max flicked a glance toward me, and
I in turn looked from Lisa to Max. I decided to see if I could get her
attention back to reality, instead of her fixating on Max.
“Max,
would you excuse us for a minute? I need to talk to Lisa in private about a
couple of things.” He stared back at me as though I had grown two heads. As I
nodded, he started to get out of his chair.

“No, he doesn’t need to leave.
Whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of him. We don’t keep
secrets, do we, Max?” Still, she was focused only on him.

“Very well, Lisa, your actions—” I
began the canned speech I used for terminating an employee.

“Firing me? You can’t do that,
Ashleigh. I’m part of Max’s team, and you can’t fire me. What would Richard
say?”

Hearing the bell, I moved as though
I wanted to check on who might be there. Max got up as well. He put himself
between us. As I caught a glimpse of Misty and David, I motioned toward the
front door, gesturing for them to leave again. As they did, Lisa strutted out
of my office.

The next thing I knew, Max pushed me
out, following and slamming the door behind him. The four of us bailed into an
arriving elevator. David hit a button, and we traveled down to the lobby, where
everyone just about toppled poor Will.

Running over to the security desk, I
yelled for them to call the police and quickly told them what was going on.

After what seemed like forever, one
of the guards radioed. Lisa was nowhere to be found. Everyone was told to stay
put until the floor was secured.

Upon returning, the first thing I
observed was not only white spray paint, but that my briefcase was missing as
well as both of my cell phones. My Louis Vuitton purse had been dumped out, the
contents strewn everywhere. Max and the others looked on in shock.

“Thank God the information regarding
our upcoming trip is locked in my desk at home, huh? The only thing in my
briefcase was two files on potential clients and a couple of magazines.” I
tried to make light of a bad situation. Max laughed along with the others, but
I could see the concern written all over his handsome face.

The remainder of the morning was
spent doing police interviews and incident reports with building management.
Exhausted by the incident, Max stepped in and offered to take the group out to
eat. Everyone accepted, and during lunch, he made his announcement about the
venue in Las Vegas. It turned out to be a helpful diversion.

After a delightful meal, we all
dispersed. Max and I walked arm and arm to my car.

“You really didn’t have to do that,
you know.” I squeezed his arm.

“Yes, I did. It was because of me
this entire mess happened today. Besides, I enjoyed being able to talk with
everyone on a more personal level.”

“Well, thank you. By the way, Lisa
said something I thought was odd.”

“What was that, love?”

“Did you hear her refer to Richard
in the present tense?”

“Yes, I thought it rather bizarre,
but too much was going on right then.”

“Come on, I need to make a couple of
stops before we head back to my place.”

* * * *

Upon landing at the private airfield
in Las Vegas on Thursday, we were taken to the hotel and shown to a suite.
While not hiding our affair, we had decided it best to be a bit discreet during
the course of this trip.

A note on the cocktail table, along
with a bottle of champagne, welcomed us and informed us that Mr. Bell would
arrive to escort us to dinner at eight. Although the actual meeting to discuss
their proposal wasn’t until mid-morning the following day, the group wanted Max
and me to get a feel for the facility. Afterwards, we would attend a show to
give him an opportunity to observe the theater first hand.

When the witching hour was upon us,
Max turned into the alpha male everyone expected. He became outgoing and
charming, not the
more quiet
person I had been used to
seeing. That was part of what sold him, and he was well aware of it. Mr. Bell
and one of his associates arrived with their wives. We all had a drink in the
suite before going down to dinner. It gave everyone the opportunity to get to
know each other before we descended into the chaos.

We enjoyed our meal at one of the
finer restaurants. Max was attentive, but as he had his other personality ‘on,’
I let it flow, not taking stock of the conversations. After lingering over
small talk and brandies, we all headed to the theater to take in the second
show. It was packed, a normal occurrence. One of the men pointed out that this
show had been sold out months in advance and that he saw no reason the same
wouldn’t happen with Max.

I sat next to Max, totally
engrossed, when he gently took hold of my arm. He bent over to whisper
something, but the noise level was too loud to understand what. He discreetly
motioned two tables over. To my utter disbelief, Lisa sat there with a man and
two other couples. Snapping my head back around to Max, his face told the
story. Lisa was aware that we saw her because she smiled like a Cheshire cat
and waved.

During the intermission, I was about
to tell our hosts that we needed to turn in for the evening, hoping to avoid a
confrontation of any kind. Lisa, however, was quickly at our side, fawning over
Max and making everyone uncomfortable.

“Max,
baby, surprised?
I wish you’d return my calls. I need to talk to you.” She
winked at him and glared in my direction. Before either of us could explain the
situation to our hosts, Lisa piped up.
“I must apologize for Max’s bad
manners. I’m Lisa, Max’s fiancée.”

She made a move to shake hands with
the men, when I pulled myself to my feet.
“I’m sorry gentlemen. Lisa was an
employee of mine.”
I glared at the young woman. “Lisa, I was hoping things
wouldn’t come to this, but you leave Max no choice except to take out a
restraining order.” I noticed one of the men looking around for security.

Lisa picked up on this and laughed.
“Shame on you, Ashleigh!
You just
have to interfere, don’t you? Richard said you’d be like this. Not to worry,
Max, we’ll talk later.” She pranced off, chuckling.

Max was visibly shaken by the entire
episode. Mr. Bell suggested we call it a night. He informed us that security
would be heightened for our protection.

As we entered the suite, a
plain-clothes security detail made a thorough search of every room prior to
leaving.

“What the hell, Ashleigh?
My fiancée?
She’s nuts!”

I poured us both a brandy and handed
him the snifter, hoping to help him calm down a bit. “I’m going to call my
attorneys first thing in the morning and see about that restraining order.
Something has to grab her attention.”

“I don’t know, love, nothing has so
far. And what was that crap about Richard? Did you catch that?”

“Yes, I did. That’s what makes me
think she’s having a break with reality. Richard did introduce the two of you,
but somehow she has that particular moment etched in her mind.”

Neither of us slept much and finally
got up close to dawn.

“I can’t believe how much that
entire deal from last night spooked me. I feel as though I’m going to be
walking around looking over my shoulder.”

“Me too,” Max added. “I considered
asking you if you thought we should cut this short and fly home after the
meeting. But I’m not going to let her have the upper hand. I’m sure we’ll be
fine here.” He reached over and took my hand, squeezing it.

“Let’s get through this meeting, and
then we’ll decide. I don’t want to scare them off because of Lisa. I think I handled
the situation perfectly last night, don’t you?”

“Yes, but you always do, my love.” I
detected a hint of lust in his voice, and his accent contained a smoldering
quality.

The conference went along like
clockwork, and after two hours, we departed with all of us in basic agreement.
Max was to headline their theater beginning in six months. This would allow
time to redesign and redecorate, and give him time to prepare his act.

A public announcement was made. The
contract they had wanted was three years, but Max held firm to a one-year deal
with renewal options after nine months. The money was spectacular.

Jim gave us an out, in case we
wanted to leave after the incident from the night before, but Max was
determined not to let the spectacle with Lisa manipulate our visit. With that
decided, Jim suggested the four of us go to lunch outside the hotel.
Afterwards, they would take Max and me on a tour of the Vegas neighborhoods.

Returning to our suite to change, I
was not disappointed that my earlier assessment of Max proved to be true. Once
alone, he pulled me tight against his body and kissed me long and hard. As he
loosened his grip, he laid kisses over my face and neck before he found his way
to my ear.
“I think we’ve more than earned a quickie, don’t you agree,
my love?” he asked huskily.

“Yes, I do.”

And that’s what it was—a quickie—but
the pleasure which came over me was like a pure, potent aphrodisiac that
ignited a deeply buried lust. When the spasms finally eased, he leaned down and
brushed his lips over mine.

“I fear we’d better get ready before
our hosts arrive,” he groaned. “Have I told you I love you today, Ms. Thomas?”
He kissed me again with more intensity before moving off the bed.

While waiting for our lunch
partners, I called Atlanta to check
in,
telling Misty
the trip had been a success.
“Anything else I should know about?” I asked as I noticed
Max watching me.

After a long pause, which made me
uncomfortable, the young woman answered. “Umm, there is one thing, Ms. Thomas.
A reporter called asking for Lisa. Evidentially, he told David that Lisa had
emailed him a piece she had written regarding Max.”
Shit,
what else is this bitch
going to do?

“
It’s
okay,
Misty. I need to know what it said, so I can respond correctly.” Max now eyed
me curiously.

“She basically wrote something about
Max…No, she used Maxwell…Anyway,
she
exposed his
supposed secret sexual life, that she was his fiancée, and had proof to back
her claim.” The young woman stopped for a minute.

“Did the reporter email David an
actual copy of this crap?” I asked, feeling bile creep up the back of my
throat.

“Yes, he did. Should I send it to
your laptop?”

“Please, and send me any contact
information either you or David might have. Don’t worry, Misty. An announcement
already went out about Maxwell’s huge, new deal, so we’re one step ahead.”