A/N Thanks to Kaisha for yet another wonderful cover. This one is amazing. :)
Chapter Sixteen
All the way over Max had felt inadequate, the collar was choking him, the shirt was tight, it was SO long since he'd worn a tie, let alone a bow tie, it was all so restrictive. He'd booked them a driver to get them to the ball, no expense spared, and he'd bought her flowers. But all his anxiety disappeared as she opened the door and stood there looking...edible. He didn't pay much attention to the detail of her dress, other than it caressed her body like a dream, he was sure it was beautiful. When he noticed her perfectly manicured nails, even when she looked like she'd been dragged through a hedge backwards in the gym, he realised that she was normally glamorous, it had only served to show him in more clarity the effect her ex had had on her.
Today it wasn't the fripperies of clothing that made him smile, it was the look on her face, fear, anxiety, all the things he'd come to expect - but as soon as her eyes settled on him they warmed, she half smiled. He loved that he did that to her. Leaving her luminous eyes, he let his own drift down over the pale column of her neck beneath her scooped up and enticing hair, the extremely fine silver chain, the small silver heart that hung from it, nestling an inch or two above her cleavage. All the time they'd been acquaintances and then more latterly friends, he knew that she had an inner beauty, but even he was flawed by how sultry, how captivating she was. The dress stooped deeply between her perfectly rounded breasts, and revealed that she wasn't wearing a bra, and that was something that seemed to defy gravity. Trying to fight his reaction to that, he kept up his slow leisurely study.
The rest of the dress flowed around her like water, and rippled at her feet, completing the vision of flawlessness. She didn't need him on her arm; she could take on the world alone. If only if she had the strength and confidence that she'd lost.
Swallowing, his throat suddenly dry, he offered, "you look...amazing."
She blushed, so unused to taking compliments, then she returned to looking anxious. "What's wrong?"
Nicole shrugged, "I just don't know if I can go through with this."
She'd come so far, it almost broke him to see her lose it all. Shaking his head he reached forward and cupped her chin, lifting her face so that she couldn't avoid his gaze, "don't give up, not now. You will outshine every woman in that room tonight, I guarantee. Every man will want you, and equally, they'll all see that you have me devoted. I'll be that man tonight with no hardship."
Handing her the flowers, he smiled, "you're not wearing shoes?" When she shook her head he spotted them on the floor across the hall, diamante shoes that made him think of Cinderella.
Dropping her chin, he stepped past her and reached for them, then squatting down he slid each shoe onto the foot she exposed for him.
When he returned to his full height, the heels gave her a few inches, and her eyes were level with his chin, she was usually pocket-sized, almost a foot shorted than him, but now...he could see clearly into her eyes.
"Let's do this?"
She stared at him for a long moment, then nodded, "ok."
Maxim had taken her to a wine bar a block from the hotel with the ballroom that was the location for tonight's party. Nicole was perched on a stool in a corner of the already busy room, watching Maxim at the bar buying them a drink. He was a devastating man in gym clothes, but the dinner suit seemed to coat him like a glove, emphasising all his best bits - broad shoulders, firm chest and slim hips. He was epitome of tall, dark and handsome at any time, but today, dressed to kill, clean shaven...he was commanding. She almost shuddered at that. Then he turned to look at her, passing a dazzling smile her way, and that only enhanced the tingles that shot through her body.
Crossing the room he carried three drinks, placing them in front of her, "Pornstar Martini for you, with Prosecco chaser..." When she raised an eyebrow in question at the name of his choice, he added, "the girl behind the bar said it was the best cocktail they had."
He had a vodka, or rather a straight white spirit.
Taking the glass she tilted it towards his and smiled, "cheers."
He reciprocated before taking a decent slug at his drink, "I love your hair like that." She looked up suspiciously, but he was smiling, "you have an amazing neck..."
As compliments went it was unique, and she had to take that as a positive thing, if this was a line, a way to make her feel better...there were far more successful things he could have said.
"Neck?" He nodded with a rather innocent grin, and it was infectious. "And that suit hangs well on you."
He wiggled his eyebrows, "was that a compliment?"
She gave a non committed shrug, "don't know, an observation maybe?"
Smiling he sipped at his drink, "you don't want to give anything away, do you?"
"To you? Definitely not. You'd used any snippet against me, I know that."
He studied her for a moment, a long and rather shiver inducing look, he truly had the ability to make her feel bared to the soul. Then he suddenly wrinkled his nose, "no, I wouldn't do that to you Nicole. I promise."
Blushing she reached for her drink, Maxim chuckled, "so tonight, what do I need to know? What are the office politics?"
Safe topics. She smiled, "well my boss is Tim, he took over the role from Vincent my ex about eighteen months ago. Big boots to fill. He's quite conservative, doesn't cope well with the pressure of the situation. He'll probably get blind drunk tonight through stress. I'm one of four teams under him, we manage the bigger accounts, two teams for personal accounts, and then I'm one of the teams for large commercial accounts. Lisa is my significant other. You'll notice her, very short dark hair, tall, stunning. They're the important ones."
"Except for the ex?"
She grimaced; she hadn't wanted to think about him, not here. She was calm when she wasn't thinking about him. Vincent was just a man, she knew that, but to her he seemed to represent everything. All she had ever wanted, all she'd ever had...and now, all that she'd ever lost. Which seemed like everything. Taking a deep breath, she sipped at her drink for a moment, then she looked up at him, "I don't like talking about him, he has so much power...he turned up at my work today, he's trying to get to me I think."
Maxim was nodding knowingly, "he's got control over you, he knows that you still care for you. It's easy for him. You have to stop that."
"And that's where you step in?"
He gave a half nod, half shrug, "maybe, though we'll have to see tonight brings. What will he think that you're there with me? Will he be jealous?"
Nicole could do nothing but shrug as she had no idea, "he was always a jealous man...but he told me that he hates me..."
"So he won't care that a twenty four year old man is besotted with you?"
Her eyes darted to his at those words, and he was smiling. Of course it's a line; he's here to help you out! "I think that is the last thing he'll expect."
Maxim shook his head, "I disagree, I'm just here to push if things get out of control...or you lose your nerve, the last thing he expects is for his ex to arrive looking like she fell out of a magazine, perfect, beautiful and confident. THAT'S what will stun him."
"I'm none of those."
Taking her hand he squeezed it when she flinched, "don't be scared of me, I have to touch you. And you are all three of those things, but it seems it's my job tonight to make you believe that, more than I have to convince your ex. So you had better get used to my attention."
The thought of that made her grimace and he laughed, "ironic that a woman who was married for how many years?" She reluctantly held up five fingers and his eyes widened in shock. "FIVE years? Really?" In disbelief he shook his head, "married five years and you don't know how to cope with me showing you attention. The bastard. I should kill him."
"Don't make a scene...please."
Reaching out, he cupped her cheek with his hand and moved her slowly, forcing her to face him, "I will not. But I am also not about to let some loser stop you enjoying this night. You will never feel as cherished and desired in your life as you will tonight. That's a promise."
Somehow his mouth had got close to her ear, and his words, his breath against her lobe were making her whole body quiver, when he pulled back and looked at her, she turned to him, and he had that knowing look on his face. She wondered if he was going to kiss her, and she didn't know how she felt about that...actually that was a lie, she wanted nothing more than to tilt her head and finally feel those sculpted lips devouring her.
"Think that someone who knows you has just walked through the door."
The words shocked her, and she had to swallow awkwardly, try to gain control of her errant senses as the real world invaded that moment of...how would she describe it? Lust? Slowly turning her head to the left she spotted Lisa, her closest work friend stood in the doorway, mouth hanging open in surprise. Anxiously she gave a little smile, then jumped as Maxim's hand touched her waist.
"So it starts now, hey?" By the time she'd turned her head to him she felt dizzy. But he was smiling at her, grinning inanely, "because I will keep touching you...all night."
How did one respond to that? Taking a deep breath she was smiling by the time Lisa and her partner Steve approached with a drink in hand.
"You didn't say you were coming here first Nic, this is my and Steve's favourite bar."
The two women hugged and admired each other's dress, then Nicole smiled, "sorry, I'm so rude, Lisa, Steve...this is Maxim Chertov."
Maxim extended a hand, "call me Max please, only my dead mother and Nicole here call me Maxim."
The three shook hands as Nicole digested that, it gave an intimacy to something that was an obvious oversight; she hadn't thought to call him anything but his full name. She wasn't able to think about it long as Lisa was trying to catch her attention and give a not so subtle thumbs up. Maxim chuckled at that, his hand returning to her waist, another simple yet very intimate gesture that seemed to steal the breath from her throat.
Lisa was the life and soul of any party and in moments she'd found out more about Maxim than Nicole imagined he was happy with sharing. When the men went to refill their drinks, Lisa turned to her with wide eyes.
"Where the bloody hell did you find him? He's absolutely gorgeous!"
"He's a good friend," she mumbled awkwardly, blushing profusely.
Lisa guffawed, "friend? He was making love to your ear when we arrived. That is NO friend. But I can see why you're coy. How's Mr Brooker going to handle this?"
Yet again Vincent invaded her evening, the ever presence was becoming annoying...and worrying.
"He has asked for a divorce," she finally admitted. "I don't think this is his business anymore."
Lisa digested that, and before she could reply, the men returned with drinks and the chat continued easily, all mention of Vincent over. As she reached the bottom of her drink she lifted Maxim's hand and looked at his watch.
"We're fashionably late. Should we make a move?"
As she slid to her feet, his hand never left her, and all four left the wine bar together and crossed the road to the hotel, he took her hand and tucked it in to the crook of his elbow.
Max could sense the moment that Nicole stiffened back up, the drinks and even the arrival of her friend had eased her tension, but as they set foot into the hotel, every inch of her became rigid. Desperate times called for desperate measures, he SO didn't want her to walk into that ballroom anxious and worried. So as the other two, Lisa and Steve, walked into the gilded entrance, he stopped, pulling on her hand, causing her to stop too.
As she turned to look at him, a hint of confusion in her eyes, he leaned down, let his forehead touch hers, "you deserve SO much better. You are more than someone's afterthought. You should be a priority."
She bit her lip, the closeness of the moment overwhelming her, and it was pure instinct that saw him angle his head, lean forward and slide his lips over hers. The contact was nerve tingling, he couldn't remember a kiss feeling so...devastating, so earth shattering, so right. Her lips were as soft as he imagined, maybe softer, and at the contact she froze. It was a long moment before hers moved, slightly, parted, her tongue just peeked out. But by then, Max had won the battle of conscience and pulled back, his forehead once again resting on hers.
"Wow," he breathed, staring into her eyes.
She pulled back a little, "what are you doing?" Her words were a hoarse whisper.
He smiled then, his bravado deflating the longer that she was out of his arms, "relaxing you, and making you realise that what he gave you was NEVER enough. Now come on."
Turning to the door he pulled her against his side and she almost collapsed into him. But he was pleased, as they reached the entrance to the ballroom, he looked down at her and she was hazy eyed, pliant. But also relaxed and calm.
That was what he wanted.
And it was only him that felt the eyes staring at him like daggers. Yep, the ex was in the house, and Maxim wanted to rub his hands together in glee, the man was about to wish he'd never got out of bed this morning.