Hazel eyes met emerald green ones.
To Max it felt like coming home.
Josie's eyes widened a bit and for a second Max really thought she could remember him, but she probably was just reminded of their meeting yesterday.
The feelings accompanying their heated gazes were nothing unfamiliar to Max, but now they were so much stronger. He could literally feel Josie in his arms, could almost smell her heavenly scent.
Max could not help himself, but let his eyes roam down her body.
Josie wore a formhugging jean, brown boots and a green jacket. In one of her hands she carried a bag and Max had to keep himself in check in order not to reach out to her and take the bag from her.
He used to carry Josie's things all the time. She would complain about his chivalry of course, claiming that she was a big girl and capable of carrying a few things, but when Max had explained to her that he was then able to hold Josie's hand, she immediately had shut up and her eyes had softened. From then on Josie never uttered a word when Max carried her things for her.
When Max finally managed to look into Josie's eyes again there was no denying Josie's blush and that had Max' heart beating even faster. Did she realize who he was?
"It's good being home again. And speaking of being home, this here is Max, a friend of mine, who is back for good as well.", Luke's voice said from behind Max.
Josie forced her eyes to meet Luke's, but only for a split second before hers where on Max again.
She smiled shyly and extended her hand for him to shake.
"I never got the chance to introduce myself properly yesterday. I'm Josie Benett.", her sweet voice spoke and Max was crushed with the emotion of loss.
Max stared at her extended hand, but all he could think about was that Josie could really not remember him.
However, in the very exact moment something inside Max snapped.
He would make Josie remember him, even if it was the last thing he would do!
He took Josie's warm hand in his and immediately felt the electric current running through his veins.
It felt so good, he wanted to moan, but of course Max was trained enough to refrain from making any sound.
Again it felt familiar, but also so much stronger. Max did not want to let go of her hand at all, but he knew he had to in order to no let Josie think he was a creep.
Max lifted his gaze and realized that Josie felt it too, if her shocked expression and her still blushed cheeks were any indication.
"I'm Max, Max Hanson."
Josie's eyes lifted from their still shaking hands to Max'eyes and slowly whispered his name.
All the blood in his boody seemed to rush into a certain body part, when Max' name left Josie's red lips and he was instantly reminded of their passionate love makings.
"Can we invite you to get a drink with us?", Luke asked from beside them completely aware of their still present chemistry.
Max wanted to thank his friend, but his eyes stayed glued on Josie's and there was nothing he could do nor wanted to.
As if to bring herself back to the present Josie shook her head and loosened her grip on Max' hand.
The instant her skin was not touching Max again, he felt bereft.
Josie blinked as if in shock, but quickly had herself in check again, before saying in her sweet voice: "I'd love to, but I gotta rush back to school. I just bought myself lunch."
She lifted the bag in her hand for Max and Luke to see, but Max was not ready to let her go yet without knowing when he would get the chance to see Josie again.
"What about this afternoon?", Max asked and he really did not care if he sounded eager.
Josie's beautiful eyes dropped to the floor and a beautiful blush made its way onto her cheeks once again. Max smiled to himself. Josie still had the same reactions to him and by God he just loved her blush.
"That would work.", Josie answered and now looked Max straight into his eyes again.
Max let a smile spread on his lips and immediately Josie's eyes were on his lips.
"Let's say 6 pm here at Drake's?", he asked very well aware of how husky his own voice sounded.
As if only now realizing her staring Josie lifted her eyes to Max again and answered shyly: "I'll be here."
"Great see you then!", Luke answered for Max, but Max was too occupied to keep himself in control of his body. Otherwise he would have pinned Josie to the nearest wall and kissed her senseless.
Josie smiled and this innocent gesture almost made Max drop to his knees.
She nodded at Luke and then continued walking towards the elementary school.
Max looked at her smaller getting figure until she disappeared around a corner.
"Wow, I really need to get laid!", Luke told Max smirkingly.
Max gifted him with one of his rare smiles and that made Luke burst out laughing.
"You should've seen your face, when you realized Josie was behind you!", Luke wheezed out during laughing.
Max rolled his eyes and when Luke had stopped laughing Max said: "Thanks for arranging this!"
Luke smiled at Max and brought on of his hands on his friend's big shoulder.
"I'm your wing man any time, but don't expect me to come tonight, because I can't stand the sexual tension between you too!", Luke responded with laughter still present in his eyes.
Max nodded his head thankfully.
Until 6 o'clock Max tried to keep himself busy with checking up on the gym and his employees there. He got to know his staff and even managed to check on his finances. They were doing pretty good and Max made a mental note to talk with Chris, his second hand, about more staff. They had a lot of regulars coming in and these days even more people came to their gym wanting a membership.
When 5 o'clock rolled around Max finished up and returned to his apartement to get a shower and to eat dinner. He knew that he was definitely not a good cook and would have much rather eaten at Drake's, but honestly Max was too nervous to eat in front of Josie. It may sounded silly and even though he knew Josie like the back of his hand, maybe even better than himself, Max had to make a new first impression. And him eating while he was nervous was definitely not a good sight.
Max could not even remember the last time he was this nervous. Probably his first time talking to Josie could rival this sensation.
Max arrived at Drake's ten minutes before 6 and took a seat in a corner booth. Nobody would bother them here and Max liked the fact that this booth gave them privacy.
He really needed to buy a car, not so much for himself, but for Josie. Max wanted to be able to pick her up and drop her off safely again. He wanted to take her on vacations or just outside of town.
As the clock striked 6 Josie walked through the doors and immediately her eyes found Max. It was like her body was aware of him as much as Max' body was aware of Josie's.
She made her way to Max and Max had to fight the urge to meet her half way and kiss her. His hands tightened on the table, but he loosened his grip instantly when Josie was almost in front if him. No need to scare her away.
"Hey!", Josie greeted him smilingly and took a seat on the opposite side of Max.
Max was glad that she did not expect him to shake hands again, because Max was sure that if he touched her a second time he would not be able to refrain from touching her more or kissing her soft lips.
"Hey! Luke just texted me he won't make it.", Max told Josie.
Max did not want to lie to her and furthermore he was very curious how Josie would react.
"Oh, okay.", Josie responded but kept unzipping her coat and shrugged it off.
Max smiled yet again. She still wanted to get to know him even without Luke as a buffer.
A waitress came almost immediately and took their order.
"So, Luke said you came home for good as well, where have you been?", Josie curiously asked Max.
Although Max was aware that questions like that would come, he was still not prepared to answer them. He did not know how to.
Max'Josie knew everything what there was to know about him, but now he had to start from the beginning again. Hell, it even felt like a first date and Max liked this idea a lot. Except the part of Josie forgetting about him, of course.
He still wanted to know, who the man in Josie's apartement was yesterday, but Max did not want to seem nosy.
Max figgured if he would be honest with Josie, she would be honest with him as well.
"I was a Navy SEAL, but resigned a few days ago.", Max answered cautiously. He was not sure if anything he said would trigger a memory for Josie so he would watch what he was saying.
As much as Max wanted...no needed Josie to remember, he had no clue at all how things like that worked. He needed to do more research concerning memory loss and getting them back, but for now Max was more than content to spend time with the woman, he loved.
Josie's emerald green eyes had widened and with a hushed voice she responded: "Wow, I really admire what you did for our country! What did enspire you to enlist?"
Max' face must had said it all. Josie immediately shook her head and her eyes lowered to his chest.
"I'm sorry, that's none of my business!", Josie told him in a low whisper and Max wanted nothing more than to raise her head so that her beautiful eyes would look again at his.
He really wanted to tell Josie that it was very much her business, because she was one of the reasons he had enlisted. Max wanted to tell her about revenging his uncle and his time at the Navy, but he could not.
However, what he could do was putting two fingers under Josie's chin to raise her head up.
She immediately responded and her startled eyes looked into his heated ones. His body hummed when being in contact with Josie and Max could not deny himself this pleasure.
He forced himself to pull back and said: "It's okay. I enlisted, because of my uncle. Terrorists took him from me and I wanted revenge."
Josie did not hesitate to voice her next question: "Did you get it?"
Max smiled, because her question made himself fall even harder for her. She did not tell him that violence was not the solution or that it was futile to find the exact men, who killed his uncle, but Josie understood Max like she always had.
Max was comforted that she still had this quality.
He nodded his head and Josie's eyes softened instantly and her lips copied Max'.
"I don't know your uncle, but I'm sure that he would be very proud of you!", Josie told him softly.
Max'eyes widened and he asked puzzled: "How do you know?"
Josie's lips spread into a bigger smile and she responded: "Because I would be very proud of you."
Max whole body stiffened, because those were the exact words he wanted to hear from someone, who cared for him. His uncle was dead, but somehow the only person that mattered now managed to convey the message for two.
Unable to hold back Max covered Josie's hand with on of his. The effect was immediate, because his whole body relaxed. His heart had a mind of his own, but Max was glad that he had listened to it.
Josie did not seem to mind either as she was looking at both of their hands with a shy smile on her face. Her eyes were sparkling and Max could not remember a time when she had been more beautiful.
It felt so good feeling Josie's small hand under his that for a moment Max forgot, where they were.
The waitress arrived with their coffees and the spell was broken.
Max did not want to make Josie uncomfortable, but it was physically impossible for him to pull his hand back.
Fortunately the waitress left the second she delivered their coffees and Max dared to look into Josie's eyes again.
However, all he found there were emotions that had his heart beating faster and his blood pumping harder.
What do you think?
Do you think Josie will remember him?
Thanks for reading!
Thank you @@tipperkeller for voting! :)