Jon took her to a small, trendy cafe in the Design Center where they ate overpriced, but carefully arranged food disguised as art.
Max scuffed the toe of her shoe on the floor. “It’s true that my place has no style and it’s just barely livable but it’s all I can afford. You know I can’t hire you.”
“Humor me. I’m not looking for a job.”
The early afternoon light poured in through the windows and skylight, giving full illumination to the new paintings drying against the wall.
“You see something you like?” She was amused and flattered by his reaction.
“I don’t understand how Max keeps doing this so consistently.”
“Doing what?” she asked.
“This and that.” He walked past each canvas, in turn, gesturing. “I don’t see how one man can come up with so many creatively evolved ideas in such a short time, let alone complete them. This guy is a genius.”
“Humph!” she snorted. “I’m...I’m...” Max, you moron!
He whirled to face her. “Beautiful? Intelligent?”
Okay, you’re redeemed. “Thanks. You were saying...”
“These paintings are phenomenal. When did he paint them?”
“Max works every day. Do you think they’ll sell at the one-man show?”
“Some of these paintings will sell on opening night. The patrons will show off and try to buy the ones they deem the hottest. I’m inviting the art critic from the Chronicle but I’m also flying in a writer from New York who freelances for the Times. It’ll be interesting to see which paintings create the most buzz. Sales will depend on who attends. We’re aiming for a huge turnout and media coverage. If there’s a thunderstorm that night, we’re doomed. We’ll freeze the canapés and drink the wine to drown our sorrows. But the show is booked for a month so there’s plenty of opportunity for walk-ins to see the work.”
“You’re telling me it’s all a matter of chance?”
“Pretty much.”
“Is that Willa?” Jon stopped in front of the quick sketch she’d done of her best friend.
“It’s not finished.” A defensive note crept into her voice.
“Wow! Max captured some sweet, soft side of her that I’ve never seen. To the designers, she’s all push and bravado. This shows another dimension. I can see what Max sees in her.”
She blinked, trying to keep her emotion under wraps. “Yeah, Max is crazy about Willa.”
Jon insisted that he had to install her new birdfeeder. He opened the window Merrick had so recently installed and screwed the feeder to the new frame. He showed her how to fill the container and closed the window for her.
“Thanks,” she said. “I hope some birds discover it and enjoy the bird buffet.”
“If you keep seed in it, they’ll find it.” He put his screwdriver in his pocket and withdrew the tape measure. “On to the next task.”
She held the end of the measuring tape and he made notes about her loft. He expressed amazement when he examined her bathroom. “This is most ingenious,” he said. “I’ve seen bathrooms as part of bedrooms but never out in the open like this. Don’t you ever feel the need for privacy?”
Max affected a loud sigh. “Yes, I accept the fact that I need walls. The commode should be enclosed and I suggest the whole thing needs to be separated from the rest of the loft.” She folded her arms over her chest, acknowledging the hopelessness of the situation.
“How about the kitchen?” he asked. “Don’t you ever need an oven?” He waved his hand toward the space she called her “kitchen area”.
An avocado green Formica countertop along one wall held a few small appliances and butted up next to the harvest gold refrigerator. Calling it a kitchen was a dismal attempt at humor.
“I have a microwave,” she said, a defensive note creeping into her voice. “And a blender and an electric skillet. What more could one want?”
“What more, indeed?” He walked around the perimeter. “I really like the exposed brick wall and the natural light is perfect for painting.”
Max turned to point out the one real asset the loft possessed. “Between the wall of windows on the north and the skylight, it’s usually light and bright in here.”
“I think you could do with some track lighting to showcase the paintings. We could balance it with daylight bulbs so Max can paint at night.” He frowned a moment. “Cancel that. I don’t want him to paint at night.” He returned to stand beside her.
Her peal of laughter echoed off the hard surfaces. “And did you have something else in mind for my nights?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. I was thinking some of this.” He kissed her several times in succession. It would have been one long kiss but he picked her up in the middle of it and she found herself suspended. She wrapped her arms around Jon’s neck and with no forethought her legs wrapped around his torso.
His arms held her while his hands explored her backside.
A dizzily suffocating sensation caused her to pull away. “Oh!” Gazing into his eyes, she felt lightheaded. Her heart raced as she struggled to catch her breath.
“I think that was the best kiss I’ve ever experienced,” he said. “But, I need much more research to make sure.” He kissed her again and then again.
“Stop!” she said. “I can’t breathe.”
“Breathing is highly overrated.” He maintained his grip on her but she held him with her arms around his neck and a leglock she hadn’t known she could deliver. “I want to make love to you,” he whispered. “I’ve wanted to make love to you from the first moment I met you, but I didn’t want it to be on your futon.”
“We can’t,” she gasped. “I’m not ready.” She felt a fluttery smothering sensation overwhelming her. “I don’t jump into physical relationships.”
“My mistake,” he said. “But I’m ready...whenever you are.”
“I...I’ll let you know.” She carefully disengaged her thighs and slid to the floor.
He straightened his clothes and ran his hand through his hair. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Yes,” she said. “Soon.”
Max loved the water. She loved the wind in her hair and the feeling of skimming along, almost like flying. She inhaled deep lungfuls of tangy Gulf coast air.
“Sheet in the jib, just a hair,” Merrick directed.
“Sure thing, Captain.” She adjusted the sail, catching the air in a smooth arc of white cloth. The wind pushed the boat faster, slicing through the water like a hot knife through butter. She locked the jib line into the stainless steel escutcheon and tucked a stray strand of hair under her visor.
He slanted a grin in her direction and squinted in the bright sunlight. “Isn’t this better than hanging out at your drab, depressing artist’s garret?”
She turned on him, scowling at his condemnation of her abode. “My loft is depressing?”
“It’s way beyond depressing, Max,” he said. “It’s a dungeon. No, calling your place a dungeon is an insult to dungeons everywhere.” He stroked Blondie’s head.
The dog loved to sail and she wore her own life jacket, due to the fact that she’d been known to jump in the water on some whim of her own.
“Thanks, Merrick. I feel the love.”
“I feel bad for you, Max. It’s okay to use the loft as a painting studio, but I’ve been thinking that maybe you should move in with me. My place is huge and it’s in a much safer part of the city. Don’t forget that I have amenities.”
Max glared at him, feeling defensive. “What amenities do you have that I don’t have?”
He made a scoffing noise in the back of his throat. “My house has three bathrooms and an actual kitchen.” He stood with both hands on the helm, his white shorts and tee contrasting with his deeply tanned skin. The wind rushed through his sun-bleached hair, making him look like a movie star or future Presidential candidate.
She saw her pale image reflected in his mirrored sunglasses. She sniffed. “I have a bath area,” she said, “and a kitchen area.”
“The bohemian gypsy thing is okay, but you’d be much more comfortable in a real house. You can sleep in a real bedroom. I have a media center and the sixty-inch flat screen HDTV is awesome.”
“I don’t have time to watch TV. I paint.”
“That’s fine, but this is the first time you’ve come sailing with me in months. Look around, Max.”
“What am I looking at?”
Merrick waved one hand. “We have sunshine. We have fresh air and lots of cool, blue water. There are Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins playing out there. What more could you want?”
“Jon thinks I need walls around my bathroom. I’m beginning to agree with him. I hadn’t noticed before, but he’s right.”
“Jon, huh?” He gave her the full effect of the Foster dimples. “This is the design guy who’s giving you a one-man show?”
A wide grin spread across her face without her permission. “Yeah, he’s the guy. I think I’m dating him, but there’s one other little complication.”
“Watch the sail, Max.”
“I do it very well,” he said. “Now, tell me more about this complication.”
She ducked her head and spoke to her feet. “Jon thinks Max is a man.”
“He’s not any of the above. It was a simple misunderstanding. He assumed that Max was male and I went along with it. Now it’s too late to correct him without making a mess of everything.”
“Just tell him. It’s the easiest way to handle it. Tell him you were teasing and you want to come clean. If he doesn’t appreciate it, he’s a bigger idiot than I think he is.”
“Willa seems to think he’ll be humiliated or angry and might shut down the show. She’s known him a lot longer than I have, and she threatened to kill me dead if I screw this up. It wasn’t a problem until he started asking me out and now, I think I have real feelings for him. It’s all so complicated and I don’t know what to do.”
Tears stung her eyes and her voice had risen in timbre with every sentence, but when she quit speaking the only sound was the wind rushing against the sails and the prow slashing through the water.
She sniffled and nodded. “I’ll take the bathroom.”
Cautiously, Max rubbed moisture lotion onto her sunburned skin when she got back to the loft. Sailing in the Gulf was a pleasure she hadn’t indulged in for months and it had been an unexpected treat. Merrick had planned on sailing with his new police officer companion, Shel, but she’d pulled an extra shift so he’d come by to kidnap Max instead.
“Who’s there?” she called.
“Jon, your humble slave.”
“My slave?” She threw the door open, laughing.
He laughed, dumping his load on the futon. “Big Man. That was the name of my first horse. I was eight and the horse stood sixteen hands high at the shoulder. I fell off him every time I mounted up.”
“Somehow, I can’t picture you on a horse,” she said.
“Believe it.” He turned to gaze directly into her eyes. “I’d never lie to you.” He held out his arms and she stared at him, wide eyed.
“You can hug me,” he said. “I won’t bite.”
She emitted a nervous laugh and stepped into his arms. I don’t deserve this. I’m lying to you.
“I won’t bite hard,” He nibbled on her neck. “You’re so hot.”
“Thanks.”
“No, I mean it,” he said. “Your skin is burning hot. Do you have a fever?”
“I went for a sail and I got a little burn. It’s starting to be uncomfortable.”
“Baby, if you were a steak, I’d send you back.” He trailed his lips gently over her shoulder. “I like my meat rare.”
“Ha Ha. Very funny! I’m suffering and you’re laughing at me.”
“Sorry, Millie. I can help you with that.” He went to her kitchen and opened the refrigerator. “Do you have a tomato, even a can of tomatoes?”
“I don’t think so. I have peanut butter and crackers.”
“That won’t do.” He opened the cabinets one after another. “Do you have any vinegar?”
“It’s over here with the art supplies. I used it to set some dyes.”
“Let’s see it. Have you got cotton balls?”
“What are you going to do with them?” She handed him the items he’d requested.
Max flashed him an irreverent grin. “Yeah, right. We’re not at the point in our relationship where I strip on demand.”
“I don’t want to die and I’m not taking my clothes off for you.”
“Yes, you are. I’m going to take the pain out of your burn.”
“With vinegar?” She made a face. “Vinegar is acid. Won’t it hurt more?”
“Have a little faith. Now let’s have less clothing so I can properly administer the miracle cure.”
“Just my shoulders,” she said. “They got the most sun.” She opened the top buttons of her loose cotton shirt and dropped it back to bare her shoulders. They glowed red except where the straps of her knit tank had been. She felt the instant cooling effect as the vinegar touched her overheated flesh. “Oh, that feels great.”
“The vinegar is running. Take this off. I’m not going to take advantage of you. I’m a gentleman, after all.”
“I know that. I’m pretty shy about baring my assets.”
“As much as I’d like to get you out of your clothes, this isn’t the way I imagined it. Where else are you burned?”
“My thighs.”
“Let me see the thighs.”
“No!” She took the vinegar drenched cotton from him. “I’ll do my own thighs, thank you very much.”
“Shucks, little lady.” He gave her a one-sided grin. “Don’t you trust me?”
“Maybe I don’t trust me.” She applied the cooling liquid to her thighs and sighed in relief. “This is wonderful. How did you learn about this sunburn treatment?”
“My grandmother. She’s got a million old family cures for just about everything from ringworm to dandruff. If we were living in a different time she’d have been burned at the stake. As it is, she’s like a homeopathic guru for everyone in their community.”
“She sounds like an extraordinary woman.”
“She’d love you.”
“Let’s check it out, shall we?” He opened the portfolio, sliding the contents onto the floor.
“Oh, it’s my loft.” She pointed to the floor plan with some minor renovations.
“I wanted you to keep the moonlight,” he said.
“It’s beautiful.” Max bit her lower lip. “I can’t believe you created this out of my big, open space. It’s like a cave now.”
“You like it?” He grinned as he watched her reaction.
“It’s amazing.” She turned to him. “You’re amazing.”
“Not so much.” He brushed aside her praise. “This is what I do for a living.”
“I understand. I get it, okay?” Tears formed in her eyes and threatened to roll down her cheeks. “I see how people feel when you change their living space.”
“I haven’t done anything yet,” he said. “You deserve so much more than this. Millie, you deserve so much more.”