‘Sophisticated and glamorous,’ she added breathlessly.
‘Sophisticated…’ Max murmured. ‘Glamorous… Well, yes, I suppose those women do fit the broad spec.’
Of course they would, Mia thought sourly, although still smiling as she looked at him. Sophisticated, glamorous men always went for sophisticated, glamorous women. No big shocks to the system there!
‘Although,’ he continued, ‘there’s no one pining for me back in England. It’s been a few weeks since I went out with anyone, as it happens.’
‘I’m surprised you’re not married,’ Mia said in a clear breach of the employer-employee relationship she knew she should cling fast to.
He was the most guarded human being she had ever met in her life. He couldn’t have been more different from Izzy, from the way he looked to the way he acted, but then she was beginning to flesh out the bigger picture about their family dynamics.
He was the oldest, and he was the one who had been the powerhouse and decision maker of the family. She knew nothing about James, the mysterious middle child, the one Izzy absolutely adored, but she knew that Max had overseen his sister’s movements with beady, watchful eyes. Wasn’t that why she had ended up in charge of a hotel with a brief to kit it out just the way Max wanted? He had handed her a golden opportunity, just as long as it conformed to what he wanted, and if it didn’t then he would not think twice about snatching back that golden opportunity.
He was a workaholic but even workaholics got married, had kids and assumed the mantle of a domestic life. Okay, a high-powered, rich-beyond-words domestic life, but even so…
The sophisticated guy would marry the sophisticated woman because that was always the next step on the ladder.
And Max Stowe was the epitome of drop-dead gorgeous sophistication. He oozed it from every pore. Women followed his movements out of the corner of their eyes and men tiptoed around him, in awe of that aura of powerful invincibility he seemed to radiate.
It had only been a handful of days, but she had seen enough to know that he controlled the world around him and everyone in it with an iron fist.
But she hadn’t been kidding when she had let slip that she thought he lived a lonely life. She just couldn’t help herself from wondering why he did.
‘I don’t pay you to be surprised about any aspect of my private life,’ he murmured.
His words were like freezing water poured over her yet there was a darkening in his eyes when he spoke that made her skin tingle. He looked relaxed, lazy…and yet strangely alert. There was an undercurrent of sizzling sexuality in the air between them but she wasn’t sure whether she was imagining it or not.
Of course you are. He just said that he liked sophisticated women…
‘No. You don’t…’ Her voice hitched in her throat.
‘But…’ He shrugged and smiled slowly. ‘It’s no big secret that I don’t do long-term relationships, far less marriage.’
‘Why not?’
‘Life’s too short for the complications they bring.’ His voice was deadly serious. ‘I work hard and I’m only human. I enjoy having fun. But the fun stops when conversations about permanence begin.’
Mia was desperate to probe but the doorbell shattered the bubble they were in. She started and blinked as he vaulted upright and headed to the front door, waving her down, even though she didn’t make a move to get to her feet.
He didn’t do permanence. He didn’t do long-term relationships. He would certainly have no sympathy for a sister who’d cut and run because of a broken affair. Strangely, the fact that he had not hauled Izzy back to make a case for herself was a credit to him. It showed that he had tried to see the bigger picture even though he fundamentally probably couldn’t grasp it.
He returned with a selection of delicious looking food.
‘I know the whereabouts of your kitchen,’ he drawled, dumping the bags on the weathered coffee table he had dragged in front of the sofa where she was sitting. ‘I’ll bring in everything we need. You stay put. The less weight you put on that ankle, the faster it’ll mend. Two days and you should be able to move around.’
The food was amazing. The conversation reverted to normal topics to do with the hotel. They talked about the budget that would be needed to landscape the grounds.
Her head was still buzzing with the taboo subject of his personal life, though…
Watching her as she ate, using the chopsticks like a pro, Max marvelled at a conversation that had veered wildly off course from the straight and narrow to the unpredictable and personal.
Being here, with the rain outside and darkness pressing against the windows, was like being in a cocoon. Being in this country was like being in a cocoon!
Real life with all its boundaries and restrictions was temporarily on hold.
He lowered his eyes, shielding his expression, but every pore and nerve in his body was tuned in to her as she delicately sampled the food straight from the boxes, making little noises of satisfaction that she probably wasn’t even aware that she was making.
He’d brought over a couple of books from the bookshelf and stuck a cushion on top for a makeshift footstool. Her bandaged foot was propped on it, the other leg tucked under her. She was supple. She surfed! She was going to be supple!
