I type back as fast as I can, my fingers prickling with excitement.
Emilia: When you want to tell me something, but don’t know how, so you send a message through things.
As soon as I press Send the little dots indicating he’s writing appear, and I hold my breath.
Max: All books have messages in them. That’s the point.
Emilia: Smartass. You know what I mean.
Max: Ah, not really. But if it would say something, it would be along the lines of Sorry, I’m not sorry.
What the heck?
Emilia: You are confusing me.
Max: Ha! That was my goal.
Emilia: Care to elaborate?
Max: Saturday you said all men were easy to figure out. I thought I’d raise that bar of yours a little. I’m going to a meeting now. See you in a few hours.
Pushing my phone to one side and grinning from ear to ear, I mull over his words. When the driver drops me in front of the clinic, I have a weird pep in my step as I walk inside. From this day on, I will call it the Max Effect.
I have two patients before my scheduled session with the man of the day, and for the first time in a long time, I can’t fully concentrate on my patients. I go through the motions, keeping an eye on them, but my mind is elsewhere, reliving that all-consuming kiss from Saturday.
After I finish with the last patient before Max, I head to the hall adjacent to the clinic, where the swimming pool is. Unlike the many training rooms, we only have one pool, but we make sure to only book one patient at a time to ensure intimacy. The word is strangely ironic in this case.
Since I still have a few minutes until our session begins, I do a few laps in the water. Swimming usually has a calming effect on me. The touch of the water usually cools my head, but all it does today is remind me of Saturday morning, of the two of us in the ocean.
Something shifted between Max and me, and it has as much to do with the kiss as with the way he spoke to Grams. He was gentle and kind, and I didn’t think he could possibly get deeper under my skin, but he did. Pushing myself out of the water, I stand on the cold tile and rearrange my hair, pulling it tighter into a bun.
“If this is how I get to see you from now on, sign me up for lifelong therapy, Jonesie.”
I swirl around, and holy smokes and fire. Max is wearing nothing but swim shorts, and he is hotter than anyone has the right to be. I knew from the first time I saw him that the man works out. But seeing him almost naked…. Yummy.
He is ripped. He has a stomach that is all but perfect, and I try—and fail—not to gawk at the light trail of hair starting from under his navel and descending further down until it disappears in his shorts.
“I get that you like what you see.” Max wiggles his eyebrows, sliding into the water. He leans on his back, floating, giving me a perfect view of his sculpted abs. My fantasy is running wild conjuring images of his package.
Slowly I lower myself in the water and then swim until I’m right next to him, but careful enough not to touch him. His presence in the pool unnerves me. The pool is too small, I tell myself. But I have the suspicion that even an Olympic-sized pool would still appear too small. Max has the kind of presence that feels too much, no matter where he is.
“You’re okay,” I tell him.
Far from appearing offended by my non-compliment, Max chuckles. He’s now standing in the pool. “You can try to play it cool all you want, Emilia. I know what you’re thinking.”
I put my hands on my hips. “And what’s that?”
“That I’ll be starring in your dirty dreams,” he says confidently.
“You already are.”
The second the words are out, I clap my hand over my mouth. My entire body feels aflame. I’m surprised the water around me isn’t boiling. I don’t dare look at Max, instead keeping my eyes on the edge of the pool. His uncontrolled rumbles of laughter fill the room. And they are damn addictive. A chuckle bubbles out of my throat, and before long, I’m laughing so hard, I’m in danger of cracking a rib.
“Please, forget I ever said anything,” I say once I’ve calmed down somewhat.
Far from obliging me, Max asks, “Are you having a dirty daydream right now?”
“No.” My answer would be more believable if it weren’t accompanied by a grin, damn it. But being around this man makes me smile. His easygoing, fun way is addictive.