After the shower, I put on one of his b.u.t.ton-down shirts and Max wore only a pair of jeans as we sat at a bar table in his kitchen and ate dinner.

"Something's on your mind," he said. "Is it Krystal?"

Actually, that wasn't it at all. I was distracted by the ongoing debate in my head about whether to tell him what happened with Kevin and the fallout from it. I also was on the verge of asking him if he had felt the same thing I did in the bathtub. But the Krystal issue was good enough for now. Plus, I'd already promised him I'd tell him.

And so I did-complete with all the details she had given me.

"Jesus," he said. "Twenty grand. Where's she going to get that?"

"No idea."

"You know what that means." Max stood and took our empty plates to the sink. "She's going to end up working it off."

I got up and walked toward him. "I can't decide which is worse. That or the c.o.ke."

"Both."

I stood next to him as he rinsed off the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. His face was a mask of concern, and I a.s.sumed it was about Krystal, even though he hardly knew her.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

He closed the dishwasher, started it, and picked up a towel to dry his hands. "Let's get her out of trouble."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll pay the guy off."

Whoa.

"On one condition, though," he said. "She has to check into rehab."

"Are you serious? You'd do that?"

"Yes."

"But you don't even know her."

Max took me in his arms. "But you do. I'm not going to let you stand by helplessly watching a friend ruin her life."

"Max...I don't think-"

"Let me do this. Let us us do this." do this."

SIX

I woke up Sat.u.r.day morning, lying on my side. I had my back to Max, and he was just about ready to slide inside me. I looked over my shoulder at him. He was looking down, watching what he was doing. "I could wake up like this every day. Awesome alarm clock."

"Funny. But I can't help it, Olivia."

"I was being serious," I said, and put my head back down while Max brought us both to an early morning o.r.g.a.s.m.

After we showered Max drove us to Marina Del Rey, where we boarded his boat and set off for Catalina Island. I had heard of the place and was under the impression that it was only for the wildly rich and the tourists. I guess I qualified as a tourist, and since I was with Max, the rich part took care of itself.

Max pulled the boat up to the marina. A dockhand was there and called out to him. "h.e.l.lo, Mr. Dalton." The guy climbed aboard and said he would take care of the docking. I saw Max slip him a hundred dollar bill before we got off the boat. Valet parking at a Marina. Who knew?

We spent a good part of the late morning and early afternoon taking a tour of the island. It was gorgeous-lush green trees and bushes, incredible views of the ocean and the island's various canyons-like nothing I'd ever experienced.

And it only got more intriguing, as the tour guide signaled for us to look in various directions throughout the ride, to see the incredible wildlife the island had to offer. We saw wild turkeys and pigs, two bald eagles, and even buffalo.

"I love this place," Max said.

I was holding on to his arm as we sat in the jeep. I held on tighter when I saw the almost boyish way he marveled at the outdoors.

"It's beautiful," I said, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Makes you not want to go back to the city, doesn't it?"

I looked up at his face and saw that he was deadly serious. The truth was, I didn't care where we were. I just wanted to be with him. Needed Needed to be with him. to be with him.

Later in the afternoon, we took our shoes off and sat on a little beach area. Off in the distance, sea lions occupied the rock jetties. We were told they could be aggressive, and to keep an eye on them. They were far enough away not to pose a threat, and we didn't have any food with us anyway.

I was starting to feel guilty about keeping the Kevin story from Max. He deserved to know. He was going to find out one way or another. The idea of keeping it from him so it wouldn't ruin or weekend hadn't been a good idea at all. While it spared him from thinking about it, delaying did nothing for me. Despite all the enjoyment of the afternoon, thoughts of telling Max what happened lingered close by, threatening to spoil the day.

So it was on that peaceful little spot of land that I said, "I have something to tell you...."

I told him everything, ending with an apology for not telling him sooner.

"I don't care about that," he said, holding me tight. "What a f.u.c.kwit."

"A what?"

Max gave a little chuckle. "f.u.c.kwit. Like an idiot, but much worse. One of my favorite words."

"I've never heard you use it."

"I save it for special occasions, and this is definitely one of them. The deal with Jacqueline Mathers is the biggest thing that's ever happened to him. I guess he didn't think about that."

"Are you going to drop her?"

Max shook his head. "No, she's good. Perfect for the role. I'm not going to start from scratch just because Kevin makes stupid decisions about who to try to f.u.c.k."

This was going easier than I thought. I had actually expected him to be angry-maybe somewhat at me for not telling him, and certainly at Kevin for doing what he did. "You don't sound mad at him."

"I'm not," he said, without hesitating. "He's pathetic. And I don't think for a minute you would give in to him."

Now that we'd settled that part of it, I felt free to express how worried I was for myself. "I hate that he did it, mostly because I have to start over now, you know?"

We had shifted so that Max was sitting behind me, and held my back close to his chest. He kissed me on the top of my head, and kept his lips there as we sat in silence for a moment. Finally, he broke it.

"Work with me."

I had been relaxing so much that my eyes were almost closed. They flew open when I heard his words.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Yeah, but..." My voice trailed off. I was stunned by his suggestion.

He kissed me on my head again and said, "I've been thinking about what I'm going to do when I stop producing. You know I just want to write. That's what I'm going to do. But I'll need an a.s.sistant, someone who will read all my stuff and not bulls.h.i.t me with empty praise. Just like you did the other day. You were brilliant, Olivia. Your ideas made the story so much better."

I moved so I could face him. "You're serious."

He nodded and reached up to touch my cheek. "Don't worry about anything. And I know you by now-you're thinking I'm doing this just to help you out. I'm not. You impressed me from that first meeting. I'd hire you even if you weren't sleeping with me."

My smile must have stretched across my entire face, and Max returned one just as big, then said, "Of course, we'll have to be careful how we proceed."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll pay you as an independent contractor, not as a direct employee."

"Why's that?"

"Because then you can't turn around and sue me for s.e.xually hara.s.sing you on the job every day."

I laughed and leaned forward to kiss him. "Every day? You promise?"

"Try to stop me."

On the boat ride home, I told him my parents would be coming for a visit. "And I'm worried."

"About what?"

Max was driving the boat and I was sitting on his lap. I put on one of his baseball caps and put my hair through the hole in the back, a makeshift ponytail to keep it from whipping him in the face.

"My living situation, for one thing," I said. "They're going to wonder about Krystal. Remember, she was my sister's friend growing up?"

"Right. Well, maybe she won't be around if she takes us up on the offer to help and checks into rehab. Then you can just say she's out of town or something."

"True." He had a point. It was a justifiable lie. I'd be protecting Krystal's confidentiality. My stomach churned with nervousness as I considered how to tell him I wasn't sure about having him meet my parents.

We hadn't been together very long, but several times during our time together, it seemed as though Max knew exactly what I was thinking. I knew he wasn't literally reading my mind, but it was still odd at times.

Just as it was when, without me having said one word about it, Max said, "You're worried about telling them about me." He said it flatly, as though he didn't like the idea at all.

"My family can be complicated. It's not that I don't want you to meet them. Just not right now."

Max slowed the boat down as we approached Marina Del Rey. "It's up to you. I'll just miss you while they're here."

SEVEN

Krystal was vegging out in front of the TV when I got home Sunday afternoon. She looked like she'd gotten some sleep, and actually smiled when I walked in the door.

She muted the TV. "Good weekend?"

"Yeah, pretty great. How about you?"

"Oh, so good," she said, letting out a huge sigh. "I slept most of yesterday. Turned my phone off and turned the world off. It was heaven. Actually, it's still off." Her previously happy expression turned to frowning worry. "I keep dreading turning it on and seeing the missed calls and texts."

I guessed that now was as good a time as ever to tell her what Max had offered, so I did, with no beating around the bush. I just said, "Max wants to pay the twenty grand and get you out of trouble."

She stared at me. "You told him?"

I nodded, then shifted uncomfortably in the chair, waiting for her to recoil as Max predicted she would do at first.

And she did.

Krystal threw her head back on the pillow. "I can't do that. I'll never be able to pay him back."

"You don't have to. He said-"

She sat to an upright position. "The h.e.l.l I don't. I'm not a charity case."

I slowly shook my head. "You're right, you're not. But think about this. It's an easy way out."

"And then what? I'll be right back in it up to my f.u.c.king eyes before I know it."