CHAPTER SEVEN

Max went out to the living room and sat on the couch, his head was buried in his hands. He wasn't regretting being with Jayde. He was irritated with himself for not having better control of himself.

He lifted his head to see Jayde glaring daggers into his very soul. "Jayde," he wanted nothing more than to apologize for forcing himself on her. "I'm so very so-"

"Are you mad at me? Do you hate what we did so much you can't even look at me now? How ignorant. If you didn't want to, you had all rights to walk away," Jayde interrupted. She wanted to experience a night with him, but not a night followed with regrets.

Max stood up quickly and was at her side in a few strides. He grabbed Jayde's hand and pulled her slender form against him. "No. You've got it all wrong. I don't regret laying with you. I assumed you had regrets which made me mad at myself for forcing you into such a situation. I'm so sorry. I thought I had better control than that. Please, forgive me," Max was blabbering such nonsense against her shoulder.

Jayde pushed him away roughly. Glaring at him, she barked, "Of course I don't regret it! I wanted to be with you since I first saw you! And then you treated me so distastefully! You ignorant bastard! How can you touch a woman that way and care for her the way you did, to turn around and be so fuckin' cold?! Who the hell do you think you are?!"

Max was amazed at this woman before him. Did he really offend her so? He pulled her to him once again and gazed deeply in her furious eyes. "I didn't mean to offend you in any manner. I just wanted to let you know that I appreciated you helping me... And, then you didn't object to me sleeping separately from you... I assumed you regretted it... Or, maybe, it was I remembered what you said about your ex husband. I didn't want you to feel forced into anything. So I tried to respect you by not staring at you while naked."

Jayde was flabbergasted. This stupid man.

"I'm truly sorry, Jayde," Max couldn't find any more words to say to this fragile woman. After all, he hadn't known her very long and didn't want to get on her bad side.

Jayde looked away trying to hide the blush that warmed her face. "Go to the bed," was all she could say to Max.

He hesitated and stared at her, "What?"

Jayde growled, "Before I change my mind!"

Max stepped around her, confusion evident on his face. Why would she change her mind so abruptly? Was it what he said or did she really want to sleep with him? Either way, he didn't want to be away from her so he jumped on the opportunity.

Jayde took a few minutes to compose herself in the living room.

Stupid. So very stupid. How could Max think like that? But then she reflected and realized how he could misunderstand such a situation. She was pretty cold towards him.

"Still, stupid," she mumbled to herself as she entered the room. She looked up and saw Max sitting on the edge of the bed. Worry was written on his face. Jayde turned the lights off and rolled her eyes.

Such a beast of a man was so scared to sleep alone. How pathetic.

Jayde climbed in bed and covered herself with the blanket he must have put back on the bed. She felt the mattress give way to his weight as he laid next to her.

Max wanted to hold her, but he was nervous she'd reject him. So he faced the rare beauty and kept a distance between them. After a while, he felt Jayde scoot closer.

"Come on," she said gently as she pulled him closer. Max smiled and came closer with no objections. "Hug me," Jayde's voice was getting quieter. But without fail, Max lifted her head and placed it in the crook of his elbow. He then wrapped his other arm around her tightly.

Jayde snuggled into his chest and placed a kiss on his cheek before dozing off.

When she woke, there was a note on the pillow next to her with an unopened box of Tylenol and a bottle of water.

The note read, "I ran to the store this morning. I thought you could use this this morning. There's also orange juice in the fridge and french toast in the microwave. I'm sorry I wasn't there when you woke up. I had to hurry home for work. I had a wonderful time with you and pray we can do it again some time soon. Thank you so much -MJ"

Jayde blushed as she read the note. What did he mean "do it again"?! Do what again?! As if she'd stoop so low! She opened the drawer of the night stand and tossed the note in it angrily before rolling out of bed and stomping to the bathroom.

Once she finished cleaning up, she headed towards the kitchen and opened the microwave. Sure enough, he made her some french toast. Her heart warmed up as she looked at the plate. Then she mentally shook herself and rolled her eyes.

"The nerve...," she grumbled as she shut the microwave and walked back to her room to dress for the day.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Max checked his phone every five minutes to see if Jayde had text him yet. He was starting to become anxious. Did he read too far into it? Maybe last night was a one time deal.

"Max-amillion! What's good," he was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of his band mates hooting and hollering.

"How'd it go," Clay, the drummer, nudged him. Max couldn't help but smile. Clay must've understood because they high-fived and laughed together. The other two band mates looked at each other in confusion.

"Did we miss something," Jon, the bassist, asked. Clay walked over and draped his arm over Jon's shoulder.

He winked at Max and said, "Yeah, Maxi-pad just signed our contract! He's makin' us famous!"

Phil, the keyboardist, hooted, "No fuckin' way! F'real? You actually signed the contract? I thought we showed up too late!"

Max smirked, "I may have pulled a few strings and got it handled over dinner last night. Y'all may bow before me now." He laughed as they all pretended to bow to him.

"We are not worthy!" The band mates chanted and laughed.