Frowning I explain, “But he warned me as a friend. Said I’d always been nice to him. I know he didn’t tell Paul or Franklin about you.”
Max nods. “He didn’t give it away that he’d seen me there. But he’s loyal to that guy—probably just for money. Franklin doesn’t treat Boone with respect. Who knows how long he’ll work for him? Might jump ship.” Max kisses my cheek. “You don’t have to be afraid anymore. You never have to see Paul again. Never have to go into the clubs.”
“I wonder if someone else is going to take over, or will they close?”
Alan nods, “Good question. What’s going to happen to the three best strip clubs in Atlanta?”
Mary playfully hits his arm. “What do you care?”
“They’re a staple!” he cries out, kidding but not kidding, too.
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough,” I sigh.
“Oh, I meant to ask you, Max,” Alan begins. “You’re still doing the two days here as scheduled?”
Shutting his eyes because he forgot all about filming, Max groans, “Shit.” He looks at Alan and Mary, “Is that okay? My actors and crew think we’re shooting. They’ve cleared their calendars for it.”
“It’s fine by us. We made plans. Just didn’t know if you needed to push it back because of…everything.”
“I can be there now,” I tell Max.
He meets my eyes, “You want to? I won’t be hurt if you need to rest. You seem, well like you said, shell-shocked. You’ve been living in fear for too long, Natalie. Take whatever time you need to heal.”
Smiling, I kiss him. “I think you’re amazing, did I tell you that?”
His smile is instant, “I don’t mind you saying it again.”
“You’re amazing.”
“I was kidding,” he chuckles, telling my friends, “Excuse me but I have to kiss her.” He cups my head and presses all of his loneliness for me into grateful lips. Mary makes an “Awwww,” sound and Max pulls back to kiss my nose and tell her, “You like that? There’s more.”
Alan shakes his head, “That’s okay. Save it for later.”
Standing up I give my friends a hug and thank them again. Max shakes Alan’s hand and hugs Mary, telling them, “Thank you,” as they give him the spare key.
“You can let yourself in tomorrow,” Alan smiles.
We gather our things and they walk us out with Max realizing, “Oh hey, thanks for cleaning up. I just realized I left before—”
Mary waves at him to stop talking. “Please! Gave us all something to do while we bit our nails! And I think you were kinda busy, Superman, so go take my stricken friend to bed now, would ya?”
I laugh, “I’m not stricken.”
“Not anymore you’re not! But you were a mess in the ladies room, let me tell you!”
“Shhhh,” I smile, holding my finger to my lips. “He thinks I’m strong!”
Max laces our fingers together. “I don’t need you to be any way other than you are.” As we head out, he says, “A fragile flower who needs me.”
I laugh, “Okay, let’s not get carried away.”
As they close the door on us, Max feigns ignorance. “What? You seemed pretty fragile to me from the get-go.” As we walk to his Jeep he continues, while I shake my head on a stifled grin, “You walked into my interviews all hemming and hawing. Timid is the word I’d use.”
“Timid!?”
In a high-pitched voice he simpers, “Oh, is this where someone’s making a film? Could I pretty please have a moment of your time? I’m a fragile flower who needs your strength to do anything. I don’t even know how to tie my shoelaces. That’s why I’m wearing these heels. They’re slip-ons. See?”
“You sound like Colleen.”
He opens the passenger door and cracks up. “Ouch, jealous there are ya?”
“Nope, not at all. I wonder what A.J. is doing tonight?”
Max freezes and points at me. “Not funny.” He offers his hand and guides me up. “You’re staying at my place.”
As he strolls around to the driver’s side there’s a bounce in his step. Jumping in he locks eyes with me, “Did I tell you Colleen came onto me during that rehearsal?”
My eyes go wide. He chuckles, proud of himself. “Gotcha back.” After a second of silence he flicks a glance my way. “You weren’t really jealous of her though, were you?”
My eyebrows twitch a little as my gaze drops to my lap. “You were fascinated with her during her audition. It was different than with the other actresses.”
Max stares at me a second before he returns his attention to the road, reaching over to take my hand. “Natalie, that was because I’d found my lead actress, not my woman. Since day one of writing that script I’ve wondered if I could find an actress to embody what my father described. What you saw wasn’t flirting, or attraction, it was me stunned that this project was actually falling into place exactly as I needed it to be.”
“You watched her walk out to her car, didn’t look back at me once.”
Turning the wheel he pulls over. “Because I’m a gentleman and my dad taught me right.” He stares at me. “Come on, she’s a pretty girl but she’s not you. This electric thing we have is insane. I’ve never felt anything like this before. Since day one you and I have been fireworks. Except for the run-around you gave me. And me acting like an asshole when I was trying to be cool with you running hot and cold, which now I understand why you were, finally. Thank God. Natalie, you have no idea how terrible I’ve felt with you gone. I thought I was alone in these feelings.” He stares out the windshield a second. “I’m fucking crazy about you. What you saw when I looked at Colleen wasn’t attraction.” Meeting my eyes he says, “Natalie…it was hope. That my film might work. That I hadn’t wasted all that time saving money for nothing. Without the right actress to play Bernie Lancaster…”
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t in a good place then.”
He
