She fell for it.
Maxwell couldn't believe that he was able to get Reyona to relax in his company.
Even he was amazed at the way he had been able to keep the conversation between them civil, all while his blood raged at the closeness between them.
That one-piece suit she had on was supposed to be one of the contrabands in the world.
Companies were supposed to be persecuted for creating things like that.
It wasn't just the clothing.
It was the woman inside it.
Reyona.
Maxwell didn't like thinking of her as a Lanoth.
He didn't like the fact that that bastard had a claim to her.
Oh, he hated the fact that Thomas-fucking-Lanoth had a right to her for that long, yet it was a fact.
Not that Maxwell had to like it, though.
As he watched her posture that night gradually relax from the tensed, springbox-like stance to a comfortable posture, Maxwell felt like he had won the world.
As he saw the wariness leave her eyes to be replaced by true interest in the conversation they were having, Maxwell felt like nothing else could be wrong with his world.
There had been a bit of an issue with his latest shipment to the automobile company.
That was what he had been sorting out since morning
They just managed to sort out everything that evening before everyone knocked off for the day, but despite how tired Maxwell was, he was on edge too.
It must have been the adrenaline that had been coursing through him for days as he dealt with the inappropriate shipment.
All he knew was that he was not going to have any sleep if he went home.
So, he went to his club instead.
All he intended to do was sit away from the crowd and soak up all that energy while he had something light to coat his empty stomach.
Then he saw her.
Maxwell had sat in one of the secluded spots upstairs.
It had been the perfect spot to see most of the things going on in the club without being seen by most.
One would have a direct view towards the door without stress.
Maxwell, who was still not feeling hungry despite the fact that he had missed two meals, had decided to make do with springles while taking a mimosa.
He had just taken a sip of his drink when they came in.
His fast reflex was what had stopped him from choking on his drink when he saw her.
Not in a million years would he have expected the prim and proper CEO to wear what Reyona had on that evening.
Of course, he had always known that there was more to all that primness yet he had not expected it to blast him fully in the face like that.
Especially not when he was not fully in his elements.
One thing was certain, though.
A part of him was fully in its element.
Maxwell got an instant hard-on at the thought of having her all to himself in those heels and glasses.
With nothing else in between them,.
As she stood there with a slight uncomfortable look on her face as her sister chattered on with her friend, Maxwell had a ridiculous urge.
An urge to rescue her.
To rescue her from her self-imposed restraint.
Dismissing his thoughts as fanciful, Maxwell picked up his phone and called his manager when he saw Reyona heading to the bar.
Not only was Jake swift in serving Reyona, he had sent him a message saying that he might have a lot on his hands tonight because of his lady friend.
When Maxwell asked him why, Jake told him the drink she had ordered.
"That was a bold move," Maxwell had thought to himself as he watched her go towards the seating area.
Even he had only dared to drink that nasty drink once. And it had even been because of a wager.
A wager, which he won but his stomach blamed him later.
Maxwell wondered why a woman like Reyona would want such a thing.
Though he was used to being surprised by her actions, he had an idea that it might have something to do with her goddamned husband.
Aunt Roberta's cocktail was not the go-to drink for celebration after all; it was a drink for forgetting.
For forgetting everything else but the nasty bite of the drink.
Uncomfortable by the way he was feeling as he watched her move towards the seating area, Maxwell looked away firmly from her.
He did not need such complications at the moment, after all.
The fact that she had been on his mind most of the time since he had met her didn't matter.
He had accepted that he couldn't control how much she bothered him and how many wet dreams of his she had featured.
But at least he could control what he did in her presence.
So he turned away and fixed his gaze firmly on the dance floor.
That was the main reason why he came there anyway.
For the action.
Another form of action with a particular actress prominently featured in it came to his mind again and he swore to himself in exasperation.
"Who am I kidding?" he thought to himself as he abandoned his silly intention to look away from her.
He turned again to look at the place where she was headed.
He bolted out of his chair like his pants were on fire when he saw the man who approached her.
He knew he shouldn't mess with her.
He knew she was not his to protect.
He knew she would probably hate him for his intrusion.
Yet he couldn't help but take swift steps in her direction.
He passed through the DJ's booth to get to the other side of the dance floor faster.
His blood boiled as he saw the man lumber after her as she quickly hurried away.
It was with great satisfaction that he sent the first punch into the man.
Annoyed when the big bastard didn't crumble from the force of his hit, Maxwell reminded himself to work more on the stamina behind his punch even as he hit the man again.
That little moment was the only time he had been able to take his mind off her nearness.
The next moment, her soft, elusive scent reached out and wrapped him in its hold again. His hard-on was so painful that Maxwell wondered how anyone had not noticed the bulge in his trousers as he briskly dismissed the man and made Reyona come with him.
It had been a test of will.
A way of trying to prove to himself that he was not a testosterone-driven kid who couldn't behave himself around a woman.
So, as he plied her with talk and later convinced her to have dinner with him, Maxwell couldn't believe he had been able to pull it off.
As every breath he drew in her presence hurt so much that he had to sip his drink to soothe it, Maxwell patted himself on the back.
As his imagination went haywire while watching her sit across from him, Maxwell held himself rigidly as he recited his restraining mantra in his head.
He didn't believe in having an affair with a woman who was still married to another.
He didn't want the complications of getting involved with her.
A woman like her wouldn't just slink away into oblivion once he was no longer interested.
She was Reyona.
A woman he would do well to stay clear of if he wanted to keep his sanity intact.
So as they went their separate ways that night without him exploding in the process, Maxwell congratulated himself on the success of his experiment.
Then he went home to take a cold, long shower.