Picking Up the Pieces

Dedicated to all of our fans who waited
[not so patiently] for this book to be released. Remember, happy endings are always more satisfying if you’re teased a little bit first.

Chapter 1
: Max

I swirled the amber liquid around in the tumbler, my eyes mesmerized by the movement of the fluid. Ignoring the techno music behind me as I gazed into the glass, I willed myself not to
think of how the ice had diluted the Jack Daniels just enough so that the color perfectly matched the gold flecks in her hazel eyes. It’d
been nearly five months since I’d seen her. And they had been the longest five months of my life.

The light brush of a delicate shoulder made contact with my bicep, pulling me from my trance.
I inhaled deeply, gearing myself up to don the mask of a happy playboy. This didn’t use to be a mask for me. It used to
be
me. Not anymore.

Sliding my eyes to the left, a smirk played on my lips.
I noticeably appraised my visitor’s body, letting my eyes roam over her ample, firm breasts that were accentuated by a black, low-cut halter top. Then they traveled lower, raking over her flat stomach and firm ass that was hidden by tight jeans as she leaned forward on the bar.
Mmm, she'll definitely do.

Noticing that she had my attention, she turned her body toward me, lifting one hand to her hip while the other remained resting on the bar.
“Oh my God. It
is
you.” Her smile grew as her eyes drank me in, much like I had done to her. She clearly liked what she saw as she bit her lower lip and pushed her chest out a little farther. “I’m Jenna and I’m a huge fan.”

Aren’t they all?
I thought dryly. My mind flashed back to that day in the airport nine months ago.
She
hadn’t had a damn clue who I was, nor had she cared. Though she couldn't hide how I affected her. The way her breathing had hitched when she first saw me. How her eyes had followed me through security. How her body had reacted to my dirty words. And even after she had given in to me, she was still able to shock the shit out of me by wanting nothing to do with me afterwards. It had been hot as hell. “Nice to meet you, Jenna. I’m Max.” I kept my eyes trained on hers, my face serious, as I extended my hand toward her.

“The pleasure’s all mine,” Jenna purred as
she slid her palm against mine.

I released her
fingers quickly and turned back toward the bar. “Can I buy you a drink?” I asked as I sought out the bartender.
I need to get drunker. Now.

“Sure,” she replied, clearly perplexed by my sudden shift in behavior.
Jenna sat down on the stool beside me, keeping her body turned slightly in my direction.

I made eye contact with the bartender and put up my index finger, beckoning him over.

“Mr. Samson, another round?” he asked.

“Yeah. And,” I gestured toward Jenna, “whatever she’s having.”

“Coming right up.”

I took another deep breath, wishing I had been a little closer to alcohol oblivion before Jenna had made her move. Meaningless conversation while sober was not
my idea of a good time. She clearly knew what I was after, and she was also clearly after the same thing. Her body language and flirtatious response made that obvious. But I wasn’t in this to enjoy her company. I was in it to forget. And I couldn’t do that sober.

***

Two hours later I was drunkenly fumbling with my keys, trying to unlock my door while keeping my lips on Jenna’s. I finally turned the lock, pushing the door open as I backed her through the doorway. I threw my keys in the general direction of my hall table and lowered my hands to cup her ass and pull her into my pulsing hard-on.

My dogs ran to greet me, but I ignored them as my lips made their way down Jenna’s neck and we clumsily moved toward the stairs.
And as I began pulling her top over her head, I silently thanked God I was as wasted as I was. Otherwise, I would have remembered how I had done this before: ripping another girl’s clothes from her body as my mouth owned every inch of her skin on our way up the stairs to my bedroom. I may have even remembered how I had lowered that girl onto the steps, unable to keep my hands off of her long enough to complete the journey. And I definitely would have remembered the feeling of her finally becoming mine, only to realize that she didn’t want me after all.
Yeah, it was definitely better to not remember any of that shit.

I was almost tempted to lift Jenna and carry her up the stairs, but as I swayed slightly, I thought better of it.
Instead, I pulled my mouth away, grabbed her hand, and led her toward my room. Once there, I pulled Jenna back to me, her hands flying up to my chest to regain her balance. My lips owned hers as my fingers worked the button on her jeans. I pushed them to the floor and then reached up to pull my blue polo shirt over my head. Kicking off my shoes, I undid my jeans quickly, yanking them down to reveal my pulsing erection.

Jenna immediately fell to her knees and took my long, hard length in her hand.
I struggled to resist thrusting against her warm palm as I felt myself get harder at her touch. She began to stroke me slowly, teasingly, lifting her eyes to mine slightly, and licking her lips. The action made me conscious of my desire to have her tongue swirling around my dick instead. I nestled my hand in her honey-colored hair as she brought her face closer to my cock. At last, she flicked her tongue over my tip before she allowed my hardness to push past her lips and plunge into her warm mouth.
God, this feels good.
She moaned as she continued to suck, which caused a vibration to radiate through me.

“Jesus, fuck. Just like that,” I said as I guided her back and forth.
Watching those tight lips around my erection was enough to make me come. My head lolled back as I allowed myself to be overwhelmed by sensation.

Jenna’s hand worked the base of my shaft as her mouth took me as deeply as she could.
I grunted in pleasure. This girl knew how to give one hell of a blow job.

She worked me over with her mouth for a bit longer before I reluctantly pulled her back and urged her to her feet. If I waited any longer
, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from coming in her mouth. And I wanted to be buried deep inside of her when that happened. As she rose, she reached behind her, unhooked her bra, and let it drop to the floor.

I palmed her huge tits in my hands and teased her nipples.
I knew they were fake,
I thought glibly to myself
.
Then she hooked her thumbs in her panties and lowered them until they joined her bra on the floor. I guided her backward until her legs hit the mattress. She reclined on my bed and pushed herself toward the headboard, her eyes never leaving mine. Lying back, she spread her legs like an open invitation.

My eyes took her in, from her shapely legs to her long, soft neck.
But I didn’t look at her face. Because as much as I told myself I wanted to forget, what I really wanted was to pretend. Pretend that Jenna wasn’t a stranger. Pretend that
she
was the one I wanted in my bed.

And as I rolled a condom onto my cock and covered Jenna’s body with mine, thrusting into her fully, it was all I could do to refrain from calling her Lily.

***

I was roused the next morning by a cacophony of doorbells, knocking, and my friggin' dogs barking at whoever waited at my front door.
But worst of all was the rise and fall of breathing beside me. I turned my head to the left to take in my visitor.
Shit
. Burying my head in the pillow, I desperately tried to remember her name.
Gina, Jamie, Jenna?

The banging downstairs was relentless, so I pushed myself up from the bed and reached down for the pair of jeans I had dropped to the floor the night before.
The woman in my bed stirred at my movement and smiled as she opened her eyes to gaze at me.

She started to say something, but I spoke before she had a chance.
“Stay here.” I turned to leave, but not before noticing how her smile faded at my gruff order. I stalked out of the room, through the hall, and down the stairs. “I’m coming, I’m coming,” I yelled as I descended. Yanking the door open fiercely, I was ready to give the person on the other side a piece of my fucking mind. But just as I was about to release an onslaught of obscenities, my eyes registered who was standing before me: my mom.

“Good morning, Max,” my mom said sternly as I stood there speechless.

Finally, my words came back to me. “Good morning. Uh, I’m sorry, did I know you were coming?” My question sounded more like an accusation than I’d meant for it to.

“Do I need an invitation to come see my son?”

Shit, she’s pissed.
“No, of course not. I just . . . wasn’t expecting you. What time is it?” I asked as I stepped back from the door so my mom could enter.

“8:30.”

Okay, good.
It’s still morning. At least I didn’t look like a total loser, sleeping through a Wednesday.
“It’s good to see you, Mom.” Maybe the flattery approach would make her stop looking at me like she wanted to beat me with a wooden spoon.

“I bet,” she huffed
, directing her eyes at the floor.

When I followed her glare, I inwardly cringed.
Tossed haphazardly on my hardwood floor was a pair of stilettos.
Fuck.
There were only two options in a situation
like this: either claim they were mine or ignore them completely. And as I stood there, actually considering which was the lesser of the two evils, my mom chose for me.

“Sorry to interrupt your . . . ,” her eyes lifted to meet mine so that I could witness the disapproval that came with her words, “slumber party, but Jack called me this morning.
He’s incredibly concerned, to say the least, as are your father and I.”

Tightly closing my eyes, I envisioned all of the ways I could murder my agent.
It would need to be slow and painful, much like this conversation.
How dare that fucking asshole call my mom. I wasn’t a goddamn child.
“There’s no need to be concerned, Mom. I have it all under control.” As soon as the words slipped out, I knew things were about to get worse. My mom hated when I lied to her and I had just uttered as big of a lie as I had ever told her. I was far from having anything in my life under control.

“Oh, really,” she scoffed, “because it doesn’t seem like you have it all under control.
Jack said he’s been trying to get in touch with you for weeks and you haven’t returned a single one of his calls. Supposedly a local sports network wants you to do some guest pregame coverage for the upcoming hockey season. He said it could turn permanent. Were you aware of this?” Her anger faded as she spoke, and sadness took its place. Tears wet her eyes.

It ripped me apart.
I hated seeing my mom hurting, especially when I was the cause of it all. This woman was the only female on the planet who gave a fuck about me, and all I did was hurt her. I wished I could be a better person for her. But I couldn’t. We all needed to face the
facts: I was a grade A asshole who would be a constant source of disappointment to my family.
I need a drink.
“Mom, I’ll handle it. Please, don’t worry about this stuff. I mean, it’s not like I
need
to work. I’m just waiting for the right opportunity to present itself.”

She began wringing her hands as she listened to my bullshit.
“Things don’t just present themselves, Max. You need to work for them. And don’t you dare tell me not to worry. You know damn well that I have
every
reason to worry.”

I had no response to this.
The truth was, she did have every right to worry. If I cared more about my well-being, I’d be worried too. I was a mess. “I’m sorry that I’m such a pain in the ass.” I dropped my eyes to the floor, unable to look at her as I spoke.

She sighed heavily as her hand reached up and touched my cheek.
“Max, look at me.”

I lifted my eyes hesitantly.

“I love you.
I will always love you, and you’ve made us incredibly proud in many, many ways. But there is a great life waiting out there for you, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t pain me to see you content to just let it all pass you by. I know you’re hurting and I know you’re bitter. But no one can make any of that better except you. It’s time to deal with your problems and start working to fix them. It’s time to grow up, darling.”

Her words didn’t surprise me.
I had said variations of them to myself over the past few months. But saying them and doing them were two different things. I just wasn’t up for fixing my life right now. “I’ll call Jack today,” was all I could offer her, and it sounded as half-hearted as it felt.

She simply nodded, knowing damn well that I wasn’t going to call.
“Okay then, I guess I’ll head home. Your father said he’d have breakfast waiting when I got there. If you hear about a death due to food poisoning, just remember that my will is in the safe in my bedroom closet.” She shifted even closer to me, the weight of our conversation slowing her down, making her seem weary.

I leaned down so she could kiss my cheek, but she withdrew right before her lips were about to make contact.
I looked down at her to see her staring behind me, and I turned to see what had caught her attention.
Fuck!
Standing on the stairs, wearing my T-shirt but no pants, was Gina/Jamie/Jenna.