Chapter Three

       Max slumped into her chair and kicked off her shoes, wincing slightly.  "It's a real
shame," she said, chewing at her lip in an attempt to look genuinely sorrowful.  "You
were having such a wonderful time and now I can't even dance."
	The more Ethan had had to drink, the more he had pawed at her.  He'd been
showering  her with unwanted affection.  Had she been his girlfriend, his advances might
have been flattering and welcomed, but to Max, they were far overdone.  During their
last dance he had begun to nibble her ear, and she had immediately pretended to fall off
her high heels and asked him to help her back to the table.
	Ethan sighed, and if Max hadn't known better, she would have thought he were
pouting like a schoolboy. Then he leaned toward her and whispered a proposition in her
ear, along the lines of taking her home and getting her off her feet for a while.
	"Nonsense, Ethan! You're having far too good a time here tonight," she said with
a bright smile, loud enough for the whole table to hear.  "I'll just sit out a few."  She shot
Mikki and Reese a pleading glance, and saw that her friends were  trying their best not
to break out in laughter, but seemed unwilling to offer her any help.  
	Just then Jake appeared, dragging the reluctant Esther Miller behind him, and
insisting that he needed to sit down for a while.  Poor Jake!  He looked like he was
having a worse time than she was! Esther had finally made her way back to their table
and had immediately latched right on to Jake's arm, drawing him back onto the dance
floor where she seemed to have picked up her conversation right where she had left off. 
It had been pathetically laughable, at least from the observer's point of view.  
	"Look, Ethan. Esther wants to dance, and Jake looks like he'd like to sit a few
out.  Why don't you ask her to dance, maybe my ankle will feel better after a few minutes
rest."  Max suggested to Ethan, and as if right on cue, Esther smiled and nodded. Ethan
looked at the two women.  It was clear Max was his preference, and dancing was the
last thing on his mind, but he finally shrugged and asked Jake if he minded giving Esther
up for a few dances. 
	"Be my guest," Jake nodded, and Esther practically squealed with delight at the
chance to get back on the dance floor. 
	"Whew!" Jake breathed, as he sat down and loosened his tie.  
	"My God! The man is a maniac!" Max  groaned,  then the two of them looked at
each other and laughed.  Mikki and Reese laughed at them both.
	"Trouble in paradise?" Reese  teased them. 
	Max  tossed a napkin at Reese’s head.  "There is no paradise with those two
around!" she insisted and the entire table broke out in laughter.  It felt good to laugh, and
Max suddenly wished she had come to the Ball with Jake in the first place. Glancing at
the dance floor she could just make out Ethan with his arms draped around Esther, and
Esther seemingly oblivious as she chatted on while swaying with the music. 
	"Jake, you have to get me out of here!"  Max suddenly exclaimed, and saw his
face break into the first genuine smile of the night. 
	"Give me five minutes, I'll meet you at the door," he  said, and she  watched him
weave his way through the dancers, then she picked up her shoes and made a dash for
the door without even putting them on.  Within minutes, he was at her side in the lobby.
	"What did you tell them?" she asked, as she fled through the front doors of the
Grand Hotel, hopping on one foot as she tried to slip into her shoes before they reached
the sidewalk.
	"Here, let me give you a hand," Jake said, moving in closer so she could balance
herself with her hand on his arm while she slipped the second shoe on her foot.  "I said 
you weren't feeling well and I was going to take you home and asked Herman if he'd
mind seeing Esther home after the Ball."
	"Ethan."
	"What?"
	"His name is Ethan."
	"Oh!"  Jake looked at her as if she had just provided him with the answer to a
question that had plagued man since the beginning of civilisation.  "No wonder he
looked at me funny."  Then he shrugged, and Max saw the familiar mischievous glint
return to his eyes.  "By the way, what's wrong with your ankle?  You don't look like it's
slowing you down any."
	"Nothing's wrong with my ankle," she said, glancing over her shoulder quickly,
then tugging him onto the sidewalk.  "Let's go!"
	He laughed at her.  "So I guess you weren't having a very good time?"
	"I wouldn't talk if I were you!"  she shot him a warning glance, laced with laughter,
just as a gentle rain began to fall. "Where are you parked?"
	"Just over there."  He took her hand and they made a run for the truck.  By the
time they were both safely inside they were rolling in laughter.
	"At one point I thought he was going to undress you right there at the table!" 
Jake sputtered.  "I was waiting for the show to begin."
	"Why, Jake Forrester! You wicked man!"  she laughed. "What about you? You
looked like her little puppy being dragged onto the dance floor,"  Max countered. "Where
did you find her anyway?"
	"Her mother set us up," He said, laughing at his own misfortune. 
	"Her mother?"
	"Yeah.  She's a client of ours.  I was doing some yard work for her.  She said she
couldn't understand why the girl was still single!"
	Max groaned.  "If only she knew!"
	"Well, it's all your fault anyway."  Jake said flatly.
	"My fault?"  Max looked at him in surprise.
	"Yes, your fault.  If you hadn't agreed to go to the Ball with Casanova, I wouldn't
have needed to find someone else to ask."
	"Don't remind me!" she said with a groan, but they both laughed.  Jake pulled his
truck up in front of Max's building and Max leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek.
	"Thanks, Jake," she said, her face illuminated in the soft glow of the streetlight as
she smiled sweetly up at him.  "I don't know what I would have done tonight without
you."

	Jake watched as Max disappeared into her building, with an odd nagging feeling
that perhaps he should have actually gotten out of the truck and opened the door for
her, and even escorted her to her inside.  Had she been his date, he wouldn't have
thought of letting her out on her own, but Max wasn’t a date. On any occasions that he
had ever given her a ride home after tennis or the gym,  he'd never given any thought to
walking her inside, so why should it be any different now?
	Because now she's dressed to kill and women dressed like that should be
treated special! he told himself, then grunted as he pulled away from her building. With
one last look over his shoulder he noticed the light go on in her window, and sighed.  He
felt better knowing she was home safe, and then grumbled at himself again.  This is Max
we're talking about.  She's perfectly capable of looking after herself. And then he
frowned as he turned the corner and drove away.  He'd seen Max dressed many
different ways, but he'd never seen her dressed like she had been tonight!  Even at
Mikki's wedding, she hadn’t looked like this!  For the first time since he'd met her, he
found himself thinking about Max in a totally different way, and it was confusing the heck
out of him!

	“Hey, Maxine!”
	Max groaned and closed her eyes tight.  She had been shooting hoops in the
gym after her class had ended, and had been enjoying the solitude that these few
minutes offered her.  Usually no one came by the gym to bother her either, but this time
she knew exactly who it was that had hunted her out.  No one else insisted on calling her
Maxine.  Maybe when she opened her eyes again, she hoped, the owner of that voice
would have disappeared.  Of course that didn’t happen, and she turned to smile at the
man walking toward her.
	“Ethan, hi!”  she said, and clutched her basketball in front of her.  Why couldn’t
the gym be her sanctuary?  Why did he have to find her here?  She’d been staying clear
of the staff room,  avoiding him for three days, and with only a one more week left of
school, she’d actually hoped she could avoid him completely.   As he neared her,
however, she noticed with surprise that he was smiling and she supposed that was a
good thing.  Maybe he wasn’t all that upset with her for having dumped him at the
Charity Ball afterall.
	“The name’s Max, remember?” she said with a little shrug, and he chuckled.
	“Sorry about that, I keep forgetting.  You just look way too feminine to be called
Max.”  He stopped a few feet away and looked her up and down, and Max began to feel
uncomfortable.
	“Oh well, maybe it’s the red hair.  I’m stubborn sometimes,” she said, and he
chuckled again, then rubbed his hands together and looked slightly worried.  Here it
comes, Max thought.  Here’s where he tells me how hurt he was that I left him at the
Ball, and maybe even asks for a second date.  “Listen, Ethan — “
	He held up his hand, and stopped her.  “Max.  About the other night.” He looked
at the floor and shuffled his feet, then shrugged.  “I know you didn’t really hurt your
ankle.”
	Max chewed at her lower lip.  This was harder than she had thought.  The guilt
was almost overwhelming.  But as she struggled to think of something to say and the
silence between them became more and more uncomfortable, Ethan finally spoke
again.
	“You and I, it just was never meant to be.  Romance between co-workers never
works anyway. I just wanted to say that I know why you did what you did, Max.”  
	She nodded. “I know Ethan. I’m sorry that I — “
	Suddenly he looked up at her again and she stopped in mid sentence. He was
smiling.  No, not smiling — beaming!  “I just wanted to say thank you,” he said, and Max
raised her brow in confusion.
	“Thank you?  For what?”
	It seemed impossible, but his smile got even wider.  “For setting me up with
Esther.”
	“Esther?”  Max’s thoughts were swimming around in her head desperately trying
to figure out just what Ethan was talking about.  “Setting you up with Esther?”
	Ethan nodded excitedly.  “I know you and Jake Forrester were in on it together. 
Leaving early and throwing us together like that — it was an ingenious plan.  I would
never have suspected a thing if I didn’t know you have a reputation as a matchmaker.” 
He winked at her and she blushed.
	“Ethan, really, I didn’t —“ she sputtered, but he was shaking his head and
grinning.
	“She’s a wonderful girl.  I can see why you knew right away we’d be perfect
together.  She’s so alive, so exuberant!  No offence, Max, but you’re just not my type.”
He looked at her with almost a look of pity, and Max suppressed a gasp. “I mean, don't
get me wrong, you’re very beautiful," he gave her another of his long, appreciative, head
to toe glances , then went on.   "But beauty isn't everything, is it?  I mean, you really
don’t carry on much of a conversation, you know?  Maybe it’s being cooped up in this
gym all the time.”  He shrugged as he looked around the room.
	“Ethan, I —“
	He raised his hand to stop her.  “It’s okay, Max, really.  You do what you can, I
know.  Not everybody can be as interesting and sexy as Esther is.  She’s a rare breed!”
	Max stood staring at him speechless.  Had he just told her she wasn’t sexy?  She
blinked, and shook herself back to reality and tried to concentrate on what he was
saying next.
	“She’s a wonderful woman.  We get along so perfectly!  In every way, if you know
what I mean,” he said, with a wink.
	“Oh!”  Max exclaimed, squinting at the thought of what she was certain he was
insinuating.  “Ethan, really, I don’t need to know about —“
	But he wasn’t listening to her.  “So I just wanted to thank you for everything. You
and Jake.  I’ll never forget how you helped me find my dream girl!”  He nodded towards
her, lifted his hand in a sort of a wave, and turned to leave the gym without giving her
another glance, leaving Max standing with her mouth open watching him go.
	“Well I never!” she exclaimed, as Ethan’s whistling figure disappeared around the
corner in the hall outside the gym.  She let her hands drop, and rolled the basketball
against her hip.  “What the heck did he mean by that!”  she said to the empty room.  A
few seconds later she blinked twice to clear her thoughts, then turned to take a run at
the basket and slam dunk the ball.  “I don’t believe it!” she said to herself, picking up the
ball again and walking into the equipment room.

	“Jake?”  Max said, as she jogged on the treadmill next to his at the gym that
night.  They'd been jogging for a while in complete silence, and Jake had wondered
when she was going to make some comment about his progress — or lack of it.  Now
seemed to be the time, and he steeled himself for the teasing remarks he was
expecting. 	
	“What can I do for you, Red?” he asked, picking up a towel and wiping off his
face as he tried to keep up with her pace.  By no means was he out of shape.  He was
as fit and muscular as he’d always been, but he worked outdoors all day long, slugging
heavy equipment and sacks of soil, and digging.  It had been a hot day and they had
worked hard digging for an underground sprinkler system and laying sod over it
afterwards.  He’d been tired before he and Max had even arrived at the gym.  He’d just
as soon have sat out while she jogged, but he’d noticed James hanging around when
they’d arrived, and had decided that since Max wasn’t impressed with the guy it was
important to make sure there wasn’t a vacant treadmill beside her.
	Jake looked at his companion, who still had not answered his question. 
Something was bothering her.  She’d been brooding ever since he’d picked her up, and
that wasn’t like her at all.  Normally, the fact that he was having difficulty keeping up with
her would have been cause for at least one teasing remark, but she’d hardly even
noticed the fact.
	“What’s up, Max?” he tried again, and she turned a pensive look in his direction.
	“Jake, do you think I’m sexy?”
	Jake sputtered and stumbled on the treadmill, and suddenly he found his feet
ripped out from under him as the belt kept rolling.  He grabbed onto the handlebars and
tried to correct his stride, but it was no use.  Within seconds, he was tripping off the edge
and even though the emergency ripcord switched off the motor, he still ended up landing
on his butt on the floor.
	“Jake!  Are you alright?” Max exclaimed, hitting the kill switch on her own
machine and running around to help him up.
	Surely I won’t be able to live this one down, he thought, as she bent over him to
see if he was okay.  But to his surprise, she said nothing, and that worried him almost as
much as the question she had asked.  He swallowed hard and tried to regain his
composure.
	“Do I think you’re what?” he said, looking up at her in disbelief.
	She frowned.  “Sexy,” she said, with a shrug, as if it were the most natural
question in the world for her to be asking him.  “Do you think I’m sexy?”
	She couldn't be serious!  He sat there on the floor with his arms resting on his
knees and looked up at her.  She was dressed in a skin tight outfit of grey flecked shorts
and sleeveless top, ankle socks and runners.  Her legs were toned and tanned, and as
he examined them, he made a mental note that they were long.  At least, they seemed
to go on forever as he overheated looking at them.  Her hair was tied back in it’s usual
curly ponytail she wore while exercising, and her arms  —  slender, bare arms  — were
just as long as her legs!  
	She had the most amazing female body he had ever seen, a fact he’d been
aware of since the first time he’d seen her, but had been made more acutely aware of
the night of the Charity Ball when she’d been wearing that strapless black number.  She
held herself well, and when she walked, she swayed just so.  He couldn’t believe his
ears.  She was really asking him if he thought she were sexy!
	What was a man to do?  Was it acceptable to tell the woman he considered his
best friend that, yes, he did indeed think she was sexy!  Very sexy, if the truth be known!
That could just open up a whole Pandora’s box of problems between them.  On the
other hand, he wouldn’t dare tell her she wasn’t sexy.  No woman in her right mind
wanted to hear that, especially if she had actually asked the question in the first place! 
	“Well, Max!”  he said, staring up at her, trying desperately to come up with a
politically correct response.  “Why do you even have to ask?”
	Max pouted, and sat on the edge of the treadmill.  “It’s Ethan,” she said with a
sigh.
	“Who?”  He looked at her blankly.
	“Ethan.  The guy I went to the Charity Ball with, remember?” she reminded him.
	“Oh yeah, him.  The one you ran away from because he couldn’t keep his hands
off you."  He lifted one corner of his mouth in a wry grin and chuckled.  "It’s obvious he
thought you were sexy enough!”
	Jake thought he’d said the right thing, but obviously he hadn’t, because his friend
let out a frustrated groan, threw her hands up in the air and shook her head.  “That’s just
the thing.  He came up to me today and thanked me for my part in setting him and
Esther up.”
	“Esther?  Setting them up?”  Jake raised his brow questioningly.  
	"Yes.  For you and I setting them up."  Max repeated his words mechanically and
Jake  looked even more surprised. 
	“Did we set them up?”
	“Apparently so," she sighed.  "After we left the Ball it seems they couldn’t get
enough of each other, and according to Ethan I can’t even hope to be as sexy as Esther
is.”
	“Esther!” Jake coughed out the word, eyes wide. He strained to conjure up an
image in his mind.  For the last three days he had tried his best to forget the woman he’d
escorted to the Charity Ball, counting his blessings at having been able to pawn her off
on someone else.  Someone who had apparently appreciated the gesture, it seemed,
which was a good thing for the two of them he supposed.  But he couldn’t for the life of
him make the connection between the words Esther and sexy!
	“My God, Max, the man must be blind!  I mean, the girl wasn’t ugly or anything,
but damn!  There’s just no comparison!”
	Max looked at him cautiously, a hint of hope sparking in her eyes.  “You really
think so?” she asked.
	“Absolutely!”  he nodded. 	
	Max’s expression melted into an ear to ear grin before his very eyes, and before
he had any time to prepare for what was going to happen, she leaned toward him,
cupped his face in both her hands and planted a kiss right on his lips!  “Thank you, Jake! 
You’re the best!”  she said, then bounced up onto her feet and skipped toward the
change room.  With a last glance over her shoulder she called back to him,  “I’m going to
hit the shower, I’ll meet you in the lobby when I’m done. D’you want to grab something to
eat after?”
	“Yeah, sure.”  Jake said shakily, and she wrinkled her nose at him in a silly grin
before vanishing. He took a deep breath, blew it out long and slow, and tried to compose
himself. Max’s words were spinning around in his head, but there was only one thing he
could think of at that moment.  A shower was definitely called for — as soon as possible!