Page 27 of Driven By Desire
C hristmas evening found him on Max’s doorstep with his little army ranged around him.
It had taken three hours, countless arguments and a dangerously throbbing vein in his forehead to have the lot of them resembling normal human beings and not escaped convicts.
Taking a deep breath and praying the evening went off without any disasters, he rang the bell.
The door swung open to reveal what looked like a riot.
Loud music, squealed greetings, tinsel and decorations strewn over every available surface and what looked like an elf.
Squinting down at the five foot nothing person of indeterminate gender in a green elf’s costume, he managed a confused, “Hi. Is Max around?”
“Everybody wants Max. Does anyone ask where Maria is? Does anyone?” Jabbing a finger at him, she added, “Huh?”
“And here you were worrying about us not behaving normally.” Chirag’s sardonic drawl had him grinning in response much to the belligerent elf’s rising fury.
“It’s rude to laugh at strangers.” The affronted squeak had Krish quickly stifling his grin. Unfortunately, Pooja and Adi only laughed louder. Stepping into the breach with a charming smile, Chirag said, “Strangers? We’re not strangers, are we Maria?”
“We’re not?” Befuddled by the potent force of Chirag’s legendary smile, the elf blinked.
Lifting her hand to his lips, he ignored the gagging noises coming from behind him and said, “Strangers are just friends waiting to happen, aren’t they?”
Low, husky laughter floated down the corridor and had Krish looking up from the tableau playing out in front of him.
In a siren red pantsuit that hugged her trim figure and shimmery green stilettoes that made her legs look like they went on forever, Max was his own personal Christmas miracle.
Walking over, she stopped in front of them with a beaming smile that had him smiling back even as his heart skipped a beat.
“I see you’ve met my cousin.”
“We have.” Glancing over at where the elf was now giggling drunkenly up at Chirag, he added, “I think she might be feeling a little left out.”
“Come on in and meet the less maudlin ones.” Hugging and greeting the other three, she gestured them down the hall ahead of her.
About to follow, she found her wrist captured in a firm grip.
Holding her in place until his family plus one drunk and belligerent elf disappeared from sight, he slowly tugged her back.
Stealing a soft, gentle kiss he murmured, “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas.” The soft words whispered across his lips and had him wishing desperately for privacy.
A loud burst of laughter from the next room had them drawing apart reluctantly.
Flustered and more than a little breathless, Max unclenched her fists in an attempt to stop mangling the pullover he was wearing.
“The fungus hair looks pretty good tonight.” Chuckling at her mock glare, he ran his fingers through the silken length of her hair.
“You look gorgeous.” Patting her hands down the front of his chest, she smoothened and settled the gorgeously soft navy blue pullover he had on over a crisp white shirt and jeans.
Laughing delightedly when he flushed a deep red at the compliment, she tugged him forward and into the noisy crowd beyond the privacy of the empty hallway.
She wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold strong against temptation and she rather suspected her father would frown at her dragging Krish off into her bedroom for an indefinite amount of time.
Spying Pooja chattering away animatedly to Max’s father, he left her side reluctantly and made his way over to greet him.
“Merry Christmas, Mr. Sheridan.”
“Merry Christmas, Mr. Mehra.” Eyes twinkling, he gestured for Krish to take a seat next to him. “I see you already know my gorgeous companion.”
Grinning at the pleased blush on his sister’s face, he settled in for a chat even as his eyes tracked Max’s progress across the room.
Accepting the beer someone held out to him, he leaned back in his chair.
She looked incredible. Sexy, vibrant and warm, her presence made the room come alive.
She had an arm around Adi’s waist and was laughing at something Chirag said.
The noise levels in the room couldn’t stop him from hearing that husky chuckle that had attracted him to her from day one.
The sound warmed him from the inside out and had him relaxing even more.
“How’s the restoration going?” The amused speculation in the older man’s eyes had Krish swallowing his sip of beer faster than expected.
“Fine?” Frantically trying to remember the last time Max and he had actually discussed the restoration, Krish drew a complete blank.
“Are you asking or telling me?” Sipping on his whiskey, Brian kept an arm curved protectively around Pooja’s shoulders as he contemplated the young man his daughter was so fascinated with.
Flipping through his mental files, Krish scrambled for an answer. “She finished the full body mock up and it went well.”
“I’m glad. Especially since that’s practically the first step and should have been done with ages ago.”
Draining the rest of his beer, Krish accepted defeat. Mindful of sharp, young ears listening to them, he worded his question carefully, “You don’t mind?”
Gesturing over to where Max was dancing enthusiastically with Adi, he said, “Only as long as she continues to look like that.”
Acknowledging the veiled warning with a nod, Krish was about to reply when someone tapped him on his arm. Turning, he found himself facing a sprightly old lady with an alarmingly orange head of hair. Maybe this coloured hair thing was a family tradition.
“Get up.” The imperious command had him rising from his seat which she promptly occupied with a litheness that belied her age.
“Now go do something else.” Finding himself summarily dismissed, he ignored Pooja’s gleeful snickers and made his way over to the bar set up in the corner. He hadn’t been far off the first time about falling down the rabbit’s hole.
---***---
“Dance with me?”
He turned from a mind-numbingly boring conversation on medical insurance with one of Max’s uncles to find her standing behind him.
“Yes please.” Grabbing her, he excused himself with indecent haste from the monologue on insurance piranhas.
Towing Max along in his wake, he dragged her into a slightly more secluded corner of the makeshift dance floor.
Heaving a sigh of relief, he slid his hands around her waist and started to move to the slow, dreamy music playing.
For one glorious second, he had Max back in his arms. Just one second.
Before some bright spark changed the music to ‘Summer of 69.’ Biting back a muttered curse, he let his hands fall to his side and started to move to the faster beats.
He quickly discovered that Max was a far more enthusiastic dancer than a skillful one.
After the second time she stomped on his foot, he started focusing less on dancing and more on avoiding the weapons she called feet.
When she suddenly spun like a top on steroids and narrowly missed clipping him in the jaw with the top of her head, he decided it was time to surrender.
He was about to ask her if she wanted to give the dancing a rest when the music thankfully came to an end.
Hooting enthusiastically with the rest of the crowd around them, she tossed her hair back and smiled up at him.
Everything stilled inside him at that smile.
Suddenly it seemed like the only thing that mattered was that she never stopped smiling.
The loud music, the chaotic bustle of people around them and even the hooting and cheering of the dance crowd faded into the background as she reached up and planted a soft kiss on his cheek.
His sore feet forgot their misery and volunteered for another turn on the dance floor.
Ignoring his feet’s masochistic tendencies, Krish tucked a damp wayward tendril of hair behind her flushed ear.
“Max, it’s time.” A young boy of about fifteen was gesturing Max forward.
“Time for what?” Krish asked cautiously.
“You’ll see.” Laughing, she left him to join the pimply faced teenager.
Chirag walked over to hand him a beer and stand with him on the edge of the dance floor.
Unaware of the admiring female glances they drew, the brothers contemplated the huddle around Max.
Slowly the crowd broke apart to give Max and three others space.
Various musical instruments were revealed to appreciative, ignorant applause from the crowd.
“That looks ominous.” Krish muttered as Max started to strum her guitar.
Grinning, Chirag sipped at his drink. “Looks like fun.”
The noise that emanated as they tuned up had Krish struggling to keep a straight face.
When Max’s guitar let out a particularly loud squeal, helpless laughter had him choking on his drink.
Chirag thumped him helpfully on the back.
When they saw Max beckon Adi forward though, horror drowned out the laughter.
Unable to stop the musical pile-up about to begin, they tried to blend into the back but found themselves propelled forward by the crowd.
Finding themselves front row and center, they took fortifying sips of their drinks.
And then the caterwauling started. Wondering if there was a sea of alcohol to drown in, Krish kept his face carefully blank. Fifteen cats slowly being strangled would have been more in tune than the five people in front of him.