The Billionaire Playboy's Regret (Lark and Max)

She was sitting at the kitchen table pretending her mother was not smirking at the other end while she sipped a cup of coffee. Max boldly descended the stairs, grunted at her for leaving him to sleep all alone and then said he'd be back in ninety minutes to go on their hike.

He then passed her the phone she left on her nightstand and smirked telling her Douglas had called and he'd answered it. "Call him back and I'll smack your ass," he'd said before kissing the top of her head and Everly's cheek and wishing her a good morning. He winked as he bounded out the front door as if it was natural for him to be there first thing in the morning.

"You let him sleep up there?" Everly hissed with wide eyes. "Really?"

"They were both there, Mom. Ollie was there and so was Max. You started it by telling Bobbie I was crying. She gave them all scoldings this week and then told them I was heartbroken, and they needed me because you told her you were worried, I was going take Doug back." She met her mother's gaze straight on, "I won't by the way. Anyway, they climbed the damn drainpipe and somersaulted into my bedroom like a pair of circus performers."

"You didn't kick them out? You were pretty pissed at them all week."

"They are going to therapy. They want to fix our friendships."

"You agreed?"

"Yes, mostly for Ollie's sake." She knew she was lying through her teeth. She forced the thought of how she'd left Max when she'd wriggled out from under him and took the coldest shower of her life.

"You gave in pretty quick."

"Meh, they brought a bottle of the bourbon Olivier gets. Getting wasted on expensive liquor felt like a clever way to end my work week."

"And having Max Villeneuve waking up in your bed on a Saturday morning is a good way to start a weekend?" "Mom!"

"Oh, come on, Lark. It's me. I know you better than anyone. He's your wet dream. You refused to speak to him for nearly twelve years because he makes your mind putty and your resolve weak. You knew back then if you didn't cut him out of your life you were going to wind up a spinster with cats pining after a man you believed never wanted you. Those were your exact words when you begged me to take you to look at colleges in an entirely different state! Now, explain to me again, how it is, Max Villeneuve, wound up sleeping in your bed all alone with you this morning when Ŏllie was not there." "She was there! She is on a breakfast date. I assumed they would both leave at the same time. He didn't."

"Did you cop a feel?" She wriggled her eyebrows playfully.

"Mom!" she gulped her coffee quickly and pushed away from the table.

"Sit back down Lark." Her mother's tone was laughing.

"I am not answering your question." She slowly lowered back to the chair.

"So, you did?"

"No, I did not!"

Her mother grinned broadly when she answered after saying she wouldn't. "Why not? If I was in bed with my crush and he was built like Max Villeneuve, I'd have copped a feel."

"You changed that boy's diapers," Grady made a face of disgust as he entered the kitchen hearing the tail end of the conversation, "and I pray to god I never hear those words from my wife again."

"Come on, Grady. Help me out here. If you were in bed with your childhood crush and she was still a solid ten, you're saying, you wouldn't touch her?"

"I'm definitely saying that!" he grimaced at the duo and poured himself a cup of coffee. "I would never touch a woman without express consent. I still ask you after how many years of marriage before we have s*x if you're okay with it. Do you really think I'd cop a feel on a sleeping woman?"

"Okay, if you knew there would be no repercussions and she definitely wanted it?" Everly clarified her question.

"My childhood crush was a single mom who lived on our street. She sported the biggest boobs I ever saw on a woman, and she would always collect her mail in her bikini. If she still looked like she did in my youthful imagination, she wanted it, and I was not getting in trouble?" He chuckled as Everly raised an eyebrow, "I'd do far more than cop a feel."

"You are both sick," Lark shook her head at her parents, fighting her giggle as her dad kissed her mom's cheek before plunking down between them.

"For the record, Max is hot but not my childhood crush so I would never even think of such things, let alone find myself in bed with him," Everly shrugged, "but if it was Scotty Freeman from middle school with the big cleft in his chin and the way he filled out his speedos at swim camp," Everly nodded, "I'd have been checking to see if he stuffed his shorts like the boys all accused him in eighth grade."

"I cannot believe I am in the middle of this conversation."

"How stuffed was stuffed?" Grady questioned sipping his coffee, his bright eyes full of mischief.

"Ooh, let me find my yearbook from middle school. There was a photo of him at a swim meet. Guy was hung like an elephant. I'm certain of it."

"We should google him and see if he still swims. I'm curious now."

"Dad!" Lark dropped her head to the table and wondered when this conversation got so off-track.

"So did you check Max out when he was in your bed?" Grady grinned and nudged her.

She shook her head, "what is wrong with you?"

"I know he told his father this week he always felt guilty because he always assumed you looked at him like a brother. He thought you were supposed to be his kid sister and he dreamed so many fantasies about you, he felt like a pervert. He said he thought he was supposed to feel about you like he did Ollie, Mori, or Margot and instead he didn't, and it made him feel like he was a creeper. He said if he'd had even an inkling you found him attractive as a kid, he'd have put a ring on it before high school was even out." "He did not," her mouth was agape staring at her father.

"Yeah," Grady was smirking wide, "he told him he was given a second chance at getting the girl and he wasn't messing it up. He said he was going to give you space to get over Douglas the Douche Canoe, which we all agree is our favorite name for him, and then he's making his play."

"It's too late, Dad." She shook her head ignoring the way her parents' smiles fell off their faces. "Ollie was crying last night when we got drunk about how much she missed us all being together and for her sake, I agreed to try being friends with Max again and I will. However, I can't do anything more with him than friendship. It broke me last time Dad. Broke me. My heart was shattered when he opted to go f**k a cheerleader in a bathroom instead of meeting me on the rooftop when I said I there was something important to tell him. I will never, not in a million years, give him license to hurt me like this again. I can't." Her parents stared at her sadly and then her father spoke softly.

"And what if, in guarding your heart this way, you miss out on an incredible experience?"

"Or" she corrected him, "what if I'm saving myself incredible heartache. We all know Max Villeneuve can't be monogamous. He is the ultimate in man-w***e. The tabloids have a field day with the number of women who have spilled the beans on their intimate relations. His own brother accused him of being a s*x addict. I would give into Max, have s*x, maybe the best s*x of my entire life and then my heart would inevitably get broken when he realizes, just like Douglas did, he can't be saddled with f*****g the same woman every day for the rest of his life. God, he's already demonstrated it time and time again he can't commit. He is the last one on the planet I would expect capable of commitment, so I won't be going down the road of chasing those dreams of Max Villeneuve as my life partner anytime soon."

"He's not the same as Douglas," Everly gave her a knowing glance. "I know Douglas said he panicked over hitting the same piece of ass forever, but he and Max aren't the same."

"You're right. Max is worse. Unlike Douglas who was able to stay faithful to one woman for three years, Max wouldn't last a month. Douglas would use the excuse of panicking, but Max would simply call it research for new product and I'll be on my floor crying while he's getting his d**k wet in his next conquest. No thank you."

"Do you really think he'd treat you so badly?"

"Not intentionally but he's been f*****g around with a different woman every other week since puberty. Let's just say, I'm quite confident the leopard he has become has spots which are so deeply engrained in his fur, even if you shaved him, they're inked into his skin."

"Lark," Everly drawled her daughter's name out.

"Save it Mom. I'm not wrong. I will try again and be his friend but I'm not doing more than this. I can't." Grady rose from his seat and kissed the top of her head, "you're a stubborn one, Lark. Reminds me of your mother. I know you missed him as your friend, so I hope this, at the very least, gets your friend back." "Me too. I only hope I'm not making another huge mistake."

The trio sat quietly sipping their coffee while she considered what she instigated in agreeing to this trial. Suddenly her hangover felt far worse than it was.