The Billionaire Playboy's Regret (Lark and Max)

Max placed a slow lingering kiss on Lark's lips.

She pushed his chest, "Max, go before Ollie starts filming and sending it off to our parents to take the heat off of her." She looked over her shoulder into the coffee shop where Ollie, Fallon, Mori, and Gracie were waiting for her. They'd agreed to meet here for coffee and to share stories, but Max was having a tough time letting Lark out of his arms.

"I miss you already." He rubbed his nose against hers, "lets go back to the hotel room."

"Max, I'm walking crooked. No." She ignored the way Ollie was banging on the window like a monkey in a glass enclosure making crude gestures. Max's body was growing ever firmer against her belly. Her eyes widened at his smirk.

"I can't stop thinking of how sexy you were on your knees for me last night."

"Get out of here!" She shoved him laughing now as she evaded his grasp and jumped backwards.

"Fine but only because I promised Johan to meet him to go over some work stuff."""

"I'll see you later." When he reached for her begging for one last kiss she nearly ran to the door.

He catcalled her as she turned away from him to pull the door open and walked into the coffee shop. She noted Riggs, Henri and five other security agents also in the coffee shop and she frowned. It seemed a lot of security for four five

women.

"I ordered your coffee already!" Fallon called out and waved her over.

She slid into the bench seat next to Ollie who was smirking.

"You're walking funny." Ollie laughed, "almost as funny as Gracie when she hobbled in here."

Gracie turned bright red as Fallon and Mori roared with laughter and Lark pinched Ollie. "Be nice. Talk all

the smack you want but there's a reason you came in here first and it has everything to do with the fact you didn't want us to see how you're walking today."

"Are you kidding? I almost asked Riggs and the guys to carry me in. I spent twenty minutes in the jacuzzi soaking my lady bits. Santiago made up for lost time."

Mori made a face "It's funny when it's not my sister's v****a we are talking about."

"Speak for yourself," Fallon leaned forward excitedly. "I want to know if Max lived up to the hype. Spill it, Lark."

"I don't want to know," Mori gagged. "He's my big brother." She covered her ears laughing.

"How big is her brother?" Fallon made wide eyes before leaning into Gracie, "I really don't want to know but it's making Mori nuts."

Lark laughed at Fallon. "I won't speak to size because it's rude because I don't want any of your experiences to pale in comparison," the girls all hooted with laughter, "but I will say, the man is a beast and despite getting an hour-long massage from him, I am still aching. My back is killing me. My hips feel like they were yanked out of joint, and I swear on everything I own, even my fingers hurt by the time dawn rolled around."

"Dawn?" Ollie gasped. "He kept you up until dawn?"

"He let me sleep in like one-hour increments." Lark stretched. "Said he was making up for eighteen years he missed out on."

"He does know you'll be together for the rest of your lives, right?" Fallon asked curiously. "You don't have to do it all at once.

"I think Max is terrified she's going to leave him again and he's taking as much of her as he can." Ollie gave her two cents worth.

"Where could I go, he wouldn't come chasing after me?" Lark snorted. "Besides, I'm relatively certain his intention was more to ruin me for any other man than to get it all over with in one night."

"This is gross," Mori rolled her eyes, "I'd rather talk about Gracie and Johan. Please tell me you hooked up with him. He's hot. I used to crush so hard on him.'

"Not anymore?" Gracie asked as she wrapped her hands around a coffee mug.

"Nope. He's too corporate. My tastes in men have evolved. I like earthy men who want to save the planet one krill at a time. Johan is too much of a suit for my liking."

"You really should have the guys set her up with Seb from the paintball place." Lark threw out carelessly before sipping her coffee.

"Who is Seb?" Mori turned to Ollie.

"A friend of Max and Johan's," Lark explained. "We met him last weekend when we did paintball. Johan was telling me he drinks his own urine."

"He does what?" Gracie appeared horrified.

"Yeah, he filters his own piss, and he eats bugs." Ollie tossed in. "Uncle Timon apparently told Dad if Max and Johan ever brought the fucker back with them on a trip, he'd shoot them and leave them to rot in the bayou."

Mori was bouncing in her seat, "do you have a pic?"

"No and you can't meet him. I'm not having a freaky guy eating bugs at Thanksgiving dinner, Mori." Ollie grunted as she flopped back in her seat.

"Why not? He sounds amazing."

"He's hot." Lark grinned as she scrolled through her phone to find the website for the paintball center. She passed her phone to Mori when she found it. "You guys should all go play a round. It was fun. We had a ball. I shot Max right in the ass."

"I am definitely going to set this up. I want to meet him." Mori was staring excitedly at Lark's phone. "He's a bit older but I bet he's really experienced."

"You played paintball?" Gracie was curious.

"I didn't get a single shot in," Ollie frowned. "I fired but missed my mark so many times. Johan got me good."

"You and Johan were on opposing teams?" Gracie asked Ollie. She looked at Lark curiously.

"Yes. Lark and Johan were a team. They were working out some residual anger from high school. Max

and I put them through hell, but we there was also a lot of fun when we were kids." Ollie leered at Gracie, "Speaking of fun, did you seal the deal with Johan? You avoided Mori's question."

"Um, I'm not really comfortable telling a stranger what happened."

"We're not strangers," Ollie pressed her. "I'm another sister for you."

"Right," Gracie swallowed nervously. "The DNA came back this morning and confirmed Grady is my biological father." She tried to change the subject.

"Meh, we already knew you were," Mori laughed. "You and Lark a few chromosomes off of twins." Lark and Gracie exchanged a smile.

"I know we're a lot, Gracie but I will tell you this," she squeezed her hand on the tabletop, "there isn't a group of people on the planet who will be more loyal or trustworthy for you. Enjoy this chapter for free and stay updated with the latest version on Jobnib.com. Don't miss out, visit it now. If you ever need anything, there isn't a Hoffman or Villeneuve alive who wouldn't be right there for you."

"She's right," Mori nodded vigorously. "You're Fallon's sister and so it makes you my big sister by default. You're closer to Ollie and Lark's age but it doesn't mean anything. You're still part of our family too." "Can I ask something?" Gracie questioned seriously. "Do you ever just do normal things? Like things which aren't over the top and loud and out of control? Like the stuff normal people do?"

"God, yes," Ollie laughed at Gracie's question. "You happened to join us at a time when chaos is reigning supreme. Three weeks ago, Lark and I spent almost an entire evening laying in a hammock staring at the stars. Another night we slept over in Lark's bedroom and vented on each other. I work ten-to-twelve-hour days six or seven days a week as does Max. We have family dinner almost every week with Mom. Lark works in her dad's law office. We're really, most of the time, normal people. The craziness is sporadic." "Really?" Gracie seemed intrigued.

"We grew up in a gated community, but our houses were not mansions by any stretch. My Grandpa Gael," Ollie continued, " has a huge mansion here in Houston. It's massive. You could get lost trying to find a toilet. We didn't have that. My mom raised us on her own as a single mom until we were eight. Dad moved into our house with us. We renovated over the years and stuff, but we've always shared a back yard with the Hoffmans. We connected our treehouses over the fence. We went to private school, but it wasn't a school where it was all billionaire's kids. It was more the kids of doctors and lawyers and such. We rode bikes on our cul-de-sac and played sports in the community. Our lives were pretty normal. Max was in boy scouts until he was fifteen, I think. Johan too."

"It sounds really nice," Gracie whispered. "We lived in a nice neighborhood. I went to public school and my dad worked a lot of hours trying to give me everything he could, but it was pretty lonely. I was always trying to make friends but I'm a really bad judge of character."

"How do you mean?"

"I tend to date cheaters and every best friend I've made, has either tried to sleep with my dad or my boyfriend."

"Wait!" Lark held up her hand in disgust, "your friends try to sleep with your dad?"

Fallon made a gagging noise as Mori was gripping the table as if in horror.

"My best friend in community college." She sighed, "my dad is good looking. I mean, it's what everyone says. I don't see it but whatever. Anyway, when I started college, I was pretty sad because I'd lost my best friend and high school boyfriend because they hooked up on prom night. I met this girl who I thought was really nice. She would come over and we would study together, and dad would barbeque for us or make us iced tea. Then she started showing up when I wasn't there. Like once I told her I was going to a doctor's appointment, and she went to the house and was chatting with Dad when I got back. Things like that. Dad eventually let her down easy, but she went haywire, and he needed to file a restraining order. She broke into his office and trashed it because he rejected her. She slashed my car tires. I stopped trying to make new friends after that. It's a lot of work."

"What you're saying then," Mori pointed her finger, "is you haven't experienced any healthy female relationships in your life?

11

"Not really, no."

"Well, I don't know how healthy our relationships are, but we can promise you this," Ollie said seriously, "we will have your back, Gracie."

"I think it would be really nice to have friends I can trust."

"We are happy to oblige," Lark smiled at her.

"Now, we're friends though," Mori wiggled her eyebrows, "and not strangers. What happened with Johan?"

As they all erupted with laughter, Lark felt lighter than she did in a long time. Life didn't get better than

this.