Accident Prone

Max joined Nathan at the bar.

"Done?", Max asked.

Nathan's eyebrow arched. "Are you doubting me? Any more tasks? Or am I free for the evening?"

Max chuckled. Why is his father asking for permission? That is new. "No more tasks."

"Foxy left about half an hour ago.", Nathan informed Max.

"I saw her leaving."

Nathan didn't miss that Andrea initiated a conversation with Max two times. "Why is Halek girl approaching you? Is she angry that we decided to work with their competitors on our last two projects?"

"I don't know why she is approaching me. Other than asking about me and Liz, she didn't say anything else.", Max honestly responded and added to brighten up the mood: "I guess she has nothing better to do."

Nathan sighed. "She is not a regular scheming girl. Be careful."

"I know.", Max responded.

Just like any other major company, Alpha has a number of departments which are dealing with business in the gray area, and so far they collaborated with Novabank for making their money trail clean. However, due to a dispute between the CEO of Novabank and Nathan, Nathan decided for their last two big projects to work with Finch investments, a competitor of Novabank and that caused some friction between them.

…

In the lounge room where the model of the Franciscan Medical Center is displayed…

Liz is talking with four men who are interested to find out more about the hospital, neurosurgery, and what the hospital will do with their donation (if they decide to donate).

Liz is tired and her mouth is dry, despite the wine glass she is holding in her hand. She is talking so much that she is barely finding the breather to take a sip of her beverage.

It's almost two hours how Liz left Max's side, and she wants to go back to him at least for a little bit, but people are taking turns endlessly and she can't find the right opportunity to disengage.

Liz told herself to keep talking because chairman Lee is watching her, and it can't be much longer. The event will be done in one hour. Then she can stop talking and she can join Max and the two of them will go home and he promised to stick to her until Monday morning. She looks forward to it.

One more hour to go. Liz does not remember the last time she was looking forward to her free time. With Max.

Images of her and Max flashed from the morning on Max's boat, when he said that they should spend half an hour in the bed. She thought that he is joking or crazy. Who wastes so much time lazing in the bed? But now she realizes that half an hour is not enough.

Liz was relieved when three men thanked her, collected flyers with the information on how to donate and left.

"Do you have any other questions?", Liz asked the last man who is standing by her side.

He glanced around before leaning closer and talking only for Liz to hear: "I have a room upstairs. Are you interested in talking about my donation in private?"

Liz's brows furrowed. The event is almost done and now she bumped into a creep. Just her luck.

The man is in his late fifties, about the same height as Liz, with a small belly. He is not attractive, but not an ugly one either. With his money and looks, Liz is sure that he can find himself a woman. Is there a need to be despicable?

"Mister Hoyt, if you have anything that should be discussed in private, please talk to chairman Lee. I'm sure that he would be willing to arrange a meeting and answer any questions you might have.", Liz responded with a professional smile while handing him chairman Lee's business card from the table.

Mr. Hoyt glanced at the card. "Dr. Williams, this is an offer I am willing to extend only for you."

Liz shook her head in disbelief. "Should I be honored?"

"Many women would be."

"Then, I suggest you go and find one of those women.", Liz said dryly.

Mr. Hoyt was smirked. "You would not cause a scene here, would you? It's a fundraiser with many influential people present. And you are just a doctor. Do you want to offend me and dissuade me from donating to your hospital?"

Liz was irritated. "Would YOU like to cause a scene with all these influential people present? I can just slap you right now and scream that you groped me."

"You would not dare."

Liz sneered. "Try me."

Max cleared his throat from the side, to announce his presence. "Is everything alright?"

Liz felt relief at the sound of Max's voice, but at the same time, she was tense as well. She does not want Max to cause a scene. There is a number of reporters mixed in with the guests and the morning paper with a headline that Max was involved in a squabble at a fundraiser, does not sound good.

Liz narrowed her eyes at the man in front of her. "Yes. Mr. Hoyt was just about to take chairman Lee's business card and to leave. Right?"

Mr. Hoyt glanced at Max and pursed his lips, unable to hide his dissatisfaction. Max showing up is something he didn't plan. But now that he has a witness, he can't act out of line. Especially because the witness is the one from the Alpha group.

He took the business card which Liz offered and forced a smile. "Nice talking to you."

"I'm sure it was.", Liz responded mockingly.

"Mr. Hoyt…", Max called when the man was about to turn away. "How is your tree-planting business going?"

"Good." Mr. Hoyt responded on a reflex and paused when he realized that Max is talking about his nurseries.

Mr. Hoyt owns several massive nurseries in the Washington state which provide plants to anyone from individual buyers to companies. About five years ago he made a deal with the city of Seattle for his nurseries to supply public parks and green surfaces and that deal alone earned him tens of millions of dollars in profits and also exposed him to many other influential people. People like Nathan Anderson.

Max nodded stiffly. "Let's hope it stays that way. You don't want your employees to lose jobs and all those plants to wither away because their boss reached for something he shouldn't have."

Mr. Hoyt swallowed hard. "Of course, not. If you excuse me…"

Max and Liz watched Mr. Hoyt's departing back with matching frowns.

"There is a free sofa. It's calling to us.", Max told Liz when Mr. Hoyt left the lounge area. "I got you this…"

Liz saw that he is offering her a wine glass.

Liz smiled. He knows what she wants. "Thanks."

They sat on the sofa and Liz exhaled.

"Tired?"

Liz confirmed. "Mentally. I can't wait for this to be over."

Max wanted to pull Liz into his hug and to give her at least a few kisses, but he held those urges back. "It's almost over. Do you want me to take care of that man? I can take care of him and his business. By Tuesday evening there will be nothing left."

Liz knows that Max is talking about Mr. Hoyt. And she also knows that those are not empty words. She rejected his offer. "He will not come back. I only hope that I don't need to deal with any more creeps tonight."

Max saw that Mr. Hoyt made his move on Liz and Max would not be polite if this is not an event organized by Elizabeth's hospital. Liz does not want to deal with Mr. Hoyt anymore and she hopes not to see him again, but if that despicable man thinks that he got out of this so easily, he is gravely mistaken. However, Max does not want to talk about Mr. Hoyt either.

Max met Liz's gaze and both of them smiled.

"You are mine for the rest of the evening.", Max announced. "I'm watching you talk with all these geezers for an awfully long time. Now it's my turn. I am a donor also and I will use that fact to keep you by my side. Let's see who dares to try disturbing us."

"I have no objections." Liz took a sip of the wine and sank in the sofa. A glass of wine on a Saturday evening in Max's company, it can get better only if all of these people disappear somehow.

Liz leaned her head on the backrest and closed her eyes.

"Taking a break?", Rhonda's question made Liz open her eyes.

Liz made a face. "Max is from the Alpha group, so technically, I am spending the time with a donor. How is that taking a break?"

Rhonda stifled a laugh. "Whatever you say. I saw you talk with a lot of people and I can tell you that you left a great impression. No one should complain about you taking it easy for the rest of the event. I will not disturb you, I only wanted to say 'hi'."

Max and Rhonda exchanged greetings.

Liz observed Max and Rhonda shake hands and smile while chatting in a good atmosphere and she remembered: "Did you meet Foxy?"

Rhonda's confused expression answered Liz's question and she explained: "Nicole Foxwell. She is Max's secretary and somehow I have a feeling that the two of you will get along great."

"Foxy left for the night.", Max informed them.

Liz's face fell. "I'm sorry about that."

"Don't worry.", Rhonda pacified Liz. "As long as the two of you lovebirds are getting along well, I'm sure there will be more chances."

Rhonda giggled, waved, and walked away. 'Ah, young love…'

"Why do you think that Rhonda and Foxy will get along well?", Max asked.

"You don't?", Liz returned the question.

Max shrugged. "I didn't think about it..."

"Well, think about it now and answer me.", Liz demanded. "We have time. It's not like we can do anything other than thinking and talking..."

Max laughed. "You would like to do more than talk?"

Liz gave Max a side-glance. "You know I would."

Max licked his lips slowly and smiled. He would like to do more than talking as well.

---

If you are not reading this at 'W e b n o v e l . c o m', then the content you're reading is stolen! Please support the author by reading this novel from the original source.