The Billionaire Professor (2015)
Chapter 15
Maxwell
I lay on the bed, Jazmin cuddled close. Both of us, at least for the moment, lost in our own thoughts. It had been a long day, if not so much physically, but emotionally. We got back to the penthouse about 6 pm. We weren’t satiated until well after midnight. We lay there for another half hour to forty five minutes just indulging our bodies with intimate feeling of being close.
It felt good just to lie there, not needing to make any conversation. It felt good just being and not having to perform either in bed or the classroom or even in public needing to live up to a self-imposed persona. Oh, what a trap I made for myself all those years ago.
The last person I expected to see at Christies was about the very first person I bumped into, Daphne. Ex-wives show up at the damnest times. They tend to zoom into the persons you least want them to. It’s never a good thing to get an ex-wife talking to a current partner. But, both of them walked away from that conversation alive—and neither of them started throwing punches. All in all, I would count that a friendly encounter.
I thought about it a moment and then decided I needed to clear the air with Jazmin about Daphne - and while I was at it I should probably mention my other three ex-wives. The only problem was I wasn’t quite sure how to broach the subject. I decided there was no easy way to slip it innocently after an evening of amazing sex.
Hungry? I asked Jazmin finally. “As I matter of fact, I think I am hungry.”
“I don’t want to leave the penthouse, though,” I told her, “and I really don’t want to ring room service. I do have some food in the fridge. I think maybe even a dozen eggs. Want to see what we have there?”
Jazmin
It’s amazing how hungry good sex makes you,” I ventured that observation to Max while he whisked the eggs for the omelet.
Abruptly, Maxwell brought up Daphne. “Wow. That’s a random thought,” I told him.
“Not really,” he said, “I saw you two talking and your encounter with her has been in the back of my mind all day. This is difficult for me to say but I really feel as if I need to tell you a few things.”
Max’s back was to me as he poured the egg mixture into the frying pan. All I could muster was an “Oh?” Not a very intelligent reply, but my brain seems to shut down every time I’m around Max.
The momentary silence was deafening as he finished dividing the egg and placing it in front of me. He sat down. For a moment I thought he had abandoned that train of thought.
“Jazmin, I’m not sure what you know of my background. But I have a few things I’d like to tell you about my personal life. I feel like it’s only fair to you. I don’t want you to think that the time we’ve been spending together has just been a romp in the park.”
He paused and took a deep breath. “I know I call what we do ‘play,’ but I must tell you I don’t view you as a ‘plaything.’ Far from it. In this short time we’ve been together, I’ve come to have deep feelings for you. I would like to get to know you - as a person.”
I couldn’t think of a response to that. I stared into his deep-set eyes. Poets always say you can tell a lot about a person’s soul by staring into their eyes. I got momentarily lost. They were beautiful, absolutely beautiful. In a flash, I knew what that meant. His soul was just as beautiful. The message from the universe? Trust him, Jazmin, trust him.
He must have read my face, because he finally continued. “The fact of the matter is that I love you. And despite our age difference and my, well, slightly unorthodox way of introducing myself and getting to know you, I hope you think of me as more than just a sex partner.”
I nodded. I couldn’t believe my ears. Daphne had told me this, but I wasn’t sure I could trust her. I thought it impossible for someone like Maxwell to be attracted to someone like me.
“In order for this to be a long-term relationship,” he said. “And I guess I’m assuming you would like it to be a long-term relationship as well.” He paused waiting for a reply.
“I would, but I can’t think of a single reason why you would be attracted to me,” I offered.
“Well, I’m giving you enough information about my past,” Max said, “that you can make a decision made on full disclosure of the course of my life. You’ve already met Daphne. I can’t imagine what she told you about me.”
I smiled. “Actually she spoke quite highly about you, Max.”
“In addition to Daphne, I have another three ex-wives walking about. Does that bother you?”
I suppose it probably would have upset most women and, indeed, I suppose it should have irritated me, but it really didn’t. I give Max a lot of credit.
He quickly named his ex-wives. I knew that I would never remember the names. I really wasn’t concerned about them right now. I kept replaying the portion of the conversation that talked about that long-term relationship. That just blew my mind.
Max continued to brief me on his past sexual behavior, basically his reputation as a lady’s man.
“A well-deserved reputation,” I said, mustering a small smile.
To make a long story short, by the end of the conversation and the end of the omelet, I knew where I stood in this man’s life. Apparently, it was front and center.
We retired back to the bedroom where he asked if it were okay if he flipped on the television. I looked around. “I don’t see a TV.” He pushed a remote control and a large panel on the wall in front of us slid open displaying the largest television I had ever seen. We both fell asleep watching some late night talk show.
When Max woke me, it was almost 7 am. “I hate to brush you aside darling,” he said softly, “but we both have to be someplace at 9 am. and we really shouldn’t show up together.”