Chapter 16

Thanks for the reviews on the last few chapters! I just wanted to report that I heard that Max is dating model/actress Noot Seear in real life. I had to laugh at this because after a little research, I found out that she's Canadian, is possibly going to be in the new Twilight movies (blech- sorry I hate vampire stuff) and that's about it. But seriously, the name Noot? If someone could explain the name to me, that would be fabulous. I am all for the guys being happy and finding lovely ladies but I can't help but giggle a little bit at her name. I would love to know how to pronounce it or whether or not it has cultural significance or something. I don't want to be close minded but the name just amuses me. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter, I needed a little bit of a filler to direct the story where it's going next. It's probably not my best but meh, I needed this chapter for the future.

Max's POV:


"Have we moved yet?" I heard Lizzy mumble into my shoulder. It was almost 10am now and I knew that we should get moving soon. At least practice had been optional this morning because I was already a half hour late if I remembered to go. I had never felt this drained before even after last year's playoff series.

"Max? I can't feel my leg" she muttered still pinned beneath me where I realized my torso was probably crushing her entire right leg.

"Why is it that I find myself sleeping in late when I'm with you?" she groaned when she saw the clock.

"Technically we weren't sleeping much" I said grinning and watching her search for her underwear and t-shirt that had been lost along the way in the sheets. She swatted me on the shoulder for my comment and ignored my attempts to get her back into bed with me.

"Is Mrs. Rollins around? I don't want her to see me dressed like this" she said blushing and gesturing to herself. I certainly didn't mind her like this but I knew that she would be embarrassed to be caught.

"I don't think so, want me to go first and check?"

"Would you mind?" she asked looking at me gratefully. "I'll be down in a few minutes" she called after me walking into the bathroom. I admired the sight of her in my room half-naked before I heard my phone buzzing on the counter and saw that my Mom was calling.

"Maxime!" she greeted as soon as I answered the call. I was thankful that we could speak in French and Eliza wouldn't understand. I went downstairs to check and make sure that we were alone before giving Lizzy a thumbs up as we passed each other on the stairs.

My Mom never paused and continued to talk my ears off telling me the latest news about family members. She also told me that my brother's wife was pregnant and that the family would be gathering in a month for a quick weekend at home to celebrate. They had planned it so that the Penguins would be playing in Montreal that Friday night anyway and I could stay then fly back out on Sunday to head out on the road again with the team on Monday. She was still chattering about how excited everyone was and how my sister-in-law's morning sickness was coming along when I interrupted her.

"Mom, is it okay if I bring someone with me?" She trailed off what she was saying before going completely silent. "Mom? Are you still there?" Maybe the line had gone dead?

"You want to bring someone home? Is it the woman Debbie has told me about??" she asked sounding so excited that it made me nervous. Maybe this was a bad idea. Of course Mrs. Rollins would tell my Mom about her- they talked weekly and had become good friends despite the distance.

"Uh, her name's Eliza, or Lizzy for short" I said trying to make sure she was still downstairs and didn't just hear her name mixed in with the french.

"Oh Maxime! I'm so excited to meet her! Debbie told me how nice she is and helpful and smart" she emphasized no doubt letting me know I needed someone smart around me.

"Don't get ahead of yourself Mom. I just really like her and want her to meet my family but she's cautious about moving too fast so I don't want to scare her. I don't even know if she'll agree to come" I told her realizing how little time I had to convince Lizzy to come with me. Plus I didn't even know if it would fit in with her schedule.

"Well don't push her honey. Just make sure she knows how nice we are." I laughed at this and rolled my eyes. Yes, my family was amazing and nice but they were also pushy, loud and confusing with someone always talking over someone else or butting into conversations. I knew Lizzy came from a big family too but my family wasn't exactly subtle and my Mom would no doubt start hinting all kinds of crazy ideas to her before the weekend was over. I had to prepare her if by some miracle she did agree to go. For some reason it was really important that she meet my family and that she liked them and vice versa.

I chatted some more with my Mom and briefly said hello to my Dad before hanging up. Downstairs Lizzy was busy scrambling eggs by the stove. Did she ever eat anything else besides eggs? I had seen her make them for dinner multiple times too.

"I heard you on the phone so I decided to go ahead and make breakfast- could you get the toast?" she smiled and gestured to the toaster. She was far more tasty than toast and I walked up behind her to plant a kiss on her neck and say a proper good morning to her- one that involved me not crushing her legs with my body.

"Ugh. Don't- I think we both smell but I was too hungry to shower first" she said trying to shake me off. Actually she smelled like a combination of me and her perfume but I kept silent and popped the toast out of the toaster and buttered both pieces.

"What are you doing today?" I asked as she scooped the eggs out onto plates and poured us both coffee.

"Nothing, aren't you leaving for a road trip tonight?"


"Yeah, trying to get rid of me already?" I teased. Her eyes rolled playfully and she kicked me under the table.

"After we've just decided that we're dating? I don't think so" I understood that that was her way of telling me that she would miss me and grinned entwining her legs with mine under the table.

"Well you're not getting rid of me until 5 so I was thinking that we could go do something today instead of staying in like we always do."

She seemed to like this idea suggesting that we head over to the mall and browse around.

"My Mom's birthday is coming up so you could help me find something for her" she smiled knowing that I liked to shop anyway and wouldn't protest.

As we finished up breakfast and loaded the dishwasher, she suddenly turned to trail a hand up my chest and play with my necklace grinning slyly. "You know, we both need to shower before we head out.." I almost choked on my own spit and felt my body go painfully hard before grabbing her hand and pulling her upstairs while she laughed hysterically behind me.


Eliza's POV:


Surprisingly I didn't mind sharing a bathroom with someone else. Even though I was organized and liked my space, Max's bathroom was more than big enough for the two of us and I was thankful that I had thought to bring my makeup and a nicer change of clothes compared to the t-shirt or lack thereof that I had been wearing last night.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked walking into the bathroom from his closet dressed in sweats and a Steelers sweatshirt ready to go.

"Almost" I said capping the tube of mascara and tugging my old Georgetown Law sweatshirt over my head. I turned away from the mirror to find him leaning against the counter and staring at me. "What?"

He smiled slowly saying "nothing" but his eyes were still focused on me making me feel uncomfortable. What else is new. It wasn't an analyzing look or even a bad look, it was something else. Something I couldn't identify right now.

"Do I have something on me?" I asked trying to check for toothpaste stains on my black yoga pants.

He could tell that I really was bothered by it and reached over to place both of his large hands on my hips to pull me closer to him. He held me close bringing us torso to torso with his eyes still on mine. Our lips were close enough to touch but he was still just staring at me not making a move his hands shifting along my lower back lightly. I noticed for the first time that his eyes had flecks of gold in them and were glinting in the sunlight as we studied each other. I leaned forward to close the distance between us and he instantly responded, deepening the kiss while our eyes remained locked on one anothers. Whoa. Where did that just come from?

"So I guess that means no toothpaste stains, right?" I asked once we had broken apart.

"You look perfect" he told me pecking me on the lips once more. I raised my eyebrows in surprise at the word 'perfect' and pinched the non-existent fat on his side.

"You're only saying that because you got laid last night" I told him teasingly.

"You're probably right" he told me laughing and running ahead of me down the stairs. I guess we weren't going to talk about what had just happened.

At the mall, shopping with Max meant multiple drink stops and going into every store that we passed. I was used to shopping by myself and going directly to the stores that I needed things from- not wandering hand in hand with someone into random stores that I knew neither of us needed things from.

"Why are we going into this store?" I asked thinking that clearly, he would understand that a baby store was unnecessary.

"Oh, my brother and sister-in-law are having a baby. My Mom called this morning to tell me" he told me shifting through a rack of onesies.
"Aw, congratulations Uncle" I told him smiling while I studied an adorable pair of bear shaped booties. I could tell that he really was excited and he joked that there would be a new Talbot in the world to continue the line of heartbreakers. In the end after we had bickered over what was gender neutral since he didn't know the sex of the baby yet, he decided on a yellow onesie that coincidentally, had a baby penguin on it.

"It's perfect!" I gushed as we left the store hand in hand. "Do you think we could go find my Mom a gift now? Maybe you're a lucky shopping charm or something."

Apparently though, we couldn't just shop without arguing over something. Even though it was kind of fun.

"Seriously? That looks like such an old lady outfit. You need to tell your Mom that she is still a beautiful woman. Especially on her birthday" he said in amusement pushing my hand away from the sweater sets I had been shifting through.

"But she likes these!" I told him referring to the sweater sets. Before he could say anything else, a group of guys walked up to Max and asked him for an autograph momentarily distracting him from our argument.

"Who's she?" one of the guys asked pointing to me still lingering nearby. I froze not knowing what to say. They had seen us talking together so it's not like I could have pretended not to know them at all.

"She's my lawyer" Max told them expertly getting past the awkwardness with some more pictures and his normal jokester behavior.

"Sorry" he told me once they had gone.

"It's okay, it's probably pretty cool to have fans approach you like that. What do you think about this color?"

"No, I meant about them asking who you were. I understand if it makes you uncomfortable since we've only just started dating" he said pushing the purple sweater I had held up down.

I wanted to tell him that it wasn't our new status that made me uncomfortable but the fact that he was famous in the NHL world and the attention from that alone made me feel uneasy. But how can you be in a relationship with Max without acceptance of some form of public attention? You can't. This is a guy who has dated models for god's sake. At least they wanted attention, I just wanted to get through a year without my Dad and be a good lawyer. And be with Max. Maybe I was just overreacting but the insecurity that had sprouted from the simple encounter was beginning to cloud the good time we had been having. Not to mention I still hadn't dissected what that moment in the bathroom had meant.

Instead I smiled at him reassuringly and looped my arm through his wandering to the jewelry section instead. "It's okay, I promise. Now if you don't like my sweater set idea, what do you think of jewelry?"

"I think you're the worst gift shopper I've ever met" he told me seriously as we left the women's section.