Chapter 4 - Game on!

Max made sure that she stayed as far away from Alec as was transgenically possible whilst still in the same room. She sat at an empty table on the other side of the room and kept her head down and her eyes averted as she tried to get her mind around what had just happened, and how she was going to shut Alec down. Although she didn't want to believe it she had heard what Alec had said, and she believed him. He wasn't about to let this one slide. He was going to pursue this to its conclusion.

As she absently pushed her reconstituted mashed potato around her plate Max realised she was right back where she started – engage or retreat. And as she tossed both options round and around in her head neither appealed.

"Hey Lil' Fella, why you sitting alone?" the dogman asked as he stood in front of her table holding a plate of food.

"Just needed some space to think, Big Fella," Max sighed

"Joshua can sit somewhere else?" he said, cocking his head to the side innocently.

"No, it's okay, take a seat Big Fella. I could use the distraction."

"What Lil' Fella need distraction from?"

"Nothing. Everything," she replied non-specifically. "So what have you been up to today?" She was in need of a change in subject.

Joshua launched into a detailed account of the apartments he had been helping to fix up, giving Max the opportunity to only partially listen while she continued to try and solve her dilemma.

"Lil' Fella?"

"Hey, Lil' Fella?"

"Huh? What was that Josh?" Max asked, feeling a little ashamed that she had been caught not listening to her friend.

"Max not listening. Something not right."

"No, everything's fine Josh. I've just got a lot on my mind that's all," she replied as she returned to pushing her food around her plate.

"Max not like food?"

"Just not hungry," she said as she tossed her fork onto the plate and pushed it across the table with distaste. As soon as her hands left the plate the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and she felt a hot penetrating gaze settle on her, almost as though a hot summer breeze was being focussed on her. Instinctively she looked in its direction, her eyes clashing with a pair of challenging hazel ones.

Alec was staring intently at her, ignoring everything else going on around him at the table. He slowly arched a questioning eyebrow at her, his eyes drifting to her abandoned plate and then back to her face, the challenge evident.

Max's eyes darted involuntarily between Alec and her discarded plate, and a guilty expression momentarily flashed across her face before she replaced it with a blank disinterested mask. She quickly ended her conversation with Joshua before getting up, scraping the remainder of her dinner into the trash and striding out the door and back to the safety of her office, not once looking back at him.

Alec watched Max's retreating back and a small devious smile spread across his face. He really wasn't surprised by Max's reaction - actually he had counted on it. It just wasn't in Max's nature to back down from a direct challenge. But now he had seen the affect he could have on her, and the way just a look from him could off-balance her, Alec wasn't disappointed with her resistance - he was going to have some fun with this. A thrill raced down his spine as he realised what this now meant for them both. It was game on!