121 Jackson meets Elizabeth

Jackson's eyes were locked on Elizabeth's and he licked his lower lip slowly. An evil grin appeared on his face as he made another step toward Liz. \"I am right… Regardless of what I do, you will not risk Max finding out and dumping you. Because no matter what you tell him, it's your word against mine. You are just a girlfriend he found recently, easily replaceable… and I am Sabrina's fiancé.\"

Liz observed Jackson with a blank expression as his confidence swelled with every word that came out of his mouth. She already concluded that he is a cheating scoundrel, so what he said didn't bother her. He will say any filthy thing as long as he gets what he wants. And it seems that he wants Liz to submit to his lecherous demands.

Liz was taken aback by his bold behavior. This is a public place. In the middle of the day. Sabrina and Max are just down the hallway, to the left, behind the doors. Did he lock the doors so that no one comes? Liz guessed that Jackson is confident how no one will come because there are no other patrons in the restaurant and the staff probably has separate restrooms.

Well, if he is this brazen and obviously making a move, there is no need to hold back.

In next second, Jackson was on the floor, holding onto his crotch.

\"You bitch!\", he squealed. \"You are pretending to be pure and innocent, but you are all the same… willing to do anything for money. I know you…\" He wanted to reach to Liz and strangle her or at least hit her few times, but his family jewels received the full strength of her kick and the pain was nauseating. Other than screaming insults, the only thing he could do is curl up, but no position lessened the agony he is in.

\"You are right.\", Liz squeezed through her teeth. \"I didn't say anything about your outrageous behavior because I don't want to hurt Sabrina. And I didn't say anything to Max because I don't want to upset him when he finds out that his sister is engaged to a lecherous man.\"

Liz stepped closer to Jackson and kicked him above waist, making him turn on his stomach. She removed the flip-flop from her right foot and stepped on his lower back.

Jackson tried getting up, but he shrieked under the excruciating sharp pain when Elizabeth's heel pressed on his spine.

Liz sneered. \"Me keeping quiet does not mean that I am weak and defenseless, ready for you to prey on. If and when I will tell them it is up to me, and it has nothing to do with you. You say you know me? Then you should know that I am a doctor who can fix you but also make you paralyzed without leaving any evidence behind. Come close to me again and I will make you unable to have a hard on.\"

Liz pressed her foot harder, making his mouth open wide in a silent scream.

Liz leaned slightly to see his face and asked in an icy voice: \"Do you understand?\"

Jackson was unable to form a word. He nodded weakly.

Liz slowly retracted her foot before putting her flip-flop back on. \"As I said, I want to return to the table. If you excuse me…\"

Liz was shaken up by this incident, but she has no intention to show it to someone like Jackson.

Liz does not have much stamina or strength, but she took plenty of self-defense courses and that combined with her detailed knowledge of human anatomy is a deadly combination.

It's not the first time that Liz physically hurt a man who thinks that he can do with her whatever he wants only because she is a girl, but no matter how many times she does it, it does not get any easier. Her nature is to get along with people (or to ignore them) and clashing with someone head on like this is uncomfortable.

Liz took a turn to the left, to return to the dining area and stopped in her tracks. \"Max?\"

Max was standing in the hallway and observing Liz. \"You took a while and I thought of checking if you are OK.\"

\"Yeah. I'm fine. Thank you.\", Liz responded while avoiding his gaze. She knows that he can read her, but she is not ready to talk about this without making it blow up. And unless Max actually saw what happened, at most he can see that she is uneasy.

Max touched her chin, making her to look up at him and Liz was unable to read his expression when he responded: \"Good. Since you are fine, you can go to the table I will head to the restroom as I am already here.\"

Max lifted his leg to move and at the same time Liz grabbed his hand, holding him back.

\"Uhm… the men's restroom has a sign that it's being cleaned. You can go in few minutes.\"

\"OK.\", Max said after two long seconds.

Liz was wondering, how long was Max there? Did he hear or see anything? Her concerns were gone when they returned to the table and Max smiled while talking to Sabrina.

They finished their meal when Jackson returned.

\"Long call…\", Sabrina pouted when he took his seat at the table. \"Problems at work? Don't tell me you need to leave early.\"

\"There is something going on, but I handled it over the phone.\", Jackson explained vaguely while avoiding to look at anyone at the table.

Max stood up and spoke to Jackson: \"Since you are back, Liz and I will take out leave first. We were giving company to Rina so that she is not left by herself.\"

Liz didn't object leaving as soon as possible. She feared that this unexpected lunch might lead to them doing some activity together later in the day and she does not want to be close to Jackson. She needs time to compose herself before she can face that man calmly.

When they stepped out of the restaurant, Max observed that the sun is still strong and suggested that they go to their room.

…

In room 312…

Max emptied his pockets and kept the cardkey, wallet and cell phone on the table in the living room and went to the lanai without a word.

Liz noticed that Max is quiet and guessed that even if he didn't see what happened in that hallway next to the restrooms in the restaurant, he noticed Liz's mood and how stiff she is around Jackson. After all, she is horrible in faking a smile and being friendly toward people she does not like.

Liz sighed. Should she talk to Max? And say what? Assuming that he picked up some bits and pieces and is coming up with his own conclusions, it can't be worse than the truth. It's probably a good thing that Max is not asking questions and it seems that he wants to be by himself.

She kept her backpack on the side and went to the bedroom to rest. All this is… exhausting.

Max is sitting on a lounging chair and occasionally running his hand through his hair, unsure what to make out of this whole mess.

He invited Liz to come with him for Hunter's birthday which was supposed to be a weekend where they pretend to be dating, and they ended up coming as a real couple. He has no complains about that part, but this was supposed to be fun and enjoyable, and it started with McKenzie trying who-knows-what to get in-between them.

Also, Max noticed that Liz refused Jackson's handshake and after that she ignored him for the rest of the breakfast… That is unlike Liz.

During lunch, in the restaurant, when Max came to check on Liz, as soon as he opened the door, he heard Jackson say to Liz how she is easily replaceable while he is Sabrina's fiancé. Max hastened his steps right in time to see Liz kick Jackson where it counts. Max decided not to interfere, Liz got it under control. He took two steps back and heard the rest of the exchange between the two of them, which was enough to confirm that Jackson is a scoundrel who is giving Liz a hard time.

Part of Max wishes that Liz was unable to handle Jackson in that hallway. That would give Max a good reason to interfere and beat the crap out of Jackson.

Max is vexed that Jackson is not a good man, but he is not surprised because from Max's perspective: no man is good enough for his sister. Sure, Jackson trying to seduce other women is a bad thing, but Max can't believe that Sabrina is with him for such a long time and not aware of this. Sabrina is many things, but stupid and blind she is not. He will talk with his sister when he gets a chance because there must be a reason why she is still engaged with Jackson. But he will definitely not talk to her during this vacation.

Jackson making a move on Liz and trying to blackmail her is a problem. Max blames himself for not seeing the signs and allowing it to happen, more than once, right under his nose.

On top of Liz dealing with the mess from McKenzie and Jackson, even Max schemed against her, to get her to lose her bikini top.

No matter how Max looks at this, Liz is not having fun. And he promised her fun. He failed.

What hurts Max the most is the fact that Liz is keeping it all to herself, either because she thinks that he can't help her, or that he won't help her or… she does not want to trouble him. Isn't he supposed to be the one to take care of her and make sure that she is not getting harassed? He feels useless. A failure of a boyfriend.

Max didn't keep track of how long he was sitting on the lanai before he stood up and went to find Liz.

He observed Liz's unmoving figure for some time and sighed before getting on the bed next to her.

Max pulled her into his embrace slowly, careful not to wake her up.

He kissed the back of her head and whispered: \"When are you going to share your burden with me?\"

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