Jason kicked off his shoes and removed his belt and then joined her on the bed. There
they lay, completely clothed and clung to one another for the rest of the night.
Chapter Seven
Jason woke first. They were still wrapped around one another as they had been last
night and he found that he could get very used to waking up with Maggie in his arms.
Her hand was resting right over his heart; the hand that bore the ring of another
man.
“Dammit,” he whispered and then gently tried to disentangle himself from her. Maggie
let out a small sound of protest and when Jason was standing and looking down at her,
her eyes fluttered open.
“What time is it?” she whispered.
“It’s almost six,” he said, trying hard to not let the anger that he felt at himself
show. When Maggie made to rise he held up a hand to stop her. “Go back to sleep,
Maggie. It’s early yet.”
“I have to pack and we’ve got the meeting at nine and…”
“I’m going alone. I told you that last night. You can stay here and pack and I’ll
send the car for you around eleven and we’ll head to the airport.”
Maggie knew that Jason thought he was being considerate but she didn’t want his pity.
“I can be packed in fifteen minutes, Jason,” she countered. “There’s no reason for
me to not go with you.” She rose from the bed and stood before him.
With a huff of frustration, Jason took a step back. “This isn’t up for discussion,
okay? I’m telling you, as your boss, that I am going to this meeting alone. I want
you to stay here and make sure that everything is packed up and ready to go when the
car arrives.”
As if the ‘boss’ line wasn’t enough, his tone of voice said it all. It was clipped
and sharp and was almost enough to make Maggie burst into tears. Again. “Fine,”
she said softly. “I’ll make sure that everything is taken care of.” Before Jason
could say another word, Maggie stepped around him and went into the bathroom and closed
the door.
He took the hint.
Silently leaving the room, Jason walked across the hall to his own room. Once the
door was closed behind him he slumped against in and cursed himself. What the hell
had he been thinking spending the night with Maggie? It was all innocent and he knew
that but did it really make a difference? She was another man’s wife and he had no
right to spend the night in her bed. And the fact that she was his employee only
made it worse.
Jason always considered himself a reasonable, level-headed man and yet right now he
was feeling anything but. He could go to this meeting this morning without Maggie
and it wouldn’t be a hardship but what was he supposed to do once they were in the
car together riding to the airport? Or flying home? Hell, what was going to happen
once they got back to the office? How could he possibly look at her, spend time with
her knowing that he had crossed so many lines with her?
If her husband came and kicked his ass, he would take it. It was no less than he
deserved. Jason had never gone after a married woman. He’d never even given one
a second look. That was a line he never crossed because he believed in the sanctity
of marriage and he never wanted to be the cause of someone’s marriage breaking up.
Until Maggie.
What was it about Maggie Barrett that had him breaking all of his rules? She was
supposed to be the answer to all of his problems and had ended up causing a lot whole
lot more.
Jason dragged himself away from the door and went about the task of packing. It would
be good to get home and sleep in his own bed tonight. The thought of this trip finally
being over was more of a relief than he ever thought possible. He needed to get his
head back on straight and maybe by the time they returned to the office on Monday
he would have an answer as to how to work with Maggie
without
working with Maggie.
It was early and he was organized and the process of packing took little to no time
and Jason found himself sitting on the edge of the still-made bed wondering what the
hell to do next. Reaching for his phone he decided that he needed to talk to someone
other than Maggie.
He decided to call the one person who would understand what he was dealing with better
than anyone else.
“Somebody better be dead or dying for you to be calling this early,” Lucas said sleepily
into the phone.
“Good morning to you, too, brother,” Jason said, forcing the chipperness into his
tone.
“Jason?” Lucas asked, coming a little more awake. “What’s going on?”
“Look, I’m sorry to be calling so early in the morning but…I’ve got a situation on
my hands and I need some advice.”
It wasn’t often that one of his brothers called looking for advice so Lucas knew this
had to be serious. “Give me a minute to get out of bed so that I don’t wake Emma,”
he said quietly and Jason could hear the rustling of blankets as Lucas got up.
“I wouldn’t have called so early if…”
“No worries, Jace.” Lucas got himself settled and away from his new bride so that
they could talk freely. “Are you home already? Did everything go okay on the trip?”
“Everything is fine with the trip; we head home today after lunch.”
“Okay, then if it’s not about the trip then what’s up?” Lucas asked around a very
loud yawn.
Jason sighed. Where to begin? “You know how I’ve been having problems keeping an
assistant ever since you and Emma hooked up?”
Lucas laughed. “You did make for some unforgettable stories. Personally, I thought
that all of the women would go after Mac; after all, he’s the next in line to take
over
Montgomery
’s.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Jason snapped. “I’m the better looking
one.”
That only made Lucas laugh more. “Sure, you keep telling yourself that. Most women
are looking for money
and
power. Mac has got that.”
“I’ve got that,” Jason mumbled.
“No, brother, you’re the typical middle child. Doing your best to stand out and believe
me, with two such spectacular brothers, I know it can’t be easy for you!” Lucas was
having fun. It had been far too long since they’d just bantered like this.
“Why did I bother calling you?”
“Beats me but believe me, I’d rather be back in bed with my beautiful wife than sitting
her listening to you whine about…wait, what did you call about?”
“I was getting to that!” Jason snapped and then let out a huff of frustration. “How
did you deal with your feelings for Emma in the beginning? You know, with her working
for us?”
“Wow…,” Lucas began, “I don’t know. I struggled with it. A lot. When we were snowed
in at my place, that was the biggest hang up for me. I mean, I didn’t want to cross
a line with her or have it come back that I had sexually harassed her or anything
but she let me know that it wasn’t about work or
Montgomery
’s. She was attracted to me.”
“Yeah, but…when you both came back to work, wasn’t it awkward?”
“Well yeah, a bit, but that was because I still had the mindset that I didn’t want
a relationship. I had to get my head on straight and I didn’t want to drag Emma down
with me. I was in love with her but I thought that it was better to stay away. Only
I couldn’t.”
“Would you have still felt that way if Emma had been involved with somebody else?”
“Oh, shit, Jace…what have you done?”
“Nothing!” he replied defensively. “At least, nothing that bad.”
“How bad?” Lucas asked.
“My assistant…Maggie?”
“Did you sleep with her?”
“No, not really…”
Lucas growled. “It’s a yes or no question, Jace. Did. You. Sleep. With. Her?”
“Well…”
“Isn’t she married? Wasn’t that part of your criteria that the person who went with
you on this trip be married? How could you do that?”
“I can’t explain it, Lucas. That’s why I’m calling you. It’s a freakin mess and
I don’t know what to do!”
“Start at the beginning and tell me everything that happened. I can’t get you out
of trouble if you start leaving crap out.”
So Jason told Lucas about their trip; from the kiss at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
to their spending the night together fully clothed in Maggie’s bed. Then he waited
for Lucas to say something. After several tense and silent moments, Jason finally
spoke. “Well? What am I supposed to do?”
Lucas let out a pent up breath. “You need to talk to Maggie, man. You have to know
what she’s thinking. I mean, you can’t just assume that you’re both on the same page.
A lot of what happened sounds like you were caught up in some weird moment and last
night? Well, that was just a bad situation and it can all still be strictly platonic.
But she’s married, Jace. There’s no way around that one.”
“What do I do when we go back to work on Monday?”
“You’re going to have to talk to her. If you’re feeling awkward chances are that
she is too. She may not want to stay on as your assistant but you can’t just make
that assumption and transfer her; you could be looking at some sort of human resources
claim on that one.”
Jason preferred to think that Maggie wouldn’t go that route. Then again, he also
preferred to think that Maggie wasn’t really married or was maybe in the process of
leaving her husband so that his conscience could be clear.
“That is not a conversation that I want to have,” Jason admitted.
“Believe me, I didn’t want to have to admit to Emma that I was afraid to get involved
with anyone but once the words were out, it was like a giant weight had been lifted.”
Lucas paused for a minute, wanting to choose his next words carefully. “The thing
is, Jace, I can tell you about me and Emma all day long. She wasn’t a married woman.
We were two single people who were attracted to one another. You and Maggie may very
well be attracted to one another but do you really want to pursue something with her?
What about her husband? How would you feel if you found out that some other man was
hitting on your wife? And it was her boss? You can talk to her about where she’d
be comfortable working but I would strongly advise you to not pursue this relationship.”
Jason knew his brother was right and he knew that these were things that he needed
to hear. He had no idea how he was going to go about working with Maggie, seeing
her every day and not acting on his feelings but he was going to have to find a way.
“I know you’re right, Lucas. I just needed to hear somebody say it out loud to me.”
“I’m sorry, man. I know that you were kind of hoping for someone to give you the
okay to have your cake and eat it, too. But that’s not going to be me. Hell, I hope
that it’s not anyone. You need to get home and put an end to this.”
“I will. And thanks, Lucas. I’m sorry I got you up so early.”
“Don’t ever apologize for calling when you’re in need. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m
going back to bed to kiss my beautiful wife awake and get on with my day.”
“No need to brag,” Jason mumbled.
“Hey, it’s been a while since I had anything to brag about. I’m just making up for
lost time.”
It was hard to begrudge him that. They said goodbye and Jason was left alone with
his brother’s words. It was now after seven and Jason knew he had to get ready for
this last meeting and to face Maggie and the decision he was going to have to make.
****
Maggie had been ready and waiting in the hotel lobby at eleven o’clock when the car
arrived for her. The driver informed her that he had been scheduled to pick her up
first and then go and get Jason. Once they had gone across town to pick him up and
were on their way to the airport, Maggie sensed that it was not going to be a pleasant
trip.
“How did the meeting go?” she asked tentatively.
“Just as planned; he signed,” Jason replied, checking his phone for voicemail or texts,
anything to distract him from having to talk directly to Maggie. They drove in silence
the remainder of the way to the airport and checked in the same way. By the time
they were seated in first class for their flight home, Maggie had had enough.
“Look, I know that this trip has been difficult for you because of me but I have had
enough of the silent treatment!”
Jason turned and looked at her. “Excuse me?”
“Oh, please, you heard me just fine. I’m sorry that I have been such a burden to
you. I know you thought that you had hired someone who was professional and had her
life together and instead you got stuck with me. I’m sorry that I had a meltdown
last night and I’m sorry that I crossed a few lines with you. But we still have to
work together and that’s kind of hard to do with you ignoring me!”
He could only stare.
She
was taking responsibility for crossing lines? Didn’t she realize that he was crossing
them just as much? “Maggie, you had every right to your meltdown last night and it
was because of me that it happened!”
She held up a hand to stop him. “I don’t want to spend the entire flight laying blame.
All I’m saying is that I want to keep working with you, Jason, but I can’t if you’re
going to act like this.” Her brown eyes were wide and pleading and Jason wanted to
put her mind at ease.