“I wasn’t sure you’d want to keep working with me,” he finally said. “I know that
I put a lot on you during this trip and that I didn’t always act like I should have.
I honestly don’t know if our working together when we get back is really for the best.”
There, he’d said it and that put the ball in her court, he thought to himself.
Maggie continued to stare at him. “Oh,” she said quietly, disappointment marking
her features. “I guess you could be right. I’m sorry that you feel that way. I
thought I had done a good job for you and…”
“No, Maggie, it’s not that you didn’t do a good job. You did a great job! On everything!
It’s just that…we seem to have a problem working…together. Do you understand?”
She didn’t want to and so rather than continue with this uncomfortable conversation,
she decided to change modes and pulled out her tablet to go over his morning meeting.
If Jason had wanted to pursue their original conversation, he chose to say nothing.
They transitioned smoothly back into work mode and by they time they landed in North
Carolina two hours later, Maggie felt confident that while she may not be working
for Jason much longer, she had fulfilled her obligation to him and his father for
this project.
They walked into the terminal and Maggie was determined to get to baggage claim and
get home before she let herself cry. A strong hand on her arm halted her progress.
“Maggie?” Jason said softly as she turned around to face him.
This was it, she thought. He’s going to give me the speech now so that there would
be no scene at the office on Monday. As much as she willed it not to happen, tears
began to well in her eyes. She took a deep breath in a feeble attempt to calm her
nerves.
“I guess your husband will be here to pick you up,” he said gruffly.
Her husband. She was getting damn tired of that lie hanging between them but being
how things were happening, it was probably the best to have that excuse to hang on
to. “Yes, I’m sure he’s waiting for me down in baggage claim.”
Jason stared down into her face and swallowed the jealousy that was raging through
him. He wanted the right to take her home. He wanted to tell her that they didn’t
have to stop working together and to be able to take her out on a non-work-related
date. He wanted…all of the things he couldn’t have.
“I just want you to know,” he began, “that I couldn’t have done this project without
you.”
She nodded her head, wishing he’d let go of her arm so that she could walk away while
her dignity was still in tact. “I really need to go, Jason,” she whispered.
“You never crossed any line with me, Maggie. That was all me. But I can’t let you
go before I say this.”
“What?” she said, the words barely leaving her lips before his mouth claimed hers.
Maggie quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and held Jason close to her. It was
madness to be doing this in the middle of a crowded airport terminal and yet she couldn’t
help herself. The kiss ended all too soon and Jason was stepping away.
“That’s why we can’t work together anymore,” Jason said, his breath ragged. “I want
you too much to work with you every day and not have the right to do that.”
Maggie made to speak but he stopped her. “Go, your husband must be waiting and it
looks like a storm is moving in. I’ll feel better knowing that you got home safely.”
Everything in her was clamoring to tell Jason the truth but she had to come to grips
with what he had just admitted to. All this time, he had been just as attracted to
her as she’d been to him! She reached up and stroked his cheek, unable to help herself,
before turning and fairly running from him and disappearing into the crowd.
****
Jason meant to stay put and wait before heading down to baggage claim but clearly
he was a glutton for punishment. Keeping a safe distance, he only wanted to catch
a glimpse of what the man who was married to Maggie looked like. He watched as she
collected her bags and then headed out the door and into the rain. Was he waiting
for her in the car at the curb to keep her from getting wet?
Carefully, Jason picked his way through the crowd until he could look out the long
expanse of windows and see Maggie walking outside. She flagged down a cab and climbed
in while the driver loaded her luggage. Where was her husband? Why was she taking
a cab? Why had she lied to him?
Taking out his phone, he dialed his father’s number and then went to claim his own
bags. When his father answered he immediately launched into inquisition mode.
“I know all about what happened to Maggie when you met her three years ago,” Jason
said by way of greeting. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
William didn’t miss a beat. “It wasn’t my place to tell you. When I hired Maggie
to come and work for us, she asked that I not talk about it and really, there was
never a reason to. How was the trip? I’m glad that she felt comfortable enough with
you to share that with you.”
“She really didn’t have a choice,” Jason said with a bit of annoyance.
“Why? What happened?” Jason relayed the events of the night before to his father.
“Dammit, I had hoped that she’d never have to see that bastard again. Is she okay?”
“She was pretty shook up by the whole thing and by the time we got back to the hotel,
she told me everything.”
“I never meant to lie to you, Jace. It was all part of her requests when she came
to work for us. Maggie never wanted to be put in that kind of a situation again.
Saying that she was married just seemed to make her feel a little more…secure. I
thought it was a crazy idea but if it made her…”
“Wait, wait,
wait
!” Jason interrupted. “Maggie’s not married?”
Uh-oh
. “I thought you said Maggie told you everything?” William said, sounding a bit sheepish
at letting the cat out of the bag.
“She told me everything about her ex-boss, not about lying about being married!” he
yelled. “Geez, Dad! How could you not tell me?”
“You were demanding someone who was married to go with you on this trip! Maggie fit
the bill!”
“But she wasn’t really married!” Jason countered, not caring that he was starting
to get looks from people around him in the airport.
“The lie served a purpose. Maggie was perfect for the position but you didn’t want
a single woman. She didn’t want to work for someone who was going to hit on her and
that she could feel safe with. It was what was best for everyone!”
“Dammit, Dad…do you have any idea…” Jason stopped as it all finally fell into place.
Maggie wasn’t married. They hadn’t done anything wrong.
There was no husband.
“Jason? Are you there? Is everything all right?” his father asked frantically.
“I have to go. I’ll talk to you over the weekend,” was all he said before hanging
up. Jason raced from the terminal and out to long term parking. He was soaked to
the skin by the time he arrived there. Throwing his luggage into the trunk, he quickly
unlocked the doors and climbed in. Now he just had to figure out where to go.
Whipping out his phone again, he quickly called the office and got Ann on the phone.
“Hey, Jace! How was the trip?”
He had to be careful to keep his tone neutral or Ann would know that something was
wrong. “It was long and exhausting. We landed about a half an hour ago and unfortunately,
I have one of Maggie’s bags. Do you have her address so I can drop it off at her
place? She already took a cab home.”
“Oh, no problem…” Within a minute Jason had the address and was programming it into
his GPS and was on his way.
He drove like a man possessed. He’d been torturing himself for weeks for nothing.
She had lied to him about being married. There had been nothing to feel guilty about
because there was no husband. Each time he said those words in his head, Jason’s
heart beat a little bit faster. Maggie was free. There was nothing stopping them
from exploring what had clearly begun on their trip.
Within twenty minutes he was pulling into the parking lot of the apartment complex
where Maggie lived. There were no spots near her unit and he had to park at the far
end of the lot. The rain was coming down in torrents and he’d be lucky to get through
this without catching pneumonia. Maggie’s apartment was on the second floor and Jason
took the stairs two at a time and soon found himself pounding on her door.
Maggie opened the door and was shocked to see Jason standing there, staring at her
and completely out of breath. “
Jason
? What are you…?”
“There’s no husband,” he said sharply and watched as she paled.
“What?”
“There. Is. No. Husband. Do I have that right?”
Maggie looked up at him, eyes wide, and nodded. “No, there is no husband.”
“Good,” was all he said as he pushed his way into her home and turned her into his
arms and kissed her.
Chapter Eight
What followed was madness. Jason had Maggie pinned to the wall while he feasted on
her mouth as he’d ached to do for weeks. The only thing that kept urging him on was
the fact that she seemed to be right there feasting along with him.
When he moved from her lips to kiss her jaw and then down the column of her throat,
Maggie spoke. “I’m sorry I lied to you,” she said and then let out a moan of pure
pleasure as he gently bit her. “I didn’t think that it would ever be an issue.”
Jason lifted his head and stared intently down into Maggie’s eyes. Without ever breaking
contact, he reached down and took her left hand in his and pulled the fake wedding
ring from her finger and threw it across the room. “Do you have any idea how I’ve
been berating myself for the thoughts I’ve been having about you?” he asked before
lowering his head to go back to the task of nipping and kissing her neck.
Maggie merely shook her head. “I didn’t know, Jason,” she rasped as his hands began
to move from her waist upward. She’d dreamed about this moment; fantasized about
Jason’s hands on her and yet it was nothing compared to the reality of it. “If it
helps, I’ve been having thoughts about you, too,” she admitted.
“Oh, yeah?” Jason asked, lifting his head once again before bending slightly to scoop
her up and into his arms. “How about you point me in the direction of your bedroom
and we can compare notes?” His tone was serious but his eyes were bright with mischief.
Maggie couldn’t help but smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Straight
down that hallway and the last door on the left.”
In a flash, Jason had her in her bedroom and was laying her down on the bed. He stood
and simply looked down at her, taking in the sight of her sprawled out on the champagne
colored comforter. She was so beautiful and he couldn’t believe that he finally had
permission to touch her and not feel guilty about it or have to stop himself before
going too far.
He was going to go as far as he could; all the way in fact, and his hands actually
began to twitch with the need to touch her again. “I’ve thought about this for so
long, Maggie. I need to know that we’re on the same page here.”
“I want you, Jason,” she said honestly. “It almost killed me to leave the airport
earlier.”
It was all the encouragement he needed. He peeled his wet shirt off and let it drop
to the floor before kicking his shoes off and removing his trousers and socks. Maggie
leaned up onto her elbows to watch him. When Jason stood before her in nothing but
dark briefs, she gave an appreciative smile.
Silently, she stood and slowly unbuttoned her own plain white blouse and added it
to the pile that Jason had begun. Reaching behind her, she unzipped her skirt and
let it fall to the ground, leaving her in nothing but simple white lace. “Is this
the page that you’re on?” she asked, “Or am I missing something?”
Her words were meant to tease but Jason was too far on the edge to play along for
too long. Jason lifted his hands and cupped Maggie’s face. “I’m going to apologize
right now for not taking the time to go slow. I need you, Maggie.”
She gave him a sexy smile and stepped back and laid back on the bed in invitation.
“I don’t care about slow, Jason,” she said. “I just care about feeling you here beside
me.” She crooked a finger at him, inviting him to join her on the bed.
He didn’t need to be asked twice.
****
It could have been days or it could have been hours, Jason wasn’t sure. He was flat
on his back with Maggie wrapped around him as he tried to catch his breath. In his
wildest fantasies he’d never imagined how explosive they would be together. Once
he had joined her on the bed, it was as if they had been two starving people who were
finally allowed to eat.
He smiled at his own analogy because he had certainly feasted on every inch of Maggie’s
amazing body. She kept it pretty well hidden underneath her conservative clothing
but now that he knew what was underneath, he would never be able to look at her the
same way again when they were in the office.
The room had darkened quite a bit so Jason knew that clearly it had been hours that
they’d been in there. A quick glance around the room had him finding a clock and
it was nearing eight o’clock. He turned his head to the side and smiled at the sight
of Maggie’s head on his chest and her blonde hair in wild disarray.
“Hey,” he said softly and waited for her to raise her head. When she did, he asked,
“Are you hungry?”
That wicked grin that he was really beginning to love appeared. “I could eat,” she
said simply and then gave a little shriek when he reached out and rolled her under
him, pinning her to the mattress.
“Food, woman,” he playfully snarled as he kissed her soundly. “You have worn me out.
I need something to eat.”
Maggie pushed him off of her and rose from the bed to grab a robe from her closet.
“Well, obviously I don’t have anything here since I’ve been gone for three weeks but
we can order some take out,” she suggested.
Minutes later they were rummaging through her collection of takeout menus until they
agreed on someplace. “Their pizza isn’t the best but they do deliver,” she said of
the one place Jason finally suggested. “I don’t really feel like going out in this
weather again.”
Jason took that as a sign that she wouldn’t want him going out in it either; hopefully
that would include for the remainder of the night. He wasn’t ready to leave yet and
he had a feeling it would be quite a while before he’d actually
want
to leave. Mentally shaking his head Jason knew that he’d have to wait and see what
Maggie wanted. After all, they had been together non-stop for three weeks; she may
be ready to be away from him.
True they hadn’t been sleeping together for three weeks so maybe she wouldn’t mind
him being around while they explored this new aspect of their relationship.
Relationship
? Normally that word had Jason breaking out in a cold sweat but right now, it made
him feel good. He already knew that they were compatible at work and he genuinely
enjoyed just spending time talking with Maggie and the last couple of hours had proved
that they were compatible in bed, too. What more could he ask for?
“I’m going to call this in,” Maggie said as she stood and reached for her phone.
Jason reclined on the pillows, sheets draped over his hips, as he watched her. The
last five weeks had been transforming. The woman he had initially met was uptight
and prickly and now he understood why. The thought of someone doing something so
horrible to Maggie made his fists clench. If he had known who that lousy SOB was
while they were at dinner last night, Jason had no doubt someone would have had to
come and bail him out of jail because he would have taken great delight in beating
the man into the ground.
“They said about thirty minutes but I’m thinking closer to forty-five due to the weather,”
she was saying as she sat back down beside him. “I hate that I don’t have anything
to offer you to drink other than water.” Maggie blushed slightly, embarrassed suddenly
by their nearness. It was one thing to have traveled together for weeks and be in
each other’s hotel rooms, but this was her room, her bed, and it failed miserably
in comparison to all of the places Jason had probably lived and seen.
Sensing her discomfort, Jason reached out and pulled her down beside him so that her
head was back on his shoulder. “I can wait for the food to get here,” he said softly,
kissing the top of her head and then sighing with contentment. When she didn’t say
anything, he gently shrugged his shoulder to get her attention. “What’s going on,
Maggie? Do you want me to go?”
She sat back up and struggled to meet his gaze. “I don’t want you to go but I’m just
a little…well, compared to the places that we’ve stayed my place is a little…dumpy.”
Jason reached out and placed a finger under her chin, forcing her to look up at him.
“There is nothing wrong with your home. I don’t give a damn where we are, Maggie;
I just want to be with you.”
That made her relax and smile. “I want to be with you, too, Jason. But I have to
admit, you’ve spoiled me.”
“Me? How?”
“I was thinking how it was going to be great to come home and sleep in my own bed
but after some of the luxurious hotels we stayed in, I realize that this bed is just
old and not that comfortable.”
He laughed and pulled her back down beside him. “I didn’t even notice because I was
perfectly comfortable having you wrapped around me.”
“Still you have to admit that a comfortable bed would be a nice bonus.”
He made a non-committal sound. “We may have to go back to some of those hotels and
do a comparison.” A slow smile crept across his face at the thought of going back
to
New York
and being able to share a room with Maggie and doing all of the things that they
had missed out on because it wouldn’t have been appropriate. Carriage rides through
Central Park
or taking in a Broadway show while dining out at some exclusive restaurant all seemed
perfect to him.
“I’ll tell you, I wouldn’t mind going back for one of the pretzels we had in
New York
and maybe going to the Statue of Liberty,” Maggie said as if reading his mind. Jason
let out a small laugh and she raised her head to question him.
“I was just sitting here thinking how I’d like to take you back to New York to see
a show or to maybe eat at some fancy restaurant and you’re talking about pretzels.
It’s funny!”
She playfully punched him in the arm. “I don’t care about the fancy stuff, Jason.
That doesn’t impress me. I had fun just running around the city and taking in the
experience; meeting people, tasting the food…it was all just so amazing! I’ll never
be able to thank you enough for giving me that day. It was perfect and I’ll never
forget it.”
Her words were so sincere and the look in her eyes told Jason more than anything how
much it all had meant to her. In that moment he vowed to himself to take her back
there and give them the time to do what they wanted at their leisure; no time limits
or constraints, just the chance to enjoy themselves and relax.
“You’re very welcome. Someday we’ll go back and play at being the ultimate tourists,”
he said and kissed her again. He was just settling in, enjoying the feel of Maggie
relaxing against him when they heard the doorbell ringing.
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Maggie said as she jumped from the bed, nearly giddy,
“but I’m so excited that dinner is here!” She bolted from the room and Jason could
hear her laughing as she went to open the door.
He climbed from the bed and winced as he reached for his still damp pants. It was
not at all appealing to put them back on so he wrapped a sheet around his middle and
scooped the clothes up off of the floor and walked out to the kitchen where he found
Maggie setting their food down. “Would you mind if I tossed these in the dryer?
They’re still pretty wet.”
Maggie took the clothes from him, making sure the pockets were empty, and tossed them
in the dryer and then turned to admire the sight of Jason wrapped in a sheet.
Very nice.
Slowly she walked toward him and placed her hand over where his was holding the sheet
together. “Nice outfit,” she said saucily and got up on tip-toes to place tiny kisses
along his chin. “You look good in my sheets.”
Jason let out a low growl as her hands began to wander over his chest, his shoulders,
and his arms. “You think so?”
Maggie nodded. “I do. But…” she reached back down and pulled his hand away from
its make-shift fastening. “I think I like you much better out of them.” In a flash
the sheet dropped to the tile floor.
“What about dinner?” he asked and groaned as she began to kiss her way down his body.
“That’s what microwaves are for,” she said.
****
The rain had stopped by the next morning and Jason’s clothes were long-since dried.
He could very easily go out to his car and grab his luggage so that he had clean clothes
or he could go home and unpack and let Maggie get herself settled back in.
He didn’t want to leave. The thought of going home to his big, empty house left him
cold. He’d bought the big townhouse on the golf course because it suited his needs.
But now? It just seemed like a place that was way too big for a man alone. Maggie
stretched beside him and then snuggled closer. She was a snuggler and Jason found
that he enjoyed it.
Unfortunately, the thought of cold pizza for breakfast was not doing it for him and
he knew that it would be best for him to get up and either go and get them breakfast
or for them to at least talk about how they were going to spend their day. It was
funny because he thought that after spending so much time together that he’d be ready
for some time alone, but he wasn’t. If anything, now that he knew that there wasn’t
any reason for them to not be together, Jason didn’t want them to be apart.
“I can hear you thinking from here,” Maggie said sleepily and then followed that with
a yawn. “What time is it?”