****
By the end of the week, Jason knew how hard it could be. Damn near impossible. He
didn’t realize how much of himself he gave to the business until there was something
else that he wanted to do and yet couldn’t tear himself away. Maggie had been patient
all week long; always quick with a word of understanding. It was Jason who hit the
breaking point.
At six o’clock on Friday evening, Mac walked into his office and smirked. “Working
late on a Friday night? Nice.”
“Shut up,” Jason snapped as he walked around collecting paperwork and shoving it into
his briefcase.
“You’ve been here late every night this week,” Mac said lightly. “How’s that working
for you?”
Jason flipped him the bird and closed his case and started walking toward the door.
“Big plans tonight?”
Jason stopped and hung his head down. “Is there something that you wanted, Mac?”
he finally asked.
Mac was the king of poker faces and he gave Jason his best ‘
dude, I’m really sorry to have to do this to you’
face and almost laughed out loud when he could practically hear Jason’s heart sink.
“Well, actually, I just needed to come in here and let you know…” he paused for dramatic
effect, “that I’m glad that you’re taking your sorry ass out of here finally and hopefully
taking Maggie out.”
Jason was so relieved that he practically sagged to the floor. “You’re an idiot,”
he murmured as he turned and strode out the door
“I do not want to see you back here until Monday!” Mac called after him and then sat
himself down and laughed at how clever he was.
By the time Jason got to his car, his brother was all but forgotten. He had to get
to Maggie. All day he had tried to pin down plans for them for tonight but she had
been slightly elusive, telling him to just give her a call if he had the time. He
hated letting her down. All week. He had not had any time alone with her since that
brief time in his office on Monday and he was ready to explode with need for her.
Looking at his phone, Jason thought about calling her and telling her that he was
on his way over but he wanted to surprise her. After a quick detour to pick up flowers
he finally pulled in at Maggie’s complex and, as he had the first time he’d come here,
he sprinted up the stairs two at a time to get to her.
“Jason!” Maggie exclaimed when she opened the door to him moments later. “I thought
you were going to call when you left the office.”
Not quite the greeting he was hoping for but he could work with it. “I had to see
you,” he admitted. “I didn’t want to call and give you the chance to tell me not
to come by.” He handed her the bouquet of wildflowers and waited for her to invite
him in.
She didn’t.
“Is…is this a bad time?” he finally asked.
“What? Oh, no…sorry. Bad manners. Come on in.” She stepped aside as he walked
in and then she headed for the kitchen to find a vase. Maggie could feel the nervous
energy coming off of Jason but she needed for him to realize that she wasn’t just
going to jump into his arms the moment he made time for her. He would have to wait.
Jason watched as she arranged the flowers and fluttered around the kitchen and he
wanted to just grab her and kiss her and make love to her all night long. Fortunately,
he was smart enough to know that caveman tactics would probably not be appreciated
right now. “Have you had dinner yet?”
“No, I haven’t. I was planning on heating up some pasta and watching a movie.” She
had to hide her smile when she noticed the hopeful expression on his handsome face.
Maggie was many things but she wasn’t mean spirited and she couldn’t torture Jason
any more. “Would you like to join me?”
A wicked smile crossed his face as he stalked her from across the kitchen. Without
asking permission, he hauled her up against him and kissed her with all of the pent
up passion and frustration he’d felt all week. Luckily, Maggie was ready for his
sexy assault and wrapped her arms around him to keep him close.
Jason broke the kiss long enough to pick her up and haul her over his shoulder while
she shrieked with laughter.
Maybe caveman tactics weren’t such a bad idea after all.
Chapter Ten
Six weeks after Jason and Maggie had returned from their trip, their work was done.
Not completely done because these were new clients and they’d be working with them
for a long time but all of the initial set up and meetings and the like were finally
in place. It was a late Friday night and Jason was sitting at his desk staring at
his computer screen, barely able to hold his head up when his father walked in.
“Another late night?” William asked.
Jason nodded. “Hopefully the last one.”
His father arched an eyebrow at him. “Seriously?”
Looking away from the computer, Jason focused on his father. “Yeah, seriously, why?”
“I’m just surprised to hear you talk like that. You are the king of the late night
negotiations. I thought you were going to move in here at one point.”
“Ha, ha, very funny,” Jason said and then scrubbed a hand across his weary face.
“What’s going on, Jace?”
What could he say? For weeks Jason had felt a level of discontent with his life.
The long hours, going home alone, it was staring to wear on him. All of those feelings
were compounded by the fact that he had little to no time to spend with Maggie. She
was always patient and understanding but Jason knew it was just a matter of time before
she’d had enough.
When they had been on the phone the previous night, Maggie had made a small comment
about how there was a new movie out that she wanted to see on opening night. Tonight.
Jason had told her that he would try his best to leave the office early and Maggie
had just given him a sad laugh. When he pushed her for what was wrong, she’d told
him that she was just going to plan on going alone or with a friend.
The thought of her going out without him wasn’t really an issue; the thought of her
going out without him and meeting someone else did. Maggie was a beautiful woman
and since they had gotten back from
Miami
, she had blossomed with a new level of confidence that she didn’t have before. How
soon would it be before other men noticed that about her?
He’d tried feebly to explain his position and how important
Montgomery
’s was to him. Her simple response of “But at what cost?” had hit him square in the
chest. At what cost, indeed? Life was passing him by and while everything he was
doing was helping the company grow, Jason realized that he’d lost friendships and
missed out on weddings and parties and casual get-togethers with people who really
mattered to him because he was spending his life behind a desk.
How much more was he willing to sacrifice in the name of the company?
“Jace?” his father interrupted his thoughts.
“What? Sorry, Dad; I just sort of zoned out there for a minute.”
“I thought you’d be with Maggie tonight.” Jason’s look of shock made his father laugh.
“Oh, please, you don’t think you were going to hide that from me, did you?”
“We thought we were being careful,” he grimaced.
“You are; I just knew what I was looking for.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
William stood and waved his son off. “Nothing, nothing at all. Go home, Jace. Or
go to Maggie’s. Just leave the damn building and go and enjoy yourself for the weekend
for crying out loud.
Montgomery
’s is not going to crumble and fail because you’re not behind your desk.”
Jason knew his father was right and hated that he was that transparent. He stood
and closed his laptop and packed up while William watched and the two men left the
office together. Placing an arm around his son’s shoulder, William gave him a firm
hug. “Life is meant to be enjoyed. There’s nothing wrong with working hard but you
have to remember to focus on the people that mean the most to you.”
“I do, Dad; I enjoy working with you and Mac and Lucas…”
“And Maggie?”
For a minute, Jason was sure he blushed. “And Maggie.”
William’s smile went from ear to ear. “You won’t find a better woman than Maggie,
Jace. Don’t keep her waiting too long or some other lucky man will come in and sweep
her off of her feet.”
A frown marred Jason’s features. Like hell some other man was going to take Maggie
from him! “I have to go, Dad,” Jason said, his stride quickening. He looked down
at his watch and saw it was after ten. He had no idea if Maggie was home or at the
movies but no matter where she was, he would find her and see her tonight and maybe
whisk her away for the weekend or bring her home to his place and just pamper her
all weekend. It didn’t matter what they did, as long as he was with her.
In the time that they’d been together, neither had made any grand commitments or even
talked about their feelings. Well that was going to end tonight. When he finally
found her, Jason was going to tell Maggie how he felt.
And hoped that he wasn’t too late.
****
Tired of sitting home and waiting for the phone to ring, Maggie had taken a bold step
and called an old friend to go to the movies with her. It had been a long time since
she’d had a girl’s night out and once she had parked her car at the theater and met
up with her friend Theresa, she knew it was the right thing to do.
She had been too focused on Jason for weeks now and was finding herself becoming more
and more dissatisfied with the relationship. While she admired Jason’s work ethic,
it was becoming painfully obvious that work was Jason’s first love and probably always
would be. The thought made her sad because when he finally stepped away from the
office, they always had an amazing time.
It wasn’t all about sex; although that was fantastic. There were times that they
would stay up all night just talking and Maggie loved hearing about all of the places
Jason had visited and what it was like growing up with his brothers. The problem
was that as much as she loved spending time with him, she didn’t see their relationship
going anywhere and she was tired of taking second place to
Montgomery
’s.
After the movie, she and Theresa went out for coffee and dessert and spent the night
just getting caught up with one another. It was well after midnight when Maggie got
home and while she was getting settled in, she remembered that she’d turned her cell
phone off. Taking it from her purse, she turned it on and saw that she had several
missed calls.
Eight of them to be exact.
Sighing, Maggie knew that each and every one of those missed calls were from Jason
and while it wasn’t intentional that she essentially blew him off, she kind of felt
that it served him right. Let’s see how he liked waiting all night for the phone
to ring!
She was beyond tired after a long day at work and a late night out but decided that
she should call him back. Maggie changed into a pair of cotton boxers and a cami
and then settled on the couch and dialed Jason’s number.
“Maggie? Are you all right? Where have you been?” No greeting, just an anxious
demand for answers.
“I’m fine, Jace, how are you?” she said, dripping sarcasm.
She heard his frustrated sigh. “Okay,” he began. “I’m sorry; I was just worried
about you. Your phone was off and I didn’t know where you were!”
“I told you that I wanted to go to the movies tonight. So I did.”
“Alone?”
She didn’t like his tone. Sure they were sleeping together but that didn’t mean that
she had to report to him every time she went out. “As a matter of fact, no.” She
knew she’d have to elaborate but enjoyed his shocked silence. “I went with someone.”
Jealousy was new to Jason and he knew immediately that he didn’t like it. He did
his best to stay calm but his words came out through clenched teeth. “With who?”
Maggie could just picture the look on his face and almost burst out laughing. She
knew that would only fuel his anger but again, it served him right. “Actually, I
met up with an old friend.”
“Maggie,” he said in his best menacing tone, letting her know that she was testing
his patience.
“I hadn’t seen Theresa in well over a year. We met up at the theater, saw the movie
and then went out for coffee and dessert. It was a lovely night.”
Tension slowly left Jason’s body and he let out a sigh of relief. “Oh…that’s good.
How was the movie?”
“We enjoyed it very much.” As for this conversation? Not so much. As much as Maggie
wanted to talk to Jason, she was hurt. And tired. He needed to understand that she
wasn’t the type of woman who would be happy to just sit around and wait until he made
time for her. Maybe it was time for her to let him know.
“Look, Jace, it’s late and I’m tired. I just wanted to call and let you know that
I was okay.”
It was her tone. Jason knew Maggie well enough by now to know that something was
definitely wrong. “I was worried about you,” he said softly, “and I miss you.”
She smiled sadly. “I miss you too. The thing is,” she paused to collect her thoughts,
“I can’t keep doing this, Jason.” There, she’d said it.
“What do you mean?” Worry laced his voice and Jason had a feeling that he wasn’t
going to like the answer.
“I love being with you but your work is your life and I’m just starting to live mine
again. I don’t want to sit home waiting for the phone to ring or have you call me
after you’ve already missed our date.”
“That happened once…”he began but she cut him off.
“It’s been more than once, Jace, and you know it. I’m not going to make you choose
between Montgomery’s and me. I think I just need to step aside so that I’m not a
distraction.”
Jason desperately wanted to get in the car and see Maggie in person, to make her see
how wrong she was. “You’re not a distraction, dammit! You have to believe me! I
know that things have been crazy at work and I promise it’s going to cut back some
now. Things on the expansion are all in place; there won’t be anymore late nights,
Maggie. Trust me. Please.”
She wanted to believe him. Oh, how desperately she wanted to trust in him. “I think
maybe we just need to take a break,” she said quietly. “On Monday I’ll talk to Ann
about finding you another assistant and…”
“Don’t do this, Maggie,” he said urgently. “I’m asking you to not do anything drastic.
Give me a chance to prove to you that I can put work aside and put you first!”
A lone tear rolled down her cheek and she was glad that she was all alone. “I don’t
want you to have to prove anything to me. I want to be important enough to someone
that I’m a priority just because of who I am, not because I’ve laid a guilt trip or
given an ultimatum. Eventually, you’ll resent me for it and you’ll be making excuses
to me or your family and I just don’t want to be in that position. I’m sorry.”
“One more chance,” he begged, his voice thick with emotion. “I’m not perfect, Maggie,
I know that. But all I’m asking is for you to let me make this right. I had no idea
you were so unhappy. How can I possibly know if you don’t tell me? And then how
can I fix it if you won’t let me?”
He had a point. Her mind was spinning and all she really wanted was to crawl into
bed and sleep for a week. “Okay, Jason.”
“Thank you, sweetheart. You won’t regret it, I promise. No more missing dates, no
more late nights at work. From here on out, I want you to know that you can count
on me.” He paused and actually felt himself relax for the first time in hours. “Can
I see you tomorrow? Maybe we can go to lunch and then…”
“I really think I need the weekend to myself,” she said hesitantly. “I need to just
have a little time to myself even though you’ve let me have more time alone than I
wanted. I just need this weekend to think about all that we talked about tonight.”
“I’m not going to lie and tell you that I’m not disappointed, because I am,” he said
honestly. “I wanted to see you tonight; I stopped by your place and I waited for
an hour just to see you.”
“Please don’t try and make me feel guilty…”
“No, I’m sorry; that was wrong of me. I just want you to know, Maggie, that when
I’m not with you, I truly miss you.”
More tears fell and she almost caved. “I miss you when we’re not together, too, Jason.
But it’s really for the best for us to just take the weekend to do our own thing.”
She paused and wiped at her wet face. “I’ll see you Monday morning, okay?”
“Okay. Sleep well, sweetheart,” he said sadly.
“You, too…”