“That makes sense. Did you have time to call home?”
“What for?” she asked without thinking.
Jason arched a dark eyebrow at her. “I thought you would check in with your husband
and let him know we arrived safely.”
“Oh,” Maggie said, forgetting for a moment that she was supposed to be married. “I
texted him. He’s at work so I just figured we’d talk later tonight.”
It sounded believable enough to Jason but he had to wonder at how good of a marriage
she had if they spent so much time apart and didn’t seem to mind it at all. If he
was married, he’d certainly be uncomfortable with his wife traveling with another
man! What was wrong with Maggie’s husband?
Clearing those thoughts from his mind, Jason took a bite of the BLT Maggie had ordered
for him and then asked, “Have you ever been to
Chicago
before?”
She was delicately eating a chef’s salad and held a finger up while she finished chewing
before answering. “Actually, I haven’t. It was never really on my radar as someplace
that I wanted to see and I’m not really focusing on it now since we’re not here to
sight-see.”
Practical, Jason thought, and for just a minute he felt bad about not making any time
to show her some of the sights. It seemed like Maggie led a very quiet, sheltered
life and it made him more than a little sad for her. With a husband who seemed to
lack any interest in her and Maggie’s quiet acceptance of it all just didn’t sit well
with Jason.
“Are you a baseball fan?” he asked. Maggie shook her head. “Oh, well, I thought
maybe we could maybe find time to tour Wrigley Field but if that’s not something that
interests you…”
Maggie gave Jason a serene smile. “I don’t expect you to entertain me, Jason. We’re
here to make
Montgomery
’s grow. That’s not going to happen if we’re off playing tourist.”
While he should be happy that she wasn’t looking for any personal attention from him,
there was just something about her demeanor that was unsettling. Jason made another
mental note to delve a little deeper into this as their trip went on.
“You’re right about that,” he finally answered. “I always tell myself that I’m going
to take the time and go and see a game but I never do. Are there any sports that
you do enjoy?”
“Hockey.”
Jason almost choked on his sandwich. “
Hockey
? Seriously?”
Maggie looked at him with confusion. “What’s wrong with hockey?”
“Nothing, nothing at all it’s just that I thought for sure you would have said something
like tennis or golf.”
She laughed out loud and Jason found that he really enjoyed the sound of it. “Why
on earth would you think that?”
“Well, for starters, you’re a fairly conservative woman. Hockey is a loud, obnoxious,
violent sport. I just can’t see you standing up and screaming at a game.”
“Well believe me; I have done my share of screaming. I think that hockey has got
to be one of the most challenging sports there is to play. There’s so much going
on and it’s just fascinating to watch.”
“Who’s your favorite team?”
“The Rangers.”
“
New York
? You’re a
New York
fan? Aren’t you from
Virginia
?”
“What does that have to do with anything?
Virginia
doesn’t have a hockey team and the Rangers are awesome!”
“How many games have you gone to?” he asked, still in disbelief that they were even
having this conversation.
“Not nearly enough,” she said lightly. “I’ve only gone to
New York
twice and I was a teenager. My dad took me to a game at
Madison
Square
Garden
and it was amazing. Then last year, I managed to go and see the Rangers play the
Hurricanes in
Raleigh
.”
“Is your husband a hockey fan, too?”
“What? I mean, yeah, sure. He’s okay with it.”
“
Raleigh
’s not that far away; I’d think that you would try to go more often.”
“It’s three hours of driving each way. To go to a game would really make it a two
day event and I just don’t have that much time to invest, you know? Besides, there’s
something magical about seeing a team play on their home ice. The vibe at the Garden
is completely different from what I felt in
Raleigh
.”
Jason tucked that bit of information away as he glanced at his watch. “If we’re going
to get everything done that we need to, we need to finish up here. The car will be
back for us in fifteen minutes. Will that be enough time for you?”
“I’m ready,” Maggie said dismissively, pushing her unfinished salad aside. “All I
need to do is grab my briefcase; I’ve got everything that we need for today in there,
organized and ready to go.”
Finishing his last bite of his sandwich, Jason rose from his chair and went in search
of his own briefcase and then turned back to Maggie. “So what do you think? Do I
stick with the stripes or do I need to change?”
“Don’t be such a chick, Jason,” she said teasingly as she stood. “You look fine.”
Maggie turned and walked into her room to grab her things and Jason stood still for
a minute and realized that her opinion really was beginning to matter.
****
It was well after eight when they finally were riding the elevator back to their floor
at the hotel. Maggie leaned back against the wall and sighed. “I didn’t think they’d
ever stop asking questions. I mean, in every scenario that I played out in my mind,
none of them went like this.”
Jason faced her as he leaned against the opposite wall. “I know what you mean. I
think I sort of zoned out there after a while.” He scrubbed a weary hand over his
face and let his head fall back. “And as if that wasn’t enough, what was with the
dinner they brought in?”
“Oh, I know, right? I thought that
Chicago
was known for its good food! I have no idea where that stuff even came from.”
“Want to order some real food for us or do you want to go down to the restaurant to
eat?” he asked.
“Honestly, I want to kick off these shoes and crawl into bed.” Maggie stopped and
considered what she was saying. “Okay, maybe I have the energy from some ice cream
but nothing more than that.”
Jason chuckled. “I may order a pizza.”
That piqued her interest. “Pizza? I could stay awake for some pizza.”
“Atta girl,” he said, still laughing. They arrived at their floor and headed for
their rooms. “Why don’t you go and relax and I’ll call you when the pizza gets here.”
“Bless you,” Maggie said as she practically fell through her door. Within minutes
she had stripped out of her business attire that was beyond uncomfortable after such
a long day and changed into a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt. Certainly Jason didn’t
expect her to be dressed in her work clothes all the time, did he?
She pulled the clip from her hair and massaged her scalp. Working longer hours was
taking a little more getting used to. During her stint in customer service her work
day was relatively short comparatively to what she was doing now and staying in such
a severe look was getting uncomfortable. Staring at her reflection in the mirror,
Maggie considered what else she could do with her hair to make it look professional
without killing her scalp. Running her fingers through her long hair, she shook it
out and found that she felt much better. It was almost nine o’clock when Jason knocked
on the door.
“Pizza delivery!”
Maggie opened the door to him and smiled. “Do you want to eat in here or are you
already set up in your room?”
Jason couldn’t speak. For a moment he could only stare. The woman who he had come
to know these last weeks was gone and replaced by someone completely different. With
her hair loose Jason realized just how long it was. It was wavy and thick and wonderful
and he found himself itching to reach out and touch it to see if it was as soft as
it looked. She had bangs that were wispy and light and seemed to drag his attention
to her expressive brown eyes.
Eyes that were staring curiously at him right now.
Oh, right. Pizza. “I’ve got everything set up inside,” he said gruffly and then
turned back toward his room. “I had them send up some drinks, too. I wasn’t sure
what you wanted so I got a variety.”
“I probably shouldn’t have anything with caffeine this late but there is something
to be said for a Coke with pizza.”
“A girl after my own heart,” he said and then realized how awkward that was. “What
I mean is…”
Maggie laughed. “It’s okay, Jason. I know what you meant.” She sat down and helped
herself to a slice of the deep dish pizza and groaned with delight with the first
bite. “Now that is food,” she said with a sigh.
Jason held in his own groan. With her new look and the near orgasmic sounds she was
making while eating, he was starting to sweat. She was his assistant and she was
a married woman! He should not be noticing all of these things about her and yet
he couldn’t seem to stop himself.
“Aren’t you going to have any?” she finally asked.
“What? Oh, yeah, sorry. I guess my mind is still on the bizarre meeting from today.”
“Please, no more talk about business,” she pleaded. “I think I’d like to just forget
that today even happened.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” he mumbled.
“So does that mean that
Claremont
is off the table for prospective clients?”
He nodded. “I don’t think that we could meet each other’s needs. I’d rather cut
my losses now and move on to what’s next.”
“I’ll email Rose in the morning with an update. Our next appointment isn’t until
ten tomorrow and then our flight to
Ohio
is after dinner.”
Jason merely nodded again. He couldn’t focus. He wanted Maggie to finish her pizza
and go to her own room. His mind was spinning in a dozen different directions – none
of which were business related - and he needed to get his thoughts back on track.
Knowing he was being rude, Jason grabbed up another slice and stalked over to the
other side of the room and sat down with his laptop and did his best to ignore Maggie.
Maybe she’d get the hint and leave.
Within minutes, she did. With a quiet ‘good night’, she closed the door between their
rooms and Jason heard the lock go into place. That’s when he let himself breathe
again. If this was how he felt after one day, how the hell was he going to survive
for another twenty?
****
They were airborne once again the following evening and Maggie could tell that Jason
wasn’t pleased with their trip so far. Neither meeting had gone as they had hoped
and Maggie could only hope that Jason wasn’t going to let this get him down.
“Well, tomorrow’s another day,” she said to break the silence.
Jason merely grunted in response.
She decided to make another attempt to draw him out. “Neither of them were what
Montgomery
’s was looking for. I’m glad we got them out of the way early and now we can move
on to something better.”
Jason glared at her.
Okay, Maggie thought, now what? “I’ve been doing some research on our group for tomorrow.
They have a similar history to
Montgomery
’s and Nick Austin, their CEO, is a huge football fan. I bet we can spend some time
talking about Lucas to break the ice a little.”
“I’m not using my brother’s former career to schmooze anyone,” he snapped.
That was it, she’d had enough. “Look, I know that you are not happy right now with
the way things have gone so far but none of it is my fault. I didn’t research the
people to meet with, you did. I came into this whole thing late in the game and so
I don’t appreciate having you snap at me for things that aren’t my fault!”
Maggie snapped the book shut that she was reading and turned to look out at the sun
setting in the sky. The view was spectacular but it did little to ease the tension
she was feeling right now at Jason’s miserable attitude.
Jason knew he was being a bastard and it wasn’t fair to be taking out his anger on
Maggie but he was beyond frustrated. Between the miserable meeting yesterday, and
the confusing way she’d made him feel last night, the very last thing he’d needed
was another round of miserable meetings today! So far this trip was a complete disaster
and it had only just begun!
Not wanting to alert his father to the disaster that was brewing, Jason had asked
Maggie to wait before sending anything into the office. While he could tell that
she wasn’t in complete agreement with him, she’d done as he asked and merely saved
the information on her computer and asked that he let her know when he wanted them
sent.
How about never
, he thought to himself.