“At eleven at night? Lucky for you I’m in the study and your mother is upstairs reading,
otherwise she’d think that there was some sort of terrible emergency that had you
calling so late at night.”
“Stop with the theatrics, Dad,” Jason chided softly. “I know it’s a bit late but…”
“Are you sure everything is okay? Is it the meetings? Are they going all right?
I haven’t seen any red flags in what you’ve been sending in.”
“No, no…it’s not the meetings; everything is fine there.”
William was silent for a moment, hoping his son would elaborate. When he didn’t,
he tried to prompt him. “So where are you now? Still in
Boston
? You’re due in New York on Monday, right?”
“Actually, we’re in New York now. We drove down late last night after our last meeting
and decided to relax this weekend.” Jason couldn’t hide the smile in his voice.
“I took Maggie to a hockey game tonight.”
“Hockey?” William said with disbelief. “Why on earth would you take Maggie to a hockey
game?”
Jason laughed. “Believe it or not, she’s a fan. For a woman who is quiet and unassuming
during the day, she is a rabid hockey fan when watching her team play. It was quite
an eye opening experience.”
Something in his son’s tone caught William’s attention. “So she’s a hockey fan?
Who would’ve guessed? I can’t imagine her sitting there in one of her conservative
outfits, hair all pulled back, yelling and cheering for her team.”
“There was no conservative outfit, Dad. She wore her hair all loose and wavy and
a pair of jeans and a New York Rangers sweatshirt…she fit right in. She was like
a kid in a candy shop; we ate hot dogs and pretzels and drank beer and Maggie said
it was the best night.” Jason sighed. “I never met a woman who was content to just
eat hot dogs and drink beer.”
William was glad that Jason could not see him grinning like a cat that had eaten the
canary. “Not all women want to be wined and dined, Jace. Maggie’s a sensible girl
with simple tastes. I’m sure that she’s unimpressed with the whole concept of spending
a lot of money frivolously.”
His father’s words made sense but Jason knew that he had a ton of questions that he
needed answered if he was going to figure Maggie out. “No, you’re right; Maggie’s
definitely not impressed with money. We’re at the Four Seasons and she just about
freaked out on me for spending the money.”
William chuckled. “Sounds just like her. How did you end up there? That wasn’t
on your agenda.”
Jason explained about how their last minute change of plans had dictated the change
in hotels. “The thing is, I never gave much thought to where we stayed. All our
lives we’ve stayed at some of the finest hotels in the world and to me, they’re just
a place to sleep but the look of awe and wonder on Maggie’s face when we walked in?
It was priceless.” An image of that face came to Jason’s mind. “Then she was embarrassed
because she didn’t think she was good enough to stay here.”
“Well I hope you convinced her otherwise!” his father scolded.
“Of course I did! Geez, what do you take me for? An idiot?” Jason sat up and raked
a hand through his hair. “Look, there are some things about Maggie that just don’t…fit.”
William arched a brow and waited. And waited. He knew his son well and knew that
Maggie was starting to get to him and he was both anxious to know more about her and
embarrassed to ask. “Like what?” he finally asked.
“Okay, for starters, there’s the fact that she’s even on this trip with me.”
That wasn’t where William had thought Jason would start but he’d go with it. “Why
is that a problem?”
“It goes back to that initial interview. Why has she worked for us for so long and
I’m just now seeing her and hearing about her? How could you leave her down in customer
service for so long when she is clearly such an asset to the company?”
“It wasn’t my decision to make, Jason. Maggie didn’t want to be an assistant; she
was happy working in a low-pressure job. It was what she wanted.”
“But why? She’s so talented and so intelligent! What happened at her last job to
make her just completely want to hide away in a mindless position?”
“That’s not for me to discuss with you. Have you asked her?”
“What? No!” Jason nearly shouted, frustrated that his father wasn’t giving him any
information at all. “Look, you seem to know Maggie very well and I’m asking you to
help me fill in some blanks!”
“Jason, she’s your assistant; you work with her every day. Surely you must have some
down time where you’re not talking about business. Why don’t you ask about her personal
life?”
“Because when I do she…changes. I can’t quite explain it but any mention of her personal
life and she just sort of goes blank. I tried inviting her husband up here for the
weekend and she nearly bit my head off!”
William stifled a laugh. “I think maybe you’re over-exaggerating, Jason. Why would
she be mad about you inviting her husband to come to New York for the weekend?” William
knew exactly why but he was curious to hear how Maggie had managed to find her way
out of that particular situation.
“That’s what I’d like to know! If you ask me, this guy must be a world-class jackass.”
“Why?”
Where did he even begin? Jason stood and began pacing the large room. “Okay, first
of all, he let her come on this trip.”
“And that makes him a jackass? If you remember correctly, you specifically asked
for a married assistant who would travel with you. We found you one! How could that
be a bad thing?”
“It’s not that it’s bad, not really, but he just doesn’t seem to care that she’s away.
From what I can tell, he doesn’t call Maggie and she doesn’t call him. Doesn’t that
seem odd to you? You call mom every day!”
“Well, your mother and I aren’t like a lot of married couples. Maggie’s young; I’m
assuming her husband is young, as well. How do you know they aren’t calling one another?”
“Because I never see her on the phone!”
“Are you sharing a room with her?” William asked innocently.
“Dammit, Dad, you know we’re not! Why would you even such a thing?”
“I’m just saying, Jace, that you have no idea what she’s doing in her room when she’s
away from you. For all you know she’s curled up in bed right now, all relaxed and
sweet talking her husband.”
That image lodged itself in Jason’s mind and made him angry. His hands were clenched
at his sides and he wanted to walk across the hall, kick down Maggie’s door and see
if that was the case. His father’s voice was the only thing stopping him.
“You can’t get angry at Maggie for doing what you asked,” William sweetly reminded
his son.
“What the hell did I ask?”
“You made it clear that you didn’t want to waste time dealing with a needy spouse.
Sounds to me like she is following your rules, not spending her work hours on the
phone and keeping her personal life separate from your business hours.”
When his father said it, it made sense, but to Jason it still didn’t seem to fit.
“Okay, sure, fine, I guess that could be the way that it is,” he said finally.
“But…” William prompted.
“We went to a benefit the other night,” Jason began, “and we danced.” For a brief
moment Jason could swear that he could still feel Maggie in his arms and then remembered
that he was supposed to be proving a point to his father. “And she said that the
last time she danced was in high school at her prom.”
Unable to help himself, William let out a hearty laugh. “Son, I’m sure you’re trying
to tell me something but for the life of me, I don’t know what it is!”
“Married couples dance, Dad! At their wedding, on dates or whatever,” he said defensively.
“How is it that Maggie could be married and not having been dancing since high school?”
“Maybe her husband’s a poor dancer?”
“Or maybe he’s just a jerk,” Jason countered. “Look, all I’m saying is that the guy
seems to show absolutely no interest in Maggie and that any time we go anywhere or
do anything it’s like she’s…living for the first time! I have to be honest with you,
Dad, I’m worried about her.”
Interesting. “Well, Jason, to be honest right back at you, it’s you that I’m worried
about.”
“Me? Why?”
William let out a dramatic sigh and then mentally congratulated himself on being so
clever. “You asked for an assistant who wasn’t going to come on to you. We found
you one. You asked for an assistant who is married. We found you one. You basically
wanted a completely uncomplicated business companion that had no interest in you personally
and yet here you are, attacking Maggie’s personal life. She’s your assistant; she’s
nothing to you. Leave her personal life alone, it’s none of your concern.” His tone
was mild but his words were meant to provoke.
“What the hell is the matter with you?” Jason snapped. “Maggie’s more than just an
assistant to me! She’s…” And then he caught himself and wished that he could take
his words back. Dammit.
“Jason,” William said, suddenly serious. “Maggie
is
just your assistant, right? You haven’t done anything to change that, have you?”
His father knew him too well and Jason knew that lying would be pointless. “It wasn’t
supposed to be like this,” he admitted quietly. “I liked her work ethic; I enjoyed
our conversations and then we started this trip and suddenly…I’m getting to know Maggie
and I feel…connected to her somehow. I look forward to spending time with her and
getting to know her and then I have to remind myself that she’s married and I realize
that I’m no better than all of those women who’ve worked for me these last months.”
“You are nothing like that, Jace,” his father replied solemnly. “How does Maggie
feel?”
Once again, Jason knew it would be pointless to lie. “I think she maybe feels the
same way but…she’s married, Dad. I would never, ever do anything to jeopardize her
marriage.”
William took a deep breath and slowly let it out. It would be so easy to tell Jason
that he had nothing to worry about but it wasn’t his place to reveal that little secret.
“Talk to Maggie,” he said simply.
“To what end, Dad? She’s married; she’s my assistant. There is no way that this
can end well.”
William repeated his words. “Trust me.”
If only it were that easy, Jason thought. “It’s getting late,” he finally said, suddenly
feeling mentally and physically exhausted.
“Think about what I said, Jace.”
“I will, Dad. Thanks for talking with me. Good night.”
Jason powered down his phone and stripped and climbed into the king sized bed. Flipping
the lights off, he rested against the pillows and stared into the darkness and wondered
just what it was that he was going to do about this situation.
He was a man who was used to being in control; he was a man who knew how to overcome
every obstacle thrown in his path. Unfortunately, this was not a simple case of overcoming
some red tape in a business deal or appeasing a difficult client.
This was about his heart.
This was about Maggie’s marriage.
This was about a situation that would leave somebody hurt. And Jason didn’t want
to be responsible for that.
He had to force himself to put his focus back on his business. He had to force himself
to remember that Maggie was off-limits no matter how much she tempted him. But most
importantly, Jason had to remember that for the first time possibly in his life, he
wasn’t going to get what he wanted.
Chapter Five
Five more days.
Jason was staring out his hotel window overlooking the Atlanta skyline and let out
a weary sigh. Those first few days immediately following the hockey game had been
the hardest of his life. While being a hardass had never been a problem for him before,
it was suddenly one now when the one he was being hard on stared back at him with
sadness and confusion written all over her big brown eyes.
It had taken every ounce of strength he possessed to not cave in.
Not that he had been mean; no, Jason had strictly gone into extreme workaholic mode
and spent every waking moment that he was with Maggie doing nothing that wasn’t directly
related to Montgomery’s and the expansion project. They could probably go home right
now and skip these last few days of meetings because things had gone so well as they’d
traveled down the East Coast that Jason didn’t feel that they’d be missing out on
anything. He had more than enough business to make him happy.
But no; being the ultimate planner and perfectionist and knowing that he always finished
what he started, Jason knew that he had to get through these last five days even if
it killed him.
And it just might.
To her credit, Maggie never outright questioned Jason on his abrupt change in behavior.
When they’d met for breakfast that Sunday morning in New York, he’d made sure that
he was deeply entrenched in his agenda for their upcoming meetings. He’d questioned
her lack of preparedness and had actually sent her back to her room to get her laptop
so that she could get some work done after their day off.
For the nine days that had followed, Jason had worked like a man possessed. He was
up before dawn on most days and would utilize the hotel gyms before starting work.
By the time he met up with Maggie daily, he had already gone through an hour of the
only physical release he could manage. He pushed his body every morning to its limits
and then did the same to his brain throughout the day until he fell into an exhausted
sleep every night.
And still it wasn’t enough to take the edge off of what he was feeling for her.
Jason was careful to keep them for participating in any social settings as they had
early on in their trip. Although he had a couple of charitable events planned on
their agenda, he’d managed to exclude Maggie from them under the guise of needing
her to prepare contracts and reports that were vital to their project.
Well, he laughed at himself mirthlessly, they weren’t vital to the project quite as
much as they were vital to helping him keep his distance. And his sanity. Maggie
never argued and actually seemed relieved to not have to traipse along with him everywhere
he went and while Jason knew deep down that he should have taken his father’s advice
and actually talk to Maggie, he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Five more days.
It might as well be a damn lifetime.
Turning from his view from the top floor of the Loews Atlanta, Jason took a look around
the room. It was beautiful; it was luxurious. It was far too big for a man alone.
The king size bed only emphasized that he was sleeping alone and he didn’t like it.
If he really wanted to, there was no doubt that Jason could go out and find company
for the evening.
But he didn’t want company, he wanted Maggie.
Dammit.
The bedside clock showed it was nearing midnight and Jason was too keyed up to sleep.
He couldn’t wait to get back to Charlotte; back to his own home and his own bed and
his own life. Maybe once he was back in his own surroundings this obsession would
end. Maybe once they were back to working in the office and not spending so much
time with only one another for company, Jason would be free to pick up the phone and
call a woman for a date without wishing she were someone else.
Maybe he would lose his mind before they ever got home.
Five more days.
****
Maggie was miserable. While Jason was doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing
– being her boss – she missed their companionable camaraderie that they had shared
early on in the trip. She kicked herself daily for letting her guard down and actually
letting herself have feelings for him.
In her own defense, Jason Montgomery was an incredible man. He was kind and funny
and intelligent and the type of man who really took an interest in you when he wanted
to. And for a couple of days there, he seemed to really want to know Maggie.
Then he didn’t.
She was certain that it was her own fault. After all, here she was a supposed married
woman who couldn’t seem to stop herself from throwing herself at him. She was the
exact thing Jason had been trying to avoid on this trip. It was no wonder he barely
looked at her. He was probably trying to think of ways to send her home and possibly
move her back to the customer service department.
That thought was more than a little depressing and Maggie let out a sigh. It was
late and she was sitting alone in her hotel room curled up in a chair. Not that long
ago if anyone would have told her that she’d be staying in a luxury hotel and working
as an executive assistant for an attractive man she would have snorted with disbelief.
Add to that the fact that she was the one attracted to the boss and not the other
way around would have been another fact she would have found hard to believe. And
yet here she was.
They had less than a week left on the trip. Three days in
Atlanta
and two in
Miami
and then it was back home. What would happen then? She couldn’t imagine that Jason
would fire her immediately. No, they still had a lot of work to do on this expansion
project once they were back at
Montgomery
’s. But once the project was wrapped up and it was back to business as usual, then
what? Could she go to his father and request a transfer back to her old position?
Maggie stood and walked over to her mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of water and
took a long drink. She didn’t want to go back to her old life; not really. The woman
that she had been before this trip was a scared woman; a shell of a person. She wasn’t
living. She’d had no friends. These last weeks with Jason opened her eyes to how
much there was to do and see and she missing it all because of the actions of one
person and Maggie was done letting that bastard have any control over her life.
Placing the water on her nightstand, Maggie went about the task of getting ready for
bed. Walking into the bathroom she turned on the light and then took a long hard
look at her reflection. She was too young to hide away from life any longer. While
she didn’t have a clue as to what to do about Jason and her feelings for him, she
did know that when they got back home that she was going to start getting involved
in things. She’d finally accept some of those after-work invitations that her co-workers
were always issuing. Maybe she’d join a gym, take a class or two and start going
out more.
Reaching for her toothbrush she couldn’t shake the image of the person she wanted
to go out with the most.
Jason
.
“You have to let that go,” she scolded her reflection. “He’s your boss and that’s
all he is ever going to be. He thinks you’re married for crying out loud. How are
you going to explain that one?”
She’d really backed herself into a corner on that one. At the time it had made perfect
sense but now that she was ready for a change, Maggie realized that one little lie
was going to complicate her life in a major way.
For now she had no choice but to continue with the ruse. It had kept her from doing
something completely foolish with Jason and as much as she hated to admit it, it was
probably for the best that they hadn’t fallen into bed together on this trip. It
would only make things more difficult and confusing when they got home.
Unfortunately, the image of Jason in bed had her heart racing and Maggie thought that
maybe it would have been worth the difficulty and confusion – even if it had turned
out to only be for one night.
She slipped into her pajamas and turned out the lights as she climbed into bed. It
was ridiculously large for one person and although it was a complete luxury, Maggie
had a feeling it would even be more decadent to share it with someone.
Rolling on to her side she couldn’t help but punch her pillow out of frustration before
settling in for yet another night filled with dreams of the one man that she wanted
but couldn’t have.