“I can’t believe you,” Shelby whispered in a mean voice. “Maggie is totally pathetic. She’s planning to be the next neighborhood cat lady, for God’s sake.”
“Relax.” Ron slicked back his hair. He looked so handsome and so happy, mostly because of the perpetual smile he wore since he’d begun dating Shane’s boss, Justin. Personally, Shelby thought things might grow serious between them. She wondered how her mother would handle her best friend finding a happily ever after without her.
Ron continued. “What your mother meant is that we’ll find Maggie a man since she’s so busy with her career. Isn’t that right, Mimi?”
“Reads me like an open book.” Mimi laughed and gave him an air kiss. “Now this Jameson. He’s rarely stuck around when I’ve been near. Why is that?”
Shelby wanted to crow with satisfaction. “Probably because he works a lot.”
And no doubt Shane warned him to steer clear of you if he wanted to retain his sanity.
“He’s a terrific guy. A little too buff for me, but he’s exactly Maggie’s type. Problem is she won’t open up and give him a chance. And he really seems to like her.” Shelby saw Maggie exit the hall to the restrooms and lowered her voice. “Shane seems to think his friend is head over heels for her, just too stubborn to admit it.”
Mimi glanced over her shoulder, saw Maggie, and whispered back to Shelby, “Then you sit back and let Ron and I handle this. That’s if Justin isn’t taking all your free time?” she asked with a sneer.
“Green with envy, yet still beautiful.”
“Don’t get that tone with me,” Mimi warned him.
“Maggie’s coming,” Shelby reminded them.
“Fine. I’ll handle Jameson.” Mimi huffed. “You two keep your men happy and I’ll stay out of your lives. But Ron, if Justin breaks your heart, I’ll break him in half.”
“Oh, so sweet. No wonder I love you.”
Mimi sighed. “All the good ones are either taken or gay, I keep telling you. Be thankful you have a good man, Shelby. Now let’s help our spiritual daughter find some testosterone to love.”
They were toasting and laughing as Maggie reached the table.
“Guess I missed all the fun.”
When they laughed harder, she frowned. But that suspicion wouldn’t help her. Shelby shook her head. Once her mother scented a man, she never stopped until she bagged her prey. Poor, poor Maggie.
Payback was a bitch.
Chapter Seven
Maggie spent the next week trying not to obsess about Mac. When he wasn’t ripping her a new one for some imagined infraction at the gym, she didn’t see him. Both relieved and upset about it, she threw herself into work. She hadn’t lied to Mimi and the others about needing to deliver.
She had three projects near completion, and two she’d recently turned over to Kim. With only two weeks left until Christmas and so much more to do, Maggie shouldn’t have had time to worry about a man she didn’t classify as date-worthy, even if she had been in a dating frame of mind. Mac would be great at sex, but she couldn’t see him catering to a woman’s emotional needs. Though he’d surprised her by being deeper than she’d first assumed, she still couldn’t envision going to a movie or a bookstore with him as anything but painful.
From what she’d seen, he was a man’s man. A tits and ass, muscles and fitness ex Marine who liked cars and guy things—which still baffled Maggie. The Speed Channel and vehicular fun had never done a thing for her.
And why the hell am I thinking about him again?
She huffed a frustrated breath and finished with her latest sculpture, a shifting piece in blues and greens that made her think of the ocean. Maggie did her own framing, and she finished tacking a nail into the back of her frame and set it with the others.
One down, two to go. A glance at the clock convinced her to take a break until tomorrow. After she trudged back inside her apartment and had a quick shower, she threw on her robe and dried her hair, unable to sleep on a wet head during the winter. She hadn’t done much more than blow it dry. A glance in the mirror showed a sleepy looking blue-eyed blond in a soft but tattered purple robe that all but swallowed her in it. Pleased she would make her deadline next week, she decided to treat herself to some wine. Looking forward to her first free Saturday in a month, she decided to celebrate.
She’d poured herself a glass and started a fire. Her favorite television show aired in another ten minutes, and for once she wasn’t asleep or behind on work, so she’d enjoy it.
Settling under a warm blanket with the wine by her side on the table and the low murmur of the television, she’d found Nirvana.
And then someone knocked at the door.
“Damn.” Probably Shelby wanting to hang out. Shane must have ditched her. The guy spent every waking moment with Shelby as it was, so Maggie didn’t begrudge him his private time. But that left Shelby at loose ends, and Maggie had really been looking forward to having her own space tonight.
The knock came again.
“Hold on,” she called out and tossed off her blanket. She trudged to the floor in wool socks and peered through the peep hole. She froze. After a moment, she opened the door. “Yes?”
Mac Jameson stood in the communal hallway of the aging Victorian looking edible in jeans and a black leather jacket. In the hall lighting, his bright blue eyes glinted with some indefinable emotion.
“Here. These are for you.” He held out a bouquet of pink roses.
“Ah, what?”
The intensity on his face faded, and a smile took place of his frown. “That is one ugly robe.”
“Hey!”
He stepped forward and would have trampled her if she hadn’t moved back. Before she knew it, he’d entered her apartment and closed and locked the door behind him.
“Nice trick.”
“It’s called being persuasive.” He put the flowers in her hand and closed her fingers over the smooth stems.
“You brought me flowers?” Mystified, she didn’t know what to think. Was this another part of his nonsexual dating technique?
“You want them or not?”
“Yes, yes.” She hugged them to her when he moved to take them back. Flowers. When was the last time a man had brought her roses? “Such an ungrateful gift giver. Thank you. I love them.”
She turned and rummaged in the kitchen for a vase. After she’d arranged and watered them, she put them in the center of her dining table. “So pretty.” She glanced up to see Mac right in front of her. “Mac?”
“Yeah. So pretty,” he rumbled and tugged her to him using her belt.
Her robe parted just as he planted a warm, hungry kiss on her mouth. Maggie could only kiss him back, caught up in an inferno of unfulfilled desire. Everything inside her hungered for the magic of a man who didn’t hesitate to take what he wanted.
He broke the kiss and ran his mouth down her neck. “What are you wearing under this?”
“N-nothing.”
He tensed and pulled back. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“I just took a shower.” She frowned, wondering what it took to break the man’s resolve.
“I am so screwed,” she thought she heard him mutter under his breath. In a louder voice, he said, “I came over to say hi. You’ve been avoiding me this week, and I wanted to make sure we were still good.”
“I was only keeping my distance from a crabby boss with control issues.”
“Yeah, about those issues… Thing is, I want to fuck you.”
“O-kay.” The man’s thoughts shifted like the wind. “And this makes you crabby because…?”
“Because what I want from you is a little different from what you’re probably used to. I want us to get to know each other better so you’ll feel better about sleeping with me,
my
way.”
She caught her breath. “Spell it out. What exactly do you want me to do with you?”
“Everything I want, exactly the way I want it.” He tilted her chin up so that he could look straight into her eyes. “I want to play games with you. Ones where we need a safeword. Where you call me Sir and you obey me.” He kissed her again, and she felt her robe begin to open. Then his hands were inside, stroking her heated flesh. “I want to own your body in bed. Would you be willing to let me do that?”
“All this for some roses?” she replied while trying to make sense of her dreams suddenly meshing with reality.
He chuckled. “Nah. The roses were to show you I was thinking of you.” He cupped her breasts, and his eyes darkened. “But this is way more than I’d planned on asking for.” He fully parted her robe and stared down at her. Slowly, he bent his head and took a flushed, pert nipple in his mouth.
He sucked hard, and her knees buckled. She moaned and hung on to him for dear life.
Mac turned his attention to her other breast and teased and nipped until she teetered on an orgasm. She’d never been so sensitive before, but moisture coated the insides of her thighs.
“Yeah. This is what I want. You helpless in my arms.” He kissed her, his tongue penetrating while his hands moved down to cage her waist. “Maggie…
fuck
. I wanted to wait, but no more. I want you, but I’ll go easy with my demands.” He gripped her tight and kissed her again. “What do you think?”
She stared up at him when he pulled away. Her robe hung open, but he looked only at her eyes.
“I think… I think we should go back to my bedroom.” She tugged him with her, sure only that the time had come to finally have Mac Jameson. Tomorrow could take care of itself. Tonight belonged to her.
Maggie drew him into her bedroom and stood, uncaring about her near nudity.
Mac’s gaze wandered from her head to her toes and lingered in between. “You are fucking gorgeous.”
She flushed, pleased and embarrassed with the praise. She’d always had a nice figure and attractive face, but her workouts had toned her body into an especially tight form.
“So you’re good with doing things my way?” he ventured when he met her gaze again. “I’m not kidding around. I don’t want to hurt you or anything, but I’d like to see if we fit the way I’d imagined.”
He’d thought about her. Fantasized about her. She wondered if they had the same kinds of needs. “This isn’t a joke, is it?”
His gaze softened. “No, honey. I want you, but I’m not an easy lover. I could pretend I like it simple, the way I normally do. But it’s not enough, and lately, I need something more. I like to be in control, to take and demand. But I need to know if you can handle that. If you can’t, it’s okay.” But she could sense the disappointment waiting behind her potential refusal. “I still want you. I just thought this might be something we’d both enjoy.”
“Why would you think that?”
“You like me bossing you around. I’ve seen the way you react.”
“H-how?”
“Your nipples get hard. You flush, those cheeks turning a pretty pink. And your pupils get bigger—all signs of arousal. You want to be mussed and controlled, don’t you, Maggie?”
She did. And now he knew. She let out a breath. “What do you want me to do?”
He didn’t smile or nod. He lost the easiness of expression and growled, “Take off your robe.”
She shrugged out of it, and it pooled to the floor. Mac remained in his coat, completely dressed. The disparity wasn’t lost on her. He wanted control, and God, she wanted to give it to him. Vulnerable and naked, she looked even smaller next to his powerful body.
“Now come and take off my jacket.” He waited.
She swallowed and approached, feeling timid yet powerful at the same time. So strange.
She unzipped his coat, and the sound was overly loud in the quiet room. He watched her while she undressed him. She put the jacket on the chair next to her bed and waited.
Mac kissed her, so suddenly and with so much feeling she could barely hold on. She gripped his arms and held tight while he plundered her mouth. Against her, his clothing scratched. His body had no give, his mouth no regret.
He pulled back and looked at her with a mean smile. “This is going to take a while. You don’t have anywhere to go tomorrow, do you?”
“No,” she said between pants. “My day off.”
“Good.” He kissed his way to her breasts before looking back at her, and she saw a new side to Mac she hadn’t seen before. A sexually controlling master.
She shivered.
“Cold?” he asked.
“N-no.”
“Wet?” He didn’t let her answer but pushed a finger between her folds and into her. “I guess I’m not the only one wanting this.”
Dear Lord.
“I never said you were.”
“
Sir.
I never said you were, Sir.”
She bit her lip and moaned, “Sir.”
“That’s nice.” He sighed and kissed her until she wanted to melt all over him. “Take off my shirt. I want your hands on my skin and your mouth on my nipples.”
She liked him telling her what to do. Even better, she liked following his orders. He ground his pelvis against her and drew her attention to the raging erection beneath the denim.
Mac wanted her, no question.
Maggie drew his shirt off and placed it next to his jacket. She couldn’t look away from his chest, those huge biceps and corded forearms. The man was seriously built, enough that it would be easy for him to hold her down and do whatever he wanted to her.