by Maggie Cole
The shame of my past made me feel small and unworthy, and I sat up and moved away from Collin, afraid of what he would think of me.
He's definitely going to chuck you to the curb now.
Collin moved over to me and pulled my hands from my face. “Meg, you aren’t a fraud. You’re a survivor. You’re self-made. There’s zero shame in that. You can’t control what other people do, and whoever your father or mother is doesn’t reflect the smart, confident, and amazing woman you are.”
I shook my head. “I’m a coward, Collin. I watched my mother get beaten to death.”
Collin took my hands in his, tears in his eyes. “Meg, you survived. You did what you had to do.”
“You can do better than me, Collin.” Fresh tears fell down my face again.
Collin grabbed me and pushed my face to look right at his. “Don’t you ever say that again.”
“But you can,” I whispered.
“Stop.” Collin reached out and kissed me. He pulled me into his body as his tongue urgently pushed into mine.
I melted into him, desperately seeking his kisses, wanting nothing more than just him.
We finally pulled out of our kiss, and he tugged me up off the bed. “Come on.”
He walked me into my closet, pulled a pair of pajama pants and a matching shirt out of my drawer, quietly stripped me down, and dressed me. Then he took me out to the family room and sat me down on the couch with a blanket. He sat down next to me and kissed me. “Just relax, babe. Let me make you some dinner.”
I couldn’t think anymore. I just nodded.
He poured me a glass of wine, turned on some music, and didn’t say anything else. As he cooked dinner, I could feel his stare from the kitchen. His face was filled with worry, compassion, and sympathy, but I wondered what he was thinking.
Whatever he thought, I had told Collin Corwin my deepest, darkest pain, and he was still here. I realized at that moment that I loved him, and there was no going back.
I was all in.
10
Collin
As Meg told me what she had survived, I sat in shock. I had grown up in a loving family and had no idea about her past. I imagined her hiding in a closet, having to watch her father beat her mother to death, all the while in fear for her own life.
It made me feel ill, but I needed to stay strong for Meg. I swallowed the contents rising from my stomach and pulled her into my arms.
Allowing her to get involved with Sam and Keri’s deals to the level she had was a mistake. I cursed myself as I watched her, sitting on the couch, staring into her wine glass, thinking about God knows what.
And it broke my heart.
These were my clients, and I was their agent. I should have had more control over their situation, but the problem was I didn't. Meg had asked me if I was okay with her taking over in the conference room. I didn't know why, but I had a bad feeling about it at the time, and I should have stopped her. But I didn't.
I was glad she shared her past with me. But this was tearing her up, and the fact she had to relive it because of Keri and Sam, who were my responsibility, killed me.
She was my everything, and I should have been protecting her, not causing her more pain.
I also knew that our secret was weighing on her. It weighed on me too, but we couldn’t risk anything until we closed this deal. We were close. Meg told me that she would wait and I was grateful for that. I made another promise to myself that I would make it up to her once this deal was signed.
If only Keri and Sam would stop acting like children so I could finish this once and for all.
* * *
Meg
Collin and I didn’t talk again about my history after that night. The week continued as usual.
On Thursday, Liv came into my office. “Hey, don’t stay too late. We need to be at the event in a few hours."
“Glad you reminded me. I was pretty engrossed.” I grabbed my stuff and walked out with Liv.
“Jump in, Meg, I’ll have Gary drop you off first,” Liv offered.
I got in the car. “Were you able to give my ticket away?”
Liv nodded. “Sam Quinto was happy to take it. I can’t believe he wasn’t already going.”
“Sam Quinto?” I questioned her and tensed up at the thought of having to sit next to Sam, who I'm sure would be hitting on me all night.
Liv stated, “Yeah, I figured he would be on his best behavior if he sat at our table. That okay?”
I regained my composure. “Sure, that’s fine."
“Tom asked Collin, but Collin already had a table. So I just thought I would ask Sam and at least the gesture was nice if he was already going.”
“Good move,” I told her. It was actually. But the mention of Collin’s name had my stomach doing flips. I don’t know why I never thought about it, or why we hadn't talked about it, but of course, he would be there.
After the car pulled up to my place, I jumped out, went up to my apartment, and took a quick shower.
My dress was a black leather pencil dress designed by Oscar de la Renta, and it had a low dip to show off my cleavage. The dress ran mid-calf, and I paired it with my black Jimmy Choo stilettos.
I threw on my red lip-stain, a diamond choker, and earrings, and grabbed my clutch.
I started to wonder how Collin would react when he saw me. I wasn’t looking forward to ignoring him all night.
When I arrived at the event, I walked the red carpet by myself. It felt strange. I had never gone to an event without a date before. I always had someone on my arm, and this was a first.
Once inside, I grabbed a glass of champagne from the waiter’s tray.
The Beekman was set up with a soft red glow throughout, and the room filled quickly with guests.
I scanned the room to search for Liv, but instead, I saw Keri standing in a black tux. He had a glass of champagne but didn’t appear drunk. I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Hey, Meg. You look beautiful." He leaned in and gave me a peck on the cheek.
I smiled at him. “Thanks, Keri, you look great too. How are you doing?” I was genuinely concerned.
He gave me a friendly, non-cocky smile. “I’m doing okay.”
“Good.” I meant it.
Liv and Tom came over, and everyone exchanged hellos. I was relieved that I didn’t have to stand and talk to Keri by myself anymore. I didn’t want to go down that road.
It wasn’t long before the MC told us to take our seats. Keri left, and I followed Tom and Liv.
As I sat down next to Liv, I felt a hand touch my leg. I jumped.
Sam Quinto had joined me, with a glass of whiskey in his hand.
I moved his hand off my leg. “I’m not your meat. Hands off.”
He laughed and held his hands in the air. "Okay, I’ll be good.”
I relaxed a bit. He seemed like he understood.
We were near the front, and I was seated so I could see the majority of the room. From the corner of my eye, I caught Collin escorting a beautiful blonde woman in a sexy red dress to his table. My stomach dropped.
Collin is here with a date?
I thought he would have been here on his own. Across the room, our eyes met. Collin smiled at me like nothing was out of the ordinary.
I glared at him.
I’m going to kill him.
Here he was, talking about his wife cheating on him, and he was on a date?
He made a big deal in the car about how I wasn’t a rebound and made me tell him that he wasn’t just fun to me, and he brought a date?
Not that we had discussed being exclusive, but it stung. I guess I just assumed that we were.
I mean jeez, we had each other’s keys.
He smiled again at me. I didn’t smile back and turned away. I couldn’t look. It was painful. His date was gorgeous and could be a model. I wanted to cry.
“Meg, you okay?” Liv asked.
“Fine, why?” I murmured.
“You look like you’ve s
een a ghost.”
“I’m fine, just hungry. I haven’t eaten today,” I told her, which was the truth.
Sam must have heard me because he picked up the bread basket and set a roll on my plate. “Eat, girl.”
I laughed.
He smiled, warmly at me. Sam really was sexy. Aside from his grabby hands, he seemed like a fun guy. I decided to concentrate on him, to avoid thinking of Collin.
I spent dinner talking to Sam and learned that I liked him. He was funny, charming, and interesting, which kind of surprised me.
They started the program, and I excused myself to go to the bathroom. I was still reeling over Collin, but Sam was a good distraction, at least.
I walked out of the bathroom and bumped directly into Collin.
“Hey, Gorgeous.” He ogled me with his sultry eyes that normally made me wet. Tonight, all it did was make me want to slap him.
I wasn’t sure how I should play it as he had caught me off guard.
I decided not to say anything and tried to walk past him, thinking that if I opened my mouth, I was going to get into it with him.
“Meg?” He grabbed my arm and pulled me back toward him.
“Let me go, Collin.” I wiggled and tried to get out of his grasp.
He stared at me, but wouldn't let me go. “Meg, what’s wrong?”
“Nice date,” I hissed and tried to get out of his grasp again.
Confusion filled Collin’s face. Then he started laughing.
I wanted to slap him. I didn’t think this was funny at all.
He moved me over to the wall so I couldn’t escape him. “Let me go, Collin.”
“That’s my date I take everywhere. She’s a fellow sports agent named Corinna.”
I rolled my eyes. “Thanks for your history. Congratulations, now let me go.”
He wasn’t moving. I started to push his chest as he continued giving me his smug grin.
“My lesbian date that I take everywhere.” He raised his eyebrows.
I stopped moving. “Oh, so it’s not a real thing?”
He shook his head hard. “No, but if anyone should be jealous, it should be me. You and Sam seem to be pretty cozy?” He raised his eyebrows at me once more.
“No, I told Liv to give my ticket away, and I didn’t even know who she invited.”
Collin lowered his voice even more. “Well, you looked like you were having a good time.”
I shook my head in frustration. “What do you want me to do, Collin? Ignore our client?”
He took a deep breath. “No.”
“Besides, I only was talking to him to try and get you, and your model date out of my head.”
“Sorry, I should have texted or called to tell you about Corinna.”
“Yeah, you should have,” I snapped at him.
He brushed my cheek. “I’m sorry.”
Someone came into the hall. Collin stepped away from me.
I sighed. “It’s fine. I should get back.”
“I’ll see you tonight, though?”
I just rolled my eyes. “Sure, Collin.”
“Meg?”
I was tired of hiding. “Don’t worry about it, Collin," I said sarcastically.
I started walking back, thinking about how this secret had complicating things and was getting old. I wasn't even sure anymore why we were hiding. We were two grown adults in our thirties.
Right outside the main room, lost in my thoughts, I ran smack into Keri. This time, the fact he had been drinking was clear.
Great. This is all I need.
“Meg,” he slurred, grabbing my arm.
“Not now, Keri.” I wasn’t in the mood for his antics.
He pulled me to him. “Meg, let’s go to the club. Remember our first night at Club D?”
Memories of Club D came flooding back. It was a great night, but I wasn’t into a replay.
“Keri, let me go.”
Keri tried to pull me in for a kiss, but he didn’t make it. Sam was suddenly in our space and pushed Keri off me.
“She said to let her go, James,” Sam snarled.
Keri and Sam started getting into it, and I told them to quiet down. Unfortunately, they had both been drinking, and neither was about to back down.
I was between them, telling them to stop, but they wouldn’t. I tried stepping out, but I couldn’t get out of the middle. Their bodies towered over me as they pushed and got in each other’s faces. I was starting to get smashed.
I yelled for them to get off me, but they were so intense on kicking each other’s asses that they ignored me.
I screamed again. I was seriously getting scared. Their bodies were so much bigger than mine, and I was smack in the middle of their drunken feud.
Suddenly, Collin came out of nowhere and started pushing them back. I took my chance and ducked out from between them.
They were drunk, angry, and loud. Sam took the first punch, and hit Keri in the face. But Keri was used to fighting and wasn’t going to back down. He flew at Sam, and his fist pummelled Sam’s face.
Collin tried to break it up, but it was too much for one person.
Fortunately, Tom came flying around the corner and helped Collin pull them apart. Collin took Sam, and Tom took Keri. But the guys weren’t going to calm down that easily.
They were fighting, yelling, and causing a ruckus. Tom and Collin were trying to contain them, but they were a mix of alcohol, ego, and muscle.
Charlie Cantor came running over to help Tom with Keri. Derek, from Club D, came over to help Collin with Sam.
“This is a charity event, get a hold of yourselves,” I yelled at Keri and Sam.
They both stopped. “You should be ashamed,” I told them just as Liv came running up to me.
“Meg, you okay?” She threw them a disgusted look.
I shook my head, fuming inside. Not only had they caused a huge scene, but I could have been seriously hurt.
“Just over these boys.” I shook my head in rage at both Keri and Sam. I started walking out of the room before I turned and pointed at them. “You both promised me,” I reminded them with disgust in my voice.
I heard both Keri and Sam yell, “Meg,” at the same time.
Liv followed me. “Meg, wait up.”
But I couldn’t slow down. I had left the building; the cold air smacked me in the face. Liv grabbed my shoulder, and I turned to face her. “I’m so sorry. That was embarrassing and uncalled for.”
“Meg, this isn’t your fault,” Liv told me, putting her arms around my shoulders.
I don’t know if it was the stress of the fight, or how I had been upset with Collin all through dinner, or the fact that I was hiding my secret from Liv, but I started crying.
Liv pulled me into an embrace. “Meg, what’s going on?”
I just shook my head. I couldn’t talk. I was afraid of what I would say if I spoke.
Tom and Collin came outside.
“Meg, did you get hurt?” Collin put an awkward hand on my shoulder. He was concerned about me, but he was still committed to hiding our secret.
I shook my head again.
Tom looked at me. “Meg, you sure you didn’t get hurt?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” I replied and wiped the tears off my face.
Collin glanced at me again. I wanted to reach out for him, but Tom and Liv were standing there. The level of resentment about our secret grew.
Liv turned to Tom. “You’re speech is going to be up soon.” She then turned back toward me, like she didn’t know what to do.
“Tom, I can’t go back in there, please forgive me, but I just can’t.”
He hugged me. “No worries, Meg. You didn’t want to hear my boring speech anyway.”
I nodded. “Thanks for understanding. I’m going to grab a cab.”
Collin stepped forward. “I’ll take you home, Meg. Liv, can you tell Corinna I’m sorry, but I had to go? I’ll send my car back for her. She has my driver’s number.”
“Sure,�
� Liv agreed, but then gave me a curious look that I wasn’t sure how to take.
Tom and Liv returned inside. Collin escorted me to his car that he must have already signaled. I got in, not sure how much more of this I could take.
11
Meg
We didn’t say anything until the car started moving.
Collin pulled me over to him. “Meg, you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I snapped, as too much emotion still ran through me.
“Those bastards are lucky they didn’t hurt you. I would have killed them.”
I sneered at him, “Well, that would have given away our secret.”
Collin didn’t say anything. He just stared at me.
I looked back at him. “What?”
He cautiously asked, “Is our secret more than you bargained for?”
I took a deep breath. The secret was my idea, and after tonight, there was no way Collin was going to be with me in public when two of his biggest clients were having fistfights over me.
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want to hide like this—I knew that I didn’t—but I wasn’t about to let Collin out of my life yet.
Worry was all over Collin's face, and I saw that he did not want this to end. I leaned in. “Let’s not talk, Collin,” I murmured, reached up and kissed him.
His mouth met mine with fury, his hands grabbed my body and pulled me on him.
I thought of straddling him, but there was no way the dress I had on would allow me to do that, so I explored his mouth, ears, and neck with my tongue and pulled his head closer to mine.
The car stopped in front of my house. For some reason, I was surprised that Collin wasn’t taking me back to his place.
“Can I come up?” Collin huskily asked with a smoldering look in his eyes.
"Of course. Why are you asking me?"
Collin nervously scanned my eyes. "I just want to make sure it's okay."
