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.
Chapter Six
They’d made it through the Atlanta meeting and were landing in Miami. Jason spent most of the flight on the phone with his brother Mac while Maggie was typing up last minute contracts at Jason’s request.
They checked into their hotel and rushed up to their rooms without exchanging a word. Maggie had just enough time to freshen up her makeup before Jason knocked on the door to signal her that the car was waiting. She sighed with irritation. Did he really think that one word from him was going to have her throwing herself at him? Couldn’t he at least have the common decency to say a word or two to her that wasn’t directly about Montgomery’s? It was getting beyond rude and Maggie wasn’t sure if she’d be able to make it through another day like this.
When Maggie stepped out of her room, Jason was already halfway down the hall. She had to practically run to catch up with him at the elevator and when they stepped on and he hung up the phone, Maggie stamped her hand over the emergency stop button and faced Jason full of fury.
“What the hell?” he snapped.
“You know, Jason, I think I deserve a little more common courtesy than a knock on the door beckoning me to follow you.”
Jason pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled sharply. “We don’t have time for this right now. We have an appointment to get to.”
“Oh, I get that, Jason; believe me, I do. What I don’t get is why I’m being treated like some sort of leper or something! I’ve been working my butt off for you on this trip and in the last week you have been beyond rude!”
His eyes finally met hers. “Rude? Look, I don’t know what you were expecting on this trip, but I’ve been treating you like an employee. We are on this trip to work. I’ll admit that I got a little sidetracked back in New York but then I realized that it was a mistake. I hired you to be my assistant; not my d
ate, not my friend. You are an employee of Montgomery’s and you were chosen for this position because you met a certain criteria.”
“Because I’m married?” she said snidely, wanting nothing more than to smack his face and make him stop using that condescending tone on her.
“That was partially it. You were qualified for the job that I needed done. I told you from the get-go that this wasn’t a pleasure trip and I think that for a while there the lines were getting blurry.” It was the most honest statement he’d ever made to her and the look of horror on her face had him wanting to take it back.
Maggie took a step back from Jason and lowered her eyes to the ground. “I see,” she said quietly. Reaching beyond him, she gently hit the button for the lobby and was relieved when they started moving. “I’m sorry if I did anything to make you uncomfortable, Jason. That was never my intention.”
With a growl of frustration, Jason reached out and hit the stop button himself and then caught Maggie by the arms when the elevator car jerked to a halt. “Maggie, look at me,” he said gently. When her eyes met his they were wary and sad at the same time and Jason felt like a school yard bully. “It wasn’t you, okay? I just think it’s better for us to stay focused on the project because when I let me guard down…”
Maggie couldn’t help it, she leaned into him. “What?” she whispered.
Jason was only human. The feel of her; the smell of her perfume and those big brown eyes looking up at him were his undoing. “I find it hard to forget that I shouldn’t do things like this.” And he lowered his mouth to hers. Maggie responded to him instantly and Jason thought he was going to lose his mind. Her lips were so soft, so pliant and when she let out a sigh and relaxed into him, he took a step forward and pressed her back against the wall of the elevator.
He feasted on her lips like he’d been dying to do for weeks as Maggie ran her hands up his neck and into his hair anchoring him to her. Jason’s tongue teased at Maggie’s bottom lip and when she opened for him and touched her tongue to his, he thought he’d go up in flames. Jason wanted to tell her how much he wanted her, how much he’d been thinking about her and how he wanted nothing more than to cancel their meetings for today and go back upstairs when…
“Is everyone okay in there?” A voice was speaking to them through an intercom in the elevator and they broke apart instantly.
“Um…yes,” Jason stammered. “We’re fine.” He reached over and set the elevator in motion again. “Thank you,” he said out loud to whoever was speaking to them and knew that there was probably a camera on them that caught all of that on tape. There was no way to claim a mechanical issue. They’d just have to step out into the lobby and pray that no one said anything.
They arrived on the main floor of the hotel and walked out to the waiting car. As they pulled away from the curb, Jason spoke without looking directly at Maggie. “I’m not going to apologize for that,” he said simply.
“I’m not asking you to,” she replied. There was so much that she wanted to say and that she wanted to ask but now was completely not the time. They were wrapping up this trip and had two important clients to meet with today and the timing of all of this really sucked.
“So,” she began, getting her head back where it belonged, “Dennis Caprese is up first this morning. I’ve talked several times with his assistant in the last couple of days and per all of your preliminary talks with him, I’ve prepared the contracts already so that should everything go our way, he can sign today.”
Jason nodded. He didn’t give a damn about business and meetings right now. All he could think about was that kiss. Shouldn’t she be outraged? Shouldn’t she be demanding that he not touch her again? He had been speculating for far too long about her marriage and it just didn’t sit right with him that Maggie wasn’t putting up more of a fight. It didn’t fit. The woman he had come to know had morals and was pretty traditional in her views and beliefs. It didn’t match up with the image of her as a married woman. Jason had no doubt that she wasn’t the kind of woman who would have an affair.
Then why did she kiss him with such urgency?
Why did it feel like she would have gladly let him take her right there in the elevator and to hell with the consequences?
And why did he want to tell the driver to turn the car around so that he could test that theory out?
“Here we are, Sir,” the driver said, interrupting his thoughts. “I’ll stay close by so that you can call me when you’re done.”
Jason mumbled a word of thanks and exited the car, Maggie close behind him. All of his wonderings and naughty thoughts would have to wait. They had meetings to get through. But once business was done, so was all of the tippy-toeing he’d been doing.
Jason was going to get some answers.
Tonight.
****
Their second meeting was over by four, but Alan Cummings, the CEO of AC Industries, invited them out for dinner. Jason had wanted to refuse but Cummings wasn’t one hundred percent on board yet and he figured that a few more hours in the man’s company could only help their situation.
Maggie assumed that Jason would send her back to the hotel to get started on paperwork and was surprised when he told Alan that they’d both be there. Maggie looked at him quizzically, unsure of why he wanted her to go with him when there was a mountain of work to do. Jason read the question in her eyes and simply said “There will be plenty of time to get all of it done when we get back to North Carolina.”
She wanted to argue that she needed to get started while it was all fresh in her mind but the reality was that she really needed a little time away from Jason. After the kiss they’d shared earlier, he seemed to fill all of the space around her. She could feel him, smell him and found it hard to concentrate with him so close by.
But she didn’t say a word. Instead, Maggie merely nodded and stayed put in the conference room of AC Industries until it was time to leave. “Do you need to go back to the hotel before dinner?” Jason asked.
“I wouldn’t mind doing that, but it’s completely up to you. Mr. Cummings seemed set on an early dinner so I don’t think it would be worth the rush to go across town and back again.”
“Apparently he does a dinner like this once a month with several clients so we won’t be one on one with him. I guess if nothing else I may get to network a little bit more,” Jason said casually.
“That would be great, Jason, but then maybe it would be best if I didn’t go. I’ll only be in the way and no one else will have their assistants with them so…”
“Nonsense!” Alan Cummings said as he walked back into the room. He was a tall man with a booming voice and Maggie nearly fell out of her chair at the sound of it. “I have a couple of other out of town clients that are meeting us tonight and several of them have their assistants with them. And even if they didn’t, Maggie, I would hate to not be a proper host and not include you.”
She smiled at him but still didn’t feel up to spending any more time talking business. A little alone time back in her room to unwind and think about what had happened earlier in the elevator was what Maggie most wanted to do but clearly that wasn’t going to happen. “Thank you,” she said finally and stood when he indicated that they were ready to go.
Back in the town car, they rode over to a restaurant on the water where AC Industries hosted their monthly events. Maggie loved the sound and smell of the ocean and wanted nothing more than to kick her shoes off and to go down on to the sand and just enjoy the feel of it between her toes. Unfortunately, Alan and Jason were standing and waiting for her so she smiled sheepishly and walked with them into the restaurant.
Within an hour Maggie’s head was spinning. They had met well over two dozen new people, had enjoyed hors d’oevres and several glasses of wine. All she wanted to do was sit down to a hot meal and finish the day but Jason was working the room and was deep in conversation. There was no way for her to get his attention and ask to leave without seeming rude.
Finall
y, dinner was announced and they were seated at a table for eight and dined on some of the best seafood Maggie had ever tasted. Jason inquired if she was enjoying her meal but once his eyes met hers – for the first time since the elevator – all thoughts of food left her mind. The heat in his eyes clearly matched her own and it was all she could do to just nod her head. “Everything’s delicious,” she whispered.
Jason stared at Maggie’s lips and thought of how delicious they had been earlier in the day. He suddenly found himself without an appetite for food and was done with socializing. They had an early morning meeting with one last client and then an afternoon flight home. He needed to get through this last night and right now, all Jason wanted to do was to take Maggie by the hand and drag her back to the hotel and to hell with the consequences.
“Jason!” Alan Cummings voice shouted from across the room. He turned and faced the man. “There’s someone here I want you to meet!”
With a sigh of resignation, he excused himself and stood but not before giving Maggie an apologetic look. She smiled serenely back at him; she understood. Once he was across the room and swallowed up into the crowd, Maggie decided to take advantage of the time and walked out onto the back deck of the restaurant that led out to the beach. There were several other guests mingling out there and so she knew that no one would pay too much attention to her.
Once outside, the sound of the waves crashing and the sun setting was just overwhelming. Unable to resist, she headed down the wooden steps that led to the sand below and kicked off her shoes and headed toward the water. It felt better than she had imagined. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been to the beach and it was just heavenly to stand still and let her senses take it all in.
Trust in Me Page 7
