Wait for Me / Trust in Me (21 page)

William was glad Jason could not see him grinning like the 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 she's unimpressed with the whole concept of spending a lot of money frivolously.”

His father's words made sense, but Jason 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 itinerary.”

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 waited. And waited. “Like what?” he finally asked.

“Okay, for starters, there's the fact that she's even on this trip with me.”

“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 intelligent! What happened at her last job to make her 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 overexaggerating, Jason. Why would she be mad about you inviting her husband to come to New York for the weekend?”

“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 I'm not! Why would you even say 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 swore 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 the last time she danced was in high school at her prom.”

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 have danced 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. 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.”

“Well, Jason, to be honest right back at you, it's you I'm worried about.”

“Me? Why?”

William let out a dramatic sigh. “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 who 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 she's married and I realize 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. “Talk to Maggie,” he said simply.

“To what end, Dad? She's married; she's my assistant. There is no way this can end well.”

William repeated his words. “Trust me.”

If only it were that easy. “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, stripped, and climbed into the king-sized bed. Flipping the lights off, he rested against the pillows and stared into the darkness, wondering just what he was going to do about this situation.

He was a man used to being in control, 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, to remember that Maggie was off-limits no matter how much she tempted him. But most important, Jason had to remember that for the first time possibly in his life, he wasn't going to get what he wanted.

Five more days.

Jason stared 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 in her big brown eyes.

It had taken every ounce of strength he possessed not to cave in.

Not that he had been mean, no; Jason had gone into extreme workaholic mode and spent every waking moment doing nothing that wasn't directly related to Montgomerys and the expansion project. They could probably go home right now and skip these last few days of meetings—things had gone so well as they'd traveled down the East Coast that Jason didn't feel 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 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 gym 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 to its limits every morning 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 from participating in any social settings as they had early on in their trip. Although he had a couple of charitable events 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 not to have to traipse along with him everywhere he went. While Jason knew deep down that he should have taken his father's advice and actually talked 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 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 the camaraderie that they had shared early on in the trip. She kicked herself daily for letting her guard down and allowing herself to have feelings for him.

In her own defense, Jason Montgomery was an incredible man. He was kind and funny and intelligent, 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 it was her own fault. After all, here she was, a supposedly married woman who couldn't seem to stop 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 had told her 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 the fact that she was the one attracted to the boss and not the other way around, and she would have laughed out loud. And yet here she was.

They had less than a week left on the trip. Three days in Atlanta, two in Miami, and then it was back home. What would happen then? She couldn't imagine Jason would fire her immediately. No, they still had a lot of work to do on this expansion project once they were back at Montgomerys. 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, pulling out a bottle of water and taking a long drink. She didn't want to go back to her old life, not really. The woman 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 was missing it all because of the actions of one person. 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 what to do about Jason and her feelings for him, she did know that when they got back home she was going to start getting involved in things. She'd finally accept some of those after-work invitations her co-workers were always extending. 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. At the time it had made perfect sense, but now that she was ready for a change, Maggie realized 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. Maybe it would have been worth the difficulty and confusion—even if it had turned out only to 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 onto 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 she wanted but couldn't have.