Wait for Me / Trust in Me (22 page)

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 typed 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 that the car was waiting. She sighed with irritation. Did he really think one word from him would have her throwing herself at him? Couldn't he at least have the common decency to say something to her that wasn't directly about Montgomerys? 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 practically had to 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 impossible!”

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 it was a mistake. I hired you to be my assistant; not my date, not my friend. You are an employee of Montgomerys and you were chosen for this position because you meet 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 this wasn't a pleasure trip and I think 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, 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 my 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 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, knowing there was probably a camera 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. The timing of all this really sucked.

“So,” she began, getting her head back where it belonged, “Dennis Caprese is up first this morning. I've talked to his assistant several times 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 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 gladly have 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 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 Jason would send her back to the hotel to get started on paperwork and was surprised when he told Alan they'd both be there. Maggie looked at him quizzically, unsure 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 it all 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 she really needed a little time away from Jason. After the kiss they'd shared earlier, he seemed to fill all 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 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 go down on the sand to enjoy the feel of it between her toes. Unfortunately, Alan and Jason were 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'oeuvres 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, deep in conversation. There was no way for her to get his attention and ask to leave without seeming rude.

Finally, dinner was announced and they were seated at a table for eight. It was 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 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, ready to be done 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 Cumming's 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, so she knew no one would pay too much attention to her.

Once outside, the sound of the waves crashing and the view of the sun setting were just overwhelming. Unable to resist, she headed down the wooden steps that led to the sand below, kicked off her shoes, and started 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.

“I see that you've loosened up some, Mags,” said a voice from behind her and Maggie froze.
No, it couldn't be!
Slowly she turned around and gasped in horror. There, standing before her was her former boss, Martin Blake.

“Martin,” she said as calmly as she could, even though she felt as though she was about to be sick.

“I see you're still giving the come-on to your boss,” he said snidely. “Tell me, will you go back to the hotel and cry foul again?”

She wanted to punch him in his smug face. “There's nothing to cry foul about,” she said crisply. “I finally work for a man who knows the difference between someone being polite and someone issuing a come-on.” She was rewarded when his expression faltered slightly. “Plus, I haven't had to fight my way out of a locked room to get away from someone who is no better than a rapist.”

Martin's expression turned to pure fury. “You little
bitch
,” he sneered. “You led me on for months and then you had the audacity to run out and play the victim?”

“I
was
a victim,” she fought back. “I never led you on; I never wanted you to touch me.
Ever.
You're disgusting and I hope never to see you again.” She spat the words at him and then turned and walked away with her head held high until she was around the front of the restaurant. Then she nearly crumpled to the ground. Her heart was racing and she felt ready to retch.

Never in a million years had she expected to see Martin Blake again, and right now all she wanted to do was get in the car and leave. But she'd have to go and find Jason first. The thought of going back inside and chancing another run-in with Martin was overwhelming. She gulped in several breaths and tried to calm herself.

“Maggie?”

Suddenly Jason was standing in front of her and gently pulling her to her feet. “What happened? Are you okay? Are you sick?”

She had never been so grateful to see anyone in her life. Well, that wasn't completely true. The last time she had felt this way it had been William Montgomery saving her. “Can we leave?” she asked a little too urgently, clutching the front of Jason's shirt for support. “Please?”

“Of course,” he said and pulled her into his embrace. “What happened?”