Falling for the Boss (11 page)

This
odd behavior made Maggie wonder if their “engagement” had been created as a means of getting rid of Felicia. On the one hand, it fit the circumstances. On the other, it seemed out of character and kind of drastic for Marcus to use such a method. Something was missing; there had to be more to this than she knew.

Shrugging weary shoulders,
she left the kitchen and made her way upstairs. It was midnight when she was awakened by the roar of Felicia’s candy-apple red sports car. And just when she’d finally fallen back to sleep, she heard the familiar high-pitched voice in the hall outside her door. Thumping her pillow savagely, Maggie wished she could throw it at few people instead. Didn’t they realize people were trying to sleep?

Up before dawn the next morning,
Maggie hurriedly dressed and slipped downstairs to begin making breakfast. She was flipping the first set of blueberry pancakes, thick and golden brown, when a muscular arm snaked around her waist.

“
I never thought domesticity could be so appealing.”

Maggie
continued to turn the pancakes, glad that Marcus couldn’t measure her heart rate at that moment. “You can remedy that any time you choose.”

“
Can I? You make it sound so easy. It’s not like I can put an advertisement in the paper like I did for Mrs. Griffin.”

“
I never said it was easy. I said it was rewarding. Finding the right person to share your life takes time and effort.” She moved slightly and his arm dropped from her waist.

He
watched her move the pancakes to a serving plate. “It also requires an inordinate amount of luck.” Before she could move away, he caught her close and dropped a kiss on her cheek.

“
Should I have knocked?” Felicia had come up behind them.

For reasons of his own, Marcus kissed Maggie again,
this time on her mouth, before he turned to greet the newcomer.

“Not for my sake,” he quipped with a grin on his face. “Maggie’s the shy one. What induced you to leave the comforts of your bed so early? I didn’t expect to see you until noon.”

“There’s some kind of animal in the tree outside my window. It woke me hours ago and I never could get back to sleep. I’m going to have to sleep somewhere else tonight.”

“
You may not have much choice. As I mentioned to you yesterday, several of the rooms are in the process of being painted.”

Maggie finished the pancakes, trying to ignore the sudden silence between the
other two. She placed everything on the table before making an attractive tray that she proceeded to take upstairs to Mrs. Griffin.

As she had no desire to be an unwanted third, Mag
gie delayed her return to the kitchen. Given enough time the other two would leave. All her planning was for naught. Marcus was sitting on the counter eating an apple when she sauntered back in some time later. Her look of dismay brought a mischievous grin to his face.

“
It’s gratifying to learn that I know you so well.” He jumped off the counter, threw his apple core away, and advanced toward her.

“
There’s nothing especially difficult about figuring out that I would come back here.”

“
Granted, that part was easy. But I actually anticipated that you would purposely take your time coming back and you didn’t disappoint me.” He tucked a golden strand of hair behind her ear and watched with satisfaction as the pink color flooded her face.

Ma
ggie, bursting with the desire to ask him why he suddenly thought she was worth bothering about again after virtually ignoring her for days, had to settle instead for the mundane. “Where is everyone?”

“
Luke has taken Felicia to an estate sale. It was a rather heavy-handed attempt to give us some time alone. The guy is a hopeless romantic.”

“
Unless he made Mrs. Griffin disappear, we aren’t alone.”

“
This is what happens when you hide yourself away. Mrs. Griffin’s friend from the garden club stopped by and talked her into going to their meeting this morning. So technically, we are alone.”

“
Poor Luke – all that planning and neither of us appreciative of it,” she said lightly.

“
Who said I wasn’t appreciative? I don’t mind being alone with you. Your company is undemanding, and you don’t flirt all the time.”

Maggie
laughed at this as she began to wash up the breakfast dishes. “That sounds dreadful. I thought men liked to be flirted with.”

“
Personally, I find it fatiguing and rather pointless. Women are most attractive when they’re not trying so hard.”

“You’re
difficult to please.”

Marcus grabbed a
towel, took the plate from her hand and proceeded to dry it. “I’m beginning to believe that. I’m going to take the boat out; would you be interested in coming along?”

As much as she wanted to accept this invitation,
Maggie knew it would be wiser to refuse. “Not today. I need to catch up on some things.”

“Luke will be disappointed.”

She noticed he didn’t include himself in that sentiment. “He’ll get over it. I hope you have a nice time.”

Marcus
spent the drive to the marina wondering why he felt so disappointed at Maggie’s refusal to come with him. It must be because she’d so enjoyed it last time. Everything was a novelty to her and that had made it more exciting for him. The idea that he was developing strong feelings for her was too absurd to be considered. He liked things just as they were.

Left alone to regret her decision,
Maggie began to tackle her long to-do list. She worked swiftly in the quiet house and had almost finished when she discovered some files needing to be returned to the basement. Not bothering to turn on any lights, she went downstairs, entered the storage room, and absently closed the door.

Having located the box she needed, Maggie was down on her knees flipping through the neatly alphabetized contents when she heard
footsteps in the hallway. Wondering if Marcus had returned, she replaced the files and prepared to leave. Her hand was on the doorknob when a feminine voice floated through the vent in the wall.

“
I can’t believe you’ve been taken in.”

Maggie had no trouble recognizing Felicia's voice and thinking only that she
should make her presence known, started to open the door. She froze at the other woman’s next words.

“
It’s absurd, Luke! You can’t really believe Marcus is in love with Maggie.”

“
Does it matter what I believe? Marcus told me himself about their engagement and Maggie certainly hasn’t denied it. I fail to see your point.”

“Y
ou would say anything to vex me. I suppose this is payback for me breaking our engagement. When will you let it go?”

Maggie hope
d the gasp that escaped her wasn’t audible to the couple standing in the hall. Luke’s quiet reply was barely discernable.

“
I would have to be made of stone to forget what we once meant to each other. We were making our honeymoon plans.”

“
Would you rather me have gone ahead and married you? How happy would you have been then?”

Luke laughed softly.
“I suppose I should thank you for preserving my happiness while you cast me aside to pursue more promising game. As if that wasn’t enough of a cure, I end up working for this paragon you threw me over for. Sorry, Felicia, but you ask too much. I had the decency not to tell Marcus about our past, but I think your luck may have finally run out. Marcus is going to marry Maggie, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

F
elicia’s voice became more assured. “I don’t have to do anything. Marcus will do all that’s necessary as soon as he’s ready. You know him as well as anyone else - one only has to look at Maggie to know that Marcus would never tie himself to someone like that. She could never make him happy.

“
Who are you trying to convince? I’m not going to lose sleep over Marcus’ love life. But, since you are directly involved, you might want to consider the fact that you could be wrong. Why would Marcus spread this tale of being engaged? What can he hope to accomplish by such a prank, and why in the world would Maggie agree to help him?”

“
I’m not sure Maggie realizes this is all a joke. She exhibits all the signs of being hopelessly in love; the poor girl doesn’t even attempt to hide it. It’s Marcus’ behavior that gives the entire thing away.”

“
And I think the opposite about Marcus. His behavior confused me for a while until I started watching him more closely. You should try it some time.”

“
I don’t need to. You’re seeing what you want to see. When this marriage doesn’t come off, you’re going to be hurt all over again.”

“Careful, Felicia,
you almost sound like you care about my feelings.”

“I’m not as hard as you think.
Even though things didn’t work out between us, I still want you to be happy.”

F
or a moment there was silence and then Luke spoke again, more softly, almost pleadingly. “The key to my happiness is entirely in your hands, Felicia.”

Maggie
could stand there no longer; her heart was aching for Luke. She knew well the pain he was experiencing. Her one thought was to get out before she heard anything else. As quietly as possible, she switched off the light and slowly opened the door. The hall was dark and a furtive glance showed it to be empty, so she moved toward the stairs.

A small sound to her left
caused her to turn her head. Luke and Felicia were standing in the middle of the break room and the passionate nature of their embrace was enough to send Maggie scurrying from the area. Unfortunately, her exit didn’t go unnoticed.

Despite being fully occupied in kissing Felicia, Luke had opened his eyes long enough to see Maggie heading for the stairs.
He wondered how long she’d been there and how much she’d heard. His moment of triumph ended abruptly as with a gasp, Felicia broke away from him. She also delivered a stinging slap before she too made her escape.

Luke had no regrets;
Felicia had teased him for too long, treating him with an indifference that made a mockery of their former relationship. He rubbed his jaw thoughtfully; the ease with which she’d come into his arms was definitely encouraging. Luke allowed himself a small smile.

Back in his
office, his smile faded as he stared unseeingly at the pile of work on his desk. His thoughts drifted back to a spring day many years before. His mother had dragged him, a reluctant twelve-year-old, to a birthday party. Luke had thought this a terrible waste of an afternoon, so after ensuring his mother was fully occupied in gossiping with her friends, he ventured off on his own.

Finding a shallow pool topped with
shiny green lily pads, Luke sat down at the edge to watch the orange and white fish gliding languidly through the water. He was joined a few minutes later by a young girl with a head full of curls wearing a wrinkled and grass-stained party dress. Her baby blue eyes shimmered with unshed tears, and her face bore all the evidence of a heavy bout of crying. He took out his newly laundered handkerchief and offered it shyly. He could still remember the smile of thanks she gave him. Luke lost his heart that day and it remained in Felicia's keeping even now.

Throughout their school years
the two had remained good friends. Luke had always been around to rescue the reckless Felicia from her fast friends and the tight situations her parents would have frowned upon. It was when they both returned home after college that their relationship had begun to alter.

Luke, whose feelings had only grown more intense during those years, was out of this world with joy when Feli
cia admitted her love for him. They announced their engagement and began preparations for an autumn wedding.

But this world of bliss was soon to
unravel. Felicia attended a friend's wedding in Atlanta to which Luke was unable to go. When she returned, she gave him back his ring, giving no explanations.

Wanting to get away,
Luke went to stay with some friends in Charleston and within a short time had secured a job with a prominent young attorney. His haven was shattered soon after when he realized he was working for the very man responsible for his own misery.

His first instinct had been to leave
. Marcus knew nothing about the former relationship between him and Felicia, and Luke decided to leave it that way. As he got to know Marcus, he realized Felicia was wasting her time.

Marcus was not the marrying kind. And though it had been
painful to watch the woman he loved fall ever more deeply under the spell of another man, he knew at some point Marcus would move on. Luke wanted to be there when that happened, and so he decided to stick around.

The arrival of Maggie onto the scene had changed everything. For the first time in months, Luke had real reason to hope.
Felicia couldn’t continue to ignore what was becoming obvious to everyone. Marcus had met his match in Maggie. The two were made for each other.