Wait for Me / Trust in Me (19 page)

The moment Jason's lips touched Maggie's, he knew he was in trouble. It was perfect. He felt her slight tremble before she lifted her arms around his neck to pull him in closer. Jason wanted to devour her right then and there but kept his touch soft and gentle so that if she wanted to pull away, she could.

But she didn't.

If anything, Maggie seemed to be doing her best to drag a deeper kiss out of him. Jason wanted to oblige, he really did, but this was not the place. With a growl of regret he raised his head, his breathing ragged. “Maggie?”

Slowly Maggie opened her eyes and then he watched as reality slowly set in, shock and embarrassment crossing her face. “
Ohmygod
,” she gushed and ran from his embrace.

Jason stood motionless for a moment, not sure what he was supposed to do. Why had he given in to temptation? He was stronger than that! They had more than two weeks to go on this trip and he could
not
afford to screw this up and scare Maggie off. Dammit! Looking around, he noticed that no one was paying any particular attention to him, so he made his way off the dance floor in search of his assistant.

It didn't take long to find her.

Standing in the far corner of the lobby, Maggie tried to catch her breath. Dear lord, what had she done? She'd kissed Jason! She'd kissed her boss! What was she supposed to do now? Her mind raced frantically and her first instinct was to call William and tell him that she needed to leave here immediately. But once she took a moment to think that through, she realized she was the one who was at fault here, not Jason. Maybe she had misread his intentions? No, he was definitely the one who initiated the kiss, but she was the one who had practically devoured him.

Maggie was sure her face was twenty-seven shades of red and almost jumped out of her skin when she heard Jason say her name softly from behind her. Reluctantly, she turned to face him.

Before he could even say a word, Maggie held up a hand to stop him. “That was completely unprofessional of me and I don't know why it happened.” When Jason tried to speak again, she continued on. “Let's just say that I got a little swept up in the moment and it won't happen again.”

“Maggie…” he began.

“Honestly, Jason, I'd rather not talk about it.” She looked around the lobby and noticed that people were starting to leave. “Are there more people that you needed to talk to or would you mind if we called for the car?”

Jason stared down at her skeptically. There were a million thoughts racing through his head. Caught up in the moment? That's all it was to her?
Hell
no!
There was more to this than she was letting on but the harder he stared at her, the more her bravado seemed to be failing and he felt like he was wordlessly bullying her. “No,” he said finally. “I think it's been a successful evening. I'll call for the car.”

Within twenty minutes, they were back in the limo and on their way to the hotel. Maggie was going to try for small talk, but she couldn't seem to find anything to talk about. They were going to be leaving Cleveland in the morning and had a flight to Boston. Their itinerary had them spending three days in Boston and then they were heading to Manhattan for four days.

Right now all Maggie wanted was a day to herself to figure out what in the world was going on with her. She had been so confident in her ability to stay in control after the way things had gone down with Martin Blake that she never gave a thought to what would happen if she was the one attracted to her boss.

She thought those feelings were long dead, ruined by a man who trapped her like some sort of prey. For some reason, Jason Montgomery was bringing feelings out in Maggie that she wasn't ready to deal with. Being in such close proximity to him was certainly not helping the situation.

A cry of relief nearly escaped her lips when they finally arrived back at the hotel. Maggie noticed once they were in the lobby that Jason wasn't behind her. She stopped, turned, and saw him standing still, watching her. “Jason?”

“You go on up, Maggie. I'm going to go grab a drink in the bar.” He motioned to the hotel lounge behind him. “Why don't we plan on meeting down here to grab the car for the airport in the morning?”

“That sounds fine,” she said quietly, knowing that Jason was probably trying to figure out how to get rid of her for the remainder of the trip. “I'll see you in the morning.” With that, she walked quickly and got on the elevator just as the doors were beginning to close.

* * *

Jason was a wreck. Three shots later and nothing was making sense. He gave a mirthless laugh as he paid the bar tab and made his way to the bank of elevators. Why did he think more alcohol was going to help clear his mind?

Maggie had given him hell from the get-go about not mistaking a smile for a come-on. He could live with that. But was he mistaking her kiss for something more than what it was? Hell, what was it? He never should have given in to the urge to kiss her but she had looked so damn desirable that he couldn't resist. And if she wasn't married? Well, he wouldn't have spent the last hour in the hotel bar, that was for damn sure!

Married
. Jason had never in his life pursued a married woman. Never. How was he supposed to stay on this trip with her if he was attracted to her? How were they supposed to go back to the way they worked together only earlier today with this kiss hanging between them? Hell if he knew.

Once up in his room, Jason ripped off his tie and jacket and stalked the interior. He couldn't afford to let Maggie leave. She was too important to what he hoped to accomplish business-wise on this trip. But if he was going to survive the next couple of weeks, he was going to have to put some strict parameters on them so that they weren't in any more of these situations.

Booting up his tablet, he pulled up their itinerary. They had three days scheduled in Boston and then four in New York. The Boston meetings were going to be lengthy, but were in large groups and in offices; no chance of slow dancing and drinking there. Once in New York their schedule was a little more open, and with a weekend in the middle, they'd have a day or so with nothing to do. That could pose a problem.

What if he told her to call her husband and Jason would fly him in for the weekend? Maybe seeing the two of them together would be just what he needed to put everything in perspective and remind him of why he needed to keep his distance.

The plan was perfect. Sighing with relief, he stripped and got ready for bed. Tomorrow when they were en route to Boston, he'd surprise her with his idea. Maybe Maggie was just missing her husband and that was why she'd kissed him.

Lying down, Jason turned out the light, staring at the darkened ceiling and thinking about Maggie's lips on his and the man who had the right to kiss them any time he wanted. His final thought as sleep claimed him was,
Lucky
bastard.

* * *

They were airborne and Maggie was pulling up the files that she wanted to review with Jason when he finally spoke. “Listen, I was thinking, we're scheduled for three days in Boston but realistically, we can be done in two. That means we can hit Manhattan by Saturday morning and then we don't have any meetings until Monday. Why don't you call your husband and I'll fly him up for the weekend?” He was quite proud of himself for thinking of it, but the look of pure horror on Maggie's face had him reconsidering.

“What?” she cried. “Why? Why would you do that? We have a schedule to keep and there's no time to just change things around like that. It's not necessary, really. We have a lot to accomplish and you're not paying me to have a weekend getaway.”

Wow, protest much? “I just thought since we've been working so hard that maybe you would appreciate having a bit of a break. Most people at least get the weekend off. I honestly thought you'd like the idea,” he said hesitantly.

“Well, it's not necessary. I am being well-compensated for working long hours on this trip and there's no need for you to go out of your way to change anything. If you would like to use the free time to do…whatever, then please feel free. I don't need to be entertained. We have enough work to keep me busy.”

“Maggie, you're taking this all wrong,” he said, leaning forward in his seat. “I'm trying to do something nice here.”

“You treated me to a spa treatment yesterday. You took me to an amazing event at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last night. I actually got to stand next to John Lennon's guitar! I'm traveling around the country to places that I've never seen before while staying at luxurious hotels, and I'm getting paid for it!” Her words were a little more clipped usual.

Jason held up a hand to calm her down. “Okay, okay, I get it. Geez, it was just a thought. I'm sorry I brought it up.” He watched as Maggie slowly calmed down, and now his curiosity was piqued even more. From what he'd learned so far, this mystery husband never danced with her, never traveled with her, apparently never called her, and she didn't have any inclination to spend time with him.

Hmm…That could also explain last night's kiss. Frustrated wife? Bored with her husband? Jason felt ill. It didn't sit right with him. Even if Maggie wasn't happily married, it didn't give him the right to hit on her or for her to use him as some kind of substitute.

Who was he kidding? She wasn't using him for anything. She nearly left skid marks trying to get away from him, and even now was sitting as far away from him on the private plane as humanly possible. It was wishful thinking on his part that she was the one interested in him and not the other way around.

With the determination he was known for, Jason decided that the only way to keep his sanity was to push all personal thoughts of Maggie from his mind and focus on the business at hand. He was feeling confident about the upcoming meetings. He had to get his head back in the game if he wanted to move Montgomerys into a tax bracket that they'd never even dreamed of.

* * *

“I can't believe that went so well,” Maggie was saying on Friday evening as they took a cab back to their hotel. “That had to be the shortest meeting in history.”

“Well, it helped that Dennis Michaels had more pressing matters to attend to,” Jason said as he texted his brother Mac with an update.

“He should never have kept that appointment with us! His wife was in labor!”

Jason laughed. “We corporate types never like to miss an appointment,” he teased. “Besides, it's their first child and those are notoriously slow in arriving.”

Maggie nodded in agreement. “Well, between this meeting being over way earlier than expected and everyone else being so agreeable and ready to sign on the dotted line, we are actually ahead of schedule.” She leaned back in her seat and sighed. “I wish all of our meetings would go like the ones here in Boston. Any chance we can put in a request for that?”

“If only.” Jason hit the Send button on his phone. “I don't know about you, but as much as I've enjoyed our time here, I'm anxious to hit New York City and spend some time there. You up for a late night drive?”

“What about our flight tomorrow?”

“I'm tired of flying. I'll get us a car and we can grab something to eat on the road. It's a four-hour drive and—”

“We won't get in until close to midnight, Jason!” she said incredulously, even though the thought was appealing. “Why don't we wait to fly tomorrow?”

“Because the flight isn't until noon and then we'll miss half the day there. There's so much to see and the weekend is wide open. The weather is supposed to be beautiful, and I want to walk around and eat pizza and grab hot dogs from a street vendor, shop a little…”

“You shop?” she asked, clearly amused at the thought.

“Yes, I do,” he said simply. “And there is no place better to shop than New York.”

“I don't know about that, but I will admit that I'm looking forward to the food.”

“Is that a yes, Maggie? Ready for a road trip?” he asked excitedly, forgetting about his earlier intentions of keeping his distance.

“Oh, what the hell!” she said with equal abandon. “It beats watching another night of bad cable.”

“Atta girl.”

* * *

Jason knew how to make things happen. Within the hour there was a rental car waiting for them at their hotel and they were packed and ready to go. Maggie had made arrangements to get sandwiches for the trip from the hotel restaurant, and by seven o'clock they were on the road.

Jason had been on the phone most of the time they were getting ready, and Maggie had to wonder who he was talking to. By the time they were hitting the I-90, Maggie had their food and drinks situated so Jason could eat and drive. They talked amicably about some of the sites they hoped to see, and while secretly Maggie was thrilled to have the free time to explore New York City, she knew she couldn't let herself get too carried away. She was on company time no matter what Jason said.

By the time she saw the lights of the city, Maggie was sleepy and yet too excited to close her eyes. There was so much to see and do, and she felt the energy of the city consuming her already. Soon they were deep in the heart of the city, and she nearly choked when she saw where they were.

“The Four Seasons? We're staying at the
Four
Seasons
?” she squealed. “That wasn't on our itinerary, Jason!”

He laughed as he climbed from the car and smiled at the valet who was helping Maggie out. “Well, our hotel couldn't accommodate us for tonight, so I made some calls and got us in here. You're not disappointed, are you?”

Maggie burst out laughing and nearly fell over. “Yes, Jason, I am extremely disappointed that I have to stay at one of the top luxury hotels in the world. Damn you.” She barely got the sentence out before breaking out in a fit of giggles again.