Working_Out Page 7

  “Nice mouth.”

  He wanted to say, Maggie seems to like it. But he didn’t want to talk about her like that. What the fuck is that all about?

  “See? There’s that look. You’re introspective now.”

  “Shut the hell up. I have work to do.”

  Shane crowed. “You’re into her. Wait until I tell Shelby.”

  Mac rushed around the desk and put Shane in a headlock until he cried uncle. “Not a word to your girlfriend, you get me?”

  “F-fine. Let…me…go.”

  Mac released him and rested his back against the door, blocking Shane’s exit. “I’m working my way slowly with Maggie. Like you said, she’s a nice woman.” Nice. The blond was a shark in tights. “She’s also Shelby’s best friend. I happen to like your girlfriend, so I can’t afford to have Maggie hate me.” Yeah, like that’s the only reason I’m worried about screwing up with her. It has nothing to do with the fact that I actually like spending time with her. More than is healthy. “So don’t fuck it up for me, Shane.”

  Shane rubbed his throat, still grinning, the idiot. “No, sir. But I have to tell you. The fact you aren’t trying to get straight into her pants is a sign.”

  Worried because he had a feeling Shane was right, Mac swore again.

  “Talk to me, Goose.”

  “What is your need to talk about every damn thing?” Mac sneered. “I hate when you quote Top Gun. Fucking squid movie.” The Navy had nothing on the Corps.

  “Look, what’s the problem here? So you like her. You date, fine. It works or it doesn’t. That’s life.”

  So why did Mac worry about the not working part? He didn’t want to think about not being able to argue with her at the gym when she worked. And he couldn’t believe how much he looked forward to seeing her. Even without the sex, he liked being with her. For Maggie he’d consider going to a freakin’ coffee shop and sitting around, bullshitting with the other metrosexuals.

  Jesus. He really needed to get laid.

  “She’s not bitchy or a money-grubber,” Shane was saying. “You can trust her, and hell, I like her. She’s hot, has a job—has two jobs—and her own place, and is friends with my girlfriend. I mean, what’s not to like? So why all the worry?”

  Maybe Shane could help him. He did tend to think like a woman. “Because I think with her I’ll want more, but I don’t know if it’ll scare her off or not.”

  Shane blinked. “More as in… Oh, more.” Shane knew about Mac’s proclivities toward dominance. They’d talked about it a few times, and Shane had tried the D/s thing with his ex but hadn’t found it satisfying. Personally, Mac loved it. But partners into his kind of kink were hard to come by, and he didn’t want an anonymous hook up at a sex club. He’d been there, done that. Mac was tired of vanilla. He wanted sex that felt right, and he wanted to explore that path with Maggie.

  “What if she isn’t into it? Think that would throw you off?” Shane asked.

  “I don’t know.” The crux of the matter. Mac had always known exactly what he wanted in a steady partner. His ultimate fantasy girl would have to be strong and independent away from him. He didn’t want to babysit and he had no urge to deal with a 24/7 slave. But in the bedroom, he wanted to dominate. He wanted a woman to crawl to him, to satisfy his needs because she wanted to. She would want him to care for her and pleasure her because she’d know that turned him on. An equal and fulfilling exchange.

  He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt that with anyone. Maybe he never had, but he had the urge to fit Maggie into that role. One step at a time, moron. You haven’t even fucked her yet. Why not take it slow before you scare her off? His hormones were totally screwing with him.

  “You should see the misery on your face.” Shane looked gleeful, until Mac glared at him again. Shane lost the smugness, but not the pleasure behind his words. “It’s about time you found a decent woman. Give it a shot. Like you said, take it slow. My bet is you end up falling hard for her. And then all that Dom shit won’t matter, because you’ll be in love.”

  “Go easy on all the love talk, Nancy.”

  Shane laughed. “Whatever. You should try it sometime. A woman you actually like outside the bedroom can be a ton of fun. Look, I feel sorry for you. If you want, you can double with me and Shelby to take off the pressure. You said you wanted a different kind of relationship than the ones you normally have. No fucking and flying,” he said, repeating Mac’s earlier comments.

  “I know. I’m being careful with her. We haven’t had sex yet.” Not exactly.

  “Which for you is a miracle.”

  “Don’t you have somewhere else to be?” Mac growled. “It’s six thirty.”

  “Oh, right.” Shane flipped him a one-finger salute. “Heading back to my place, where my hot, sexy girlfriend will be waiting for me with dinner.”

  The lucky bastard. Mac shrugged. “Yeah? Well I’m going home to a crotchety old man with control issues.”

  “Sounds like you and your future are closer than you think.” Shane laughed. “Tell your uncle I said hi.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Give Shelby a kiss for me.”

  “Dream on.”

  “Later, slacker.” Mac watched his buddy leave and decided he’d worked long enough. After letting his night manager know he was taking off, he drove home for a family dinner, which usually consisted of Mac slaving away while his uncle nagged him about something. Hopefully Ian would remember to bring some beer this time.

  He saw his uncle’s truck parked in front of the house and pulled into the driveway. The door opened and his uncle held up a six pack of Mac’s favorite microbrew.

  “Come on, boy. I brought pizza. Well, get the lead out.” Ian slammed the door shut.

  Mac smiled. Maybe tonight wouldn’t be a total waste. Pizza and beer would go a long way toward making Ian’s lecture easier to bear.

  ***

  Just shoot me now.

  Maggie swallowed another sigh as Mimi waved her hands above her head, the bangles clanging like it was the fourth of July. Shelby grinned at her with evil intent.

  “I thought you and Shane had planned on a quiet night at home,” Maggie accused.

  “Nah. I left him a note. He has the house to himself tonight. I wanted to spend more time with you, best buddy.” Shelby turned a bright smile on her mother. “And then I thought about how long it’s been since I had dinner with Mom and Ron too, and here we are.”

  In hell. Maggie knew what this was about. Payback. Just because Maggie had, with the best of intentions, interfered in Shelby’s love life, Shelby now felt like she had to do the same to Maggie. But Shelby didn’t seem to understand Maggie didn’t want her help. Or maybe she did. Shelby could hold a grudge.

  “Now, dear. Tell me more about Mac Jameson,” Mimi said to Maggie.

  Ron dug into his noodles. “He’s to-die-for handsome. All that muscle. Yum.”

  “I know that. I’ve met the man, like a Greek god to us mere mortals. I want to know what Maggie thinks of him.” She turned to Maggie. “Well, dear? Is he a bit thick?”

  Maggie choked on an egg roll. He’d felt like more than a handful to her.

  “As in,” Mimi continued, a merry glint in her eye, “can he handle a conversation, or is he as dense as a brick? Is he homophobic? Does he like color? I’ve only caught the bare minimum from our brief meetings.”

  “He likes Maggie’s art,” Shelby added. “I’m pretty sure he’s not homophobic. I don’t know his favorite color, but from what I do know, he’s a great guy. He’s been nice to me.”

  “Because you’re dating his best friend,” Maggie pointed out. “He’s okay if you’re into the muscle-bound, control-freak type.”

  “Sound right up your alley,” Shelby asnwered.

  “But I’m not in the market for a man. I’m concentrating on finishing a few more projects for the gallery. Kim has a buyer coming in January. He’s already expressed interest in a few pieces she put on the website. She thinks he might want to put s
ome in his galleries on the East Coast.”

  “That would be wonderful.” Mimi beamed. “You should focus wholeheartedly on your work. Shelby, quit bugging the girl.”

  Shelby stared. “You’re kidding, right? You three stuck your big noses in my business not that long ago.”

  “Out of love,” Ron reminded her. “Maggie seems to have a head on her shoulders. You, sadly, were hopeless.”

  “He’s right.” Maggie grinned. “You were so pathetic about your ex that you couldn’t see what a great guy Shane is. You should be thanking us.”

  “True.” Mimi stared at Shelby, waiting. Then she sighed. “Stubborn girl. Fine. Don’t thank me.” Ron cleared his throat, and she amended, “Don’t thank us. But Maggie, you I trust. You could have any man you wanted if you had the time to pursue one. Don’t you worry about a thing.”

  Maggie breathed easier. They finished dinner and she left to use the restroom. Thank God Mimi had a little faith in her.

  “I can’t believe you,” Shelby whispered in a mean voice. “Maggie is totally pathetic. She’s planning to be the next neighborhood cat lady, for God’s sake.”

  “Relax.” Ron slicked back his hair. He looked so handsome and so happy, mostly because of the perpetual smile he wore since he’d begun dating Shane’s boss, Justin. Personally, Shelby thought things might grow serious between them. She wondered how her mother would handle her best friend finding a happily ever after without her.

  Ron continued. “What your mother meant is that we’ll find Maggie a man since she’s so busy with her career. Isn’t that right, Mimi?”

  “Reads me like an open book.” Mimi laughed and gave him an air kiss. “Now this Jameson. He’s rarely stuck around when I’ve been near. Why is that?”

  Shelby wanted to crow with satisfaction. “Probably because he works a lot.” And no doubt Shane warned him to steer clear of you if he wanted to retain his sanity. “He’s a terrific guy. A little too buff for me, but he’s exactly Maggie’s type. Problem is she won’t open up and give him a chance. And he really seems to like her.” Shelby saw Maggie exit the hall to the restrooms and lowered her voice. “Shane seems to think his friend is head over heels for her, just too stubborn to admit it.”

  Mimi glanced over her shoulder, saw Maggie, and whispered back to Shelby, “Then you sit back and let Ron and I handle this. That’s if Justin isn’t taking all your free time?” she asked with a sneer.

  “Green with envy, yet still beautiful.”

  “Don’t get that tone with me,” Mimi warned him.

  “Maggie’s coming,” Shelby reminded them.

  “Fine. I’ll handle Jameson.” Mimi huffed. “You two keep your men happy and I’ll stay out of your lives. But Ron, if Justin breaks your heart, I’ll break him in half.”

  “Oh, so sweet. No wonder I love you.”

  Mimi sighed. “All the good ones are either taken or gay, I keep telling you. Be thankful you have a good man, Shelby. Now let’s help our spiritual daughter find some testosterone to love.”

  They were toasting and laughing as Maggie reached the table.

  “Guess I missed all the fun.”

  When they laughed harder, she frowned. But that suspicion wouldn’t help her. Shelby shook her head. Once her mother scented a man, she never stopped until she bagged her prey. Poor, poor Maggie.

  Payback was a bitch.

  Chapter Seven

  Maggie spent the next week trying not to obsess about Mac. When he wasn’t ripping her a new one for some imagined infraction at the gym, she didn’t see him. Both relieved and upset about it, she threw herself into work. She hadn’t lied to Mimi and the others about needing to deliver.

  She had three projects near completion, and two she’d recently turned over to Kim. With only two weeks left until Christmas and so much more to do, Maggie shouldn’t have had time to worry about a man she didn’t classify as date-worthy, even if she had been in a dating frame of mind. Mac would be great at sex, but she couldn’t see him catering to a woman’s emotional needs. Though he’d surprised her by being deeper than she’d first assumed, she still couldn’t envision going to a movie or a bookstore with him as anything but painful.

  From what she’d seen, he was a man’s man. A tits and ass, muscles and fitness ex Marine who liked cars and guy things—which still baffled Maggie. The Speed Channel and vehicular fun had never done a thing for her.

  And why the hell am I thinking about him again? She huffed a frustrated breath and finished with her latest sculpture, a shifting piece in blues and greens that made her think of the ocean. Maggie did her own framing, and she finished tacking a nail into the back of her frame and set it with the others.

  One down, two to go. A glance at the clock convinced her to take a break until tomorrow. After she trudged back inside her apartment and had a quick shower, she threw on her robe and dried her hair, unable to sleep on a wet head during the winter. She hadn’t done much more than blow it dry. A glance in the mirror showed a sleepy looking blue-eyed blond in a soft but tattered purple robe that all but swallowed her in it. Pleased she would make her deadline next week, she decided to treat herself to some wine. Looking forward to her first free Saturday in a month, she decided to celebrate.

  She’d poured herself a glass and started a fire. Her favorite television show aired in another ten minutes, and for once she wasn’t asleep or behind on work, so she’d enjoy it.

  Settling under a warm blanket with the wine by her side on the table and the low murmur of the television, she’d found Nirvana.

  And then someone knocked at the door.

  “Damn.” Probably Shelby wanting to hang out. Shane must have ditched her. The guy spent every waking moment with Shelby as it was, so Maggie didn’t begrudge him his private time. But that left Shelby at loose ends, and Maggie had really been looking forward to having her own space tonight.

  The knock came again.

  “Hold on,” she called out and tossed off her blanket. She trudged to the floor in wool socks and peered through the peep hole. She froze. After a moment, she opened the door. “Yes?”

  Mac Jameson stood in the communal hallway of the aging Victorian looking edible in jeans and a black leather jacket. In the hall lighting, his bright blue eyes glinted with some indefinable emotion.

  “Here. These are for you.” He held out a bouquet of pink roses.

  “Ah, what?”

  The intensity on his face faded, and a smile took place of his frown. “That is one ugly robe.”

  “Hey!”

  He stepped forward and would have trampled her if she hadn’t moved back. Before she knew it, he’d entered her apartment and closed and locked the door behind him.

  “Nice trick.”

  “It’s called being persuasive.” He put the flowers in her hand and closed her fingers over the smooth stems.

  “You brought me flowers?” Mystified, she didn’t know what to think. Was this another part of his nonsexual dating technique?

  “You want them or not?”

  “Yes, yes.” She hugged them to her when he moved to take them back. Flowers. When was the last time a man had brought her roses? “Such an ungrateful gift giver. Thank you. I love them.”

  She turned and rummaged in the kitchen for a vase. After she’d arranged and watered them, she put them in the center of her dining table. “So pretty.” She glanced up to see Mac right in front of her. “Mac?”

  “Yeah. So pretty,” he rumbled and tugged her to him using her belt.

  Her robe parted just as he planted a warm, hungry kiss on her mouth. Maggie could only kiss him back, caught up in an inferno of unfulfilled desire. Everything inside her hungered for the magic of a man who didn’t hesitate to take what he wanted.

  He broke the kiss and ran his mouth down her neck. “What are you wearing under this?”

  “N-nothing.”

  He tensed and pulled back. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  “I just took a shower.” She frowned,
wondering what it took to break the man’s resolve.

  “I am so screwed,” she thought she heard him mutter under his breath. In a louder voice, he said, “I came over to say hi. You’ve been avoiding me this week, and I wanted to make sure we were still good.”

  “I was only keeping my distance from a crabby boss with control issues.”

  “Yeah, about those issues… Thing is, I want to fuck you.”

  “O-kay.” The man’s thoughts shifted like the wind. “And this makes you crabby because…?”

  “Because what I want from you is a little different from what you’re probably used to. I want us to get to know each other better so you’ll feel better about sleeping with me, my way.”

  She caught her breath. “Spell it out. What exactly do you want me to do with you?”

  “Everything I want, exactly the way I want it.” He tilted her chin up so that he could look straight into her eyes. “I want to play games with you. Ones where we need a safeword. Where you call me Sir and you obey me.” He kissed her again, and she felt her robe begin to open. Then his hands were inside, stroking her heated flesh. “I want to own your body in bed. Would you be willing to let me do that?”

  “All this for some roses?” she replied while trying to make sense of her dreams suddenly meshing with reality.

  He chuckled. “Nah. The roses were to show you I was thinking of you.” He cupped her breasts, and his eyes darkened. “But this is way more than I’d planned on asking for.” He fully parted her robe and stared down at her. Slowly, he bent his head and took a flushed, pert nipple in his mouth.

  He sucked hard, and her knees buckled. She moaned and hung on to him for dear life.

  Mac turned his attention to her other breast and teased and nipped until she teetered on an orgasm. She’d never been so sensitive before, but moisture coated the insides of her thighs.

  “Yeah. This is what I want. You helpless in my arms.” He kissed her, his tongue penetrating while his hands moved down to cage her waist. “Maggie… fuck. I wanted to wait, but no more. I want you, but I’ll go easy with my demands.” He gripped her tight and kissed her again. “What do you think?”