“Maggie Drummond,” she said, taking his extended hand. His hand bore calluses and a few cuts. A distinct warmth emanated up her arm and she held her breath. Interesting. The elevator reached her floor and came to a halt. “I hope the rest of your day improves. Um, did you choose your tie?”
“I’m getting off here too,” Kevin said with a chuckle. “My seven-year-old niece chose the tie. My sister thought I’d never wear a pink tie but my niece insisted on this one. I wanted to prove my sister wrong.” He fluttered his eyelashes. “What do you think? Does it make me look gay?”
“Your designer stubble is a perfect foil.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
They walked out of the elevator together, both laughing.
“I know this is very forward of me, but could I take you out to dinner tonight? I’m not a weirdo. My accountant Greg Somerville will vouch for me.”
“Anyone who cares about making his seven-year-old niece happy must be okay,” Maggie said. “I’d love to have dinner with you.”
“Great.” Kevin pulled out his wallet and handed her a business card. “I’m staying at the Hilton on the waterfront. I can book a table at Whites for around seven. Would that work for you?”
“Seven is perfect,” Maggie said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Greg approaching. “I’ll meet you at the restaurant.” With a wave and a quick smile, she turned away to head to her cubicle before she came face-to-face with Greg.
“Wait. I don’t have your number,” Kevin said.
“I’ll be there. I promise,” Maggie said. “I won’t stand you up.”
“Maggie, you’re late. Is there a problem?” Greg asked, his stern gaze going from her to Kevin and back.
“No, no problem,” she said quickly.
“Good,” Greg said, his gaze dropping to the hem of her skirt. “I’ll see you later.”
Not if she saw him first. She hadn’t missed the disapproval on his face when he’d seen her new look. Too bad. She liked it, and judging by the reactions of the rest of the males around the place, they liked the new-look Maggie. Besides, she’d scored a date. She couldn’t wait to tell the girls. She wasn’t looking forward to telling Connor quite as much.
Maggie practically skipped down the passage to her cubicle. As usual several of her fellow employees were playing solitaire and surfing the net. She wouldn’t have time to check her email since she’d promised Tanya, one of the partners, she’d complete the Weston accounts this morning.
After switching on her computer, she immersed herself in work. She worked right through morning tea, printing off the final set of accounts before midday.
She delivered the accounts to Tanya and waited while she glanced through them.
“Great job,” Tanya said. “Thanks for getting them done so quickly. Word is out about you.”
“No problem,” she said. “Pardon?” Tanya’s final words registered. Fear clutched at her heart. What did she mean?
“Word is out about the great work you do. Greg has requested you for a special project he’s working on next month. I understand you’ve done a few jobs for him recently.”
“Oh,” Maggie said. “That’s…uh…great.” What the hell sort of game was Greg playing? Yes, he’d requested her services for a couple of projects recently. Normally that wouldn’t bother her, but when she reported for duty, he treated her like a glorified junior, getting her to make coffee and complete the filing. It was true she wasn’t a qualified accountant, but she wasn’t chopped liver, either. She was good at her job. “Was there anything else you wanted me to work on?”
Tanya ran through a quick list of assignments. “The Dobson accounts are next on the list. The Dobsons are coming in on Monday.”
“All under control,” Maggie said. “I should have them completed for you to check tomorrow.”
Five minutes later, Maggie left her cubicle, desperate for a cup of coffee and something to eat. She spotted the other members of the Tight Five at their usual table, but made a beeline to the coffee machine. She purchased a salad sandwich and went to join them.
“What did you think of the speed dating last night?” Susan asked.
“I had a bunch of really strange men, apart from Connor. He wasn’t weird,” Maggie said.
“But you can’t date Connor,” Christina said.
“Why not?” Connor said in a mild voice. “What’s wrong with me?”
“There’s nothing wrong with you, Connor. Christina didn’t mean it like that,” Susan said.
“What did Christina mean then, ’cause I’m offended.” Connor puffed out his chest. “I’m a perfect date. Ask anyone.”
“But you don’t keep the fish,” Julia said. “You throw them back. Maggie wants a fisherman who keeps his fish.”
Susan chuckled. “Isn’t fish plural? Maggie doesn’t want to join a harem.”
“Not helping. I’m still feeling insulted,” Connor muttered.
Maggie noted his tense jaw and felt sneaking sympathy. She knew from personal experience he saw only one woman at a time. He didn’t go into relationships lightly. “Stop giving Connor a hard time. How did your dates go, Susan?”
“There were three that were reasonable and I put them on my list of men I’d like to meet again. I’m thinking of running a personal ad or joining one of those online dating sites. What do you think? Is that too sad?”
“Of course it isn’t,” Christina said. “You should let us help you vet them though. And you need to be careful. From what I’ve heard some of those men are weird. Julia, are you sure none of your dates are worth meeting again?”
“Positive,” Julia said in a crisp voice. “I managed to get a bunch of losers.”
“Did you have Connor?” Susan asked.
Connor made a protesting sound. “Still insulted here, people.”
Maggie laughed. “Stop picking on Connor. You know we love you, right?”
“You might, but I’m starting to wonder about the others,” he said easily. The quick wink passed as a joke to the other girls, but Maggie knew he’d sent her a secret message. She felt the blush take over her cheeks and spread across her face. Worried the others would notice, she applied herself to opening her sandwich.
“I have a date tonight,” she said, before they could continue the speed dating discussion.
Her statement stopped the discussion flat and drew their attention. Now she had a real excuse for blushing.
Christina peered over the top of her glasses. “A date?”
“How?” Susan said.
“More to the point, who?” Julia added.
“It had better not be Greg,” Connor said with a trace of disgust. “You’re well rid of him.”
Maggie caught the trace of hurt on his face. His face blanked quickly, and she couldn’t read him, despite knowing him better than she had a couple of months ago. “I met him in the elevator this morning,” she said. “He asked me out for dinner, so I said yes.”
Connor scowled. “You didn’t tell him your address or phone number?”
“She’s not stupid,” Julia said. “You didn’t, did you?”
Maggie rolled her eyes. “Of course I didn’t. Credit me with some sense. I’m meeting him at the restaurant.”
“What’s he like?” Christina pushed her glasses up her nose. “Why don’t I meet men in the elevator?” she added before Maggie could answer.
“I was late.” Maggie’s tone was dry. “That’s the secret.”
“In other words, meeting a man is pure luck,” Susan said. “Good to know.”
“I’d better head back to work,” Connor said. “Catch ya later.”
“Connor seems quiet,” Christina said, frowning as he strode away. “He seemed a bit cranky last night too.”
Julia shook her head staring after him. “I don’t know. He used to drop around to see me a couple of times a week, even when he was going out with Gwen.”
“I wonder if he’s going out with someone else,” Susan said.
> “Don’t look at me,” Maggie said, ignoring the guilt rippling through her. Hopefully they put her flushed cheeks down to discussing her date. “I know nothing, except I need to get back to work.”
“Have fun on your date. We want to know all the details tomorrow.” Susan grinned. “If I can’t get lucky at least you can, although I have to tell you I’m starting to get jealous.”
Maggie settled back into work. The phone rang.
“Maggie, it’s Greg. Can you report to my office please?” He hung up before she could ask questions. Irritated, she marched down the hall and into his office.
“Ah, Maggie. I’ve talked to Tanya. You’re going to work with me for the rest of the month.”
“But… I don’t think that’s a good idea. Given our personal history and how we’re not together any longer, can’t you get one of the other accounting officers to work with you instead of me?”
“No.” Greg stood and circled his desk. He squatted by her chair and took his face between her hands. “I choose you.”
“What?” She stared at him. “No, I’m dating someone else,” she said. “We can see each other at work and sometimes work together because we’re both adults. I’m not interested in anything else. We’ve broken up and I don’t want to date you again.” She shot to her feet. “I’ll tell Tanya you changed your mind and one of the others will work with you.”
Greg watched her practically run from his office. He slammed his office door and stalked around the edge of his desk.
“Damn,” he muttered and kicked his chair. He cursed softly and slumped into his black leather executive chair. Somehow he had to talk Maggie into going out with him again before the partners’ dinner next month. He didn’t have time to find another woman to take her place before the partners voted to decide which of the junior partners would advance to senior status. Hell, his parents liked her, and she was the perfect woman to help advance his career. He wanted that promotion.
“I deserve it, dammit.” Greg picked up his pen and thumped it on his desktop. Thump. Thump. Thump.
A plan.
Think, man. There must be something you can do to get Maggie back onside and keep her there.
Connor found himself back in the IT department without remembering walking there. All he could think of was Maggie with another man. Touching her. Kissing her. Making love to her.
He shook his head, trying to shake the vision away. His throat tightened. His hands clenched to fists. Damn, he needed a plan. He’d fallen hard for Maggie and the last thing he wanted was another man to snatch her away from him.
His phone rang and he picked it up. “Grey,” he said. He listened for a few minutes and hung up. He sighed, dragged a hand through his hair and stood. Damn, he’d expected this was coming, but he hated acting like a watchdog.
“Roger. Larry. One of the big bosses is coming to talk to us about private Internet usage.”
“Aw, crap,” Larry said. “That takes all the fun out of work.”
“What time is the meeting?” Roger asked.
“In half an hour.” This should be interesting. He knew for a fact a lot of the staff used the Internet for private purposes while at work. Even he’d jumped online a couple of times to check email and Maggie’s blog. Cursing softly, he returned to his desk.
A plan to catch Maggie. For a moment he wished he could talk to Julia, but that was impossible. This one he’d have to handle on his own.
“Man, you have to see this blog,” Larry said.
The excited light in Larry’s eyes made Connor’s stomach twist into a knot. Please, not Maggie’s blog. “You’re not meant to check all the links,” he reminded his workmate. “You’re meant to try to link employees to private Internet use.”
“But the blog is called Big Bad Ass. I had to check it out.”
It was Maggie’s blog. Damn, they’d been careless reading her blog at work. He couldn’t exactly tell the girls off when he was guilty of the same crime. Surely Maggie wouldn’t be silly enough to do a post at work?
“Which computers have accessed this blog?” He held his breath while he waited for Larry to consult his printouts.
“At least four different computers. No, wait. It’s more than that.” He glanced at Connor. “This blog has been accessed from all over the place. You’d think that if it was that popular, we would have heard gossip.”
Belatedly Connor remembered Julia worked all over the place, depending where her secretarial services were required. “What sort of blog is it?” He asked the question knowing Larry expected curiosity.
Larry smirked. “It’s all about spanking. Bring up the URL and take a look.”
Connor typed in the URL and hoped Larry didn’t notice it came up automatically after he’d typed the first few letters. Maggie had posted a new entry since he’d last checked.
I’ve been thinking about the physical act of spanking recently. Yes, it’s true. I’m driven to discover more in my thirst for knowledge. To date I hadn’t considered spanking positions. I’d merely thought about the act itself and the sounds. Thunk. Crack. Thinking about the sounds gets me hot. Isn’t that strange?
A shudder went through Connor. Hell, the sounds haunted him and wouldn’t let go. Every time he read Maggie’s blog and thought about actually spanking her, the sounds came back. The memories. The sharp cry from his mother when his father’s fist hit her face. The crunch of a bone breaking. The grunt his father made when he struck out with his hands. And the crying. The crying haunted him most of all. His own muffled sobs as he squeezed into a corner, trying to remain out of sight. His mother’s soft tears, restrained despite her pain. And his father’s loud sobs that he was sorry and it would never happen again. A promise he broke again and again.
Connor concentrated on the computer screen forcing the painful memories away, the sense of helplessness and feeling that he should have done something to help. Of course, his mother and Frank had told him repeatedly it wouldn’t have made a difference. As an adult he knew he hadn’t had many choices. Intellectually, he knew there was nothing he could have done to change the course of events, but try telling that to his heart.
I came across a post in a forum I enjoy visiting. It contained a list of spanking positions. Twenty in all. Who knew? Reading through them was an eye-opener.
All I can think of now is trying out the positions until I come back to my main problem. No man to spank me.
Maybe I need to cast my net further afield and try dating some new guys. I’m not stupid enough to mention spanking on the first date but if we clicked and decided to take our relationship into the physical, I’d mention spanking then. No matter how embarrassed I felt. I think that’s where I went wrong last time. I hesitated and second-guessed myself instead of stating my needs upfront. By the time I gathered courage I’d learned things about my lover’s background that made me worry about his reaction to my request for a good spanking.
Yeah, as much as I like this guy I’m going to pursue other men. And before you think I’m two-timing or being unfaithful, let me assure you I’m not. We have a casual agreement and have promised each other if someone else comes along, we’ll let the other know. We’re both adults. We knew the score before we started sleeping with each other.
Hell, wasn’t that a kick in the head. Maggie had accepted a date with this other man, and if things worked out, he was down the track. Their friends with benefits deal would end and he’d lose the one woman he could actually love— Nah, he needed honesty here. He loved Maggie, and that was the problem. Too many secrets and holding back on telling her how it really was with him. Damn, why was it so bloody hard?
“I’d love to meet her,” Larry said. “I’ve read lots of the blog posts. Hell, I’d spank her if she asked me. I wonder what she looks like. Probably a dog.”
“You should get back to work. The partners are expecting results on this and a report on how to stop the problem.”
“Sure, Connor.” Larry strode back to his desk and soon app
eared immersed in his work.
The hours passed, and Connor left work. He met Christina and Susan on the way out, but turned down their offer of drinks. He didn’t feel in the mood and knew it showed. The last thing he wanted was a series of nosy questions.
He spent an hour prowling his apartment, thankful his two flatmates weren’t present to witness his fall. They’d joked about him getting caught one day. It seemed they were right. Finally, unable to stand his own company for a moment longer, he grabbed his wallet and left his apartment. There was a pub down the road. He’d order a whiskey or two and try and come up with a half-decent plan to win Maggie over. And he needed to get past his aversion to spanking her. She wasn’t going to change her mind, at least until she received her spanking. If he was a lucky man, she’d hate spanking and would never speak of it again. And if she enjoyed the experience, he’d face that later. Come up with a new plan.
“Connor! How are you? I haven’t seen you for ages.”
Connor found himself with an armful of blonde. Automatically, he wrapped his arms around her slim body and gave her a hug before stepping back. “Jenny.”
He glanced up and met Maggie’s enigmatic gaze. Crap. Did he have a sign on his back that said, kick me? He smiled, but she didn’t return his welcome, turning her attention back to her date.
Double crap.
Ever polite, he turned his attention back to Jenny. They’d dated for about three weeks before they’d moved on with no hard feelings. “I’m good,” he said. “I haven’t seen you for a while. How have you been?”
“I’m engaged,” Jenny said, wiggling her left fingers at him. “We’re getting married next weekend.”
“Congratulations. Anyone I know?”
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