by Jade Kerrion
“It made you a man,” Maggie continued, as if she hadn’t heard his attempt to change the topic. She met his gaze deliberately. “It taught you compassion and gave you grace and strength. Not physically, of course, but inside, where it really matters.”
Drew stared at her. “Why are we talking about this now, Maggie?”
“Because I think you ought to know why I love you.” She dropped the emotional bomb so casually she might have been talking about the weather. “Now, are we going to talk about my investments or not?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to do.” Drew struggled to focus his thoughts, but they seemed determined to mimic his skittering emotions. “Beyond investing in the stock market, you can do product endorsements, or go a step further to brand and market your own products.”
“Like fashion and perfume?”
He nodded. “You have a degree in fashion design from Parsons and a host of contacts in the industry. I’m no expert, but I’ve seen your designs, and I think they’re amazing. Perhaps one of the fashion houses will give you your own line to design and model.”
“Why would Armani or Versace do something like that?”
“The big brands probably wouldn’t, but a smaller fashion house trying to establish itself would see the value of taking on a designer who is also a model. It wouldn’t cost you anything, but a couple of phone calls and time, to send your designs around. The opportunity, if it pans out, could be amazing. Think about it, Maggie. You’ll gain experience on the design and production side of the industry, and you’ve got the marketing and selling side down cold.”
Her eyes widened. “I could have my own fashion house one day.”
“Exactly. You’ll need more capital to launch your own business, but if you give me five more years with your investments, I’ll get you there. In the meantime, you’ll pick up the experience you need to convince other investors to support your new venture.”
“And I can do all this while modeling.”
“To build your personal brand and the platform from which to launch your line and eventually your own business.”
“Right.” Maggie dragged out the word. She searched his face. “You really think this will work, don’t you?”
“As with all new businesses, there’s a bit of luck and serendipity involved, but it’s not rocket science. It’s been done before, by others.”
“You’ll help me, won’t you? Not just with the investment stuff, but with the other things. I’ll do the calling and all the leg work, but I’m going to need someone to push me forward when common sense reasserts itself and accuses me of wishful thinking.”
“It’s not wishful thinking, and yes, I’ll help.”
Maggie smiled as she released a sigh. Her shoulders relaxed. “Do you ever say no to me, Drew?”
Where you’re concerned, I say no to myself all the time.
She looked at him. “Did you know that your non-answers are as telling as your answers?”
He shrugged and put his tablet away.
Maggie broke off another piece of the roast pork bun and popped it into her mouth. “I’m going to need lots of moral support. Daily. In person.”
He stared at her.
“And don’t bother using Felicity as an excuse. I stalk her on Facebook, and I know that a month ago, she changed her status from ‘in a relationship’ to ‘single.’”
“What are you doing, Maggie?”
“Trying to convince you that the world won’t end if you date me.” She flashed a dazzling smile.
“We’re not suited for each other. You live a high-flying life in the spotlight. I’m just an ordinary guy. If you’re going through a ‘normal’ guy phase, fine, but you owe more to our friendship than to collect me as a notch on your totem pole.”
“Ouch, that certainly put me in my place,” Maggie said, apparently unoffended. “What about the part where I said I love you? Doesn’t that count for something?”
“You don’t know what I can and can’t give you.”
“First.” Maggie ticked off the numbers on her fingers. “Love isn’t a goddamned balance sheet, unless you’re a financial advisor; in that case, then apparently it is. Second, if love is a balance sheet, and all I know are your positives right now, shouldn’t I have a chance to fully explore all the negatives too?”
“Nothing’s going to come out of this, Maggie.”
She scowled at him. “I’d like to make that decision for myself. All I’m asking for is a chance—the same kind of chance you’d apparently give to other women, but not to me even though we’ve been friends for ten years.” Her voice took on a challenging note. “Are you afraid you’ll realize you can’t live without me?”
I figured that out years ago. “What do you want?”
“Dinner and a movie, for starters. At your place.”
~*~
Drew’s place was a one-bedroom apartment in a converted factory that offered beautiful brickwork and high ceilings, but not much of a view. It was, unquestionably, a bachelor’s pad, sparsely furnished and minimally personalized, but decked out with the latest in electronics and technology.
Maggie allowed her gaze to travel across the breadth of the room. “Did you know that this is the first time you’ve invited me over?”
“You invited yourself over,” Drew pointed out as he set down the pizza and salad they had picked up along the way.
She tilted her head and forced a smile through the rapid thumping of her heart. “You’re not already regretting this, are you?”
Drew looked at her. He breathed out a sigh. “We might both end up regretting this, but I won’t lie to you or insult you by telling you I don’t want you here.”
Her heart soared. “Then perhaps you won’t mind if I jump ahead to what I really had in mind for the evening?”
He gazed at her, saying nothing.
She wished she could tease apart the nuances of his subtle changes of expression. She glimpsed regret and resignation, but there was love too—so much of it that it made her breath catch. Hope infused her whisper. “Drew?”
He stepped forward, so close she could feel his body heat. He brushed back a silky lock of hair from the side of her face. “Whatever happens, we’ll stay friends.”
Maggie winced at the quiet ache she heard in his voice. “Of course.”
He lowered his lips to hers. Maggie closed her eyes and parted her lips for his kiss. “I’ve always wanted you,” he whispered into their shared breath.
Somehow, she had always known it, yet his words unlocked a world of endless promise.
She leaned into him. Her hands glided along the defined muscles of his abdomen. She pressed feather-soft kisses to his skin as she slid his shirt off his shoulders.
He tensed, his breathing growing harsh.
Delight coiled through her. His tacit surrender was a heady rush of power, and it gentled her touch. She had never strove longer or worked harder to seduce a man. The cost, literally, was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars if she included every dress, every accessory, and every piece of jewelry she had ever bought for the primary purpose of attracting his attention.
In the end, all she needed to break through his defenses was to tell him, again and again, that she loved him.
He was finally coming to her as her lover. Maggie sighed her surrender when Drew eased her onto the cool sheets. His hands and lips roved over her body, alternating long caresses with light nips. They lingered at her breasts and teased along the insides of her thighs, at the sensitive juncture where her legs joined her body, but never exactly where she wanted him most. Each passing touch stoked the fire inside her. She could smell her own desire moistening the sheets; she was wet and ready for him.
He reached for the side drawer and pulled out a condom packet, but she wrenched it out of his hand. “Nothing between us,” she said before she pulled his head down for a kiss. “Now, give it to me hard and fast before I kill you for making me wait.”
Drew laughed.
The unrestrained sound of uncensored joy sent a wave of happiness through her. The glory of a love realized trumped even the lust clawing at her. She closed her eyes and sank into the kiss, parting her legs to the slight pressure of Drew’s shifting weight.
Her body stretched, welcoming him as Drew entered her until his full length was sheathed in her warmth. Oh, God, it felt wonderful to feel him inside her, filling her. The sense of completeness stunned her. The pressure in her chest was so intense that she had to wrap her arms around her chest to contain it.
“Why are you crying?” he asked softly.
She must look like a fool. Maggie swiped a tear away. “Nothing. It’s just that I’ve wanted you for so long.”
Drew smiled.
The tenderness in his eyes forced her to blink back more tears from her eyes, but one escaped to roll down her cheek.
He captured the errant tear with a kiss. “No more crying,” he whispered. “You have me, for as long as you want me.” He laced his fingers in hers and pressed her hands down on either side of her head. He moved, a slow rhythm that teased and taunted her as he slid in and out of her. The fire of raw need that he had stoked burned hotter as she strained for the release that was just beyond her reach.
She snarled at him. “Drew! Stop fucking around.”
He laughed again. “But I thought that was what you wanted?” he teased her. He pulled out all the way, and then drove into her with such force her head almost slammed against the headboard.
Maggie gasped, her toes curling with pleasure. She arched her hips off the bed, opening her willing body even further to him.
He pounded into her, each stroke wrenching a shudder and a gasp from her, as he drove her ever closer to the precipice. She reached forward, straining for her release. He slammed into her, each stroke claiming more and more of her until she had nothing left to give.
With a cry, she leapt over the edge.
Like a tidal wave, her orgasm crashed over her, drowning her in ecstasy. She could no longer think, see, or hear; she could only feel. Her body clenched down hard, and Drew tensed against her as he found his release.
When she surfaced, Drew caught her. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Their hearts beat in unison, the accelerated rhythm slowing into a steady pace. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll get a towel to clean you up.”
“No.” Maggie caught his wrist before he could move away. She wanted the sticky evidence of his release between her thighs, inside her. It made her his. With a smile, she snuggled against him. “Hold me.”
~*~
Maggie and Drew had pizza and salad hours later when they both reluctantly concluded that any additional rounds of lovemaking needed fuel. By then, Maggie was at her third orgasm for the night, not that she was keeping track. She would ache tomorrow, but she counted the cost well worth it.
Dressed in one of Drew’s T-shirts, she sat at the dining table and picked at her salad. She surreptitiously watched Drew through her long eyelashes as he reheated the pizza in the microwave. It was shallow, she realized, to droll over Drew’s physical attributes when it was really the constancy of his love that she craved, but he looked perfectly delectable in only a pair of jeans. She knew for a fact that he was even yummier out of it—tanned skin layered over lean muscles and rock-hard abs.
Her gaze dropped to Drew’s left knee, which was wrapped in athletic bandages. He had not taken the bandages off. The old injury did not seem to hinder him in bed, but twice she had seen him wince when he moved too quickly. The injury was a part of him now, as inseparable as his need to protect her and cherish her. She wondered when he would trust her enough to let her see his scars.
Drew brought the steaming pizza over to the table. The smell of parmesan and mozzarella was enough to make her push her salad aside. She nibbled on a soggy slice of pizza, looked across the table into Drew’s eyes, and wondered when she had ever felt so perfectly at ease with a man after making love to him.
Never, Maggie realized. “It’s perfect,” she breathed.
“All the sex must have killed your taste buds.” Drew shook his head. “The pizza’s terrible.”
She giggled. “Yes, it is.” She took another bite of her pizza, and watched as he wolfed down four slices in quick succession. “Hungry, much?”
“I was starving.” He stared at the plate as if amazed at how quickly his food had vanished.
She slid her plate across the table to him. “You can have mine.”
“I’d rather have you.” He stood and tugged her to her feet.
She wrapped herself around him. His chest brushed against her sensitive nipples as her smile turned flirtatious. “Still hungry?”
He answered with a smile that shot a thrill of anticipation down her spine. “Starving.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“I’ll take it,” Drew said.
He gave the salesperson his credit card and watched in silence as she slid the diamond engagement ring into a distinctive light blue Tiffany box and topped it with a white ribbon.
I’ll take it. How could three simple words constitute such a titanic shift in the foundations of his world?
Maggie, of course. Maggie had changed everything in just two months.
She came over every evening, stayed the night, and was usually still asleep in his bed when he left for work the next morning. Her toothbrush, accompanied by a veritable army of beauty products he could not identify, claimed prime location on his bathroom counter. Her assortment of earrings on his bedside table multiplied like breeding bunny rabbits. That morning, he had found a sexy pink lace thong mixed in with the clean clothes he had carted up from the laundry room.
He knew exactly what she was trying to do.
She was showing him that she could fit into his life.
And she had succeeded. He could not imagine her anywhere else. The engagement ring’s slight weight in his jacket pocket belied the huge weight lifted off his mind. They were meant for each other.
He paused outside the sliding glass doors of the store and zipped up his leather jacket. The chill wind chafed his exposed skin, but he braced against the brisk gusts as he walked along the icy sidewalk.
A plump woman, bundled in a massive overcoat, trotted past him. She tugged at her jacket, the motion throwing her off balance. With a whoosh, she skidded on ice. Instinctively, Drew reached out to steady her, but her momentum pulled him down. They tumbled onto the ice together. Her weight slammed into his left knee. Drew threw his head back and bit back the pained curse.
“Oh my gosh. I am so sorry,” the woman babbled as she pushed to her feet. “Are you all right?”
Drew nodded, even though the answer was no. Pain radiated from his knee to pulse along the entire length of his left leg. For several moments, he stood at the corner, massaging his knee, but the pain did not subside. His apartment was only two blocks away, but by the time he arrived, he was pale and sweating.
“Drew?” Maggie called out from inside his apartment as he opened the door. “I’ve got the most amazing— Oh my God, what happened to you?”
She rushed to Drew’s side and supported him as he limped into the room. He ground his teeth as he sank into a chair. “Fell on the sidewalk, screwed up my knee.”
“How bad is it? Do you need to go to a doctor?”
He shook his head. “Just a heat pack. There’s one in the—”
“I know where it is. Go lie down, and prop that knee up on a pillow.” She scurried into the kitchen.
Drew shrugged off his jacket and kicked off his shoes. Hobbling, he limped into his bedroom.
“Pants off,” Maggie said briskly, coming in behind him with the heat pack wrapped in a towel. “Bandage too,” she added.
He hesitated briefly, but realized his vanity was completely misplaced. What did it matter if Maggie saw his physical scars? He dug his fingers into the mattress and gritted his teeth as Maggie unwound the layers of the athletic bandage he wore each day to stabilize his knee.
Her eyes widened as she traced the six-inch scars on both sides of his leg. The area around his knee was already swelling. Tomorrow, it would be black and blue. Without comment, she lay the heat pack over his injury, and then tugged the sheets over his body. “Stay in bed. I’ll get you something to eat and drink.”
Drew stared at her full-length black velvet gown. “Did you just get in from a photo shoot, or did we have a date tonight that I forgot?”
“Oh!” Maggie spun around. “My news! StilEterno contacted me this morning. They’ve offered me a contract to design and model.”
“That’s wonderful!”
“It paid off. All the nights you spent nagging at me to send out my CV and my portfolio paid off.” Maggie grinned. She laid a hand on the chair on which he had draped his jacket. “The contract is half a million Euros, plus commission on sales, and expat benefits, including a condo in Milan.”
His breath caught. “Milan?”
“Yes. That’s where they’re located. Their CEO and lead designers are visiting New York; they’re holding a photo op at the Waldorf Astoria tonight to announce their winter and spring lines, and they’ve asked me to attend. There’ll be lots of reporters there, and I think he wants to make the announcement then. I was waiting for you to get back so that you could change and we could head out together, but…”
Dylan Smith’s voice echoed through Drew’s head: Don’t get in the way of her career. Don’t stand in the way of her prospects.
“Go. It’s your big moment,” he forced the words from his mouth. The iciness lodged in his chest spread through his body. “It’s what you’ve worked for; it’s your moment of glory. Go on.”
“But will you be okay here?”
He thought of the engagement ring in the pocket of his jacket mere inches from Maggie’s unadorned hand. No. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.” Let her go. Don’t get in her way.
Drew watched in silence as Maggie flittered through the apartment. She finished applying her makeup, found a pair of solitaire diamond earrings in the jumble of jewelry on the bedside table, and stepped into her stilettos.