vague instinct warned him to go slow and he fought the need to kiss her hard and possessively. He nibbled the corners of her mouth and felt her heart pounding against his own. Dropping small kisses on her cheek, then her chin and finally her neck, made her shiver and moan. When he stopped at a sensitive place just beneath her ear, she shuddered. Then he licked the responsive spot and blew softly until her groan echoed inside him. The sound sent arrows of need through him and his body tightened in response. Blood pounded in his veins and his chest felt like it would explode. The sound of Maggie’s ragged breathing turned him on like he’d never been turned on before. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. For God’s sake, she was his wife.
“I need you, Maggie,” he whispered, his breath stirring her hair. His voice was ragged with desire.
He was about to scoop her into his arms when she pulled her mouth from his and stared at him, breathing hard. Something dark pushed the innocence from her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I don’t want to be a novelty.”
“Excuse me?” He was struggling to draw air into his lungs and that kiss blew his mind. There wasn’t much left to take in and decipher a remark from out of left field.
“Your father said I was a novelty. ‘Almost a nun’ was different for you.”
“Don’t pay any attention to my father—”
“You mean the part where he was proud of you for protecting yourself financially? The part where he was pleased that you were thinking with your head as well as—other parts of your body? You planned ahead for a plaything. Offered marriage so stock prices wouldn’t go down because of a scandal with the nanny.”
“You know that’s not how it was,” he said, anger burning as hot as desire had only moments before.
“It’s all about Brady, I know. But he’s asleep now. Technically I’m off duty, or at least on a break. But you just kissed me.”
“That’s not breaking news.” He couldn’t deny it. Her lips were still moist from the touch of his own. But when a Garrett was backed into a corner he came out fighting. “I started it. And you kissed me back.”
“It was a knee-jerk reaction.” She stared at him for several moments, still breathing hard. “I’m not asking for love.”
“You heard that, too?”
“Oh, yeah.” Her frown pushed out any hint of sunshine, and it was his fault. “Just so we’re clear, that’s the last thing I’m looking for. But I will not be disrespected.”
“That was never my intention,” he assured her.
When he’d kissed her, he’d been thinking with his hormones, which were in perfect working order. Before she could argue that point, a sound came from his back pocket where he’d put the monitor.
“It’s Brady. Break’s over,” she said. “I have to go to him.”
“Right.”
She hurried out of the room, and when she was gone, Jason felt her absence again. But this time it was all about the ache shooting through him.
He knew when it subsided he would be relieved that he hadn’t taken Maggie to his bed. But right now he couldn’t feel the blessing and struggled for logic.
Sleeping with her would have been a huge mistake. Sex was a complication that would destroy everything he’d so carefully put in place.
But he had to wonder what sin he’d committed. What transgression was so wicked that he was being punished by this gut-twisting desire for the one woman he didn’t dare touch?
Masculine and sexy sat on Jason Garrett like a cloak and crown. Maggie had been enveloped in it last night and wanted more. She’d barely managed to break away before willingly becoming another one of his playthings. It made her wonder again about Brady’s mother, but no matter how Jason had treated her, there was no way to reconcile abandoning her baby. If Brady was hers, Maggie knew there would be no walking away. He wasn’t her biological child and she couldn’t walk away. But there was also the small matter of the marriage to his father.
Although being driven around was a darn nice perk of the marriage, she thought, watching palm trees and buildings go by. Jason’s driver had picked Maggie and Brady up from the penthouse. She sat in the back with the baby in his car seat, sound asleep beside her. The movement always did that to him. Jason had forgotten his briefcase and she’d needed the car for errands. She’d told his secretary she would swing by the office and drop it off while they were out. And, of course, the woman had said she was dying to see the baby.
Her heart seemed to expand in her chest when she smiled at the infant, probably the only person on the planet who could make her smile this morning. After what happened the night before, specifically THE KISS—all capital letters.
She wasn’t so innocent that she didn’t know he’d wanted her. If only the feeling wasn’t mutual, but she’d be lying if she said that. Sleeping with Jason would complicate her already complicated life, but every part of her had tingled and begged to finally know what it felt like to be with a man. And not just any man.
Jason Garrett was the man she wanted. It couldn’t be explained away by the fact that she hadn’t been kissed in a very long time—before she’d entered the convent—by her disastrous first love. She hadn’t slept with him and there’d been no one since. Technically that meant she’d saved herself for the man she married.
Silly her. When he’d dangled a million dollars in front of her, she hadn’t inquired what he expected of her as his wife. Jason had been gone when she got up with Brady this morning. Now she had to face him for the first time after that kiss. In front of other people. Just goes to show that God had a sense of humor.
After exiting the 215 Beltway onto Green Valley Parkway, the car pulled into a business complex, then stopped in front of a multistoried building. As soon as the movement ceased, Brady’s eyes popped open.
“This is it, Mrs. Garrett.”
For a nanosecond, she thought the driver was talking to someone else. “Thanks, Martin. I’ll only be a few minutes.”
“Want to leave the little guy with me while you run the briefcase up to Mr. G?”
“I appreciate that, but his father wants to show him off.”
Maggie had the baby in one hand and the briefcase in the other when she walked into the Garrett Industries building. Her sneakers squeaked on the lobby’s marble floor as she headed for the elevator. After entering, she set both her burdens down and pushed the button for the eighth floor where Jason’s office was located.
The elevator opened right into the reception area and a half-circle cherrywood desk that sat in the center of the room. Behind it was a redhead in her twenties wearing a headset for answering the phone.
When a muted ring sounded, she pushed a button and said, “Garrett Industries, Mr. Garrett’s office. This is Chloe. How can I help you?” She listened for a moment and said, “Let me transfer you to customer service. Hold on, please.”
Chloe
