5. Maggie
5
MAGGIE
B en walks away without even glancing at me.
I should let him go, but as soon as he disappears out the door, I know I have to go after him.
I turn to Cole. “I’m so sorry. I need to check on something.”
Elana tries to stop me, but I tell her I’ll be right back. I don’t wait for her to respond; instead, I go as fast as I can toward the door that Ben just walked out of.
He’s already halfway across the parking lot by the time I catch up with him. Out of breath, I call his name. “Ben.”
He stops, and his shoulders rise and then fall as if he just took a big breath. I say his name again. “Ben.”
He turns, and the look on his face tells me he’s out of patience. What happened? How did he go from the man that was ready to take me home to now he doesn’t even want to look at me? “You’re just going to leave?”
He crosses his arms over his chest. “That’s what I was doing, wasn’t I?”
I rear back in surprise. He doesn’t even sound like the same man that I talked to—that I kissed—earlier. “I don’t understand. What happened back there?”
He lifts his chin, but he doesn’t say anything.
“Ben, if you changed your mind, fine. But at least be man enough to say it.”
He laughs, and the sound is ominous in the dark parking lot. “You have a lot of nerve, you know that, right?”
My mouth falls open. Is he saying that because I followed him out here? “Why? Because I go after what I want?”
He chuckles. “Oh? You want me? What about what’s-his-name?”
I shake my head in confusion. “Who are you talking about?”
He spits out the words. “What was his name? Cole?”
It takes me a moment to figure out who he’s talking about. I point toward the building I just walked out of and then I throw a hand in the air. “What does he have to do with anything?”
“You’re here on a date with another man.” He spits out the words as if he’s disgusted even saying it. Is he jealous? It sure sounds like it, but there’s no way that’s possible.
“What? I told Elana I wasn’t going to go on a date tonight. She’d already invited him, and I told her I would have a drink with him. That’s all.”
His jaw tightens, and he stares at me with his arms crossed over his expansive chest. “It doesn’t matter. You’re an employee. You work for me.”
My mind shifts to all the times I’ve been asked out by a coworker and I’ve told them no because it’s against the rules to date within the company. It was always a good excuse for me because I was never attracted to any of the men I work with. But with Ben, I’m willing to break all the rules, and that’s not like me at all. “You own the place. I think if you wanted to hook up with someone, you could.”
“So a hookup? That’s what you want? A good fuckin’?”
I can feel the heat rise on my cheeks, and I’m glad we’re outside in the darkened parking lot. He doesn’t know the truth about me. He doesn’t know that I’m a virgin and have never considered going home with a man before. Not before now… not until him. I’m not going to tell him either because that would be just another excuse of why he can’t take me home with him. “So what? Now I’m cheap? Forget it, Ben. Forgive me for thinking there was some kind of connection between the two of us. I didn’t realize I was coming off as a desperate slut. Sorry for wasting your time.”
I turn on my heel, intent on getting away as fast as I can. I can feel the tears welling in my eyes, and I’m doing my best to hold them in.
“Maggie, wait.”
I don’t stop, though, and I get to the sidewalk before I feel his hand wrapped around mine, and he jerks me back toward him. I land with a thud against his chest. Instantly, his arms are around me, and he’s holding me to him. His cock is hard and pressed into my belly. I shouldn’t, I know I shouldn’t. I’m pissed at him right now, but it doesn’t stop me from lifting my hips, loving the feel of him against me.
“Ben, what are you doing?”
He’s panting as his eyes search my face. His eyes are wide and glazed over. “Ben.” I say his name, thinking I can bring him out of his trance.
He leans his forehead against mine. His voice is hard, and it seems like each word is being dragged out of him. “For the first time in a long time, I forgot.”
I don’t want to say anything because I don’t want him to let me go. I’ve never felt this way in a man’s arms before. It’s as if I belong, and I’m protected. I whisper the words to him. “Forgot what?”
He clenches his eyes shut. “It doesn’t matter.”
I reach for him, cupping my hand against his cheek. “It matters to me.”
He opens his eyes, and they are almost black as he stares back at me. “None of this matters… I thought…” He shakes his head and physically puts me away from him. “I wanted one night, Maggie, and this is getting too complicated.”
“Complicated? What’s complicated about it? I’m not asking you for anything. I wanted to go home with you. You’re the one that bailed on me.” Why do I feel like I’m begging him? I hate the pleading sound of my voice, but it just shows how much I want him.
He takes a step back and drops his hands, clenching them into fists at his sides. “You’re my employee. You’re my little sister’s best friend. You’re here, on a date, with another man. That’s too complicated when all I was wanting was to sink my dick into some hot piece of ass.”
I clutch my hand to my chest and rear back as if he actually hit me or something. Did he really just say that? “Fuck you, Bentley.”
I run as fast as I can away from him, and he doesn’t try to stop me this time. Instead of going in the front door, I walk down the sidewalk to the back entrance. I think I’ve been humiliated enough. I don’t need to walk into the middle of a party with tears streaming down my face.
I push the code into the door to open it and find myself on the back elevator that will take me to my office upstairs. Leaning against the back of it, I try to get myself together. I shouldn’t let this bother me as much as it is. I literally just met the man.
But as soon as that thought crosses my mind, I squash it because I’ve never felt a connection to anyone like I felt with him. I was ready to go home with him. Hell, I was ready to give him my virginity after only knowing him for thirty minutes. Am I that hard up? Or was there really something between us? It seems I’ll never know the answer to that. I suck in a deep breath and try to hold back more tears.
The elevator dings, and the door opens. I step out into the empty hallway toward the solitude of my office. I know I’m going to have to make an appearance downstairs, but it’s going to have to wait. Right now, I need to pull myself together and do my best to forget about HIM.