“Get back to work. The partners are expecting results and a report on how to stop the problem.”
“Sure, Connor.” Larry returned to his desk and soon appeared 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, 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 over Maggie. And he needed to get past his aversion to spanking her. She wouldn’t change her mind, at least until she received her spanking. If he was a lucky man, she’d hate spanking and never mention 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?”
Jenny shook her head, settling her blonde curls in motion. “I don’t think so. I went home for the holiday weekend and met him again. We went to school together and hadn’t seen each other for years. This time we clicked.” Jenny grinned and kissed him soundly on the lips. “I’m so happy I could burst. Are you here with anyone? No? Come and meet my friends.”
Jenny dragged him over to a large table at the far end of the pub and ordered two of her friends to squeeze up so they could fit in Connor. He laughed and joked with the girls, but couldn’t have repeated a word, not when his mind dwelled on Maggie and the man she sat with on the other side of the pub.
Twenty minutes later, he watched them leave. The guy was close to his own height—over six feet tall. He had blond hair and looked fit. Connor wanted to jump to his feet and knock away the arm the man had slung around Maggie’s shoulders. He flirted with the idea of smacking him before he shook himself. That wouldn’t happen. Not unless the other man hit him first. He gazed after them, scowling. Nah, that wasn’t gonna happen either. No baiting. Maggie would never forgive him. He needed to fight for her fair and square.
“Do you know her?” Jenny asked. “You’ve been watching her ever since you arrived.”
“Yeah.” Connor let out a heavy sigh. “I know her.”
Jenny’s green eyes widened a fraction. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you feel something for her.”
The lump in Connor’s throat blocked his words, and his silence said it all.
“I never thought I’d see the day,” Jenny gloated. “Connor Grey has fallen for a woman.”
“She doesn’t think the same way about me,” he said, a ball of misery curling through his gut. Damn, he needed out of here.
“Fight for her,” one of Jenny’s friends advised. Connor couldn’t remember her name but she was a pretty blue-eyed blonde. “A woman likes to know a man wants her.”
“I don’t want to discuss it,” Connor said, taking a slug of beer from his bottle.
“Pooh.” Another of Jenny’s friends flapped her hand in dismissal. “Don’t run away. We’re trying to help.”
“Yeah,” Jenny said. “You need to give her a night she’ll never forget. Plan something unique. Something private that says you’re thinking about her needs.”
“Oh, yes,” the blue-eyed blonde said. “And make it a night you can repeat on special occasions. That’s after you’re married. Make it memorable.”
“Married?” Connor damn near stuttered in his shock. He didn’t want to marry Maggie.
The girls shared a glance then laughed.
“Connor, you’re toast,” Jenny said. “You’re a fallen man. You love that girl. Now all you have to do is inform her.”
Connor fired up his laptop when he arrived back at his apartment after midnight. A memorable idea. Marriage.Right.
Jenny and her friends’ ideas flitted through his mind but none of them fit into a scenario that might work for him. He kept returning to the memorable night and nodded.
