Maggie let out a pained cry of horror.
Connor.
That was Connor. How long had he been seeing her?
The bus left them behind, pulling in at Maggie’s stop. In a daze, she pushed her way down the crowded aisle and exited.
The doubt demons in her mind stood up and shouted at her.It wouldn’t last.
Like an automaton, she made her way into the accounting offices of Barker & Johnson, catching the elevator to her floor. In the privacy of her cubicle, she went through the motions. Answering the phone. Coding bank statements. Analyzing accounts. She worked through her morning tea break, emerging only when her stomach gnawed at her backbone.
In the lunchroom, the first people she saw were Susan and Christina. They saw her and looked away in a measured snub. Her cheeks heated and tears prickled at her eyes. Obviously, they weren’t ready to talk. Swallowing, she paid for her sandwich and left the building, deciding a walk around the Viaduct Basin might help.
People crowded the waterfront, a school group spilling from a bus into the Maritime Museum. The pubs and restaurants overlooking the boats moored at the Viaduct were full with the lunchtime crowd. A raucous seagull perched on a railing, squawking at a rival.
“Maggie, wait!” Connor ran to catch up with her, a brilliant smile lighting his blue eyes.
“Connor,” she said, feeling dead inside.
He frowned. “Are you okay?”
“Not really.” Her heart raced while she struggled to find the words to sever their relationship. Insecurity tore at her, robbing her of speech. She couldn’t believe he’d made love to her so sweetly and there’d been someone else.Fool.
“Maggie?” He stopped her and placed his hands on both shoulders, surveying her face.
“I saw you kissing a blonde this morning. You should have told me there was someone else.” Her hands trembled and she clasped them to hide the shake. “I think it’s best if we end our agreement.”
“This morning?” His frown cleared. “Oh, that was my cousin.”
A tight sensation in her throat forced her to swallow before she could answer. “A kissing cousin, I take it?” The intended quip didn’t quite come off.
“She really is my cousin.”
“Since our agreement, this is the s-second blonde. The one in the pub and this c-cousin.” Maggie hiccupped. “I don’t kiss my cousins like that. I can’t talk now. I have stuff to do.” She turned away and started walking. Tears ran down her face, but she ignored them, intent on escape.Please. Please, don’t let him follow me.
She rounded a corner and ducked into a busy pub she’d visited several times with her friends, and headed for the restrooms. For the first time today, luck was with her and she walked into an empty stall, locking the door after her. She grabbed a handful of toilet tissue and dabbed at her damp eyes.
He hadn’t followed her.
The thought dragged a sob from deep in her chest. She knew breaking up with him was the right thing to do. The right thing for her, even if it didn’t feel like it today. The lies and half-truths needed to stop.
Maggie grabbed more tissues and held them to her eyes, willing the tears to stop. At this rate, she’d be late back to work. And the only good thing to be said about that was none of the others worked in the same department as her. She could avoid everyone.
Half an hour later, feeling much calmer, she exited the stall and did a double take at her face. She looked ghastly and had no makeup to fix the damage. She wiped away the raccoon eyes and did the best she could before heading back to work.
She passed a group of the young lawyers from the law office next door and overheard them chatting about her spanking blog. Maybe Susan and Christina were right and her trouble started with her blog.
“It’s interesting,” a young woman said. “It makes me want to try it out.”
“I’d spank you anytime,” one of the men said. “Name the date and time.”
“Ew,” the woman said. “I don’t think so.”
Everyone laughed, their hilarity and comments following Maggie into the sanctum of Baker & Johnson.
To her relief, Maggie made her cubicle without running into anyone. Sighing, she picked up her pen and started work. This day couldn’t end soon enough.
Her phone rang around an hour later.
