Marie Harte - Working Out

He blew out a breath. So far, so good, Jameson.

As the morning flew by and Maggie did no more than scowl at him before tending to her class, Mac felt on even keel once more. Though the day passed by with agonizing slowness, he didn’t feel as if he’d damaged their relationship, such as it was. He got hives just thinking about the R word, but with Maggie, he defined it as a friendship first, one that would hopefully lead to some fucking incredible sex. He just needed to layer the trust between them, to see if the subtle submissive vibes he’d sensed rang true.

For all that the woman lashed out at him like a Doberman, she obeyed at the oddest times, when she should have been protesting his control. Telling her what to do concerning their date? Taking charge of her climax the other night? She’d melted for him. And he just knew she’d be perfect on her knees, obeying him.

That’s if he could get her there.

Stubborn thing would make him work to own her. Yet he looked forward to the challenge. Nothing worth having in life had ever been easy. And sure as shit, Maggie Doran screamed difficult .

He watched her leave work, heard more chatter about her fine ass, and did his best to steer clear of the women who tended to want more of his attention than he felt comfortable giving.

Normally he didn’t mind their flattery. He admitted it soothed his bruised ego, considering Maggie hadn’t come on to him before he’d made his move. Knowing she’d been celibate helped cool his ardor, but not by much. After their last two days spent with each other, he knew he could seal the deal and make a memory with her he’d never forget.

Yet he didn’t think he’d given them enough time to really know each other. The woman thought he had trust issues? Learning she’d been abandoned as a kid offered some valuable insight. Shelby had been less than forthcoming, and Shane’s knowledge of the blond beauty was limited to what Shelby had shared with him, which wasn’t much more than what Mac had already known. Mac’s future lover had an older brother named Trevor. She worked at an art gallery called The Beholder for a woman named Kim. She designed paper sculptures and worked part time teaching aerobics to make ends meet.

He also knew that she spent a lot of time with Shelby and Mimi Vanzant, Shelby’s Mom, whom Mac had met and taken an instant liking to.

Mimi took flamboyancy to a whole new level, but she had a heart nearly as big as her personality. Although Ron’s inspection had made him uncomfortable the first few times he’d encountered the guy, he’d adjusted. Mac didn’t have a problem with gays. He’d had his share of men come on to him, and he’d easily rebuffed the offers, no harm no foul. He couldn’t care less about orientation. Something his uncle had made sure to drill into his head early on. It wasn’t about looks, status, or background, but about action. If a Marine worked hard, color, race, sexuality, and gender mattered little. Now, if the Marine fucked around on the job, Mac stepped in and kicked some serious ass.

Unlike Ron who apparently liked fucking ass. Sex with a dude did nothing for Mac, but with a woman?

Mac had tried anal a few times with past girlfriends. He wasn’t opposed to it, but he preferred a nice tight pussy. Yet he’d had some tasty fantasies about taking Maggie anywhere and everywhere. The woman made him hard by just breathing. The thought of owning her fine ass, of coming in her pussy or better yet, her mouth, just seemed like something he had to do.

How many more dates before he saw the green light in her gaze? And not as something to get over with , but something to savor?

“There you are.” Shane guffawed from the doorway to Mac’s office. “Down boy. Happy to see me?” He glanced at Mac’s crotch, which as usual, stood at attention at thoughts of Maggie.

Mac quickly sat behind his desk and flushed. “I was daydreaming about Maggie. Happy?”

“Not as happy as you, apparently.” Shane closed the door of Mac’s office behind him and sat across from Mac’s desk to face him. “So how did Saturday night go? You’ve been way too quiet about it.”

“It went okay after I scared the shit out of her.”

“Figured you might. Maggie doesn’t have a lot of guys over, or so Shelby says. She wouldn’t have been expecting anyone else to be there.”

“Yeah, well, after she got over her near stroke, I left. We had dinner last night.”

Shane’s eyes widened, as did his grin. “Oh?”

“So what?” Mac tried for blasé, but Shane wasn’t having it.

“You like her. A lot. This isn’t just lust. I know you, buddy. You normally fuck ‘em and leave ‘em. Sorry to say.”

“As I said before, so what? The ladies know what they’re in for. Hell, that’s why they come to me. They want a fun ride, and I give it to them.”

“Yeah? So did you bone her yet?”

“Don’t be an ass. And since when do you talk like me? ‘Bone her?’”

Shane stood and pointed at Mac. “A ha!”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“You want Maggie as something more than a fuck toy. Amen. The boy has finally grown up.”

“I’m a desk away from putting your face through my wall,” Mac warned, thoroughly aggravated. Yeah, he liked Maggie. But Shane made it sound a lot more serious than the emotion warranted. Mac just wanted to dominate her a little, and to do that, he wanted a tighter friendship between them. They’d have sex, then go their separate ways. No biggie.

Shane smiled widely. “Dude, you and my idiot brother gave me so much dicked up advice about Shelby, it’s a wonder the woman still talks to me. Thankfully, she’s learned to ignore both of you. I think she might be considering moving in with me.”

“You asked her?”

“Yeah. We talk about the next step a lot. I’m, ah, going to ask her to marry me at Christmas.”

“Congrats.” Mac gave him a thumbs up. “Not as big a pussy as you look. It’s about time.”

“Shut up.” His buddy grinned. “But we were talking about you and Maggie.”

“No, we weren’t. You were.”

Shane ignored his annoyance. “Yep. You were full of great advice when it came to Shelby. I was supposed to use her and lose her. I wasn’t supposed to commit, or else I’d be stuck in another relationship.”

“And here you are, Mr. Feelings. Like a woman, but with a dick.”

“Nice mouth.”

He wanted to say, Maggie seems to like it. But he didn’t want to talk about her like that. What the fuck is that all about?

“See? There’s that look. You’re introspective now.”

“Shut the hell up. I have work to do.”

Shane crowed. “You’re into her. Wait until I tell Shelby.”

Mac rushed around the desk and put Shane in a headlock until he cried uncle. “Not a word to your girlfriend, you get me?”

“F-fine. Let…me…go.”

Mac released him and rested his back against the door, blocking Shane’s exit. “I’m working my way slowly with Maggie. Like you said, she’s a nice woman.” Nice. The blond was a shark in tights. “She’s also Shelby’s best friend. I happen to like your girlfriend, so I can’t afford to have Maggie hate me.” Yeah, like that’s the only reason I’m worried about screwing up with her. It has nothing to do with the fact that I actually like spending time with her. More than is healthy. “So don’t fuck it up for me, Shane.”

Shane rubbed his throat, still grinning, the idiot. “No, sir. But I have to tell you. The fact you aren’t trying to get straight into her pants is a sign.”

Worried because he had a feeling Shane was right, Mac swore again.