Still In Love With Her
CONTENTS
Still In Love With Her (Maggie & Vince, Book ONE)
License Note
Books - LOVE in the USA
Chapter One - Enter the Twilight Zone
Chapter Two - Caught in the Rat Trap
Chapter Three - Exit the Twilight Zone
Chapter Four - A New Line of Business
Chapter Five - Curiosity Gets the Scoundrel
Chapter Six - London Bound
Chapter Seven - Fresh Contracts
Chapter Eight - Lost in London
Chapter Nine - Contingency Plans
Still In Love With Her
(Maggie & Vince, Book ONE)
Z.L. Arkadie
Learn More About Z.L. Arkadie
Cover Design by Karri Klawiter of Art by Karri Photo Illustrator
Copyright © 2014 Z.L. Arkadie Books
License Notes
All rights reserved, including right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form or by any means whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher.
Links To Available Books in the LOVE in the USA Series
A sexy kind of LOVE…
Find Her, Keep Her - A Martha’s Vineyard Love Story
There’s Something About Her, A Manhattan Love Story
Say You Love Her, An LA Love Story
Know Her, Love Her (Daisy & Belmont, Book ONE)
Still In Love With Her (Maggie & Vince, Book ONE)
Explore Her, More of Her (Daisy & Belmont, Book TWO) Coming December 2014!
CHAPTER ONE
Enter the Twilight Zone
I haven’t heard from Vince since Curtis’s wedding, which was nearly a month ago. Well, Vince has sent me three impersonal emails, reminding me that my grace period is almost up. I need to boost the ratings for two new shows that have been added to Prime D TV’s Sizzling Summer lineup, and I’ve been in New York, working like a mad woman to make it happen. I’ve held viewings on Mondays, Thursdays, and Sundays. I’ve pulled consecutive all-nighters interpreting empirical data and writing reports. I’ve worked with teams to produce crawls, commercials, and press boxes. I’ve been pulled in so many directions that my head has been bobbling all over the place. I hardly consumed anything other than protein bars and Colombian coffee. When I had a moment of downtime, I tried to call Vince, but he didn’t answer his phone. Yesterday, when I called Langley, Vince’s executive assistant, to see if she could patch me through to him, something about her tone bothered me.
That’s why I hitched a ride to L.A. on Jack’s jet early this morning. Vince is leading the state-of-the-company meeting today, so I know he’ll be in Conference Room 11 at ten a.m. As soon as I arrive, I take a cab to Vince’s house in Malibu. The Range Rover Vince bought me for my thirtieth birthday is parked in the garage. I can hardly believe I hit the big 3-0. Two years ago, I never thought I’d be standing in my shoes, successful at life and, I hope, at love.
I go inside to get the car keys off the hook. The curtains are open because Vince likes a lot of light in the house. The floors and furniture are so shiny that I could eat breakfast off them. The faint scent of his cologne is in the air.
“Vince!” I call three times. I’m positive he’s already left. He’s a consummate early bird.
I stop at the Starbucks on Pacific Coast Highway and grab a cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich. I finish both with time to spare while braving the stop-and-go traffic all the way to the company’s mirror-glass building on Avenue of the Stars in Century City.
Darren, the valet, opens my door and says “Maggie’s back in town.”
“In the flesh,” I reply and wink.
“Are you still taking names and kicking ass?”
“I never stop,” I say as I gallop toward the glass doors.
The elevators are always crowded in the mornings, and today is no exception. I carve out a space for myself and read my emails on my cell phone.
“Good morning, Mags,” a deep voice whispers in my ear.
I jump and turn to face Robert Tango’s trademark smirk. “Morning,” I say in a lackluster tone.
He’s behind me. I’m pretty sure a woman in a blue suit was standing in that spot when I got in. He must’ve maneuvered his way over to me. His hands are on my hips, and now my ass is against his cock, which is getting firmer by the second. I look at the woman next to me to see if she notices Robert getting off on my ass. She’s not paying attention. No one else is either.
“You’re a pleasant surprise, Mags,” Robert says.
“Do you know why Vince hasn’t taken any of my calls?” I ask.
“Why wouldn’t he take your calls?”
I jab him in the ribs with my elbow. “Stop that,” I whisper.
He chuckles. “Stop what?”
He’s always fucking with my head.
“You know what.” I shift my hips forward.
The doors slide open, and four people exit. I step away from Robert and glance at his package. It’s way out there. However, three young women enter, and Robert guides me back in front of him. Once again, my ass meets his lump.
“I’ve read your Summer of Sizzle proposal,” he says.
“You mean Sizzling Summer.”
“How about we sit down, you and me, to discuss it?”
“To discuss what in particular?”
Robert’s breaths warm my earlobe. “Don’t you think we’ve waited long enough?”
“Grow up,” I snap.
“I am growing up.”
My eyes shift nervously toward the girls beside us. I’m happy they’re talking loudly. I don’t think anyone heard him. Ding. The door opens on our floor, and I’m the first one out. I try to walk away from Robert, but he keeps pace.
“So you say you haven’t heard from Vince?” he asks.
“Go away.”
“Is there trouble in paradise?”
I stop, make sure the people behind us pass, and put my face close to his. “You can’t grind my ass and then ask if there’s trouble in paradise.”
Robert smirks as he shoves his hands into his pockets. “Don’t you ever wonder?”
“Wonder about what?” I ask, although I know exactly what he’s talking about.
He’s wearing a royal-blue silk shirt and nice-fitting navy slacks. He always looks scrumptious. Once or twice, or ten times or more, I’ve admired how attractive he is. However, I have no intentions of hooking up with Robert Tango. First, I love Vince. Second, Robert’s a scoundrel who’s banged almost every attractive woman in this company. I’m surprised there haven’t been any sexual harassment complaints. I’m sure they’ll come rolling in like an avalanche sooner rather than later.
“You and me and how much fun we could have,” he says.
“Fun doing what?”
He flexes his eyebrows.
“No,” I reply.
He smirks. “You should. Not too many men know their way around a woman’s plumbing the way I do.”
“That’s because you’re a scoundrel.” I spin on my heels and walk away. I can’t do this anymore. Robert has given me my first headache of the day.
But he still keeps up with me. “I still want to meet with you.”
“I haven’t finished my report on Sizzling Summer. We can schedule a call for next week,” I say.
“I also want to discuss the ratings and promotion for Green Box. Hannah says you haven’t put much effort into improving audience reception.”
I roll my eyes. “I told you the show was going to flop before it premiered, but you were fucking Hannah, so you blew me off. My opinion hasn’t changed. I can’t improve audience reception because the show stinks. Cancel it.”
“Goddamn it, Maggie, we’re meeting to
day. What time are you available?”
I stop in front of my office. “I don’t know. Call Mavis, and she’ll pencil you in.”
He snorts cynically. “Pencil me in?”
“I’m a very busy woman Robert Tango, and I need to speak to Vince before the meeting,” I say impatiently.
I glance across the maze of cubicles at Vince’s office. There he is, facing a woman I’ve never seen. She has a lot of copper-colored hair cascading down her back and is wearing a very tight dress that extends past her knees. She’s very thin. I can’t see her face, but the fact that she’s standing so close to him gives me a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“Who’s that?” I ask Robert.
Vincent’s gaze meets mine. I smile, but he looks shocked to see me. I look away from Vince to face Robert’s smug smile.
“That’s Emily. Vince’s old girlfriend from high school.”
“What is she doing here?”
“She’s our new corporate PR director.”
“What happened to Pamela?” I ask.
“Pamela isn’t corporate PR. She’s departmental.”
I glare at Vince and this woman named Emily. I think I’m jealous, which is a pretty new emotion to me. “What the hell? Did you guys make up that title?”
Robert snaps his fingers in front of my face to regain my attention. I turn my grimace on him.
“Pamela needed some help with the corporate side of things. Emily handles our images,” he says.
“Whose image?”
His mouth stretches into that naughty smirk of his. “She’s done a lot of work on Vince’s.”
“What are you insinuating?” I snarl.
Robert has a dazed look in his eyes. I’ve seen it before, usually when Vince is near, so Robert has to zip it and stop coming on to me. I turn to see Vince only a few steps away.
“What are you doing here?” Vince asks.
“Why haven’t you returned my calls or answered me on Skype?” I reply.
He glares at Robert then checks his watch. “The meeting starts in ten minutes.”
“I didn’t ask when the meeting starts. I asked—”
“I know what you asked.”
I’m taken aback by his harsh tone.
“Follow me, Maggie,” he says and steps away, confident I’ll obey his order.
I glower at Robert one last time before trailing after Vince. I wonder if this is the end of us. If so, then what did I do wrong? I thought everything was good between us when I left the wedding. I had to leave early to catch a flight to London. We even grabbed a quickie in a utility closet before I hopped into a cab for the airport. He’d banged me against the wall among the dirty mops and brooms. Our passions ran so high that we clawed and bit at each other, frustrated that we couldn’t sink into the other’s skin. But right now, his mood is so severe that I feel as though his heart is light-years away from loving me.
We go into Vince’s office. He closes and locks the door behind me then shuts the blinds. My heart is racing a mile a minute. I’m flushed and dizzy. Is he really going to break up with me right before the meeting?
“What—” I gasp as Vince shoves his hand under my blue sheath dress. Since I don’t wear panties, his fingers slide right inside me.
“You’re wet,” he says.
Robert may have made me melt a little by grinding my ass, but I frown and choose to ignore Vince’s comment. “What’s going on with you?”
Vince’s mouth is caught open. He’s staring into my eyes, and I can see his thoughts turning. If only I knew what they were. His behavior is very odd.
I feel the tension in my forehead. “Are you okay? Did something happen?” Is this the part when he tells me he has an incurable disease?
Our lips enfold. We don’t break eye contact as we kiss tenderly.
Then he stops, blinks, and mutters something that sounds like, “I can do this.” Vince undoes his pants and takes out his dick. It’s erect and slippery at the head. “Get on your knees.”
My frown deepens. “What?”
“I said get on your knees.”
“I’m not getting on my knees. Are you crazy?”
“You’re so fucking obstinate. If only you would…”
He pulls my dress all the way up, lowers me onto the sofa, separates my legs, and slams his dick into my slippery pussy. We lock eyes for a long moment. Then he pounds me, rimming my pussy before crashing deep inside me. Rimming is the fastest way to get me off, and he knows it. I stare into his eyes, trying to figure out what’s gotten into him. I feel the first traces of an orgasm, and my eyes close as I release a moan.
“You like that?” Vince slams into me harder, faster.
“Yes…” I suck air.
He rams his penis deeper inside me and holds my hips against his cock. “Oh.” He grunts and jerks.
I’m breathing heavily, shocked that he didn’t get me off before he came, especially when I was so close. He’s never done that before. Vince pulls out of me. My legs drop to the floor, and he zips his pants.
I’m still perplexed. “What the hell was that?” I get up to grab a tissue off his desk to clean myself.
He grabs my wrist. “Drop it.”
I flinch, taken aback. “The tissue?”
“The tissue.”
My frown deepens. “Have you fallen on your head? Is that what’s wrong with you?” He hasn’t removed his hand, so I drop the tissue.
There’s a knock on the door.
Vince looks over his shoulder. “What do you want?”
Langley tries to open the door but it‘s locked. “The meeting starts in four minutes.”
“Is that it?” he says.
She hesitates. “Well, yes.”
“Got it.”
I shake my head. “Did an alien abduct my boyfriend and replace him with an evil twin?”
“I’m not your boyfriend, Maggie. Do you remember I asked you to marry me?”
Shit. I’d thought his proposal was tucked away safely in my drawer along with the ring. “Yes…”
He sniffs disdainfully. “There are lots of lessons I need to teach you.”
“You have lessons to teach me?” I say sarcastically.
“If you want to fuck Rob, then go right ahead, but I’m not going to make you come until you learn how to get on your fucking knees when I tell you to.”
Did he just accuse me of wanting to bang Robert? I’m generally a quick thinker, but I’m still trying to process everything that just happened. I watch, stunned, as Vince fixes himself up.
He indulgently runs his thumb across my bottom lip. His lips comes close to mine, but he doesn’t kiss me. “Don’t be late.” He strolls out of the office, leaving the door wide open.
I peek at Langley, who’s sitting at her desk and staring at my exposed pussy. I lower the bottom of my dress, rake my fingers through my hair, and grab my satchel. I avoid eye contact with her as I sweep past her desk, heading toward the conference room. The meeting hasn’t started, but everyone is here. I make the rounds, and people express how pleasantly surprised they are to see me.
Samantha from the ads department pulls her lips squeamishly. “Especially in light of things.”
I want to ask in light of what, but I’m afraid of the answer. The only empty seat is next to Robert. I’ve had enough of him for one day, so I tap Angela from finance on the shoulder. “Could you take the seat up front? I have to sneak out in a little while and link into a conference call.” I show her my best smile. “I don’t want to disturb the meeting after it gets on the way.”
“Absolutely,” she says, ogling Robert.
Every woman in the room would like to sit next to him. He’s probably banged half the women in here.
“I need you up front, Maggie,” Vince says as Angela stands.
Angela gives me a consoling look. I hate that smirk Robert wears as I approach and sit beside him. I take my pad out of my bag and scribble, “What did you say to Vince?” on the top page.<
br />
Robert flips the page. “I say a lot to Vince. We’re buddies.”
I scoff. “You’re a buddy who tries to fuck his friend’s girlfriend!”
“A buddy who has fucked his buddy’s girlfriend.”
I furrow my eyebrows. Robert and I have never had sex. He leers at Emily as if he’s trying to tell me something.
“Okay, let’s start,” Vince says.
Robert’s knee hits my leg and settles against it. I shift, turning my body away from his. Vince always winks at me before he starts a meeting, but today, he doesn’t look in my direction. Instead, he winks at Emily, who winks back. My mouth falls open as my heart takes a dive. I want to run out of the room crying. It’s no secret that we’re a couple, so our colleagues exchange looks. They realize he’s snubbing me, so on top of hurt, I’m embarrassed. I keep my eyes on the blank sheet of paper in front of me.
Vince runs down the list of our new video/media projects. I’m listening but pondering my last conversation with Monroe. She’d suggested that I quit my job and go into business with her as an image consultant. She said it’s right up my alley. I know how to sell anything to the public, so why not people? I actually liked the idea. However, I assumed Monroe was just trying to get me to make major changes in my life so we could spend more time together. I hardly see her anymore, and she’s made it very clear how much she doesn’t like that.
“By the way, I want to formally introduce Emily Callahan,” Vince says. “She’s been around since last week, and everyone in the L.A. office has noticed her, I’m sure.” He and Emily share another smile.
A bitter laugh escapes me. Everyone looks at me. Vince has blatantly disrespected me on so many levels. If he thinks I’m a little debutante he can make jealous by flirting with other women after only half fucking me, then he’s wrong. I shoot to my feet and gather my things. I don’t care who’s watching or what they think.
“Maggie, no leaving before the meeting ends,” Vince says.
I flip him the bird. “Fuck you.”
“Sit down,” he says as if he’s the prime minister of Maggieville. “I’m telling you as your boss.”