Page 66 of In His Cuffs

“Thanks.” He didn’t need to see this side of her mother, either. After nodding her thanks to Barb, Maggie drew Gloria down the hall. “Have a seat,” she said when they were in the office. Maggie sat on the edge of her desk.

Gloria sat and dropped her head into her hands.

Maggie waited for minute before gently saying, “I can only help if I know what’s wrong.”

“I got so caught up with Arctic Fox that I forgot to send the paperwork through on the Hoskins Group deal.”

Maggie froze.

When her mother looked up, Maggie blinked, trying not to betray her raw panic. Cindy Hoskins owned six different businesses, and World Wide Now handled four of the accounts. For years, they’d been trying to land all six, offering screaming discounts for the additional business. Cindy Hoskins was a pragmatist who didn’t believe in a single vendor approach. But losing the four accounts existing would be costly.

Maggie forced herself to breathe. “Surely it’s not that bad. When was it due?”

“Last Thursday.”

“Why wasn’t it on the board?”

Her mother dropped her head again.

“Okay, never mind that. We’ll remedy it in future.”

“I took them the preliminary bid two weeks ago and…”

Didn’t follow up. “Let me see what I can do.” She picked up the phone and dialled Cindy’s office direct, throwing herself on the other woman’s mercy. Cindy agreed to reconsider, as long as she had the signed deal in hand before noon.

Maggie summoned Barb to print off a final copy of the contract from the server. The three of them went over it. There weren’t many changes from the previous year, but there wasn’t time to figure in an annual increase.

David would be livid that his procedures hadn’t been followed.

Reluctant to bring him into the conversation, she called his cellular, but it went straight to voicemail. “Crap, crap, crap.”

“Think, think, think,” urged Barb.

Having no other choice, she signed two copies of the contract and put them in an envelope before heading out of the door.

She walked the six blocks to the bank building where the Hoskins Group was headquartered and, with a sigh and a smile, handed the envelope to the receptionist.

When she got back to the office she found frozen drinks waiting for everyone, courtesy of Gloria. When she created buckets of drama, she liked to treat the survivors.

Maggie didn’t see David until the next day. She considered mentioning the Hoskins Group fiasco, but didn’t. She and the team had sat down to discuss ways to ensure something like that never happened again. David was a big believer in systems, and they’d refined theirs as a result. Barb went through all the client files and entered all contract renewal dates in the computer and set several reminders beginning a month in advance.

“Go home with me Friday night after the open house,” he said.

Startled, she looked up from her keyboard. “David.”

He lazed against the doorjamb as if he owned the place. Which, really, he did.

“Don’t tell me you don’t need a beating.”

“Yeah.” She dropped her hands to her lap. “I do.”

“You’ll be ready for the hot tub and a good night’s sleep.”

“That obvious, huh?”

“Only to someone who’s looking. You’re a beautiful woman, Maggie. Wear something short to the open house.” Without another word, he pushed away from the wooden frame and continued down the hall.

She could have sworn she heard him whistle.

Maggie collapsed against her chair back. He’d undone all her resolve in less than a minute. Now she was thinking about him and Friday night instead of work.

* * * *

At home, she masturbated again, this time driven by fantasies of what might happen over the weekend.

Thursday, she worked late, double-checking RSVPs and responding to a few last-minute stragglers. One person asked for directions, even though she’d given them twice. She sent an updated head count to the caterer and glanced at her handwritten to-do list. Everyone else used a computer programme, but there was nothing she liked better than the tactile sensation of marking through a task she’d completed. It was much the same high that she got when she crossed through dates on a calendar, like when she was going to the Den.

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