Trust in Me

Prologue

William Montgomery was feeling pretty good about himself right now.  As the orchestra
played, he watched as his youngest son Lucas danced with his new bride, Emma.  They
made a beautiful couple and as far as William was concerned, his role as matchmaker
was a complete success.

Looking around the room he saw that everyone was laughing and smiling and having a
good time.  It filled his heart with joy.  This time last year, Lucas was a brooding
loner who had cut himself off from just about every aspect of life.  But thanks to
William’s interference, and the help of Mother Nature, Lucas had found himself and
fell in love with the beautiful Emma Taylor, now Emma Montgomery.  He had no doubt
that there’d be a grandchild in his near future.

A server came over and refilled his champagne and William smiled at him.  Why hadn’t
he thought to do this before?  He had three sons who seemed content to stay single
and not settle down.  Well, he
had
three sons, now he had only two to worry about.  Mac and Jason were both over by the
bar talking with some business colleagues that William had invited.  Why were they
talking business when there were eligible women in the room?

William sighed wearily.  Had he taught his sons nothing?  For all of the business
skills he’d imparted on them, they seemed clueless, at least to him, where women were
concerned.  Not that he thought either of them was living the life of a Monk, but
it would be nice if one of them had a girlfriend.

Or at least a date for their brother’s wedding.

“Stop frowning, William, it’s our son’s wedding.”  His beautiful wife of thirty-five
years came and sat down beside him, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek.  “There’s
nothing to frown about today.”

“Says you,” he mumbled.

“What could you possibly have to be unhappy about?  Emma and Lucas are deliriously
happy and in love.  The wedding is lovely and everyone is having a good time.”

“Look at them,” he motioned to their sons by the bar.

“What about them?” she asked.

“When are they going to find women and fall in love and get married?”

“Oh, William, for crying out loud.  We’re not even done with this wedding and you’re
already trying to plan the next one?” she laughed.

“I just want to see them happy.”

“Who says they’re not?”

“Do you remember Lucas a year ago?” he asked, taking his eyes from his sons to focus
on his wife.

“You cannot compare Jason and Mac to what Lucas was going through; the situations
are completely different.”

“On some levels, yes.  But basically they are too wrapped up in business to have relationships. 
I don’t want them to work their lives away; they deserve to have the kind of love
that Lucas and Emma have and that you and I have.”

She smiled and cupped a hand to her husband’s cheek before leaning in and kissing
him softly on his lips. 

“What was that for?”

“For being wonderful.”

He smiled.  “I know that for a while Lucas wasn’t thrilled with me for interfering
in his life but maybe this time…”

“Don’t you dare!” she scolded.  “You were lucky where Lucas and Emma were concerned. 
They already had feelings for one another; you just had to nudge them along.  Neither
Jace or Mac are in that position.”

“Not yet,” William said and then turned to kiss his wife again and then watched as
she stood to go and talk with some of their guests. 

William Montgomery was feeling good about himself right now.  He had a purpose and
a plan was beginning to formulate.  All he needed was for lightning to strike twice.

Chapter One

“She has to be married.”

“Excuse me?”

“Whoever it is that we chose, she has to be married.”  Jason Montgomery was adamant
on this point.  There was no way he was going to get caught with someone looking to
snag the wealthy boss.

“This is about Lucas isn’t it?”  The head of human resources eyed him with a mix of
suspicion and humor.  In her late fifties, Ann Kincade had been with
Montgomery
’s for almost twenty years and had watched William Montgomery’s sons grow up.  “Honestly,
Jason, you are making a big deal out of nothing.”

“Am I?” he asked incredulously.  “Ever since Lucas and Emma hooked up, I have gone
through four different assistants.   Why?  Because now they all think that they can
hook up with the boss.”

“That’s a slight exaggeration, Jason,” she admonished.

“Is it?”  He stood and began to pace his office.  “First there was Rose…”

“Rose got promoted to being your father’s assistant when Emma left.  That had nothing
to do with you.”

Jason sighed with frustration.  “That wasn’t what I was going to say.  When Rose moved
over to the main suite, you replaced her with Janice.”

“She was a very nice woman; great organizational skills.”

“She was a damn stalker who I found watching me through the bushes at home with binoculars!”

“Okay, I’ll give you that one.  But then there was Lynda…”

“Cougar on the prowl.  She didn’t want to work; she wanted to find a rich,
younger
husband to take care of her.”

“And her typing skills sucked.” 

One of Jason’s dark eyebrows arched at that comment but he said nothing.  “Then there
was Claire.”  He stopped and stood in front of Ann, his arms crossed over his chest. 
“Do I even need to remind you of that little debacle?”

Ann looked down at her pile of files in her lap.  “I still think it wasn’t what it
looked like.”

“The woman was sprawled out on my desk in her underwear.  What do you think it looked
like?” he shouted.  A growl of frustration escaped before he could stop it and he
raked a hand through his hair.  “Now I have this trip coming up that I need to take
an assistant on and I don’t have an assistant!  I’m walking around on eggshells here
because I feel like everywhere I turn, there is someone looking to marry me!”

“We’ll have to put an ad out and look for male assistants,” Ann suggested.

“There’s no time for that and what if he’s gay?”

Ann let out a hearty laugh before she could help it.  “Oh, Jason, do you hear yourself? 
Now you think that men are going to be after you, too?”

He sat back down behind his desk and put his face in his hands.  “I’m going crazy
here, Ann.  I have a lot to do to prep for this trip; there’s a lot riding on it and
I can’t spare the time to be fending off women who are hoping to be the next Mrs.
Montgomery.”

“Is it absolutely necessary for you to have someone go with you?” she asked seriously. 

“It’s a long trip with meetings set up with dozens of potential clients.  I need someone
to be with me taking notes and organizing contracts and getting them back here to
the office.  I can’t do it all myself.  As it is this went from a ten day trip to
about three weeks.  What am I supposed to do?”

“That’s a long time to ask anyone to travel with you, especially if they’re married. 
No one is going to want to be away from their spouse for three weeks.”

Jason frowned.  “Damn, I hadn’t thought of that.”

Ann started sorting through the employment profiles she held in her lap.  “As of right
now there are no male candidates.  You could always take one of the junior execs with
you to…”

Jason shook his head.  “No, the ones that I talked with can’t be spared for that length
of time.”

“What about a temp?”

Again he shook his head.  “I need someone with a working knowledge of the company. 
I won’t have time for hand holding and training.  I need someone who can step right
in and get to work.  I’ve got less than two weeks before I leave and I’ll need every
minute of it to get organized.”

Placing the files down on Jason’s desk, Ann stood and frowned.  “What you’re asking
is impossible.”

“I’m relying on you to make it possible,” he countered.

“Jason, be reasonable.”

“I would love to be reasonable, Ann, believe me.  Right now there is nothing about
this situation that makes things easy for me, either.  I cannot afford to take someone
with me who ‘accidentally’ shows up in my bed or worse, makes a spectacle of themselves
at a corporate event.  I don’t want to lead anyone on or give them the impression
that they are with me to play corporate wife!”

She stared at him until Jason started to feel like he was going to squirm.  “I’ll
see what I do, Jace; but I can make no promises.”

He nodded and then she was gone. 

****

Maggie Barrett did her best to live her life under the radar.

Getting called into the boss’s office did not fit with that motto.

She had barely stepped into the executive suite when William Montgomery’s assistant
Rose told her that Mr. Montgomery was expecting her.  With a heavy sigh and a straightened
spine, she walked through the doors.

“Maggie!” William Montgomery boomed.  “How have you been?”

Taking the seat that he indicated, Maggie sat down and swallowed the nervous lump
in her throat before responding.  “Fine, Sir.  How are you?”

“Great, can’t complain,” he said with a sincere smile and then he reached for a folder
that was on his desk.  His expression turned slightly more serious as he read the
contents.  Quietly he closed the folder and studied Maggie.  “Ann tells me that you
were offered a promotion.”

Maggie nodded.  “Yes, Sir, I was.”

“And that you turned it down.”

Again, she nodded.

“Care to tell me why?”

“I’m perfectly happy with the position that I have.”

“You are overqualified for the position that you have, Maggie; you and I both know
that.  Now why don’t you tell my why you really turned down the job as Jason’s assistant.” 
His tone was firm but gentle; exactly how he knew Maggie needed to be talked to.

Her shoulders sagged slightly.  “You and I both know why I took this job, Mr. Montgomery. 
I’m not looking to be anyone’s assistant ever again.  I’m very happy working in customer
service.”

“Answering phones all day in maddening,” he replied. “The move up to an assistant
would mean that other people would be fielding the calls and you could actually do
the kind of work that you are more than capable of doing.”

It probably wouldn’t look good for her to cry in front of her boss.  Not that he hadn’t
seen her do that before but it wasn’t something she wanted to repeat.  “I appreciate
your concern, Mr. Montgomery, I really do.  I’m just not willing to be put into that
type of situation ever again.  I can’t.”  Her voice trembled on the last word and
Maggie silently cursed herself for showing weakness.

It was never William’s intention to upset Maggie and sitting there looking at her
as she fought to keep her composure, he hated himself even more for what he was about
to do.  “Maggie,” he began, “I am not the type of person who throws his weight around. 
I think you know that about me.”  She nodded.  “We have a situation that you are the
only one qualified for.  I’m not asking you if you want the position, I’m telling
you that I want you to take the position.”

Maggie’s head snapped up as she stared at him with eyes wide.  “But you know why…”

William held up a hand to stop her.  “Believe me, I remember quite well why you feel
the way that you do and I think that by now you should know that I am one of the good
guys.  Have I ever done anything to make you doubt me?”

Silently, Maggie shook her head.

“Have I asked anything of you in all of the time you’ve worked for me?”

Again she shook her head as she stared down at the floor.

“I wouldn’t ask this of you, Maggie if it wasn’t important.  You are the only person
that I trust for this assignment.”

Raising her head, her brown eyes filled with tears, she asked, “Why?  Why me?”

William sighed.  “Ever since Lucas and Emma fell in love, Jason has had sort of a
target on his back.  We can’t seem to keep an assistant for him.  He’s been stalked,
propositioned…you name it, these women have done it.  Most men would be flattered
but Jason takes his work very seriously and he needs someone who’ll do the same.”

“I still don’t understand how this involves me.”

“When I took you in with Montgomery’s, Maggie, you asked me to do what I could to
protect you, right?”  She nodded.  “One of the things that I did was lie for you;
as far as anyone in the company knows, you are a married woman.  You and I are the
only ones here that know differently.”

Maggie considered his words.  “So you think since everyone believes me to be married
that I’m a safe bet for Jason’s assistant?”

“That’s exactly what I’m thinking.  Jason isn’t looking to seduce anyone and he certainly
isn’t looking to be seduced.  I would think that you, more than anyone, can understand
his position.”

She blushed.  Maggie tried to never think about the way that she had come to work
for William Montgomery and in the three years that she’d been here, this was the first
time they’d even remotely referred to it.  “I can respect the situation, Sir; I just
don’t feel comfortable…”

“Maggie?” he interrupted gently.  “It’s time.  You’ve hidden yourself down in customer
service long enough.  I hired you without knowing a damn thing about you; the woman
I met needed help and I gave it.  I’m asking you to return the favor.”

How could she say no to that?  The man had given her a safe haven; a job where she
didn’t feel hunted or that she was there for any other reason than to do her job. 
“How can I be sure that I won’t find myself in the same situation I was when you met
me?”

William’s expression softened as he looked at her.  “Maggie, I give you my word that
you will never, ever find yourself in such a position; not with Jason and not with
anyone here at
Montgomery
’s.”

She stood and looked down at her boss.  A simple nod of her head was the only response
that she gave.

William rose to his feet and faced her.  “If at any time, for any reason, you feel
like something isn’t right, I want you to promise me that you’ll call and I’ll believe
whatever it is that you tell me and I’ll get you out of there, okay?”

Again, all she could do was nod. 

“I’ll let Ann know to get the paperwork started and I’ll let Rose know that you’ll
be working with her the rest of the week to get acquainted with things up here and
I’ll arrange for you to meet with Jason.”  A wild look of panic crossed Maggie’s face
and William made a quick decision.  “We’ll meet with him together; you and me, okay?”

Maggie took a steadying breath and agreed. 

Then silently prayed that she hadn’t just made the second biggest mistake of her life.

****

Trapped.

That was the only word that came to Maggie’s mind as she frantically tried to figure
a way out of the situation.  She could either go back upstairs to the hotel room that
her boss had reserved for the two of them – unbeknownst to her – or she could sleep
on the street. 

Martin Blake had been the model boss; for a year she’d been his executive assistant
and never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined that something like this would
happen to her. 

Maggie looked around the lobby in search of what, she didn’t know.  She had no money,
no form of transportation and no form of ID.  Martin had seen to that.  They were
three thousand miles from home on the other side of the country; he was smart to choose
now to hatch his disgusting plan.  There actually was a conference going on but Martin
had very little interest in it; his interest was in seducing Maggie.

She felt sick.  Any moment she was sure she was going to be ill.  Collapsing on one
of the opulent sofas in the hotel lobby, tears began to fall.  “What am I going to
do?” she cried gently, knowing that no one was there to answer her. 

“Excuse me, miss,” a gentle voice asked.  “Are you okay?”

Tears streaming down her face, Maggie looked up and saw a man in his possible late-fifties
staring down at her, his face one of calm concern.  Who was he?  Did Martin send him
to find her?

“I…I’m fine,” she lied.

The man sat down at the opposite end of the sofa, not wanting to scare her more than
she obviously was.  “Are you sure?  Is there someone I can call for you?”

The thing was, there wasn’t anyone that Maggie felt she could call about this situation. 
She didn’t want to alarm her family and she had no close friends and no one who would
be able to pay for a flight home for her – especially when she had no ID to present
when she got to the airport.  Shaking her head, a fresh wave of tears began to fall.