Seducing Jason

What was the worst that could happen?

Maggie stared through the windshield of her tiny hybrid and followed Jason’s silhouette as he moved through his apartment. He was still awake. That was good—maybe. It’d be good if she actually managed to muster up the courage to knock on his door.

Would tonight be the night, the night she finally told Jason how she felt? Or would she chicken out like always?

She buried her face in her hands. “I don’t think I can do this, Val,” she said into her hands-free earpiece.

“Of course you can, Mags!” her best friend said. “Just march on up those stairs, and as soon as he lets you in, drop your coat and give him an up-close-and-personal view of the sexy lingerie number you’ve been dying to show him. You did wear it right?”

“Well…” Maggie looked down at the long trench coat wrapped around her. “Not exactly.”

“Why not? You’ve been waiting to show it to him for six months now.”

Six months? Had she really been trying to work up the nerve to seduce Jason that long? Geez. She was an emotional wimp.

This time, however, her hesitation was with good cause. Jason had been her brother Charlie’s best friend since grade school. If she and Jason became involved and their relationship went south, would Jason and Charlie’s relationship also go down the drain?

Maggie faced a terrible dilemma. Deny her brother. Or deny her heart.

“No, no,” Maggie said. “I can’t do that to Charlie. He’s my big brother.” He’d practically raised her since she was sixteen, when their parents had been killed by a drunk driver. She loved him too much to hurt him.

So why did she keep making the drive to Jason’s every weekend?

She’d made this trip countless times, but tonight was the first time she’d made it this far. Close enough to actually see Jason moving about his apartment. She blamed her sudden change of heart on the stupid Anti-Valentine’s Day party Val had dragged her to earlier. Well, not the party itself, but the dance she and Jason had shared.

She closed her eyes and let the moment take her over. The sensation of Jason’s’ hands on her body as he’d pulled her close on the dance floor. They’d danced before, but something had felt different tonight. The air between them had practically sizzled, and they’d held each other’s gazes a little too long. And the kicker? After the song had faded away, he’d continued to hold her, sway with her. He didn’t release her until the pumping base of the next song had shattered the moment.

It had been a perfect moment in time, and damn it, she wanted more.

Inspiration struck. “Maybe if I talked to Charlie,” she said. “Maybe he wouldn’t have a problem with me dating his best—”

A knock sounded against the driver’s side door.

Fear kicked her heart into overdrive. On instinct, she reached for the can of mace she kept wedged between her seat and the center console then froze. She clutched a hand over her heart as she tried to rein in the sudden burst of adrenaline. The face staring through the glass wasn’t a Ted Bundy reincarnation but, in its own way, was almost as bad.

“Mags?” Vals concerned voice sounded a thousand miles away, and Maggie realized she’d knocked the earpiece loose.

“I’m fine,” she said, but “I have to go. I’ve just been busted.”

“Busted? What are you talking—”

“Jason’s here.”

Before Val got another word in, Maggie cut the call then clicked the button that rolled down the window.

“Sorry, Mags. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Jason said, his trademark grin—and accompanying dimples—dialed up high enough to light up the entire parking lot.

Just seeing his smile, calmed her, made her crazy too. But most of all, it reassured her. “Hey, Jason.” She smoothed her hands over her hair, then suddenly stopped. No primping. “What are you doing here?”

“Shouldn’t that be my question?”

“Uh. Yeah.” Shit. Idiot.

He leaned closer, his elbows resting on the window frame. “What are you doing here, Mags? And at this hour to boot?”

“I, uh, uh…” Her grandfather’s old mantra sounded in her head. Go big or go home, Magpie.“I, uh, came to see you.”

“Me?” He looked puzzled and flattered all at the same time—then concerned. “Is something wrong?”

“In a manner of speaking. Do you mind if I come up? I was hoping we could talk. In private...”