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Anxiety
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Collide Cinderella to the Ball
The next week was a blur of activity. Thanks to Maggie and Sofia’s work on advertising to local businesses, they had several business breakfasts and lunches held at Common Grounds that week. She and JT also put in long evening hours planning out a couple of event catering projects they had taken on as they were wanting to expand their catering work. Farm to table wedding rehearsal dinners and engagement parties were getting more and more popular and Maggie had seized on the events, on and off site, as a way to grow their little cafe. With her mother in semi-retirement, she didn’t need her catering and equipment and tableware very often so Maggie and JT could save a lot of money by using them. Tricia Wade believed in her children being self-sufficient so there was a small rental fee involved but, even with the fees, Maggie knew they’d never have been able to afford to buy all the equipment outright by themselves and was grateful, though somewhat grudgingly, for the help. Before she kn
Collide At the Ball
Maggie peeked out the tinted windows of the town car nervously as they pulled up in front of the event. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to meet Zane inside and felt her anxiety levels spike. She was just about to pull the phone out of her purse and call him when she saw his familiar tousled, blonde hair coming down the steps. She breathed a sigh of relief as he made it down the steps just as the driver opened the back door for her. Zane reached down for her hand and a smile lit his face. “You made it!” His eyes raked her up and down, the gold flecks in his eyes seeming to sparkle as he took her in. She could feel the heat filling her cheeks at his perusal. His intense gaze made her feel like he didn’t see anyone else but her.Maggie took his hand tightly and grinned as he helped her out of the car. “I did. Thank you for the nice ride.”“I’m only sorry I couldn’t make it to pick you up myself. I feel really bad about that.” He tucked her arm through his and started to lead her up
Collide Little Mouse
The ladies’ room was just as impressive as the rest of the hotel. It was all marble and crystal and even had a seating area where you could sit and rest feet that had been crammed into pretty, but deadly, high heels too long. Maggie was grateful that even the stalls were generously sized so she didn’t have difficulty managing her long dress. Seconds after she closed the door behind her, she heard voices and clicking heels coming across the marble.“I know! I couldn’t believe it!” said the first woman, obviously continuing a conversation they had started in the hall. “I tried to get him to invite me to this gala last year and he said he always comes stag so he can get out quickly. Apparently, that’s not true.” She heard the woman make a disgusted sound. “And did you see the little mouse he brought? It's that same little nothing from Gladewater he got all up in arms over last week when I went to see him at the office. Ridiculous.”Maggie was careful to not make a sound. She heard purse
Collide A Matter of Trust
Zane’s jaw was so tight he was sure his teeth were going to crack. Shawna and one of her idiot friends had cornered him. She’d latched onto his arm like a leech and he had yet to figure out how to get rid of her without making a scene in the middle of the event. He’d like to peel her off and spray himself down with Clorox but that was not going to be possible. If Maggie would just get back, he could extricate himself and leave. All he’d been able to think about all evening was getting her back to his place and convincing her to stay the night with him; have her face be the first thing he saw in the morning. He glanced at his watch again trying, without success, to extricate his arm from Shawna’s vice-like grip. He hoped Maggie was okay. She’d looked a little pale when she’d left the table. Suddenly, he saw a flash of pink in his peripheral vision heading for the front doors at a rapid pace. Maggie? Where was she going? “Excuse me, Tom, I see my date. I need to go make sure she’s okay
Collide Mistakes
Maggie stood silently and slowly followed him, her heart breaking a little with every step, as he started walking back through the garden to the front of the building. They stood in silence, not touching, as the valet retrieved Zane’s car and helped Maggie into the passenger seat. The ride back to Zane’s place took a million years, neither of them daring to speak or touch each other. They got out and just as silently got into the elevator in his building, standing next to each other, but miles apart. Now that she’d had a little time in quiet to mull it over, she could see she’d made a huge mistake. She’d let her insecurities and emotions take over and had accused Zane of terrible things without any real evidence. It was obvious she’d jumped to conclusions about what she’d seen and now she’d hurt this man who’d been nothing but loving and kind to her. She was sorely afraid she had permanently broken the relationship they had been building. All because she couldn’t believe that she was
Collide Broken
After Zane left her alone in the guest room again, Maggie slipped out of the dress and unfastened the tiny hooks on the corset, dropping both to the ground. She hadn’t expected the warm hand on her waist and the kiss. That kiss on the top of her spine. She’d thought she was going to melt into a puddle right then and there. She thought maybe he was going to forgive her but then the warmth at her back disappeared along with his hands. He’d left her without a backwards glance. She took a deep, cleansing breath and dug through her big pink tote. She found a pair of soft black leggings and a pink heathered T-shirt that said “BOSS BABE” across the front. It wasn’t something she would have ever bought for herself, but it was a gift from Dani – another of her attempts at affirmation. She usually pulled it out when she wanted to hang around the house and feel comfortable. Tonight, Maggie donned it like armor over the remains of her tattered heart. She moved to the ensuite and scrubbed the pa
Collide Tequila, Tears, & Threats
The doorbell rang and Maggie went to answer it in a fog. She had spent the day curled up in her bed, alternately crying or staring at the ceiling going over the horrible mistake she had made and how, or if, she could fix it. At this point, she didn’t know if it was even fair to subject Zane to her obvious craziness. She opened the door to Dani on the doorstep with a large canvas shopping bag. “You look like shit,” her friend told her in greeting. Maggie was too worn down to even chastise her for her language. Dani pushed her way into the house and Maggie trailed her to the kitchen. “I wasn’t sure exactly what level of crisis this was as JT said you wouldn’t talk to him about the details,” Dani continued, unpacking the bag onto the kitchen counter. “So, I brought supplies for all three – ice cream, wine, and tequila.”Instead of laughing as she would have expected, Dani saw Maggie’s head drop. The smile left her face. “Tequila it is. I’ll get the mixer, you grab the blender.”Five min
Collide Reconnect
Maggie woke to a pounding head the next morning thanks to Dani’s visit with her friend, Jose Cuervo. She knew better than to have more than two of Dani’s margaritas, but she’d needed the escape. Though her head was paying for her lapse in judgment, she had to admit she had come up with a plan of how to right things with Zane. She decided to text him before everything got crazy at the cafe. Her anxiety started rising when she waited several beats and didn’t see the three little dots that would show he was responding to her. She texted him again. Still no answer. She stared at the screen, willing it to answer her but no response came. Her heart sank. ***Zane felt his phone vibrate but whoever it was would have to wait. He stood at the bedside of a twenty-one-year old who had been injured at his job. The boy had been standing on the back of a logging truck bumper directing his buddy in backing the rig out of the woods when the truck hit a large hole in the ground, and he had been bucke
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