She cut herself off, finally.

Maggie, for one, was grateful for the silence.

Mr. Gale tightened his hold on her, but otherwise he showed no outward reaction to his mother’s horrible words. Maggie tugged again, but to no avail. “Go on,” he said. “Finish your threat. You’ve never held back before.”

Mrs. Gale lifted her chin and pointed her haughty nose to the ceiling. “If not, I’ll take this unfortunate situation to the board and use it to get you kicked out of your tenuous position as CEO of this company. Your brother is three years younger than you, and he’s married a woman of suitable upbringing—”

“That you picked for him.”

“Yes, that I picked for him,” she said, stepping forward and pointing a manicured finger at his chest. “And they’re married, with two little boys to carry on the good Gale name, as they should. They attend charity balls. He’s every bit the CEO this company needs. If it were left up to you, you’d bring a lady of the night to the mayor’s dinner next month.”

Lady of the night? My God, what was this woman? Did she walk straight out of a Charles Dickens novel? Maggie lifted her chin. “If you’re insinuating I’m—”

Mrs. Gale swung a glower on her that would scare the devil out of a hellhound. “I wasn’t speaking to you.”

She swallowed her words, staring back at the woman.

Where was that freaking meteorite?

Mr. Gale rocked back on his heels, finally showing some emotion. But it was amusement, not anger. “I wouldn’t be the first to do so, and if you think otherwise, you’re more naive than I ever imagined. Last week, Mr. Thorn brought a woman that I know for a fact is a—”

“Don’t.” She dropped her hand and shook her head sadly, as if she’d caught him banging a woman in front of her late husband’s shrine, instead of walking in on an awkward dinner between boss and employee. “You will announce an engagement before the next board meeting, or I will put forth a motion to remove you as CEO under a No Confidence vote, and do everything in my power to instate Andrew into the position in your stead. Don’t make the mistake of thinking I won’t get the votes needed. I will. I’ve ensured as much. As I said, I abhor losing.”

He glanced at Maggie again, and the idea he’d planted with his silent gaze earlier took an insane, reckless turn. She’d been trying her best to ignore the plan forming silently in her head, but something inside of her snapped.

But she couldn’t do it. Could she?

She didn’t do things on impulse. Ever.

And yet, she was about to. Like a boss.

Ignoring her actual boss, she tossed her hair over her shoulder. “That’s ridiculous, and this is the twenty-first century. You can’t force someone to get married because you want them to.”

Slowly, her boss turned to her, shock on his face as if he couldn’t believe that someone was sticking up for him. Or maybe he’d forgotten she was there. Either way, it looked as if a strong gust of wind would have blown him right onto his perfect, tight butt. “Maggie—”

“Excuse me?” Mrs. Gale said. Her face flushed an angry red, and her hands fisted at her sides as she advanced on Maggie. “Who exactly are you to speak on this matter? And why are you still here? I fired you.”

“Ah, but he didn’t. And there’s a reason for that.”

Mr. Gale blinked at her, looking like a fish out of water for the first time.

His mother spluttered. “How dare you—”

“I’m your son’s fiancée,” she blurted out. “We were together before I joined the company. That’s why he can’t date other women, why he didn’t show up last night. And it makes all of your threats empty ones, too. You can’t fire me. So–yeah. He already wins, because he has me.”

Mrs. Gale’s jaw dropped. Finally the woman shut up.

But as quickly as her uncharacteristic impulsiveness had come into play, Maggie’s common sense came right back. She’d literally just announced, without her boss’s permission, that she was engaged to him. If he denied it in front of his mother, she would not only be fired, but everyone would hear about her shame, and no one would hire her.

New York might be a huge city, but the pharmaceutical research field was not.

And all of this had happened because she had a stupid soft spot for creatures who needed help. Her boss, with billions in his bank account, shouldn’t fit into that category, but yet he somehow did.

Mr. Gale, who probably wanted to strangle her, choked and dragged his hands down his face. “Maggie, you don’t—”

“It’s okay. I told you I didn’t want to announce it yet, but I’m ready.” She forced a smile. His mouth opened, closed, then pressed into a thin line. “We can tell the whole world how much we love each other if you want…Benjamin.”

He made a strangled sound and tugged on his tie. He seemed more shocked than anything, but he had to be angry underneath that cold exterior of his. “Love—?”

She cast a quick glance at Mrs. Gale, who was starting to turn blue from lack of oxygen, before turning back to her boss. Not giving him a chance to ruin the ruse she’d thrown together, she launched herself into his arms and kissed him, right in his office in front of his mother.

The second their mouths touched, it was as if she’d woken up from a long, deep sleep. This wasn’t a kiss—not really—and she was fully aware of that.

But her body didn’t get the message.

His mouth softened under hers, and after a moment of sheer awkwardness, he closed his arms around her and hauled her against his chest. Though she’d initiated the kiss, it didn’t take long for him to show her who was in charge of it. A small shift of his chin, and he was the kisser instead of the kissed.

He turned her slightly, facing away from his mother, and ran his tongue against the seam of her sealed lips. She gasped, shocked he’d actually gone there, and he took full advantage of the situation. He tasted like wine and something else she couldn’t place, and that was about as far as she got before she couldn’t think of anything except his lips on hers, his tongue against hers. She curled her hands into his shirt, and a small moan escaped her. She jumped at the sound, jerking back and covering her mouth in surprise.

Mr. Gale stared down at her, breathing heavily, his focus clearly on her mouth. It did weird things to her insides—things that made her want to launch herself back into his arms, only for real this time, and take that kiss a step further.

Like, stepping right into his bed.

She lifted her face, going for another taste. His eyes darkened, and a sexy growl escaped him, so quiet she might have imagined it. He fisted her shirt at the small of her back and closed the distance between them. She sucked in a breath.

If she didn’t, she might pass out.

“Enough,” Mrs. Gale shouted, forcibly jerking Maggie out of her lust-hazed tunnel vision. “If you think I’ll buy this…this…indecent sham as something real, you’re even less fit as the head of this company than I suspected.”

Mr. Gale—God, she didn’t even call him by his first name in her mind and she’d just kissed him—turned to his mother. Instead of letting her go like she’d expected, he tightened his grasp on her waist and kept her tucked against his side. “There’s nothing indecent in this room. We love each other and aren’t ashamed to show it.”

“This is unacceptable. Whatever this”—she gestured between Maggie and Mr. Gale—“is, it needs to end. Now. I’ll contact you with a list of suitable candidates, and you will woo them all. And you will pick one of them and kick her to the curb where she belongs…or you’ll pay the ultimate price.”

Not waiting for an answer, she stormed out, closing the door behind her with a firm click. Even though she hadn’t slammed the door, the effect was still there. Maggie jumped and dropped her hand—which had been covering her mouth—to her side. Mr. Gale let go of her, and he immediately stepped back to a respectable distance.