Maggie turned the candle this way and that. “Looks like an ordinary red candle to me.”
“I’m taking them back this afternoon.” He had a sex bench to build, for one thing. “I’ll ask what the deal is.”
Still holding the candle, Maggie gazed at Sean through those ridiculous glasses. “So the Lowells bartered for the wine, but they loaned you the candles and holders, which is going above and beyond.”
“I guess you could say that.” He struggled to keep a straight face, but she looked like such a little geek.
“It’s obvious they’re trying to match us up. Did you hire them to do that?”
“No! Swear to God. I didn’t even know until today that they had a matchmaking business. They told me they were relationship counselors, but they said they were taking a sabbatical.” He didn’t mention that he’d tried to hire them and they’d refused.
“I assume they realize we’re after the same property?”
“Yes. I told them.”
Maggie tapped the candle against her palm. “Then I guess they don’t want me to have it, either. I’m beginning to think the only friend I have in town is Denise.”
“You have me.”
She laughed, but it wasn’t exactly a happy sound. “You’re not a friend, Sean.”
She couldn’t have said anything that would have cut him deeper. But he supposed he had it coming.
Chapter Eleven
Telling Sean he wasn’t a friend might have been unkind, but Maggie needed to put distance between them. She had only herself to blame for this messy situation, and she had to be the one to clean it up. From now on she’d be a tough cookie, no matter what.
No more wine from the basement cache of Dorcas and Ambrose, no more candlelight or plump and juicy chicken salad sandwiches. And definitely no more orgasms courtesy of Mr. Sean Madigan. She would have a hard time forgiving herself for that indiscretion.
At least she was stone-cold sober, now. She laid his glasses on the wicker chest. “Thanks.”
“If you’re going to drive, you should keep them.”
“I’ll be fine.” When she started putting on her coat, he made a move as if to come over and help her, but she waved him away. “Thanks. I’ve got it.”
“Seriously. Take the glasses.”
She picked up her purse from the floor where she’d left it. “I can manage. It’s not as if Big Knob has a freeway running through it.”
“I don’t think driving without your glasses is a good idea. It’s Friday afternoon.”
“What, you have rush-hour traffic?”
“No, we have Edith Mae Hoogstraten. She’s eighty-seven, and she heads into town right about now on Friday afternoons. Her vision isn’t what it used to be and her driving is a little…crooked.”
Maggie was scandalized. “You let somebody drive who shouldn’t have a license?”
“We do. She only goes from her house to the Hob Knob. We always leave three parking spots open for her, and she hasn’t hit anybody’s vehicle yet.”
“I can’t believe someone hasn’t taken her license away.” Maggie figured that when SaveALot came to town, traffic would increase exponentially and Edith Mae’s driving days would need to be ended.
“Nobody can bear to take it away because she loves her independence so much. Besides, she owns a shotgun and has threatened to shoot anybody who tries to pry that license out of her hands.”
“Good grief.” Maggie had been living in cities so long that she had no frame of reference for such behavior.
“It’s okay. She drives slow, and everyone recognizes her old Buick. We work it out.”
“Well, all I need is to wreck the rental car, on top of everything else. H.G. would have a royal fit.” But she didn’t want Sean driving her, either. What a sticky situation, and she wasn’t just talking about her panties.
“H.G. is your boss?”
“H.G. Stackhouse, regional manager for SaveALot, a kindly old Texas gentleman who used to like me. Now I’m not so sure.” She gazed out the French doors toward the balcony.
She really couldn’t see worth shit without her glasses. Even the French doors were fuzzy. She imagined that outside she saw a blurry scrap of rainbow, but it could be her imagination. She didn’t believe in superstitious signs, anyway.
“Did this Stackhouse guy send you here? Are you supposed to buy this property on his orders?”
She glanced back at Sean, who was slightly more in focus than the French doors. “No. I didn’t tell him where I was going.”
“How could you get away with that? I thought you said something about an expense account.”
“I do have one.” Come to think of it, she might not have the expense account anymore. H.G. might have been angry enough to cancel her company credit card. At least breakfast would have gone through. She’d use the card for some small purchase next, to test whether it was still valid.
Sean blew out a breath. “You’re not making much sense. How can you be the only person at SaveALot who knows about this potential property? I don’t understand exactly how these things work, but I sure didn’t think there was this kind of secrecy involved.”
She would love to be able to confide her suspicions about H.G.’s son to someone, but Sean wasn’t the guy. He didn’t have her best interests at heart, meaning that he might use anything she said against her. Then a horrible thought came to her.
Thanks to her big mouth, he knew the name of her boss. He could very easily figure out how to make a call to H.G. and report Maggie’s whereabouts. He could also let H.G. know that she’d behaved unprofessionally and should be fired. She might be fired already, but if not, Sean could see to it.
Whether all that would save his precious property was another question, but he could dynamite her plans to buy it for SaveALot. She felt sick with dread. She’d given him so much power over her.
“Maggie, what’s wrong? You just turned white.”
“I’m…not feeling well.”
“Damn.” He started toward her. “I hope it wasn’t the chicken salad.”
She held up a hand to stop him. “Not that kind of sick. I won’t upchuck or anything.” She wondered if he had any idea that he held the tools for her destruction or if he’d use them. “I haven’t had much sleep recently, that’s all. A little rest and I’ll be fine.”
“Let me take you to Madeline’s.”
His image was blurry, so she couldn’t read his expression that well, but he sounded concerned. That was a good thing, because she had to count on his common decency not to torpedo her with H.G.
“No, thanks,” she said. “I can get myself there. I promise to watch out for Edith Mae Hoogstraten in her old Buick. But first I need to check with Denise and see whether her computer’s up and running.” She dug in her purse and pulled out her Phone. That needed recharging, too, but she had enough battery life to make one call.
Denise answered right away. “Hey, Maggie. I thought I’d hear from you before now.”
Maggie turned her back on Sean, as if that would shut out the memory of what had happened here this afternoon. “I was checking out the property.” She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing she could rewind the clock.
“Jeremy called and he’s on the road heading back here. He’ll be at my office in about thirty minutes. He’s brilliant, so I think he’ll find the problem in no time. The electricity seems to have settled down, too, so if you want to stop by, we could have the information within the hour.”
“Thanks, Denise. I’ll be right there.” She ended the call and glanced at Sean. “I’ll be on my way, then.”
“Jeremy’s fixed it?”
She couldn’t afford to give him any more information. “Thanks for lunch.” She walked out the door.
“Wait!”
“Gotta go.” She hurried toward the stairs. Because she couldn’t see where she was going, she stumbled on the second step and had to grab the banister for support.
His long legs ate up the space between th
em and he grasped her arm. “Take my glasses.”
God help her. The jolt of excitement when he’d touched her had destroyed all her vows to stay away from him. She’d wanted him to haul her back upstairs and kiss her until they both went crazy.
He didn’t pull her close, much to her traitorous body’s disappointment. Instead he released her and held out those ugly glasses.
She glanced back at him. He was fuzzy, but she could tell he was frowning at her.
He shook them at her. “Take the glasses, damn it.”
“Why would you want to help me?”
“I don’t want to help you get the property, but I don’t want to see you get hurt because you can’t see your nose in front of your face.” He sounded angry. “And don’t deny it. You almost fell down the stairs.”
“Are you sure you don’t need them anymore?”
“Apparently not. I thought it was a temporary thing, and sure enough, it is.”
“Then I’ll borrow them for a little while.” She took the glasses and put them on. His image snapped into focus and he looked mouth-wateringly good to her. From this angle his chin looked strong and masculine and his hair fell in a gentle wave over his forehead. His frown of irritation didn’t detract one bit from those magnetic green eyes.
Then his frown began to disappear, and his eyes sparkled with laughter.
“What?” She dipped her head and the glasses slid down her nose. Naturally they were too big.
“Those glasses on you. They’re—”
“Funny-looking.” She could imagine. And that was good, because the weirder she looked, the less likely he’d want to kiss her again. She pushed them firmly in place.
“I was going to say cute. Prim.” The laughter faded and something hotter crept into his expression. His gaze grew more intense. “Maggie.” His voice was hoarse with frustration.
Longing bloomed within her, a kind of deep ache that she hadn’t felt in ages. She swallowed.
“Get going,” he murmured.
“Right.” Tearing herself away, she held the glasses against the bridge of her nose as she ran down the stairs. She didn’t look back.
Sean braced his hands against the railing and watched her go. The joke was on him. He’d finally found a woman he craved beyond reason, and all she wanted to do was run away.
Once she was out the door and he heard her car start, he relaxed his grip on the railing. He’d always loved this feature of the house. Being able to creep out of bed at night and spy on the grownups having a party on the main floor was a kid’s dream.
He realized now that his father hadn’t been able to afford the liquor and the food, but he’d been the kind of guy who would put off paying the electric bill so he could throw a party and invite most of the town. Sean wondered if anyone remembered those parties.
He’d never forget them. Such happy things, those parties. Watching them take place from upstairs, he’d imagined that his parents had the world by the tail. He’d believed in his father right up to the moment they’d been kicked out of this house and his dad had left town, never to be heard from again.
Sean sighed and pushed away from the railing. He wanted this house back, damn it. Maggie made it sound as if this property was her only hope for saving her job, but he couldn’t accept that. There had to be other locations she could choose that weren’t either state land or marshy, and he’d do what he could to help her find one.
In the meantime, he had to cover his ass. Unclipping his cell from his belt, he speed-dialed Jeremy. “Hey, bud, I hear you’re headed back into town.”
“I’m about ten minutes away,” Jeremy said. “You got a problem, or are you just eager to have me deliver your cup?”
“A problem.” Sean wandered back into the bedroom and gazed out the French doors. A rainbow arched over Big Knob, giving a glow to the rock and the trees below, a mixture of pine, oak and sycamore. Anyone who believed those woods were haunted had never seen it like this, looking almost magical.
“What can I do for you?” Jeremy asked.
“I was wondering…is there any way you can stall off fixing Denise’s computer?”
“Why?”
“Thanks to Denise, there’s someone in town trying to buy the property I’m after. They want to build a SaveALot there.”
Jeremy whistled under his breath. “That’s big stuff. I can’t imagine a SaveALot in Big Knob.”
“Me, either, and I especially don’t want the old house destroyed so they can put up a store.” As he watched, the rainbow lost some of its brilliance.
“I’m sure not.”
“Denise has finally tracked down the property’s owner, and once her computer is fixed, she’ll be able to get that info and give it to the SaveALot rep.”
“I see.” Jeremy paused. “Denise really must be pissed at you, to do something like this.”
“I guess. Anyway, if you could stall until tomorrow, maybe I can come up with an alternate location for Maggie.”
“Who’s Maggie?”
“The SaveALot rep.”
Jeremy began to laugh. “Are you shittin’ me? The rep’s a woman? Is she terminally ugly?”
“No.”
“Older than Edith Mae Hoogstraten?”
“No.”
“Then what’s the deal, buddy? Turn on that famous Madigan charm. Problem solved.”
Sean thought about explaining the nerd transformation, but decided against it. His eyesight was better already, so the other effects might be fading, too. Jeremy probably wouldn’t even notice, and Sean would rather not have to confess that he’d done something so ridiculous.
“I sort of tried that,” he said. “But she’s really focused on getting this property. You know the type—it’s all about the promotion.” The rainbow grew fuzzy. The tree branches became less distinct, too.
“I don’t know the type,” Jeremy said. “Not too many like that around here. And I’ve never met the woman you couldn’t have on a silver platter.”
“That’s because you haven’t met Maggie Grady. She’s tough as nails.” He blinked, trying to clear his vision. “So can you stall the repair for me?”
Jeremy cleared his throat. “You know I’d do most anything for you, buddy. But you’re asking me to lie to my customer. That goes against the grain.”
Desperation curled in Sean’s gut. “I’m not asking for much time. Just the rest of this afternoon, so I can scout out some other locations.” How he’d accomplish that, plus build a sex bench for the Lowells and keep Calvin Gilmore happy was anybody’s guess. But he had to try. If Maggie got her information this afternoon, she’d do her best to contact the owner today.
Whoever that person was, they couldn’t care much about Big Knob or they’d have put in an appearance before now. They might think the place had little or no value. Sean had been counting on that to keep the price in a range he could afford.
But once the owner found out a big company like SaveALot wanted the land, Sean wouldn’t have a prayer of getting it. He needed to keep the owner and Maggie far, far apart. Jeremy was his only hope.
“I wish I could, Sean.” Jeremy sounded unhappy.
“But you can’t.” Sean ran a hand through his hair, which seemed coarser than the last time he’d touched it.
“It doesn’t feel right.”
“Okay, I understand.”
“I hope so. Listen, if there’s anything else I can do…I’ll be glad to talk to this Maggie person and tell her how much the house means to you.”
“That’s okay. She knows.” And he didn’t want Jeremy, or any other guy, getting into deep conversations with Maggie. “One other thing, though.”
“What’s that?”
“She’s pretty hot, so I wouldn’t blame you for asking her out.”
“And you don’t want me to,” Jeremy said.
The words tasted like sawdust in his mouth. He’d never had to ask this of any man before. “I’d count it as a favor if you wouldn’t hit on her or anything.�
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“Wow, I never thought I’d see the day.”
Sean winced. Here it came. Jeremy was going to rub it in, and Sean couldn’t blame him. Jeremy was something of a nerd who’d struggled to get dates, while Sean had been awash in women. It must have been tough to put up with that all these years.
Jeremy chuckled. “I can’t believe it. Sean Madigan is worried about a computer geek like me.”
“It’s not that I’m worried, exactly.” But he was. Without his normal looks he was extremely worried.
“Yeah, you are, and forgive me if I savor it for a minute. But I won’t horn in on whatever you have planned.” He laughed. “As if I could.”
Sean ran his hand through his hair again, which seemed to have grown longer in some places just in the past few minutes. “You might be surprised. Anyway, see you later, buddy.” Sean closed his phone and glanced around the bedroom. Was it his imagination, or was everything in here sort of fuzzy?
Surely his eyesight wasn’t going bad again. One way to tell for sure. He walked over to pick up the empty wine bottle. Earlier he’d been able to read the label just fine.
He stared at the label and could barely make out the Mystic Hills Winery part of it, which was in big type. Shitfire. The smaller print was out of the question.
He carried the bottle over to the French doors where the light was better. The lettering was still blurred. Damn! What was in those blasted herbs, that his eyesight would fade in and out? That could be dangerous!
So here he was, stuck with the same situation he hadn’t wanted Maggie to have, forced to drive back into town without being able to see past his nose. At least he knew the road and could almost drive it blindfolded. Almost.
He couldn’t very well ask Maggie to give his glasses back, so he had to make it over to see Dorcas and Ambrose without running into anything or anybody. They had to fix this. They had to have some antidote he could take.
Maybe it would be crude. Maybe they’d have to substitute something for one of the herbs they didn’t have time to order. But they should have backup plans if they were as professional as they’d seemed. Unfortunately he had a bad feeling that they weren’t.
Over Hexed (The Hex Series Book 1) Page 12