by Vella, Wendy
“They purchased handcuffs and a long phallic-looking thing that made a buzzing noise too,” Mrs. Taft added.
Fin choked on air.
They talked, laughed, and when it was time to leave, Maggie had to admit she’d enjoyed her interlude as part of the knitting club. She’d wasn’t sure it was for her, but still, she’d tried.
“Ready to go?” Fin said as the meeting wrapped up.
“I can walk, or get a ride with Jack and Rory if you—”
“I’ll take you home. I have to make a stop on the way, but that shouldn’t take too long.”
“I don’t mind—”
“Why do you have to fight me constantly? You’ve been in my car all day, and we’ve had hot sweaty sex—”
“Shut up.” Maggie looked around them as they stepped out onto the sidewalk again. “Hell, Fin, someone will hear.”
“And the problem with that is?” He looked pissed off for some reason.
“Look, Fin, I think we’ve established that what happened, shouldn’t have. Today has been crazy for me—”
“Which I played some part in, I get that. But what I did, I did because I thought you needed someone to force you out into the open.”
They walked together to his cruiser.
“Yeah, and while I don’t like the high-handed way you did it, I can acknowledge that now. But this whole letter thing has me spooked.”
“Big of you, and I bet. It has me spooked too,” he said, opening the passenger door and waving her in.
Maggie clamped her teeth together as he walked around to the driver side and got in.
“We’re not doing that again,” she added as he started the car.
“Yes, we are.” He didn’t pretend to misunderstand her.
“No, we are not.”
He simply drove through town in silence, then headed back down to what she called the residential part of Ryker Falls. The streets were lined with houses that when she first came to Ryker were almost empty. Fin pulled up outside one.
“Why are we outside Jeb and Jenny Morrison’s place?”
“Come inside, and I’ll show you.”
“I’ll wait here.” Maggs folded her arms. “Or better yet, I’ll walk home.”
Fin’s sigh was loud. “Please come in with me, Maggie.”
It was the please that did it. She got out. It was colder now as they headed into early evening. Darker. Tugging down Fin’s hat, she realized he didn’t have one on.
“I could give you your hat back and pull up my hood.”
“It’s okay.” He knocked on the front door.
“Hey there, Fin, Maggie. They’re out back in my office, tucked up nice and warm.”
“Mind if we take a look, Jeb?”
“No worries. I’ll come out soon.”
“What’s going on, Fin?”
“You’ll see.” He took her hand again, and as no one was watching, she let him. Her fingers felt good clasped in his big warm hand.
He opened the side door of the garage and entered. The office door was then opened, and they stepped inside. It was blissfully warm in here, and then she saw them.
“Puppies,” Maggs breathed, dropping to her knees beside a large open crate. “Oh, Fin, they’re so cute.”
“The father is one of Buzz’s brothers,” he said, crouching beside her.
“Are you getting one?” She looked at him.
“I wasn’t, but Mr. Goldhirsh is really insistent I do.”
“That man,” she whispered, stroking a soft, silken head. “There are no words for what he is.”
“None.” Fin ran a finger down the body of one of the pups. This one had tan feet and a white stripe down his nose.
She crouched over them, patting each and cuddling the mother, who watched them closely.
“I think you should get one.”
“Yeah, why do you think that?”
“Because you love Buzz, and because in your line of work it could stay with you all day. Besides, the town is ready to love another dog.”
His chuckle was deep.
“How about you? Do you want one?”
“I can barely look after myself, let alone a puppy.”
“Maybe it would help take your mind off other things?”
“I’m not ready for a dog yet, but one day.”
The door behind them opened. “So what do you think?” Jeb asked.
“I want this one.” Fin lifted the black pup with the tan feet.
“I’ll put you down for him and let you know when he’s ready for pickup.”
They left and drove to her house. She thought seriously about asking him in. Thought about the way he made her feel when he touched and kissed her. But then hadn’t she just said they couldn’t do it again?
Her tension climbed as he parked outside, but he didn’t switch the car off. Just kept it idling as he turned in the seat to look at her.
“Been one hell of a day for you,” he said, touching the ends of her hair. “And I’m not sure I’ll ever recover from the Bob and Nancy sex talk. So you go on in and pack a few things, and we’ll leave.”
“What?”
“You heard.”
“That’s ridiculous, Fin. I’m fine here alone. I always have been.” Stay calm, Maggie. No good would come of shrieking at him, which was her first impulse.
“I’ll sleep here then.”
“No, you won’t.”
The look he gave her left Maggie in no doubt he’d sleep in his car if she made a run for her front door and locked it.
“Look, this is really good of you, Fin. Nice that you want to make sure I’m okay—”
“What can I say, I’m a nice guy.”
“You are, but I can take care of myself. Besides, this thing with the note is silly. Nothing will happen to me.”
“Whoever ransacked your gallery didn’t think it was silly.”
“We don’t know that was their motive.”
“I’m not willing to risk it.”
“Is there any way I can convince you just to leave?”
“No. I really need to stay at the cabin tonight, Maggie. I’m on call.”
“I’ll go and stay with Bailey and Joe then.”
“I want you to stay with me.” Simple words that had a flood of need filling her body. “Please.”
“I can’t stay with you every night.”
“Let’s take it one day at a time. Come home with me, Maggie. Let me touch you again. My head’s been full of you since we made love.”
She’d melt at his feet if he kept talking like that. “It complicates things, Fin.”
“Hell of a complication.” He leaned over and kissed her. Hot, demanding, and it left her aching when he eased back. “Go pack a bag, sweetheart.”
Chapter 29
He followed her into the house and looked around. She wasn’t exactly a neat freak, but it was close. Fin guessed everything had its place. The artwork on her walls drew him. Studying each piece, he admired what she’d collected. She had a good eye.
Her Christmas tree was next to the window, and it was crammed full of decorations. Colored lights blinked on and off. Fin needed to get a tree up; he’d just not got around to it yet.
Moving to the big windows, he looked at the darkening sky. What had happened up on that mountain to Simon Linbar, and why did he feel the note was in some way involved now?
“Ready.”
She stood in her doorway, nervous, clutching the overnight case in two hands. Her eyes were wide, and the day was starting to show in the smudges beneath. He felt it again, that heavy thud in his chest as he looked at her. He wanted to protect her, hold her, kiss her senseless and any number of things. It was simple: Maggie Winter got to him. He just wasn’t sure yet what to do about it.
He moved to where she stood, took the bag, and then pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“Let’s go then.”
She let out a breath, then preceded him out the door. As he loaded her bag in the back seat
, a car pulled up behind his. He heard the little noise Maggie made as Piper and Bailey got out of the car.
“They love you, remember that.”
“I’m trying.” She stepped forward.
“I’m pretty pissed with you about now, Maggie.” Piper grabbed Maggs and hugged her close. “Holy crap, girl. I can’t believe you were shot up and didn’t tell us.”
“I’m sorry.” Her words were muffled in Pip’s shoulder. “Really, I am sorry.”
“Joe just told us; we were all at Mom’s having a meal.” Pip released her, and Maggie turned to face Bailey. They looked at each other for long, silent seconds.
She looked small and vulnerable, Fin thought, and considering she stood next to Bailey, who wasn’t overly big and had something about her that had always urged him to protect her, that was saying something.
“I didn’t want to hurt you. I didn’t want you worrying. I-I thought I could handle it and come home the same person who’d left, Bailey.” The words tumbled out of her mouth.
Fin watched as Bailey took a step closer.
“I’m sorry, Bailey. Really. I should have told you, should have told my family.”
“I wasn’t hurt for me when Joe told me, Maggs. I was hurt for how you suffered alone. Yes, I was angry you didn’t tell anyone, but only because you had no one to help you though what must have been hell.”
Maggie sniffed, and he knew tears would follow. Bailey wrapped her arms around her friend and held her gently. Fin’s eyes itched as the women cried together. More healing, he thought. Today had been a tough one for his girl.
“You going home with Fin tonight?” Pip didn’t pull any punches. If it needed to be said, she said it.
“She is. Now go home to your menfolk,” he said, waving them away.
“Wait till I tell the others,” Pip replied walking to her car.
“Oh no— ”
They were driving away before she could stop them.
“It’s done, now let’s go.”
Fin left Maggie alone with her thoughts on the short drive to his place. Once there, he let them in and moved into the living area to start a fire. The place was freezing, and while that didn’t normally bother him, it might Maggs.
“You going to take off your coat or just stand there looking like you’re going to make a run for it?”
“Why am I suddenly nervous around you? I mean, we’ve known each other forever.”
He moved to where she stood. “You always knew I was hot, it’s just amped up now, and that scares you. I mean, I’m the shit, let’s face it.” Fin unbuttoned her coat, then slid it from her shoulders. Lowering it over the nearest piece of furniture, he then took off her hat—that was his.
“That must be it,” she scoffed. “I’m in awe of your handsomeness.”
He shrugged, then eased his hand through her hair. She made a sound that could have been a purr.
“Stop thinking, Maggie.” Lifting her chin, he kissed her. “Now you go and have a shower, and I’ll rustle up something for a meal.”
“Okay.” She didn’t run, but it was a near thing.
As luck would have it, Pearl had brought him a casserole yesterday, so he put it in the oven on low. He could cook, nothing fancy, but enough so he didn’t starve, but he didn’t have to, as the people of Ryker enjoyed feeding him.
Once that was done and he’d opened a bottle of red wine, Fin headed to the bathroom. Opening the door, he was hit with a wall of steam. Maggie clearly liked her water temperature hot. He shouldn’t be in here—in fact, she’d probably tear a strip off him for doing so—but the hell of it was, he kept visualizing her naked and wet in his shower.
She sang an old classic, if he was hearing right, so didn’t hear him. Stripping off, he dumped his clothes on top of hers, then opened the door.
Her scream had his ears ringing. “Christ, you just blew out an eardrum.”
“Wh-what are you doing?” She stood with her back against the wall, hands clutched around a bar of soap. “You scared the crap out of me.”
“You look good wet,” he managed to get out around the dryness in his throat. Really good. Her hair was longer, and darker. And it hung down to her breasts. Lovely, full, pale breasts.
“I’m nearly done, Fin.”
“I’m not.” He closed the door after stepping in and pressed his body into hers. She resisted for about five seconds. His mouth took hers in a kiss that soon turned savage. Dropping the soap, she dug her fingers into his hair and held him close.
His hands moved over her body, touching, stroking the soft wet skin. Reacquainting himself with her.
“I’ve never had shower sex,” Maggs whispered, kissing his jaw. “I’ve heard it’s the best.”
“Yeah? You must tell me how that conversation came about later.” He stroked her secret places, swallowed her moans, and drove them both crazy.
Her hands moved too, nails scraping over his chest, then lower. When her hand fisted around him, he nearly exploded.
“Now, Maggs.”
“Now,” she agreed as he boosted her up his body and drove into her wet heat. They both moaned.
“So good,” she whispered.
So good. He drove up and into her. Took her in hard, fierce thrusts until their breaths rasped. He felt the ripples start of her release and thrust into her twice more. The force of his orgasm made him shudder.
She hung in his arms, breathing rapidly, head on his shoulder.
“We didn’t use protection,” he realized.
“I’m on the pill, have been for years.” Maggie lifted her head to look at him. “It’s all right, Fin.”
“I don’t usually… I mean, I’ve never.”
“I know, but it’s okay.” She cupped his cheeks, kissing him. It was so sweet, he stayed there, water raining down on them with his lips pressed to hers for long, drawn-out seconds.
“Come on, we need to eat something.” He lowered her down his body as the water started to run cold.
Getting out, he dried himself. She followed a few minutes later. His eyes found her scar before he wrapped her up in a towel. “Does it still hurt?”
“Sometimes. It gets really tight if I exercise, which is weird, but apparently normal, and a good reason not to, right?”
“I have a scar on my spine from an old glass window I fell into. It was in the long grass near our home, on this unused lot. Hurt like hell for ages.”
“Let me see.” She moved behind him and lowered the edge of the towel he’d wrapped around his waist. “Nasty.” He felt her lips there. “All better.”
He wanted to say something then. Something about them and where they were heading, but held it inside.
“I cooked.”
“Really?” She bent to pick up their clothes and then made for the bedroom where he’d put her bag.
“I could lie and say yes, but the truth is it’s a casserole Pearl dropped off.”
“How long have they been feeding you?” She was digging through the bag she’d brought with her. Her hair was wet tangles and her shoulders pale. He wanted to press his lips to them.
“I have no idea what you mean.”
“You’ve been conning them with the pathetic, ‘I’m a single helpless male’ routine for years, haven’t you?”
“No comment.”
She pulled on a nightshirt that came to midthigh. It had the words Every Artist Was Just An Amateur on the front. She looked young, sexy, and so damn cute he had to turn away and look in his drawers for some sweatpants. If he didn’t, he’d put his hands on her again.
“I’m sure Ralph Waldo Emerson would be more than happy to have his words on your body.”
“I know you’re smart, I know you’ve studied art, but how come you know quotes by Ralph Waldo Emerson? He was, among other things, a philosopher.”
“My mother told me about him.”
She’d moved to the doorway. “Will you tell me about her?”
He took the slim hand she held out to him.
>
“I don’t like to talk about her.”
“I know, but if today proved anything to me, it’s that talking about things makes them have less hold over us.”
“It’s a bit different, Maggs.” He released her when they reached the kitchen. “You pour the wine, and I’ll dish up the food.”
She did as he asked, and he thought about her words when she took the glasses into the living area. He’d never spoken about his mother. Never even said her name. Should he?
Taking the plates into the living area, he found her seated on the floor before the fire, back pressed to a chair. She looked good in his cabin. It felt right seeing her here, but he kept that thought to himself too.
Chapter 30
He’d shocked her when he’d opened the shower door. That shock had soon turned to something else when he’d kissed her. He made her desperate. There was no other word for it. When he touched her, she simply forgot about everything but him.
“It’s a nice place to live,” Maggie said when Fin joined her. “I like your cabin.”
“Me too. I have plans in my head for what I want to build on the land.”
“Tell me about them?”
She ate Pearl’s casserole and listened, hearing the excitement in his voice.
“I like what I do, and I’d never leave that. But I want to have my own place. I want to run stock, grow trees and vegetables. I want to try out new energy sources and run off solar power.”
“I’ve always wanted a compost worm farm.”
“Really?” He lowered his plate, having cleaned it.
“Really. When I was in England, I worked with this guy, Sidney, and he was all about recycling and reusing. He repaired everything too, instead of just throwing things away. It made me start thinking about the way I live.”
“I’m the same. I used to waste so much food.” Getting to his feet, Fin took the plates to the kitchen and brought back the wine bottle. “I’m better now.”
He then lifted her and lowered her between his legs, so his back was now resting against the chair.
“You could ask, you know.”
“It’s better to take action with you; I learned that long ago.” He wrapped his arms around her, and Maggie lay back against him.