Maddie and Wyn (31 page)

“I just love you, Maddie,” Aidan finally said. “I want you to have someone who is good enough and deserves you.”

“Wyn is Ethan’s brother,” she reminded him. “Trust that all of that good DNA is in him too.”

“I’ll try. If he can assist you in catching your thief then that will go a long way toward righting himself in my book.”

“He just has to be himself.” Strength of conviction held powerfully in Maddie’s voice, coming from her gut, exposing something real to herself as much as Aidan. “That should be good enough for you.”

Aidan replied instead, “How about I’ll trust and accept your judgment of him because I know you have a good head on your shoulders?”

“Now that,” Maddie poked her fingers against Aidan’s chest, “is the best compliment of all. Come on.” She slung her arm around his waist. “I’ll help you clean this up so we can get back out to everyone else.”

Beside her, dish towel in hand, Aidan dipped down and kissed the top of her head. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Maddie bumped his hip with hers for good measure. “Now clean.”

* * * *

Hours later, after drinks and dinner and dessert, after feeling the watchful eye of Aidan on him the whole time, Wyn strode down the front steps of the cabin to the gravel drive, promising Maddie he would get the truck running while she said her goodbyes.

Christ though. He needed a minute alone anyway to regroup. If he’d silently worried about being inadequate to protect Maddie before, with few words and silent, searing judgment from Aidan, Maddie’s oldest brother had smashed Wyn’s belief in himself all the way down into the mud.

Footsteps thundered behind him, and suddenly Devlin was upon Wyn, grabbing his arm. “Can I trust my eyes?” he asked, leaning into Wyn’s space, his tone sharp and low. “Are things truly as good between you and Maddie as they seem? Was I right to talk Maddie into letting you into her house?”

Son of a bitch.
Wyn’s jaw went back to ticking a mile a minute. “You were right to convince her for the basic fact that she had someone breaking into her home and needed someone with some law enforcement experience there with her. Her safety was always and will always be why it was the right thing for you to do.”

Devlin pushed even more into Wyn’s space. “Hey, I’m just asking some questions. Don’t get defensive.”

Through tight lips, Wyn spat, “You’ll have to excuse me and understand that I’m feeling grilled tonight.”

“That was Aidan,” Devlin pushed back, “not me. I’m just looking to check in, seeing as I’m the one who got you in the door of Maddie’s house.” Devlin glanced up at the porch, where Maddie stood talking with the others, laughing and play punching Ethan. When Devlin swung back to look at Wyn, a hint of moisture softened his stare. “If what is happening between the two of you is real, I will be your biggest cheerleader. I miss how happy Maddie was when the two of you were best friends. If what I saw tonight is sincere, if what I’m seeing right now is how carefree she’ll be if she’s with you, I’d like to start sleeping at night again and be able to celebrate the two of you getting close after so long apart.”

Unable to deny the sincere affection between siblings, Wyn eased up some too, and let himself believe in how good a friend Devlin had been for many years. “All I can say is that I want the same thing as you, and that I’m hopeful Maddie and I are headed in the right direction. I accept that she is ultimately the one in the driver’s seat, though, and that we’re moving at her pace. I love her, man,” Wyn admitted in a rough tone, not seeing the point in denying or hiding any longer. “That’s all I can tell you.” Emotion trapped part of Wyn’s voice in his throat. “She is my life.”

Tension slid from Devlin’s upper body. “That’s good to know.” He offered his hand for a shake. “Catch that thief, and get the girl.”

Punched in the gut by this man’s friendship, Wyn clasped Devlin’s hand in his and shook hard. “Thanks.” He tugged Devlin in for a quick bro hug. “I appreciate your support.”

Before Devlin could reply, Garrick swooped in behind him and hooked an arm around his waist. “Let’s go, beautiful. If we’re gonna keep up with Shawn tomorrow,” he mentioned one of the two kids to whom he’d become something of a mentor and surrogate father, “we need a full night of sleep.”

“Definitely.” Devlin let himself be tugged to his refurbished Firebird. “Later, man. Bye, Maddie!”

Maddie sidled up beside Wyn. “I thought you were going to get the truck started?”

“Sorry.” Wyn handed over the keys. “I got waylaid by your brother.”

“No biggie. It’s probably for the best anyway.” Walking backward around to the driver’s side of the vehicle, Maddie lovingly ran her fingers along the faded red hood. “The truth is you know I don’t really like anyone getting behind the wheel of my baby but me.”

Wyn swung around to the other side of the truck. “You’re not gonna catch me getting all macho on you.” After strapping himself in on the passenger side, he settled into the plush seating. “Wake me up when we get back to the house. I’m happy to get a nap in while you drive.”

“Really?” Maddie
tsked
and rolled her eyes at him. “You’re going to nap before you go home to go to bed?”

His smile coming slow and easy, Wyn rolled his head and captured her silver gaze. “Honey, I know with you I ain’t getting a whole lot of sleep when I hit the sheets.”

Rather than balking, Maddie flashed a wicked grin at him. “Get your rest then, old man. I’m gonna need you to be able to keep up.”

“Oh God.”

“He can’t help you now. But if it gives you comfort,” she caressed his thigh, dipping her fingers dangerously close to his cock, “keep praying that he can.” Before she reached the Promised Land—
oh fuck, yes
—his dick twitched in anticipation—she took her hand away, and began backing out of Aidan and Ethan’s drive.

Even though his cock had been tempted and abandoned, Wyn still grinned to himself as he closed his eyes. Maddie’s spirit and spunk excited him, but it equally put peace and calm in his heart. If she could play with him without pausing to overthink consequences or potential fallout, to Wyn that meant she was getting more comfortable with the idea of them as a couple.

Hope blooming around his soul, Wyn drifted to sleep listening to Maddie hum off tune to the radio.

* * * *

Something poked Wyn in the shoulder, and then a soft whistle blew against his cheek.

“Wake up, sleepyhead.” Maddie’s distinct voice tickled his ear. “We’re home.”

“Shit.” Awareness of his surroundings flooding him, Wyn jerked up in his seat, and Maddie pulled back to the driver’s side of the vehicle. “I was out like a light. And here I thought I was kidding about taking a nap.”

“Might have started out that way.” Pocketing the keys, Maddie hopped out of the truck. “But the purr of my baby lulled you right to sleep.” She pecked a kiss to her fingers and pressed it to the windshield of the truck.

“For such a hunk of junk,” Wyn conceded, “it does run amazingly smooth.”

Burnished silver lived in Maddie’s gaze. “What’s under this hood is better than a BMW, Lexus, or even Tesla, combined. But nobody knows that because it’s housed in this washed out, mismatched-colored, faded shell.”

The light bulb went on in Wyn’s head. “Hence nobody will ever be interested in stealing it.” More than a little bit in awe, he followed her up the steps to the porch. “That’s genius.”

Gathering the layers of an imaginary skirt, Maddie curtsied dramatically. “Thank you.” After undoing the deadbolt and the traditional lock, Maddie pushed the door open and beckoned Wyn to enter. “Gentlemen first.”

Rather than walk past her tempting, tall and curvy frame, all legs in a pair of shorts and loose T-shirt, Wyn tugged Maddie inside with him and wound his arms around her waist. “Now, do I have to get you all the way upstairs…” he dipped down to her nape and breathed in her natural, honeyed scent “…or can I talk you out of at least a few of your clothes right here?” He teased the skin at the line of her shorts, just under her ass.

Maddie let her fingers dance up the line of Wyn’s back. “With the right words, I could possibly be—Oh!” She suddenly jerked away from him and covered her mouth. “Damn it.” Her eyes rounded as big as full moons.

His heart kicking into eleventh gear fast, Wyn yanked her behind him. “What?” He moved in a circle with her at his back, searching for an intruder. “What set your radar off?”

Staying close, Maddie moved to Wyn’s side. “There was a blanket on top of that pile Nico made.” She pointed into the shadowed front room. “I remember because it looked like it was a handmade baby blanket, and I unfolded it to look at the cross-stitch design. It’s not there anymore.”

“Fuck.” The heat of oncoming rage roiled inside Wyn. One glance at Maddie though, witnessing true fear in her eyes for the first time since this mess had begun, made him swallow hard and smash down those chaotic feelings. He knew if he let his anger loose he wouldn’t be able to control it and he needed to remain calm and collected, not only for himself, but to keep Maddie level too.

“I remember the blanket,” he told her, squeezing her hand. “It looked heirloom, and I was surprised Nico would have it on the pile of things to donate.”

Right then a deafening thunder rumbled through the house,
boom-boom-boom
, shaking walls and everything on them, like a cataclysmic storm had erupted and surrounded the house. Only the front door still stood open, and a clear night sky full of stars lit the sky for miles in every direction. No storm in sight.

A loud bang sounded from outside, as if it were coming from near the rear of the house, like a transformer popping, or a firework exploding in a silent night, and the walls of the house shook violently again.

Maddie squeaked and covered her head and ducked, probably fearing the ceiling might fall down around them. “What is she trying to tell us now?”

His adrenaline pumping overtime, blind to what the hell he was dealing with, Wyn shook his head. “My best guess? She’s not happy about what happened here tonight. You search for the blanket down here, and I’ll check upstairs, just to be sure it’s really gone.” He hated to separate from her, but if they were going to solve this mystery, they needed to trust and believe in each other’s ability to work solo. “Keep your eyes open for anything else out of place too.”

Taking a breath, Maddie nodded. “Keep your eyes down too, just in case there’s broken glass.” She shook out her limbs, straightened, and gave him a stalwart nod. “I’ll meet you back here in a few.”

In a systematic search he’d done every day since moving in with Maddie, Wyn checked every nook and cranny on the second level of the house. He even went up into the turret and checked the attic, in a quick but thorough grid-by-grid search. With every square foot, where he found nothing out of place, his frustration grew. He came back down the steps to where Maddie was waiting for him in the foyer.

“I can’t find it,” she told him, her pretty features more strained than he’d ever seen them.

“Me either. Son of a bitch.” A mile long string of additional foul curses sat poised on his tongue, but he smothered them, searching for a more productive route. “This is ballsy, Maddie. This person came into this house and stole something, certainly with the knowledge that you have a cop living here with you now too.”

Her face pinched and pale, Maddie finally closed the front door. She immediately went back to clasping and wringing her hands. “What do we do now?”

“We talk about cameras.” Wyn spoke a truth he knew she would not want to hear. “You have to let me set something up.”

Hanging back on her heels, Maddie wrung her hands together even harder. “Wyn…”

With a sigh, Wyn cupped his hand around her neck and tugged her in, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I know you don’t like it, honey. I don’t either, but it’s our best chance of catching this person in the act. Possibly our only chance.”

Maddie remained wound tight against him, her fingers digging craters into his waist. The distress in her body sank into Wyn, and his heart would not let him bring her one iota of pain more. “Will you at least sleep on it tonight?” He swayed her against him. “Let the idea germinate, and we’ll talk about it more tomorrow?”

Exhaling shakily, looking up at him, Maddie nodded. “I can do that.” She even offered him a wan smile.

“That’s good enough for me.” He twined his fingers in hers and led her to the stairs. “Let’s go to bed.”

Wyn did not tell Maddie that he was now one hundred percent certain the person breaking into her home worked at the garage. Nobody else knew Maddie’s schedule the way that small group of men did. Nobody else knew that Maddie wouldn’t be home tonight, and thus not available for any emergency towing calls from their valued clientele. Maddie had a viper in her midst; Wyn was sure of it.

He would let her at least attempt a decent night of sleep tonight; tomorrow morning would be soon enough to add to her burden.

Tonight, they discarded their clothes on the floor, crawled into bed together, and without hesitation moved straight into each other’s arms.

* * * *

The next day, a beautiful Saturday, Wyn hauled chairs off the back porch, clearing the area so he could pressure wash the treated wood. He’d already done the front porch, taken a breather to get a drink and a snack, and had called Maddie at the garage to see how she was holding up. How did he know she was still rattled from the events of last night? Because she hadn’t told him to go fuck himself, teasing tone or not, or slammed the phone down in his ear. She’d merely told him she was doing all right and that the garage was busy and she had to get back to work.

Which I should do myself.

Eying the shed, knowing Nico was in there going through parts of his family’s history, Wyn continued to move chairs off the porch, but paused the moment he saw Nico pass by the open shed door.

“You sure I can’t interest you in a drink?” Wyn shouted, getting the guy’s attention. “It’s hot as hell today.”

A thunk sounded in the kitchen right then, and Wyn glared and muttered under his breath, “I know he’s your son, lady, but I got a job to do, so keep your house rattling to yourself.”