Maggie Undercover (10 page)

"It could be chaotic, but yes it was
fun."

"I bet I know what your favorite game was.
Poker."

"Wrong. I liked playing school."

"As the teacher?"

"Of course. Though they protested, being the
oldest and the biggest I usually managed to force my siblings to be
my students. Guess the training paid off they've all graduated from
college and are doing well in their chosen fields. My urge to
teacher started early."

Soft and full, the sound of her laughter
wrapped around him like a cozy quilt on a cold winter's night. "You
liked to torture people at a young age. So why did you quit?"

"What was your favorite game?" He avoided her
question by asking one of his own.

Her laughter faded. "Cops and robbers."

For a short while they fell silent each lost
in their own memories. Then cocooned by the darkness as they
followed Alex from house to house their conversation started again,
flowing with ease. They spoke of the weather - his love of the
changing seasons and winter sports, skiing and snowmobiling, while
she expressed her dislike of the coming cold. She told him how she
loved the sun and surf, and spent her free time water skiing and
surfing.

They covered religion, politics, food, art,
music and movies. Though they were poles apart in tastes and
ideologies, there was no heat in their discussions, just the
exchange of ideas and thoughts between two adults. They argued
their points. Sometimes one would concede to the other, but mostly
they laughed and agreed to disagree.

Jared found himself softening, revealing
parts of himself he'd kept closed off for years. Since his failed
marriage there had been women in his life, but he'd allowed none of
them inside the wall he'd built around himself. Almost without
effort Maggie slipped under that wall.

Fear flared inside him. His voice trailed off
mid-sentence. He couldn't allow this. No matter how mature Maggie
was, she was still an eighteen-year-old girl and a student – his
student. Try as he did he couldn't force himself to think of her as
Ms. McCade. That particular barrier had crumbled beyond his ability
to rebuild. In everything else he struggled to shore up his
resistance.

They'd come full circle through town and now
stood across the street from home. Alex headed up the walk to the
Widow Larkins ghoulishly decorated front porch. Plastic skeletons
hung from the trees, making ominous clicking sounds as they swayed
in the night breezes. Candles glowed inside the elaborately carved
pumpkins lining the sidewalk. Eerie wails and the rattling of
chains greeted her approach. Lights flickered and dimmed.

"Daddy?" She halted and looked back at him in
fearful confusion.

He'd forgotten the Widow Larkins' tradition
of doing it up big for Halloween. "Its fine, sweetheart. You know
Mrs. Larkins. I'm right behind you." Though she was the biggest
gossip in town, she also had a big heart and loved kids.

Darting back to his side, she nudged her way
between him and Maggie and grabbed his hand. Her overstuffed
pillowcase smacked against his leg. "I want you to be in
front."

The feel of her small, warm fingers gripping
his, confident that he would protect her from whatever horrors
waited on the Widow Larkins' porch shattered the last doubts he'd
had that he was doing the right thing in coming back to Council
Falls. No matter what difficulties he faced returning to his
hometown, this is where they belonged. A place where he could build
a safe, secure life for his daughter and himself.

Maggie's heart jolted in unexpected pleasure
as Alex's damp fingers curled inside her hand. "I think Princess
Aurora needs Prince Phillip to slay an evil dragon for her," she
whispered over Alex's head.

In the darkness she could just make out
Jared's smile. In the last few moments something had changed
between them. While they followed Alex around town she'd forgotten
that she was pretending to be a high school kid, that he was her
teacher and a suspect in her case. She'd allowed herself to forget
everything, to become swept up in the moment. To believe that they
were two people, a man and a women learning to know each other.

When he pulled back, his voice fading away,
the spell had shattered. She returned to the truth with a sickening
thump. Even if he were as innocent as Alex, there could never be a
relationship between them. They had nothing in common. He was a
conservative. She was a liberal. He loved winter sports. She hated
the cold. He was reserved and analytical. She operated on an
emotional level. The list went on, but she admitted those weren't
the real reasons they couldn't find a way.

He would never be able to forgive her
deception.

Hand-in-hand the three of them made their way
up the walk. At the porch steps Alex pulled to a stop. "I'm
scared."

Jared knelt next to her. "There's nothing to
be afraid of. It's all make-believe. Mrs. Larkins is our friend.
She'd never hurt you. If you don't go see her, her feelings will be
hurt."

Maggie could see the woman waiting by the
front door.

Alex buried her head against Jared's chest.
"I don't care. You come with me."

"All right." He stood up and wrapped his arm
around her shoulders.

"You too." Alex reached around Jared, grabbed
Maggie's hand and pulled. Thrown off balance she stumbled and
fell.

Her body slammed into Jared's. Pressed
together from chest to knees, heat rocketed through her. She tried
to pull away but his cape and her robe tangled around their legs.
Off balance they tottered.

Childish giggles floated in the night air as
Alex looked on.

"Relax and let me untangle us." Jared's warm
breath stroked down her cold cheek.

"We must look like some strange two-headed
beast." She fought to calm her racing heart, to not reveal how his
nearness affected her.

Like fire brands his hands landed on her
shoulders to steady her. She jerked backward and they tumbled down.
He twisted as they fell so she landed sprawled on top of him in a
pile of leaves, her face buried against the soft velveteen of the
tunic covering the hard muscle of his chest.

The faint, not unpleasant scent of mothballs
and warm male flesh flooded her nostrils. A trail of heat followed
the movement of his hands down the length of her back. She
struggled to free herself from the tangle of material and stand up,
anything to escape the feelings surging through her.

"Be still." He grunted as her elbow jabbed
his side. "Let me get this free."

She lifted her head and looked straight into
his eyes. His gaze reflected her need. Mere inches separated their
lips. Against the heated strength of his body pressed along the
length of hers her resistance and qualms melted.

Simple sex, though not a common occurrence in
her life, she could handle. Her attraction to this man was outside
her experience. He made her long for something that didn't exist –
a happily ever after.

She heaved upward on her arms. The cape
trapped beneath his body yanked her back down. Her forehead cracked
against his. Pain lanced through her head. Colored lights blurred
her vision. She sagged against him and went still.

"Maggie? Are you all right? Say
something."

"Maggie?"

Jared and Alex's concerned voices penetrated
the fog muddling her brain. "Don't shout. My head hurts."

She opened her eyes and groaned. His face
hovered inches above hers.

"I'll call Doctor Burton. Alexandra you come
with me," Widow Larkins said.

"Daddy," Alex protested as Widow Larkins took
her hand and hurried her up the walk and into her house.

"No. There's no need for a doctor. I'm fine."
Maggie tried to sit up. Pushing against Jared's shoulders was like
trying to shift a mountain.

"Stay still. You took a nasty crack to your
head."

She reached up and touched his forehead where
a small lump was forming. "So did you." The pain eased and her
vision cleared.

"But I've a much harder head than you."

"That's what you think," she muttered.
"Please let me up. The ground is wet."

She gasped in surprise as he lifted her in
his arms and strode across the street to his house. "What are you
doing?"

~~~~~

CHAPTER EIGHT

What was he doing? Jared wasn't sure, but it
felt right. Maybe he'd hit his head harder than he thought. Though
he knew it was dangerous he didn't want to let her go. Warm and
real in his arms, her body fit against his, soft curves filling
hard angles. The scent of sunflowers rose on her body heat. During
their fall her ugly black wig had disappeared. Tangled gold strands
of hair surrounded her pale face and clung to his tunic. His
forehead where she'd touched him tingled. But not with pain.

"Jared! Put me down. People are staring." She
squirmed in his arms.

About a half-a-dozen people and children
watched.

"Ms. McCade hit her head," he offered.

Cindy Reed, Jackson Reed's wife and the
mother of three girls, stepped forward. "Let's take her inside and
get some ice on that lump." She turned to the woman with her.
"Vicki would you take the girls to the party?"

"Sure. Mr. Blake, do you want me to take
Alexandra, too?" Vicki asked.

"If you don't mind, I'd appreciated that.
Thank you," he said.

Vicki herded the crew of giggling little
girls back toward the Larkins' house.

With the skill of a master drill sergeant,
Cindy dispersed the small crowd and ushered Maggie and him into his
house then went into the kitchen for ice. Samson met them at the
door. Whining, he jumped at Jared's legs.

"Easy, Samson. Everything's fine. Sit."

Tongue lolling, body quivering, he sat.

After Jared settled Maggie on the couch in
the living room his arms felt cold and empty.

"Thanks." Color leeched out of her cheeks as
she struggled to sit up. She moaned. "Oh no. I think I'm going to
be sick."

She leaned forward just as he shoved a small
wastebasket under her head. A few minutes later he eased her back
on the couch.

"Feel better?"

"Hmmm," she mumbled. Her eyes fell shut. Dark
lashes brushed her pale cheeks. With her eyes closed she looked
vulnerable, unlike the brash young woman he knew her to be.
Protectiveness surged through him. He let his fingers linger on her
petal soft skin as he smoothed back the tangled hair from her damp
face. Already the lump on her forehead was turning black and
blue.

Cindy returned from the kitchen and handed
him a cool, damp washcloth. "I've made up a cold compress for her
head. Doctor Burton should be here in a few minutes. I tried
calling her parents, but the answering machine says they're out of
town for a few days."

He laid the washcloth on Maggie's forehead.
She stirred then settled with a small sigh.

"How's she feeling?"

"Maggie?" Jared called. She didn't answer.
"She's fallen asleep."

"I don't think we should let her do that. She
might have a concussion," Cindy said.

Outside a car door slammed. A minute later
someone knocked on the door.

"I'll get it." Cindy opened the front door
and let Doctor Burton in.

A couple hours later, Samson lying asleep
across his feet, Jared stood in the front window and watched as
Cindy walked away. After organizing everything from having Alex
spend the night with her after the Halloween party in the town
square, to removing Maggie's costume or at least enough to make her
comfortable without waking her, Cindy left him alone with Maggie.
By morning his reputation would be in tatters – again. But he
couldn't bring himself to care. His head ached, more from the
strain of the last few hours than the blow.

As he and Maggie had trailed Alex through
town something had changed between them. By telling her stories of
his childhood he'd shared himself with her in a way he never had
with Brittany.

Brittany hadn't been interested in his past
or the small town where they lived. Hayrides and sledding bored
her. During their marriage he couldn't remember attending more than
a few family functions and no community activities. She'd insisted
that they head into Chicago for their entertainment and friends.
Then after they left town and their divorce he hadn't returned but
once or twice, nor had he involved himself in any social function
outside of work. Now he realized that the last ten years his life
had been sterile.

Even after Brittany's death and his return to
Council Falls with Alex, he'd managed to hold himself apart from
the town and its affable inhabitants. It was better to remain
aloof, not to become involved. There was safety in distance so he
built a wall around himself and Alex to keep them out. But Mad
Maggie McCade didn't believe in walls. And he was afraid that his
were about to crumble into dust.

"Jared?" Maggie asked.

As he turned to face her Samson whimpered a
protest then settled back to sleep. "I'm here."

She sat up on the couch. In the soft light of
one small lamp her hair glowed like spun gold. "What time is it?
Where's Alex?"

"It's just about nine. Alex is spending the
night with a friend. How are you feeling?"

"Okay. My head aches a bit, but I don't feel
sick anymore. Thanks for taking care of me."

"It was my head that did the damage so I felt
it was my duty." What he was beginning to feel for her went far
beyond duty and it scared him.

"How's your head?" She peered up at him.

"Fine." Fear made his tone tight.

"Come over here into the light so I can see,"
she ordered as if she were the adult and he the child.

Judging by his actions of late maybe she was.
He stepped closer.

"Sit down and let me look. I'm getting a
crick in my neck from you looming over me."