Winter's Thaw (12 page)

Nick: R U there?

Maggie nudged her daughter, who reluctantly stood up. “He’s a friend of mine, sweetie.”

Maggie: I’m here. Day off?

Nick: On nights.

“Like a boyfriend type of friend?” her daughter asked guilelessly. Maggie froze and turned her full attention to Cassie. She heard another ping, but ignored it for now.

“No,” she answered slowly. “But…what would you think about that if he was?” She held her breath as she waited for Cassie’s answer, searching for any sign of upset.

Cassie shrugged. “That would be kind of cool. Caylyn’s mom has a boyfriend, and he takes her shopping and to the movies and stuff. And they went camping.”

Maggie’s eyebrows rose. “You want to go camping?” She shook her head, laughing a bit inwardly at being so easily distracted by minutiae. She also recognized her inner amusement was partially relief at Cassie’s seeming acceptance. “So it would be okay with you if I went out with Nick sometime?” she sought to clarify.

“Sure, Mom.” Cassie gave her a look that made her seem years older. “You sometimes seem kinda lonely. I know Dad’s not coming back, and I don’t want you to be alone forever.” Tears welled up in Cassie’s eyes and Maggie’s vision blurred as well. They hugged for a long time, and Maggie finally processed the persistent ping of another couple of IM’s piling up.

Wiping her daughter’s face, she instructed, “Go find a tissue. You’re leaking all over me.” Cassie made a face, and Maggie watched lovingly as she ran from the room, leaving her alone to wipe her own tears.

Turning back to the computer, she read the IM’s that had piled up.

Nick: Have a couple of days off starting tomorrow.

Nick: Maybe we could do something?

Then, a couple of minutes later—

Nick: Sorry, my mistake. I understand. Bye, Maggie.

His status now showed offline.

Oh crap.
Now he thought she hadn’t answered him on purpose. Anxiety seized her, and she opened a new email message, then stopped.

Maggie ran upstairs to her bedroom and pulled open the drawer of her bedside table, taking out the card with Nick’s numbers on it. She’d taken it up to her bedroom to keep things private between them, knowing that Cass was pretty sharp and since she used the office for the computer pretty often, eventually if it was down there, she would notice it and ask about it.

Figuring that if Nick had been on the computer he was at home, she started with his home number, becoming more and more frustrated and agitated as she got no answer. When the messaging picked up, she wasn’t prepared, and she hung up.

Determined to fix his perception that she was ignoring him or upset, she quickly scanned the second phone number and dialed his cell. It rang and rang, and just as she despaired of getting through to him, he answered, his voice sounding thick and gruff.

“Hello?”

“Nick?”

“Maggie?” He cleared his throat. “Hi. Sorry, I had just gone to bed.”

Immediately, her mind flashed to the vision of his naked form in her bed. She just barely restrained herself from asking what he was wearing…or not.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Mmm—” Then he groaned. Logically, she knew he was probably just stretching, but the sounds shot straight to her overwrought libido. “Okay, so, how are you?”

“Doing good. Better. I had a great conversation with Cassie this morning. That’s why I went AWOL on our IM like that, not because I didn’t want to answer or anything. She just…caught me off guard by starting a discussion that was probably past due just then.”

“What about?” His sleepy, gravelly tone was sinful.

“About whether you were my boyfriend and if that would be okay if you were.” Silence from the other end. Silence she had to fill. “So, I mean…maybe you’re dating someone else by now, and I wouldn’t blame you if you were, but— If you were free and wanted to… I mean—”

“Maggie,” he interrupted, all traces of tiredness gone from his voice. “What are you doing right now?”

“Now?” It came out almost a squeak. “Um, nothing. Not really.”

“You’re at home?”

“Yes, why—?” she started to ask and he cut her off again.

“I’m coming over. This is a conversation I really want to have in person. Okay?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “I’ll be there in fifteen.” He hung up.

She blinked at her phone for a full minute before it hit her.

Nick.

Was coming here.

Now
.

“Oh my God.” Maggie rushed to the bathroom and grimaced at the sight of herself in the mirror. She ran a brush through her hair viciously and stepped out of her mules, kicking them toward the closet. “Clothes, clothes,” she muttered to herself, frantically perusing her closet as she undressed, mentally discarding choice after choice.

“Oh hell.” She finally just pulled on a newish pair of jeans and a long-sleeved knit top. No bra. That made her smile, remembering the plane ride.

Back in the bathroom, she washed her face and flossed and brushed her teeth, then looked around. Deciding not to worry about the state of the bedroom—after all, Cassie was home—she flew downstairs to start picking up the living room.

“Cassie!” she yelled, and soon her daughter skidded around the corner.

“What? What’d I do?”

Maggie laughed, feeling slightly giddy. “Nothing, hon. Here, help me pick up in here. Hurry!”

“But Mom, I was—”

Maggie continued to grab stuff. “No buts. You want me to have a boyfriend or not? ’Cause he’s on his way over right now.”

“Oh. Oh!” Comprehension hit, and Cassie grabbed all the stuff in Maggie’s arms and sped across the room to throw it in a closet. “Go put some makeup on.”

“What?” Maggie went still and stared at Cassie. “You think I need makeup?”

The doorbell rang and they looked at the door then back at each other. “I’ll get it,” Cassie decided.

Maggie hovered in the living room as Cassie confidently crossed to the door. “Who is it?” she called in a sing-songy voice then grinned at her mom.

“It’s Nick, a friend of your mom’s.” The sound of his voice in person for the first time in months, even muffled by the door, sent shivers through Maggie, which only multiplied as Cassie opened the door to reveal Nick himself.

Her memory hadn’t done him justice. He looked bigger and more muscular than she remembered, which she could easily see since he didn’t have a coat on…

“Oh, you must be freezing, come in,” Maggie invited hastily. He stepped in and threw a smoldering look at her before looking down at Cassie who was unabashedly observing their guest.

“Hi, you must be Cassie.” He offered his hand.

“And you must be Nick, the
boyfriend
.”

That little imp.

Nick only smiled at the precocious taunt. “It’s nice to finally meet you. I’m looking forward to getting to know you.” He looked down at the cat twining between his legs.

“That’s Champ. He must like you.”

“Cass, can you please excuse us for a little while?”

Cass groaned theatrically, but picked up Champ and headed for the stairs. “Come on, Champy, we can’t hear the grown-up talk.”

The two adults watched her disappear upstairs then turned to each other. As their gazes locked, Maggie couldn’t restrain herself any longer, and she quickly crossed to walk straight into his welcoming arms.

Nick hugged her so tightly against his chest she was reduced to shallow breaths. “I thought you’d never call,” he confessed gruffly.

“Oh, Nick. I wanted to, for the longest time. I just didn’t know how to—put myself out there, I guess. Especially after how I treated you that last night.”

He frowned down at her. “Haven’t we taken care of all that since we’ve been ‘talking’ these last couple of months? Haven’t we become friends?”

Yes, but I want more
.

“Yes. We’re friends. But it’s different in person.”

“Better,” he countered confidently.

“Better,” she agreed and took a deep breath. “Nick—” Maggie paused to gather her thoughts. “I’m so glad to see you. I don’t ever want to be apart like that again.”

She waited for his reaction to her statement, which was tantamount to her asking to be together—really together, like a couple.

“I don’t ever want to be apart—period.”

His answer was all she had hoped for and more. She could see the desire for her in his eyes and felt it in the way he held her, and thanked God she had finally broken the ice.

Or maybe she should thank Cassie. Speaking of which… “Go to your room!”

A giggle from the stairs and thumping feet confirmed her suspicions.

“I guess you’re officially my boyfriend now. Cassie will be thrilled.”

Nick grinned. “As long as you’re thrilled too, that makes it unanimous.”

“I am,” she agreed, snuggling closer to him as they rocked together. “Oh, and Nick?”

“Hmm?”

“How do you feel about camping?”

* * * *

The timing couldn’t have been better, since thankfully Nick wasn’t working the next couple of days. He was tired but the adrenaline shot that had raced through him at the sound of Maggie’s voice—make that a double shot when she’d said she was willing to try—had gone a long way toward sustaining him. They’d spent the rest of the evening together, with Nick and Cassie getting to know each other, and Maggie and Nick relearning each other.

He’d gotten to the point where he figured it was a lost cause, that Maggie wasn’t ever going to reach out to him. He probably would have contacted her eventually, but then again, maybe not. She’d been pretty clear when she’d told him goodbye that she had strong reasons for doing so, and it wouldn’t have been his place to contradict the validity of her feelings.

Now he was downstairs while Maggie tucked a wound-up but tired Cassie into bed. At a loss for something to do, he picked up the plates and glasses on the coffee table, rinsed them in the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher. He walked around and checked the doors and windows, glad to see that everything was closed up tight. Though, when he left he’d need to make sure she locked up behind him.

He didn’t want to leave.

But he also didn’t want to blow this second chance.

Maggie came around the corner from the direction of the stairs and smiled at him, as she’d been doing frequently all evening. It was bit of a startling contrast to his memories of her, but he definitely liked it.

“You must be really tired.”

“Past tired, actually, but it’s okay. I’m having a good time,” he answered truthfully, not wanting the evening to end.

Maggie joined him on the couch, and the way she slotted herself in next to him as he put his arm around her was so natural it sent his heart soaring.

She gave a contented sigh. “Me too, but I’m going to need to call it a night pretty soon. School day tomorrow, so I have to be up with Cass.”

Disappointment had him closing his eyes for a moment. “I should let you get to bed then.”

“Okay.” She rose and he followed suit. They walked around the couch but when he headed to the front door, she went in the other direction toward the stairs.

“I know you want to get to bed, but you need to lock the front door.”

“You cops.” She shook her head, though a smile teased at the corners of her mouth. “I figured you would have already checked it by now.”

Nick frowned slightly. “I did,” he admitted, “but you need to lock up…after…I leave…” He trailed off as Maggie’s smile grew until she was sporting a full-on, wicked grin.

“Who says you need to leave?” She angled herself toward the stairs, but maintained eye contact with him and held out her hand.

His heart started thudding in his chest as her words and actions registered. “What about Cassie?”

“I say we sleep now—you’re exhausted, don’t lie—and after I get her off to school in the morning, we can…catch up.” Maggie lost a bit of her bravado and blushed for the first time.

Hating to see even a hint of uncertainty in her eyes, Nick quickly crossed to her and gathered her in his embrace. He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips then held her head between his hands. “I would love to…catch up with you.”

She turned even redder but met his gaze without hesitation. “That’s… I’m glad.”

Nick couldn’t resist one more kiss before he began to walk with her upstairs. Tonight he would have Maggie back in his arms, and tomorrow…

Tomorrow would be the start of the rest of their lives.

He couldn’t wait.

Coming Soon from Totally Bound Publishing:

What’s Her Secret?

Secret Identity

Stacey Lynn Rhodes

Released 22
nd
November 2013

Excerpt

Chapter One

Sienna steered her car into a parking space a few blocks from her destination. Transit wasn’t really an option this time of day but luckily she had her choice of on-street parking due to the hour. It was a dark part of the city, and at this forgotten time of the morning not another car or person was to be seen. Not the greatest neighborhood for her to be walking around in, but whatever.

She flipped down the visor to take a quick look, and when the light popped on, she had a jolt of surprise to see her real self staring back at her. It was definitely the easiest undercover role Sienna had ever gotten into character for. The sad truth was, as one of the few female detectives in her precinct and with a talent for successfully immersing herself in whatever persona was needed, she got assigned mostly to white-collar crime cases. Her usual role was to cozy up to big business types as their new assistant or other office worker. Sienna had also done her time in Vice doing prostitution sting ops.

This time she was going to take over a coffee shop as a barista-slash-business manager for the owner, her dear ‘Uncle Harlan’, who had suddenly needed to leave town due to a family illness. In reality, Harlan Coffman had been arrested the day before—a cog in the bigger wheel of a huge potential drug bust—and if he continued to cooperate, would likely be disappearing into protective custody until after arrests and trials of the main players.