Beyond the Misty Shore (29 page)

“That’s a good idea,” Miss Hattie said, looking definitely upset. “Rest and you’ll feel better. I’m sure of it.” She headed toward the mud room door to let Vic in.

Of course! Maggie set the glass in the sink, left the kitchen then rushed up the stairs.
Vic!

MacGregor was still asleep.
Stretched out on his side, he held the twisted, blue coverlet scrunched up near his chin. Vulnerable. Tender. But strong and gentle and caring. Maggie sighed. He was a good man.

And she’d lied to him repeatedly and suspected him of unforgivable crimes that paled to those her father had committed.

Guilt swarmed her and tasted so bitter. MacGregor had been busy earning redemption points, but she was the one who needed to earn them. She had to do what she could to make up for her suspicions and doubts, for all the wrongs she’d done him. But first, she
had
to resolve this Tony thing so she knew she hadn’t totally lost her mind, only her good judgment and sense.

She dressed quickly, tugging on jeans and a sweatshirt, then jostled his shoulder. “MacGregor?”

He didn’t stir. He didn’t even flinch.

“Tyler, wake up.” She jostled him again, harder. “It’s important.”

“I’m awake.” He snaked an arm around her and pulled her down on top of him. “God, but I love an impatient woman.”

“No.” Maggie ordered him. “Quit, dang it, and get your buns out of that bed.”

“Get out?” He faked a perfectly transparent frown, belied by the twinkle dancing in his eyes. “What, you mean you didn’t wake me up to make love?”

Phony jerk. But a darling one, and far too gorgeous for his own good—or hers. “No, I didn’t.” Her face burned hot for the second time already that morning.

“Are you saying that making love with me isn’t important?”

“Damn it, MacGregor, get sex off your brain. This is serious.”

“We don’t have sex. And I take our lovemaking—very, very different from having sex, Maggie—extremely serious.”

She squeezed her eyes shut. “Will you shut up and listen to me?”

“I think I’d rather kiss you.”

“MacGregor, you’re trying my patience here.”

“I can tell.” He laughed at her, ran a hand down her back and cupped her buttock in his huge hand. “You’ll come out ahead by just giving me my kiss. I can be very persistent when the occasion arises, and you might—”

“You
might
not be dead by dark, MacGregor, but only if you knock it off now.” She glared daggers into his eyes. “I said this is serious, damn it!”

His expression immediately turned solemn. “What?”

She backed off the bed then stepped away. “I should’ve told you this last night, but we, um, got—”

“Last night?” He let out a sigh strong enough to power windmills. “Damn it, woman, are you always going to hold out on me?” He sat up and stared at her. “What is it this time?” A muscle in his jaw ticked.

“Would you chill?” She wrung her hands. “You’re making me nervous.”

“I’ve never rattled you.”

He’d
always
rattled her. But she kind of liked him thinking he hadn’t. “True, you haven’t, and this is no time to start.”

“Well?”

He looked about as approachable as a ticked-off Doberman guarding his turf. She licked at her lips. How in the world could she explain seeing a ghost and not expect the man to think she was crazy—despite all the weird occurrences here. She’d
seen,
actually
seen,
a
ghost—maybe. “I wasn’t holding out on you. I saw something last night, and it shook me up. When we got back here, I intended to tell you about it, but then you brought up the legend and us making love, and well, I got sidetracked and the whole thing kind of got pushed right out of my head.”

He smiled, clearly liking the thought of that. “Understandable.”

“That arrogant attitude of yours is shining through, MacGregor, and I swear we don’t have time for it.”

“Okay. I’ll gloat later at making you forget yourself. What’s this crisis all about? What did you see?”

“A man. When we were out on the cliffs.”

“Before I came out there?”

“No.” This was the touchy part. “You were there. He said his name was Tony.”

“You talked to him while I was there?”

He didn’t believe her. Not surprised, but oh-so-disappointed, she nodded.

“I didn’t see anyone, Maggie.”

“I know.” She paced from the side of the bed to the turret room rug then paced it again, rubbing at her temple, which had unwisely chosen this very moment to begin throbbing. “Get dressed, darling. We’ve got to talk with Vic before he leaves, and he’s already here.”

“Vic?” MacGregor tossed back the covers, rolled out of bed, then reached for his slacks.

Maggie’s breath stuck in her throat. She hadn’t seen him naked before and, as he pulled up his slacks, the ridge of muscles flexing in his broad chest taunted her. Her palms and breasts tingled, remembering too intensely the feel of his fine, dark hair, his sleek skin, grazing them. Lush velvet over sun-warmed granite. Her throat went thick. Damn him and his beautiful nose and his beautiful body. He looked as perfect as he’d felt.

“What’s Vic got to do with this?” MacGregor grabbed his shirt, tugged it on then started working on the buttons. When she didn’t answer, he paused and stared at her. “Maggie? Honey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She answered too quickly, and her voice squeaked at least an octave too high. Heat surged up her neck and flooded her face. Seeing his insistence for truth coming, she answered before he could express it. “I, um, hadn’t seen you, um... .”

“Maggie, are you embarrassed?” He sounded incredulous. “Honey, we just spent the night together. I’ve got your fingerprints on every inch of my body. You can’t possibly be embarrassed.”

“Shut up, MacGregor:” She glared at him. “Seeing you is... different.”

He smiled, looking extremely pleased with her. “Oh.”

“Don’t you dare get smart-mouthed. I really don’t need that this morning and, I’m warning you, any lip and I’ll subtle revenge your backside for at least the next thirty years—provided you don’t provoke me into killing you before then.”

He didn’t look worried at all by the threat. In fact, he looked kind of delighted by it. Ah, geez. Her mind really had taken a flying leap. He
liked
getting out of subtle revenge.

“Let me get this straight.” He cocked his head. “I’m supposed to be upset that you find my body appealing?”

“No, but...” Well, hell. Now, no matter what she said, she lost. How did she get herself into these situations with him? She rubbed at her throbbing temple. “Will you just get dressed, MacGregor?”

“I am dressed.” He shrugged and slid her a wicked smile that had her heart fluttering.

So much for recovering even a shred of dignity. “Well, it’s about time.”

“Let’s discuss it later. Right now, tell me about Vic and this man from last night.”

She blew out a deep breath. “The man said his name was Tony. I’d never seen him before, but I figured Miss Hattie might know him. So I went downstairs awhile ago and asked her about him.”

“What did she say?”

“Nothing. But she’d been holding this pan, and when I mentioned Tony’s name, she dropped it. The question clearly upset her, Tyler. Unfortunately, before she could answer it, or refuse to answer it, Vic came in.”

“So she didn’t say she knew this Tony, or that she didn’t.”

“Right. No confirmation or denial.” Maggie frowned. “But once before, when I asked her if strange things went on here, she laughed and said that things were just as they’d always been.”

“Ambiguous as hell.” He finger-combed his hair.

“Exactly.” Maggie passed him her brush off the dresser. “Your hair’s standing on end.” When he took the brush, she added. “Anyway, it’s clear she has no intention of answering me, so I have to ask about Tony elsewhere. I figured who better than Vic. He knows everyone around.”

“Clever.” MacGregor’s eyes shined appreciatively. “Vic’s delivered the mail here since God was a baby. If there’s a Tony in the village, he’ll know it.”

“Exactly.”

MacGregor swept her brush through his hair then put it back on the dresser. “Do you think this Tony is our entity?”

She lowered her gaze, afraid if he thought she’d lost her mind it’d show in his eyes. Shaky enough without seeing that this morning—
Why
couldn’t I have a fever?—
she
wisely avoided the risk. “I don’t know. Maybe. Or he might just have been a villager.”

“It was awfully foggy.” T.J. glanced at the window. “Sleeting like hell out there.”

“It wasn’t sleeting, it was misting. Don’t spare me, Tyler.”

“I meant now. But last night it was misty, and the fog was damn thick. I could just not have seen him.”

“And hearing him? Could you just not have heard him, too?”

Sam Grayson flitted through T.J.’s mind. T.J. blinked then blinked again. He should have figured this out sooner. “I get it now, honey.” He hugged her to him, his insides like jelly. She stood rigid enough to snap, her hands at her sides as if she didn’t trust his embrace. Likely, she didn’t, and the fault for that rested squarely on his shoulders. “You didn’t tell me because you were afraid I wouldn’t believe you.”

She stiffened even more. “If you didn’t, I wouldn’t blame you.”

“Yes, you would. Situations reversed, I’d blame you, too. But we’ve got a bond, Maggie, and you need to remember that.” Sam Grayson’s belief in her had been all important to Maggie. That bore remembering, too. T.J. cupped her face in his hands and looked directly into her eyes. “I promise to always believe you, Maggie. Always. No matter what. You just have to trust me, honey.”

Trust him?
Maggie couldn’t trust him—or any man. But she didn’t dare to risk talking about it. She didn’t deserve his trust. And right now, she was closer than she’d been in a dozen years to crying. God, but she needed a bath to calm down. But that, too, would have to wait. Just as savoring the sincerity in MacGregor’s promise would have to wait. “Come on.” Maggie moved away. “Vic’s bound to be done with his coffee by now. We’ll miss him.”

“We’ll catch him.” MacGregor caught her by the arm and pulled her back to him. “First things first.”

He gave her his best killer smile. “Good morning, honey,” he whispered, then kissed her lips.

Oh, she could get used to this. So used to this. So used to him...

Vic!
She pulled back, faking frustration with a deep sigh and false bravado. “Geez, MacGregor. I’m telling you we’ve got a solid lead on our entity and you’re acting as if it’s no big deal.”

“Not so, sweetheart.” He rubbed her shoulder. “Vic’s been in this village seventy years. He isn’t going anywhere that we can’t get to him in a few minutes.”

“But—”

“Shhh, a man’s got to keep his priorities straight.” He slid his hand under the hem of her sweatshirt and up to her bare skin. “And, right now, loving you is mine.”

Every muscle in her body seemed to contract at once. “I, um, thought we were going to sort out some things first.”

He let his hand drift up her spine, the look in his eyes heated. “I have.”

She wasn’t ready to hear this. She knew it. “And?”

“It’s stopped sleeting and the sun’s out, Maggie.”

A glance at the window proved that true. “So?” Hadn’t he said the weather wasn’t connected to them?

“Our entity wants us together.”

“That’s no reason—”

“Shhh.” MacGregor pressed a silencing finger to her lips. “It’s not. But I want us together, too.” He caressed her with his gaze. “I want to make love with you, Maggie. I need to make love with you—without holding back.”

She needed him, too. So much so that she trembled with it. But she couldn’t give in to it. After they’d made love last night there’d been fog. It hadn’t felt right for all the reasons they’d already explored, and it still wouldn’t be right now because none of those reasons had been dealt with and eliminated. Well, keeping Tony a secret from MacGregor had been eliminated, but Carolyn remained between them.

“MacGregor, it isn’t that I don’t want you. You know I do. And I’m glad you’ve sorted through all this, but I need more time.” She forced herself to meet his gaze. “I don’t want it not to feel right between us again, either. In my heart, I know it isn’t supposed to be that way—not for us. And that it was...” Her voice trailed.

“Hurts you,” he finished for her. “I’m sorry, honey. I was being selfish.”

“No.” She looked up at him. “I kind of like knowing you want me, MacGregor. It’s just...” She borrowed a part of Tony’s warning. “It’s not yet time.”

“When it’s right, you let me know, mmm? I’ll be waiting.”

The promise shining in his eyes had her heart aching. “You’ll be first on the list. I swear it.”