Winter's Thaw (9 page)

“Okay.” Sam’s acknowledgment was soft, and Maggie understood that her friend was backing off and giving her space. “He sounds like a nice guy.”

“He is,” she confirmed with a mental sigh.

“Well, I’m going to get back to the horde.” Sam was suddenly in motion, gathering her purse and heading to the front door.

Maggie trailed along behind her, unsure of what to say. “Thanks for dinner.” She watched as Sam slid her sandals on then gave her a quick hug.

“You’re welcome. Get some rest. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

It was all everything Sam would normally say upon leaving, but there seemed to be a sort of deeper meaning to it all that Maggie couldn’t quite confirm or puzzle out. Did she know something? Was she just guessing? Or was it all business as usual?

Only time would tell.

She closed the door behind Sam and locked it, knowing that it would be the first thing that Nick would check when he got there.

Nick is coming
.

She was a grown woman in her forties with a daughter to raise on her own and a memorial to plan. Her breath shouldn’t catch at the mere thought of a man she’d known for about a day’s time.

Breath? What breath
?

Chapter Eight

Nick couldn’t help but test the front door, relieved when he found it locked tight.
Good girl
. He knocked and waited, listening as he heard a loud banging noise from somewhere above then what sounded like footsteps running down the stairs. He grinned at the thought of Maggie racing down to answer the door like a teenager.

There was a moment of quiet then he saw a change in the light behind the peephole before the deadbolt was disengaged. Maggie opened the door and though she gave Nick as smile as she stepped back to let him in, he could see the weariness beneath her effort at welcome. “Hi there. Come on in.”

“Thanks for having me over.”

“Oh, well, of course.” Maggie’s gaze slid away from his. He knew her discomfort was probably from the awkward dilemma of how to greet him. They were, after all, practically strangers, but also had intimate knowledge of each other.

Nick took over closing and locking the door behind him then made the decision for the both of them and folded her into a firm embrace. After a moment, she melted against him and slid her arms around his waist to hold him back. He had no desire to pull away, so they stood there in the foyer for a couple of minutes, with Nick trying to convey his support through the undemanding hug, trying to be there for her after what had to have been an extremely rough day.

“Did you get any sleep after I left this morning?” At his question, Maggie pulled back and he reluctantly released her. She looked a bit more at ease, though still tired.

“No, I stayed up. I had”—she blew out a breath and grimaced—“a lot to do today.”

“And none of it easy, I imagine.” He changed the subject when she didn’t respond to that right away. She probably wasn’t particularly anxious to revisit her day. “I had an interesting day. You know how when you take a vacation, then you come back and everything goes crazy?” He took a step further into the house, not trying to be presumptuous, but not sure she realized they were still standing in the entranceway.

He knew he’d guessed right when she rolled her eyes self-deprecatingly and gestured in the general direction of the kitchen. “Yes. Sorry. Why don’t you come into the kitchen? I’ll get you something to drink and you can tell me about it. Have you had any dinner yet? There’s a ton of leftover Chinese.” She was babbling slightly and he wasn’t sure whether it was because she was nervous or tired.

He followed her into the kitchen and stood at the edge of the counter, not wanting to chance his weight on one of the rather small stools. Of course, if they’d been bought with her daughter in mind, no wonder they didn’t look very sturdy. “I made myself a sandwich when I stopped at home to clean up.”

Raising her eyebrows at him, she paused in front of the fridge. “Just a sandwich? That can’t have been enough.” She gave him a once-over and though he was sure it was innocent in the context of the conversation, he felt her gaze as though it was a physical touch. His body began to react predictably and he decided
the hell with it
and went ahead and chanced the seat. He released a thankful sigh as it held his weight, and moreover, now the counter shielded his partial erection from her view.

She apparently took him sitting down to mean that he was hungry after all, and started getting take-out boxes out of the fridge and setting them the counter in front of him. “Just dish what you want onto a plate and I’ll warm it up. It’ll be faster than heating them all separately.” She laid a plate in front of him and handed him a couple of spoons from the drawer. “What would you like to drink?”

“Tea would be great if you have it. Just doesn’t seem right to have anything else with Chinese.” He began dishing what looked like Kung Pao beef onto his plate.

Maggie gave him a smile and moved to fill the kettle. “That’s ironic. I had the same thought earlier, but I’d just made myself a coffee when Sam got here with the food.” She set two mugs on the counter and pulled out an assortment of teas for him to choose from. He picked out a black tea and she followed suit, putting the rest away. “Here”—she took his packet from his hand—“I’ll get these ready. You finish filling your plate.”

When the tea was steeping and his food was warmed, she pulled down a small plate and dumped the rest of the potstickers onto it. He lifted an eyebrow in query and she shrugged with a smirk. “Love ‘em and they’ll go with my tea. Chopsticks or a fork?” She put her plate into the microwave.

“Chopsticks, of course.” He grinned when she nodded sagely.

“Oh, of course.” She got two nice, lacquered sets with stands out and put them on the counter, took her plate out then walked around to sit on the stool next to him.

It was nice, and oddly domestic, sitting there eating with her. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten at a counter, but of course she had a child, so they probably did so a lot, especially for quick meals.

He reached over and plucked a potsticker off her plate then popped it in his mouth.

“Hey!” She gaped at him. “I can’t believe you just did that.” The twinkle of humor in her eyes belied her exclamation.

“Sorry. It just called to me.” The food was excellent, even warmed up, and he sighed appreciatively as he continued to eat. She’d been right—the quick, cold sandwich hadn’t been enough, but he’d been in a hurry to get over here. “This is really good. Where’s it from?”

“Lee’s Kitchen.”

“Oh, right—love that place. But I always get the Peking noodles. They’re amazing, so I haven’t really ventured into the rest of the menu.”

She gave him a sidelong look then started toying with a potsticker. “So what happened today at work that made it crazy?”

He groaned and took a sip of tea before answering. “What didn’t happen?”

“One of those days, huh?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “It’s like that. Sometimes it’s quiet as hell. And other times you can’t catch a break.”

“It’s not really dangerous, though, is it? I mean, in the suburbs.”

He sobered and met her enquiring gaze at close range. “It may be the ’burbs. But even in affluent areas, there are still intense scenarios. And we’re part of a large metro area.” He put his chopsticks down and leaned back. “Which means some big-city problems can tend to spill over. But really, even if we were in a small town or the country, there are a lot of the same issues.”

He thought how to answer her original question. Unfortunately, a lot of women—and men for that matter—couldn’t handle the stress of being with a police officer. When he boiled it down, one way or another that had been the reason that every relationship he’d started had ended. His two longer-term relationships had both ended when his girlfriends had realized that, in essence, they didn’t want to marry a cop, so why continue to date one? And the same factor had kept others from even trying past a date or two. Either that, or they were just in it to collect the badge then move on—more about what he did than who he was.

He shook off his disappointing recollections. “It can be dangerous, yes. I just have to be prepared in every situation and know how to react if things go bad.”

She nodded somberly in response. “I guess I knew that. I just like to think that it’s safer here, but…” Her mouth twisted.

“In many ways it is. You can’t live your life in fear, Maggie. What you can do is take what precautions you can and realize that sometimes things happen that are out of your control or outside the norm, and decide how you’ll handle it when they do.” Nick reflected that a lot of what he’d just said could apply to the situation she now found herself in, but didn’t point that out to her. She was a smart woman.

They were quiet for a minute before Maggie broke the silence. “It was a good reminder last night to keep my doors locked. It’s unlikely someone would discover that fact, but why make it easy on them?”

“Exactly.”

She clasped her hands in front of her. “Thanks for everything you’ve done.”

A bit alarmed at how much that sounded like the prelude to a goodbye, Nick straightened in his seat. “You don’t have to thank me. It was my pleasure.”

His last word lingered in the air between them and the atmosphere seemed to thicken and spark, awareness zinging to life.

Maggie shifted then cocked her head to the side. “I want you to know I didn’t ask you to come over for a booty call.”

That unlikely phrase coming from her mouth caused Nick to choke on a laugh as he disbelievingly met her gaze. “No?” he managed.

“Well, I just…” She trailed off, her cheeks getting pinker by the second. But then she lifted her chin and met his eyes calmly as she continued, “I missed your company. I thought maybe we could talk?” It came out like a question. “Get to know each other. I mean, I know we talked for hours yesterday on the plane, but honestly, I was a bit out of it. Then last night… Anyway, do you mind? Just…chatting?”

There was something sweet and a bit poignant about her wanting to go back and fill in the blanks they’d rushed over in the unexpected coupling of the night before. She obviously wasn’t the one-night-stand type, so her processing of last night was probably still ongoing. Nick didn’t mind in the least that she wanted to spend time with him, and if that was all there was to it, that was absolutely fine with him.

A niggling, wary voice in the back of his head chattered at him that maybe she was protesting too much and that was why she’d come up with ‘booty call’ out of thin air—because that
was
why she’d invited him over. Either that or as a sort of security blanket.

He shoved the naysayer into the corner and closed the door. If that was what he could give to her, either a feeling of safety or physical comfort, so be it. At this point, he would give her whatever she asked for, whatever the end result happened to be, as long as it was of benefit to her.

“Sure, Maggie. Anything you want.” Nick grinned at her and her mouth went dry.
Wow.
The guy was beautiful when he smiled like that. It was hard to believe he was single, but then again, he was relatively young. Probably still playing the field, and why not?

Maggie stood and he followed suit then she led the way out of the kitchen. As they passed the threshold, he subtly took charge of the situation and steered her toward the couch in the living room with a warm hand on the small of her back, just above her buttocks. Completely conscious of the movement of her curves beneath his hand as she walked, she had to force herself to breathe normally.

Anything you want
…

His offhand comment had her brain running off in a direction she was quickly and shockingly becoming familiar with, and the hand on her back wasn’t helping her think clearly at all. It was a long moment before she could even remember what she had wanted to ask. He slid his hand across her back, fingertips trailing off her hip as she sat, and he joined her on the couch, muscular arm draped casually behind her, his knee lolling heavily against her leg. Nick seemed to gravitate to her, was always touching her, and she soaked up the physical affection like a sponge.

“I was wondering…” Maggie paused as she caught herself lowering her hand to the muscular leg pressing against hers. Stopping the motion just in time, she couldn’t quite figure out what to do. She paused with it hovering there for a second, then he made the decision for her as he laced their fingers together and dropped the joined hands to his thigh.

“Yes?” he said.

She met his eyes at close range, and the desire and acceptance she read there caused her breath to catch in her throat.

Seriously, Maggie, why are you fighting this?

She had no firm answer for herself, so she swayed forward and pressed her mouth gently against his parted lips, holding her breath for some reason, until she was forced to exhale with a gush. He had been completely still, watching her, but this seemed to be the signal he was waiting for and he seized control of the kiss, deepening the contact with a sleek tangling of tongues.

Nick pressed Maggie back into the cushions, never losing contact with her mouth as he plucked and teased at her lips, keeping her fully in the moment. Not content with merely accepting his kiss, she returned it with fervor, taking advantage of his closeness to finally explore his hard physique, trailing her palms and fingers over his firm chest and wide back, tracing the outlines of each muscle in his arms.

He disengaged from the kiss, and she gasped, prompting a chuckle from Nick. His grin slowly dropped as she knelt before him, surprising him as well as herself with her boldness. She hadn’t done what she was about to do very often before, but his uninhibited reactions and enjoyment of her combined to give her a confidence she’d never imagined.

She met his gaze then stroked his rigid shaft through his pants. “Is this okay?”

“God, Maggie. Yes.” His heartfelt response killed the last of her hesitation and she began working on the fastenings of his pants. He helped by undoing his belt while she unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. Today his briefs were black and she wondered if he chose them knowing she’d see them. Far from feeling taken for granted, she liked the thought of him dressing to please her. She gave a yank at his waistband and he obligingly lifted his hips so she could get his pants and underwear down to his thighs. She looked in wonder at the perfection of his stiff cock before tentatively kissing the head. His intake of breath gave her renewed confidence and she wrapped her hand around the base of his cock as she licked him slowly around and across the head, marveling at the weight against her tongue, delving into the slit and tasting his tangy essence. She took him into her mouth partway, and the masculine scent and taste of him was surprisingly enticing. Mouthwatering. She sucked hard, and he groaned, grasping her head gently and carefully, shallowly thrusting into her mouth.