by Jeannie Moon
“What the…” Jumping from the bed, he landed next to her. He was big and naked and gorgeous, and she was planted on her ass, embarrassed.
“Jesus. Are you all right?” He knelt next to her and started checking her arms and legs. “What happened? Are you hurt?”
“No. Humiliated, but not hurt,” Maggie said. “That’s all.”
“What were you doing?”
“Trying to find my leg.” She paused, glancing up at him. “God. Bet you never thought you’d hear a woman you slept with say that.”
He chuckled. “True enough.”
“I have to go to the bathroom. I didn’t want to wake you, so I tried to be stealthy.” She sighed. “We see how that went.”
“You’re okay, though?”
“I’m fine. Help me up?”
Reaching toward him as he stood, Will clasped her hands and Maggie balanced herself on one foot when she was upright.
“Do you have to put your leg on whenever you get up at night?”
“No,” she sat on the bed and reached for the sleeve. “Normally, I’d hop to the bathroom.”
“No balance issues, then?”
“I’d kick your ass at hopscotch.”
“Good to know.” He was smiling, and in Maggie’s mind, seeing him smile made everything right. “Come on,” he said. “Take that thing off.”
While she pulled off the sleeve, he reached under her and picked her up.
“What are you doing?”
“Reach over and turn on the light.” Once the bedside lamp was on, he walked with her securely in his arms, going through a door on the other side of the room. “Here you go.”
When he hit the wall switch, she could see he’d carried her to the bathroom. “I don’t need help…”
“I know. Think of me as your ride. I’ll see you back in bed.”
With a whack on the ass, he left her. Maggie thought about the wonderful man on the other side of that door and how very lucky she was.
* * *
THERE WERE SO many things about Maggie that he loved, but her sense of humor was right at the top of the list. Hopscotch? He grinned to himself thinking about her naked ass planted on the floor. She wasn’t upset, she laughed at herself, which showed him two things: how far Maggie had come on her own, and how far they’d come together.
The bathroom door opened, and Maggie, who had thrown on his bathrobe, hopped across the bedroom and right into his arms. She was amazing. Fresh, smart, beautiful, and happy—everything he ever wanted in a woman. She also sexy as hell, and the minute her body came in contact with his, he was hard.
Maggie straddled his legs and wickedly rubbed herself against him. “Mmm. You feel good, Coach.”
“Maggie, you’re playing with fire,” he ground out. The woman was going to end him, but he couldn’t think of a better way to go.
Her arms slid around his neck and the robe she was wearing fell open just enough so he could see the tops of her breasts. He kissed them, watching as her head rolled to the side.
“I think you need to get something from your night table.” She was nibbling on his ear, her sweet angel’s breath fluttering against his neck, and Will mustered all his self-control to do as she asked rather than bury himself in her.
Grabbing a condom, he rolled it on, and was shocked when Maggie took the lead, rising up on her knees and lowering herself onto him. He gripped her hips to slow his entrance, but he was focused on her face.
Maggie’s eyes had drifted shut, and a sexy smile tilted the corner of her mouth as he filled her a little at a time. “You feel so good, Will. So good.”
As soon as she’d taken him completely, Maggie started to move. Slowly, deliberately, her intention was to draw this out for as long as she could. It was the best kind of torture. He undid the tie of the robe and pushed it down and off her shoulders, running his hands up and down her body.
Facing her like this, holding her, watching her as she moved, feeling her heat surround him, hold him tight, was fucking perfect. She was perfect.
“God, Maggie. God…”
Her breasts, full and pink, were impossible to resist, and the look on her face when he circled one nipple with his tongue, then the other, made him want to flip her on her back and drive home. But he resisted, enjoying every moan, gasp, and sigh he could get from her.
With a steady rhythm, she moved. Faster and faster, Maggie lost control, and Will’s thrusts matched hers. Together they climbed higher and higher until finally, they both came, one behind the other, their sweaty bodies clinging together until they finished.
Maggie’s head dropped on his shoulder and all Will could do was hold this woman tight, and never let her go.
* * *
HE WAS MAKING them hot chocolate.
After Will carried Maggie downstairs, gallant as ever, and deposited her on the couch in the living room where she could watch the snow pile up. There was at least a foot outside, and the decorations from some of the houses on the street reflected off the blanket of white, making the scene look magical.
But that’s the way it was with Christmas. It was supposed to be magical. Maggie was relieved that she’d found it again. Holly Point, her family, and Will had made it happen. Will was the nicest surprise of all.
There was a clatter of pots and pans in the kitchen, she heard Will swear, and it made her smile. He was such a guy—sweet, sensitive—but still a guy.
After a few minutes, he poked his head out of the kitchen. “Whipped cream or marshmallows?”
“You have both?”
He almost looked offended. “I’m an adult. Hot chocolate is serious business.”
“Sorry. Whipped cream.”
Maggie wasn’t used to being pampered. Her parents and siblings were wonderful, but Will took it one step further. The man was a born caretaker, and since Maggie was used to doing everything on her own, it was an adjustment. But one she could learn to like as long as he let her take care of him too. There was something sad behind Will’s eyes. Something that told her he didn’t finish everything he’d set out to do.
He brought out the cocoa, turning the lights down and settling himself on the couch. Snuggling into the crook of his arm, Maggie decided it was time to ask some questions. More than anything she wanted to know what made Will tick.
“Weren’t we only supposed to get a flurry?” he asked.
“If that’s the case we have a foot of flurry. It makes me happy, though. Can’t lie.”
The kiss he dropped on the top of her head was warm, affectionate, and best of all, natural. “Will you have trouble with the snow?”
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable wading in deep snow yet, but I’m sure I can manage getting outside. I’d be disappointed if I couldn’t toss at least one snowball at you.”
“You know, I’m very competitive. You might regret it.”
Maggie turned in his arms and kissed him quick. “Bring it, Coach.”
“Like I said, you might regret that challenge,” he grinned in warning.
“Never. And I can’t tell you how much I love that you aren’t afraid of being physical with me.” The hot chocolate was perfect. Not too hot or cold. Just sweet enough. Like him. “It makes me feel normal.”
Quiet and thoughtful as ever, Will didn’t say anything right away.
“I won’t lie and tell you I don’t think about all you’ve been through. I do. You were right, seeing your scars and the amputation, was like nothing I’ve ever experienced.” He drew took a breath, which is what Maggie noticed he did when he was thinking. “I’m in awe of you, Maggie, and I don’t think there’s anything you can’t handle if you put your mind to it. You’re the strongest person I know.”
“Oh…” She sniffed, unable to look at him. “You… you really think that?”
She’d been a burn victim or an amputee for going on two years now. To hear someone use the words strong and awe when describing her blew her away. For a long time, she felt like she was anything but.
> “I don’t know what I did to deserve having you in my life,” he said steadily, “but I’m happy you are.”
Maggie leaned into him, his strong chest providing solid support. She wanted to tell Will that being with him had changed everything for her. Her family loved her, but Will trusted her with her decisions, with her body. He seemed to understand, intuitively, that the physical limitations hadn’t changed who she was on the inside. Maggie’s fight wasn’t against the injuries or limitations, but in reclaiming herself and adapting to her new normal.
They finished their hot chocolate in silence, cuddled together on the couch, not talking, just being together. So much had happened, so fast, she wondered if what she was feeling could be real. She’d always been warned off rushing into relationships, but so much of her life happened at break-neck speed, why should this be any different?
If her situation could change in the blink of an eye two years ago, why couldn’t a chance meeting at a football game prove just as life-changing?
People were all too ready to accept when disaster struck—that life could change without warning. Why did love have to be different? Sometimes, good things were unexpected, life-changing, and happened in a flash.
It had been too long since Maggie was willing to embrace the happiness life sent her way. She’d become cynical and cautious, and that wasn’t at all who she was.
Just like flying, or driving a car, or swimming, love required risk.
The Christmas tree they’d brought home earlier was something a couple would do. An established couple.
“Will?”
“Mmm?”
“What am I… I mean… who am I to you?”
He tilted his head to get a look at her face, his eyes full of questions. “You’re not sure?”
“I guess I’ve been out of the loop dating-wise,” she said. “I mean, am I your… girlfriend? God, that sounds dumb. Are we too old for that designation?”
This time, he didn’t hesitate. “A little dumb, yeah. But to answer the question, no. You aren’t my girlfriend.”
“Oh, ah… okay then.”
Turning her so she faced him, Will gently touched her jaw and lifted her eyes to his. There was a steady presence in the ocean blue depths, something sure and solid. “You’re my everything, Maggie. Everything.”
Chapter Twelve
‡
ALONG WITH THE chaos in her own house, Maggie missed the craziness of the holidays with her friends from home—and that meant cookie baking day at the Gervais house. Bree’s mom made the day an event. Family, friends, anyone who wanted to spend the day dusted in flour and getting high from the powdered sugar floating through the air, was welcome to join in.
Without a doubt, it was always one of Maggie’s favorite days of the year. Bree’s tribe would be there, and while they always treated Maggie like one of the crowd, those girls had a bond like Maggie had with her sisters. The women—Kara and Elena Larsen, Jade Engle, Cass, and Bree—were raised together because their mothers had been friends for over thirty years. She loved each and every one of them.
The only one she’d seen since coming home was Cass, who was so drunk when Maggie left the bar after what she and Will were calling the “Stan incident”, she had to wonder if Cass was still hungover.
A lot had changed in the last three weeks. Since the snowstorm the week after Thanksgiving, when she and Will spent the night together, Maggie had fallen a little more in love with him every day. She’d learned more about his time in the NBA, about his ex-wife, and the accident that ended his career.
She also discovered that Will was writing a book.
It was a novel, something he wanted to aim at the young adults. Something that would show boys that it was all right to feel things. That understanding others didn’t make you less of a man.
There was no doubt Will was a man, and a strong one at that, but he had this wonderfully soft heart, kind and compassionate. She saw the way he was with his team, with their parents, with the kids he coached on Sundays. He made everyone around him feel important. Valued.
“Earth to Maggie. Where are you?” The hand waving in front of her eyes belonged to Cass. Or, “Drunk Cass” as Bree had been calling her since her bender at Karaoke.
“Oh, sorry.” She looked around at the kitchen full of women and realized all eyes were on her. “Just daydreaming.”
“About a certain teacher, perhaps?” Bree was moving towards her.
No one else in the kitchen was saying a word, but they were all watching her reaction to the question. Of course she was thinking about Will. She always thought about him.
“No doubt there,” her mother said. “She spends all her time with him. I’m assuming it’s serious, but since I never see her, I wouldn’t know.” Mom was laying on the guilt like a pro.
“For Pete’s sake!” Maggie exclaimed. “Grace and Claire don’t even live home. You all have jobs. What am I supposed to do, sit around and twiddle my thumbs?”
Claire was icing cookies at the kitchen table. “So he’s just a way to fill your time?”
Sometimes Maggie could throttle her sister. “No. I didn’t say that.”
“No respect for family, these young people.” Cass’ mother, Joann, always had an opinion. Usually very strong ones. “Before today, I hadn’t heard from Cass for two weeks.”
The room erupted with objections. The only one who would push back against Joann’s comment was Enza Gervais, one of her oldest friends. “Good gravy, Joann! Cass and Sean are newlyweds. When you and Roger got married, we didn’t hear from the two of you for six months. And when we did, you were pregnant!” There was a lot of whooping and cat calls until Enza turned on Maggie’s mother. “And Mary Pat, if the man makes your girl happy, let her be happy! God knows, she’s gone through enough and she deserves it.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Gee.” Maggie loved that someone finally stuck up for her. She knew her parents were unsure about her relationship with Will—there were times she questioned everything about her life—but he was the best thing in it.
“I want her to be happy, Enza. More than anything.” Mom smiled weakly. “We all do.”
Hearing her mother say the words was gratifying, but she still wasn’t so sure.
Mom focused right on Maggie, tilted her head, shrugged. “I do, baby. But I’ve been worrying about you for such a long time now, it’s hard to break the habit. I’m sorry.”
That was the first thing her mother had said that made sense. Reaching her arm out, Maggie hugged her mom. Her family was too important for her to only have half-hearted support. Her brother had even started to come around, and if Matt could be happy for her, then she hoped her mom would be.
“Sooo,” Bree asked again. “Is he amazing?”
Maggie sighed. “In every way possible. I’m still wondering when I’m going to wake up.”
“Nice,” Cass said. “He’s a keeper, that one. PD for sure.”
“Yeah,” Maggie agreed, chuckling at Cass’s use of PD. Code for ‘panty dropper’. “He is. I can’t believe it. I never thought… you know… after what happened…”
“That you’d have this?” Her mom was grasping her hand, now—happy and hopeful. “That you’d have your someone?”
“I didn’t think anyone would want me like this.”
“Oh, honey.” Enza gave her a big squeeze. “You’re a prize, and I’m glad you and Will found each other. He’s darling.”
“Darling?” Kara—a single mom—chased her baby, Nadia, into the kitchen. The little girl, who was almost a year old, had just started walking, or rather running, and she was exhausting her mother. “I met Will over the summer at a barbeque here. He’s not darling. He’s HOT. Smoldering-tall-dark-and-handsome hot. Tell me you got a piece of that, honey. Let me live vicariously through you.”
The baby was too delicious and Maggie scooped her up. Holding her, loving how the wiggly bundle felt and smelled. Between the talk of Will, and now the baby, Maggie’s ovaries ached. She w
anted a baby, more than she ever thought she would.
“Someone has been bitten by the mommy bug.”
Maggie looked up, and once again all eyes were on her. She didn’t know who had made the observation, it didn’t matter. What did matter was that it was true. She wanted a baby.
Scratch that. She wanted Will’s baby. And in a rush—heartache, fear, sorrow—came flooding back. And it wasn’t going to happen. This was her curse.
Intellectually, Maggie understood triggers. She knew the remnants of her PTSD were always floating around in her subconscious. Most of the time it was okay. But holding a beautiful baby made one truth all too real. She could never give Will children of his own. Maggie tried to vanquish the demons, telling herself that he loved her and that they could be happy without babies.
It was crushing her, but this was Maggie’s reality. Blocking it out had done no good. The deeper they went into the relationship, the more this would hurt.
“You all need to stop talking about this,” Maggie sputtered. “I’m not going to have a baby, so, please, don’t mention it again.”
“Oh, could you imagine what a Maggie-Will baby would look like?” Claire chimed in, not hearing what Maggie had said at all. “The kid would be stunning.”
“It’s an excellent gene pool,” Grace added with a grin. “Oh, Maggie! I want to be an aunt—”
“STOP IT! ALL OF YOU!” She finally snapped. God, they all needed to shut up. This was why she’d stayed away. The noise in her head was deafening. Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself. “There… there won’t be any babies.”
“Wait, why not?” Bree took her hand. “Oh, Maggie. I didn’t realize it was a sensitive subject.”
“I think I’m going to head out.”
“You don’t have to leave,” Bree whispered. “Stay here. You don’t have to be alone if you’re hurting. Haven’t you learned anything?”
“Yeah. I’ve learned that I need to be alone sometimes.”
“Not today,” Bree retorted. “And not when you’re hurting.”
