Maggie had planned to visit her parents in Chicago, anyway, so it wasn’t a problem to schedule an overnight in Big Knob on her way. Plus it gave her the perfect excuse to find out firsthand how Sean was doing. Dorcas had guessed that she’d want to see Sean but had suggested coming to their house first to freshen up.
Although Maggie had fully intended to do that, she hadn’t been able to pass Sean’s house without stopping there. Dorcas said Sean hadn’t hooked up with anyone, so at least no woman would be living in the house with him.
Knowing Sean, that could change at any moment, and Maggie wanted to touch base with him before that happened. Beyond the satisfaction of seeing him enjoying his house, she had no preconceived ideas as to how the meeting would turn out. If he was the least bit distant, she’d wish him a merry Christmas and be on her way, after she gave him the Christmas/housewarming present she’d brought.
Tucking it under her arm and hoisting her purse strap over her shoulder, she stepped out of the car. Snowflakes gave her moist little kisses on her way to the porch steps. She climbed the steps, which looked newly painted. Two refinished rocking chairs sat to the right of the front door. Now wouldn’t be the time to sit there, but she could imagine enjoying that porch in the spring.
A mental picture was all she’d have, though. She and Sean hadn’t had time to become more than casual lovers. Trying to make something more of what they’d shared had the potential to embarrass them both . . . unless he’d missed her as much as she’d missed him.
She rang the doorbell and was pleased by the deep chime. He was turning this house into a showplace. Thank heaven she’d had the good sense to withdraw and let him have it. Probably she’d stay only a few minutes before going over to visit Dorcas and Ambrose. They’d offered to make her a bed on the sofa.
Then Sean opened the door, and all her rationalizations went up in smoke. The month they’d been apart shrank to nothing, and her heart beat so fast she had trouble breathing. God, he was gorgeous. Either her memory was faulty or his hottie quotient had increased in the past few weeks.
She wanted him. But more than that, she finally had a name for the emotion she’d been talking herself out of ever since leaving Big Knob. She shouldn’t have come, shouldn’t have stirred things up again. If he had lost all feeling for her, she might never recover from the blow.
He swallowed. ‘‘Maggie.’’
‘‘Hi, Sean.’’ She struggled to come up with words when all she wanted was to fling herself into his strong arms. The sound of a televised football game and the scent of pizza told her she’d interrupted his dinner. ‘‘You’re probably surprised to see me.’’
‘‘Yes.’’
‘‘I was . . . that is, Dorcas invited me to visit, and I found this at an art fair, so I—’’
‘‘Come in.’’ He stepped back and held the door for her.
Jeremy emerged from the kitchen. ‘‘Hey, Maggie! I didn’t know you were coming to town.’’
‘‘Neither did I,’’ Sean said softly.
‘‘It was sort of last-minute.’’ Maggie tried to read Sean’s expression, but other than his obvious surprise, she couldn’t tell if he was happy or horrified to see her. ‘‘I didn’t really plan to stay. I just brought you this.’’ She thrust the gift, wrapped only in brown paper and tied with twine, in his direction. ‘‘I saw it and thought of you.’’
‘‘Thanks.’’ Sean took the parcel but continued to stare at her as if she were a ghost . . . or a complete idiot.
She felt more uncomfortable by the second. This had been such a bad idea. ‘‘Well, you have company, so I’ll be going. Dorcas is probably—’’
‘‘Don’t leave.’’
‘‘Yeah, you should stay.’’ Jeremy walked down the hall and grabbed his jacket from the coat tree by the door. ‘‘I was about to take off, anyway. I ordered my niece’s Christmas present online and it isn’t here yet, so I need to find out where it is in the system.’’
That sounded like a convenient excuse to Maggie. She’d busted up their football-and-pizza night, which is what she got for not calling ahead. She’d been afraid to do that, afraid she’d lose her nerve.
She turned to Sean, amazed again at his heart-stoppinggood looks. ‘‘I should have let you know I was coming. I hate drop-in guests because they’re so disruptive, and here I am, ruining—’’
‘‘Maggie, it’s fine.’’
‘‘Hey, I was a drop-in guest.’’ Jeremy zipped his jacket. ‘‘In Big Knob we’re all about the drop-in guests.’’
Sean gazed at her with those beautiful green eyes. ‘‘He’s right. It’s a small town. We don’t stand on ceremony.’’
‘‘That’s for sure.’’ Jeremy opened the door. ‘‘Catch you later, buddy. I’ll be going down to my sister’s for Christmas, so if I don’t see you before then, have a merry.’’
‘‘Thanks. You, too.’’
‘‘Good to see you again, Maggie.’’ Jeremy gave her a salute and closed the door behind him.
In the silence that followed, the sports announcer’s voice drifted down the hall. Maggie took a deep breath. ‘‘You were eating. I wouldn’t want your food to get cold.’’
The hint of a smile touched his sculpted lips. ‘‘It’s not like it hasn’t happened before.’’
Heat filled her cheeks as she remembered their first night together and how uninhibited she’d been. She managed a small laugh. ‘‘We got a little carried away. Probably the effects of the wine, don’t you think?’’
‘‘Do you?’’
Looking at him, she couldn’t imagine how wine could make her want him any more than she did right this minute. She’d better get out of here before she made a fool of herself. ‘‘Open your housewarming gift.’’ Once he did that, she could leave.
‘‘Okay.’’ He pulled off the twine and the tape. Then he unfolded the brown paper and pulled out the framed watercolor. ‘‘Skunks.’’
‘‘A family,’’ she said. ‘‘Like the ones you saved. I knew you’d have lots of wall space to cover, and I thought . . . but if you don’t like it, you don’t have to hang it up.’’
‘‘I like it.’’ He studied the painting and then looked at her, his gaze soft. ‘‘I like it a lot. Thank you.’’
His tenderness nearly did her in. She’d be begging him to hold her if she didn’t make a break for it. ‘‘I should go.’’
‘‘Come in and see the tree first.’’ Without waiting for an answer, he started into the parlor.
Maybe she should do that much. He was obviously proud of it. She didn’t know very many men who would buy and decorate a Christmas tree by themselves. Or maybe he hadn’t. Maybe several women had helped.
Suddenly she wanted to know that. She unbuttoned her coat and left her purse hanging on the coat tree as she walked into the parlor. The tree, at least nine feet tall, sparkled in front of the elegant window. The room smelled of pine, reminding her of the afternoon they’d made love in the Whispering Forest.
She’d always longed for a Christmas tree this big, but she’d never lived anywhere with ceilings that would accommodate it. ‘‘Beautiful,’’ she said. ‘‘Did you put it up by yourself?’’
‘‘Uh-huh.’’ He laid her framed painting of the skunks under the tree. So far it was the only gift there. ‘‘Dorcas and Ambrose gave me the star for the top, but otherwise it was my project.’’
She noticed several dainty glass ornaments among the more ordinary Christmas decorations. She touched one. ‘‘These are unusual.’’
‘‘My mom’s.’’
Her heart ached for him. Instinctively she knew that this had been exactly where the tree had stood when he’d been a kid living in this house. Considering how much buying it had meant, she wondered how he could possibly have missed the appointment with Pierpont on that fateful Sunday morning.
She touched another of the delicate ornaments, admiring how it caught the light. ‘‘Why didn’t you show up at the meeting a month ago?’’
>
‘‘I’ll answer that if you’ll tell me why you didn’t buy the property as planned.’’
Because I love you. She continued to stare at the tree. ‘‘Because I realized it meant more to you than it meant to me.’’
‘‘How can you say that? Weren’t you fired over it?’’
Finally she glanced at him. ‘‘Yes, but I could find another job, which I did, by the way. You could never have found another house. So why didn’t you move heaven and earth to get there at ten o’clock and try to outbid me?’’
He cleared his throat. ‘‘Well, I counted up all the good things I had going on—a job I love doing, a town where I feel at home, friends who watch out for me. You seemed like you were still trying to find your place in life, so I—I was ready to give up the house if it would help you do that.’’
She was stunned. ‘‘You felt sorry for me?’’
‘‘Not exactly. I—’’
‘‘You did! You felt sorry for me. Was that why you had sex with me, too? To boost my confidence?’’ Her tummy began to churn. She should never have come.
‘‘Hell, no, that’s not why!’’
‘‘I should have known. No man has ever wanted me like that, so I should have guessed that it was a pity scr—’’ She gasped as he pulled her roughly into his arms.
‘‘Not even close.’’ He took off her fashionable new glasses and dropped them to the floor with a clatter. Then his mouth came down on hers with such force that it stole what remained of her breath.
Chapter 29
The longer he kissed Maggie, the less empty Sean felt. But he thought it might take many kisses and some skin-to-skin contact before the void would disappear completely. She seemed to be perfectly happy kissing him back, but that didn’t answer the question of how long she’d be willing to keep it up.
Finally he had to ask her, which meant they had to stop kissing. It was a sacrifice, but necessary to his ultimate peace of mind.
He lifted his head and gazed into her blue eyes. ‘‘Do you love your job?’’
‘‘Wh-what?’’
‘‘Your new job. Is it great?’’
‘‘Um . . . yeah.’’
‘‘Oh.’’ His hopes came crashing down.
‘‘I mean . . . it’s not that great.’’
‘‘Really?’’ He combed his fingers through her short curls. How he’d missed touching her.
‘‘It’s okay.’’
‘‘Just okay, huh?’’ His dreams flickered back to life.
‘‘It pays the bills.’’
Music to his ears. ‘‘Then quit.’’
‘‘Quit? Why would I want to do that?’’
He cupped her face in both hands. His heart hammered in his chest as he considered the ramifications of what he was about to say. ‘‘Because . . .’’ Then he thought of something else. ‘‘You said you hated drop-ins.’’
‘‘I sort of do.’’
God, maybe this would never work. What the hell was he doing? Probably mucking it up. He stroked his thumbs over her cheeks. ‘‘On a scale of one to ten, how much do you hate them?’’
‘‘Sean, this is a very strange conversation. Why are you asking me about drop-ins?’’
‘‘Because if you quit your job and marry me and live in Big Knob, you’ll be stuck with drop-ins, and if you hate them, then I don’t know if—’’
‘‘Marry you?’’
He groaned and hastily threw out a safety net to catch his shattered dreams. ‘‘I know. Dumb idea. Forget I said anything. I don’t know what I was thinking, but from the way you were kissing me, I was hoping that maybe you felt marginally good about us.’’
‘‘I do.’’
‘‘Yeah, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’d go for the marriage thing.’’
‘‘Yes, it does.’’
He stared at her for several long seconds while that sank in. Gradually he realized that she hadn’t turned him down. She had actually, in a manner of speaking, accepted his screwed-up proposal.
But he’d really put the cart before the horse, and he should do something about that. He gulped. ‘‘I love you.’’
Her blue eyes glowed with happiness. ‘‘That’s nice. I love you, too.’’
‘‘Oh, Maggie.’’ He had to kiss her some more after that. As he was enjoying the process, he decided they should move away from the tree because their activities were heating up and he’d hate to knock the thing over.
He stepped back, bringing her with him, and heard the crunch of glass under his heel. Shit. He’d done it again.
In no time she was laughing so hard that kissing became impossible.
‘‘I’m sorry,’’ he said. ‘‘I can’t believe I did that.’’
‘‘I don’t care.’’ She smiled up at him. ‘‘If you still have that taped-together pair, I’ll borrow those.’’
‘‘I have them. I don’t need them, but I couldn’t stand to throw them away because they reminded me of you.’’ As he looked into her eyes, he still couldn’t believe his good fortune. ‘‘Could you live here, then?’’
‘‘In this house?’’
‘‘In this house, in this little town, knowing there would be drop—’’
‘‘Drop-ins. I know. It’s fine. Kiss me some more, please. Better yet, do you have a bed in this house?’’
‘‘Yes, but first I have to make sure you’re okay with everything. I know you. You’ll want to find a job.’’
She tried to pull him closer. ‘‘I’ll find something, maybe working with Denise. Or Dorcas and Ambrose might need an office manager. That would be sort of cool, helping a witch and wizard.’’
‘‘A what?’’ He stared at her and wondered if he’d misunderstood.
‘‘That’s what they called themselves when they showed up in the woods that last night I was here, the night we met George.’’
‘‘Who’s George? What are you talking about?’’
‘‘You know, George.’’
‘‘There is no one living in Big Knob named George. I can vouch for that.’’
Maggie frowned. ‘‘You don’t remember George?’’
‘‘I know everyone in town, and there’s no one here by that name. You must be confused.’’
She peered at him, her expression puzzled. ‘‘Would you excuse me a minute?’’ She wiggled out of his arms. ‘‘I need to make a call.’’
‘‘Now?’’ He followed her into the entry hall.
‘‘Dorcas is expecting me any minute, so I need to let her know I’ll be late.’’ She pulled a cell phone out of her purse.
‘‘Don’t mention any of that witch and wizard stuff.’’ Sean hovered nearby. ‘‘I know we talked about Dorcas and Ambrose being a little different from the rest of the people in town, but they’re not that different.’’ He wondered if Maggie had been watching too many movies.
She punched in a number and held the phone to her ear. ‘‘I promise to be careful about what I say. Hello, Dorcas? It’s Maggie. I’m at Sean’s, and he says there’s no one in town named George.’’ She listened for a moment. ‘‘Yes, that’s what I thought. Anyway, I was wondering—could you use a personal assistant for Hot Prospects, Inc.?’’
Now that he thought about it, he could imagine Maggie working for Ambrose and Dorcas. They were from out of town. She was from out of town. They’d get along.
‘‘You could?’’ Maggie smiled and blew him a kiss. ‘‘That’s wonderful. Just a sec.’’ She put her hand over the phone. ‘‘Will I be staying here tonight?’’
Fire ran through his body and settled in his groin. ‘‘If I have anything to say about it, you will.’’
‘‘You have everything to say about it.’’ She returned to her phone call. ‘‘I’ll see you in the morning, then, okay? Bye, Dorcas.’’ She closed the phone and tucked it back in her purse before turning to Sean. ‘‘Now, where were we?’’
He ached so much he wondered if they’d make it to the downstairs bedroom. ‘‘You
were about to take off your coat and stay awhile.’’
‘‘You’re right. I was.’’ She slipped out of her trench coat and hung it on the coat tree.
‘‘Much better.’’ He gathered her close and nibbled on her ear. ‘‘Let me give you a tour of the house.’’
‘‘Okay.’’
He nuzzled her throat and her breathing quickened. ‘‘We’ll start with the downstairs bedroom, which happens to be the only one with a bed in it.’’
‘‘I’d enjoy seeing that.’’
‘‘Then again, I may not be able to walk that far.’’ He backed her up against the wall and began unfastening the buttons of her sweater.
She moaned softly. ‘‘The hall’s nice, too.’’
‘‘Mm.’’ He opened the front catch of her bra and cradled her breasts in both hands.
She arched into his embrace. ‘‘Oh, and about George . . . I must have been thinking of someone else. Dorcas said there’s no one in Big Knob by that name.’’
At the moment Sean didn’t care if there was a fire-breathing dragon named George living right next door. He was too busy loving Maggie to think about it.
Over Hexed Page 29
