“How long until nationals?”
“Two months. Which isn’t much time to learn a new routine.”
Jon frowned. “You’ll be gone every weekend for two months? Can’t you just use the routine you won with?”
Maggie shook her head. “Whole different playing field, so we have to step up our game. We won’t know if we’ll be training in Salt Lake or Dallas until mid-next week anyway. If we bomb the auditions this weekend, then we’re back to square one finding an instructor on short notice.”
“Wait. You’re flying to Salt Lake and Dallas this weekend?”
“Yes. We leave early Friday morning.”
Talk about being left in the dark. “Why didn’t I know any of this?”
She fiddled with the hem on her sundress. “Because you were gone last week.” And I didn’t hear from you wasn’t said but it sure as hell was implied. “I also had a job interview with the Billings firm on Wednesday.” Maggie finally looked at him. “And it went well.”
“But I thought you weren’t going to add that stress to your week.”
“I had to prepare for the possibility we might lose. Our rehearsal schedule will get more intensive. Winning a regional championship was the first leg of the race. Now we’re training for a marathon.”
Jared leaned over and patted Jon’s leg. “Sorry, bro. How much does that suck?”
“What?” he practically snarled.
“You decide to settle down at home after years of nonstop touring and the first woman you hook up with will be on the road as much as you used to be. Is that karma? Or irony?”
Silence.
Maggie stood abruptly. “Excuse me.” She took off before Jon could stop her.
“Jesus, Jared, way to be an ass,” Gabe said.
Jon pushed to his feet and glared at his brother. “Hook up? Really Jared? Maggie isn’t just a hook up for me and you damn well know it.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Jared pleaded with Gabe. “You know what I meant, right?”
Gabe shook his head.
Jared tipped his head back and stared at the sky. “I’m sorry. It’s just…you don’t drag every woman you’re seeing home to meet the family, so I know Maggie is different…Christ. I should keep my damn mouth shut.”
“Good plan.”
Jon hadn’t seen which direction Maggie had gone. He ducked around the side of the house and caught his mother sneaking a cigarette behind the garage. “Hey, cheater. I thought you quit.”
“Nope. I’m down to four a day, which is pretty good.” She blew out a stream of smoke. “You like this Maggie.”
That was a major understatement. “Yep.”
“You’ve been dating what? A couple months? And you’re already bringing her to meet us? That’s fast for you.”
“It happened pretty fast. Since the minute I walked into her dance class I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her. Have you seen her?”
She pointed to the front of the house.
He tracked her to Raven’s favorite hiding spot in the small rock garden. “You trying to ditch me? Or are you just getting ready to run, now that I’ve subjected you to the White Feather gang?”
“Don’t be like that, Jon. Everyone in your family has been great. But as I’ve been sitting here, trying to put a lid on all the doubts, and focus on these lovely clematis vines, I realized Jared does have a point—several of them in fact.”
“Maggie—”
“Please don’t deny it. There’s stuff going on in your life you haven’t talked about, so you have no right to get pissy with me.”
“I wasn’t pissy. Just surprised, okay?”
“So why are we avoiding a discussion about what happens next?”
Jon straddled the bench and gently grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him. “We aren’t avoiding it. We’re prioritizing how we spend the time we do have together.”
“Naked and sweaty?” she said with an edge.
“Something wrong with that? ’Cause, doll face, you sure didn’t seem to mind last night. Or this morning.”
Her eyes narrowed. “There’s the I-gave-it-to-you-good, baby, rock-star attitude.”
“Don’t do that. That’s not me, Maggie, and you damn well know it.”
“Then tell me why you went out of town last week.”
Fuck. He couldn’t.
Yes, you can. Trust her. Tell her you’re working on a project and that’s all she can know for now.
But that was a lie. He’d rather dodge the question than lie to her. And that sucked because he didn’t have anyone besides his agent to talk to—and Marty wasn’t unbiased when it came to a potential commission. Jon was adrift on so many levels and he just wanted to forget about all the decisions hanging in the balance when he was alone with her. “Can we talk about this later?”
Maggie frowned. “You aren’t blowing this off, right? Because it is important.”
“I know. But so is this.” He cupped the back of her neck, bringing her sweet mouth closer to kiss the frown right off her luscious lips.
“Great. Like I didn’t get enough of watching you swallow my sister’s face last time I saw you two together,” Billy said behind them. “Classy.”
Maggie opened her eyes, locking her gaze to Jon’s before she broke the kiss with a smile. “Here’s a piece of advice: the next time you see Jon and me in a private moment? Walk away so you won’t get your virginal sensibilities offended.”
Jon heard Eden snicker.
Maggie didn’t stand; she just crossed her arms over her chest. “What are you doing here anyway?”
“Jim invited us.”
He should’ve kept his mouth shut, but Jon still hadn’t come to terms with all the bullshit that’d gone down in Billy’s office a few weeks back. “So you show up for a White Feather family gathering, but you couldn’t be bothered to drive to the CAM-PLEX in Gillette to support your sister at the regional dance finals yesterday?”
Billy’s gaze turned razor sharp. “What are you talking about?”
“Jon,” Maggie warned, “let it go.”
But he didn’t. “I’m talking about the dance competition that Maggie and Seth have been training for, for months? Why weren’t you there?”
Billy’s mouth fell open. “The contest or dance-off or whatever it’s called…was yesterday?”
Shit. Maggie hadn’t told him?
Eden looked between Billy and Maggie. “Well, it appears someone forgot to tell us. So maybe you oughta tell us what gives, Maggie?”
Maggie’s chin came up. “I didn’t tell you because I was already on edge about competing after so many years away from it. Knowing how Billy feels about my dancing…can you really blame me?”
Jon disagreed. She should’ve at least given her brother the option of attending. And Billy wore such a look of sorrow Jon almost felt sorry for him.
Eden took a step forward. “I love you, Maggie, but that’s a load of crap. I understand that it seemed like Billy didn’t support your dance aspirations in the past, but that was years ago. Now you’re the one making assumptions about what level of support he’s willing to offer you? How about if the two of you boneheads leave the past in the past? Oh. And here’s a novel idea. Talk to each other. Don’t continue to fall back into those big-brother-little-sister roles.” She whirled around and poked Billy in the chest. “That goes for you too, mister, when it comes to relationship stuff. Maggie and Jon are together. Find a better way to deal with it than sarcasm.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And because you’re both here, we’re gonna deal with the fallout from this right now. Billy, my beloved. Tell Maggie what you’re feeling.”
At first, Billy looked like he’d call bullshit on Eden’s demand, but he kept his focus on Maggie. “I would’ve liked the chance to be in the audience cheering you on because I’ve never seen you dance like that.”
“Maggie?” Eden said. “It’s your turn.”
“I don’t hold a grudge
about that. You always supported me in math and science and technology because those were things you understood. Tendu, tutus and relevé—not so much.”
“I’m a worrier, Maggie. Add to the fact I’m an engineer, and your older brother and I’m an epic anal worrier.” He smiled sadly. “I’ve always thought you were like me, but you’re not, are you?”
“On some things. You had a career and life-altering revelation at age thirty-two. And here I am, dealing with the same thing.”
Jon had a pang of guilt. There was a lot of stuff he and Maggie hadn’t talked about and rather than taking the chance and opening up to her a few minutes ago, he’d distracted her. No wonder his relationships were short-lived and he suspected it wasn’t entirely due to his on-the-road lifestyle.
“I’m not making the choices you would,” Maggie continued. “That doesn’t make either of us right or wrong, just different.”
“So you don’t want my support?” Billy asked tightly.
Maggie got to her feet and hugged him. “I absolutely want your support. But I want you to remember I’ll either thrive or fail on my own. But neither of those outcomes is on your shoulders this time.”
“Old habits are hard to break, little sis.”
“I get that. But you can transfer all that bossiness and overprotectiveness to baby Buchanan.” She smirked. “I’m off the hook for at least the next eighteen years.”
Billy laughed. And he hugged her. “Fair enough.”
Eden clapped her hands. “See how much better everything is when you talk it out and everyone gets along?” She nudged her husband. “Now you and Jon shake hands.”
Billy said, “Don’t push it.”
Maggie and Eden laughed, but Jon knew Billy wasn’t trying to be funny.
“You guys going back to the party?” Eden asked.
Jon stood and draped his arm over Maggie’s shoulder. “No, we’re leaving. But have fun.”
“I’ll call you this week,” Maggie said to her brother.
It wasn’t until they were in Jon’s car that he realized what Maggie hadn’t said. “You didn’t tell him that you and Seth won.”
She shrugged. “He won’t be able to attend the finals anyway so there’s no reason to make him feel guilty. Besides, I talked to my sister Lacy yesterday and she’s already volunteered to fly to Florida and represent the Buchanan family. I know Billy will be good with that.”
They didn’t talk much on the way back to Maggie’s place. He knew she was preoccupied so he didn’t push.
She invited him inside. After she’d poured them both a glass of iced tea, she asked the question he’d been dreading.
“So Jon… How long were you and Eden together?”
It didn’t escape Maggie’s notice that Jon froze.
“What makes you think we were anything besides friends?”
Maggie rolled her eyes. “Look in the mirror, rock star. No woman would turn down a chance to get naked with you. Plus, my brother doesn’t like you, which tells me you were more than friends with the woman he loves.”
When Jon remained quiet, Maggie blurted, “Holy hell, Jon. Please tell me you aren’t still in love with her.”
“No. I never was in love with her. Sad commentary, but we used each other for sex and neither of us pretended it was anything else. Then Billy came along, and after one night where the three of us got wild together, I saw how much Billy loved her, so I stepped out of the picture completely.”
Maggie’s mouth dropped open. “You had sex with my brother?”
“No. Jesus. I don’t swing that way. You’ve been in bed with me, doll face, and you know how much I love pussy, so why would you even ask me that?”
“Because you’re accepting of Jared and Gabe’s relationship.”
Jon frowned. “Jared isn’t gay. He and Gabe are just roommates.”
Evidently Jon had blinders on when it came to his little brother’s sexual orientation and it wasn’t her place to remove them. “My mistake. So what happened the night you three got wild?”
“Billy and I both had sex with Eden. Separately and together.”
Silence. Then Maggie laughed. “I never thought my uptight brother had it in him to be a sexual wild man, let alone participate in a kinky threesome. But it makes sense why he didn’t want you and me to get involved. ’Cause I’m pretty sure that wasn’t your first or your last ménage.”
“Nope.” Jon kept his gaze on hers. “Now that you’ve heard my dark sexual secrets, you gonna hold stuff against me that happened a long time ago?”
She shook her head.
That seemed to surprise him. “Any wild nights you wanna share with me?” he asked lightly.
“My life—sex and otherwise—has been very tame compared to yours.”
He flashed her that pure bad-boy grin. “Lucky thing you have me here to further your raunchy education.”
Maggie raised an eyebrow. “The student becoming the teacher? Bring it.”
“Well, I have had this fantasy of smacking your ass with a ruler.”
“Not a chance, little drummer boy. But if you do well on the oral exam I might let you bang my erasers.”
Chapter Twelve
The next weekend was a blur of dancing, airports, trying to catch sleep, and discussion about routines and strategy. Maggie returned to Spearfish late Sunday night. Although exhausted, she called Jon and he insisted on coming over. Apparently he’d missed her as much as she’d missed him.
He’d be missing her a lot in the next eight weeks because Vladimir had agreed to coach them. She and Seth would be spending Friday, Saturday and half of Sunday in Salt Lake City.
While Maggie was pumped for the opportunity, she realized her life would not be her own for the next two months. They’d still need to rehearse the other four nights of the week, which meant driving back and forth every day. Although her hours at the doctor’s office were somewhat flexible, she couldn’t afford to take off every Friday from work and stay overnight in Rapid.
After scoring one of the best teachers in the business, there was no way Maggie could back out and take the job offer from the company in Billings. They required an immediate start date, not two months down the road after nationals, so she declined their offer.
Maggie heard a voice in the back of her head, calling her a fool for letting such a great job opportunity pass her by. At first she believed the voice belonged to her brother, but the louder it became, the more she realized it was her own.
Leaving the computer securities business hadn’t been her choice. It’d been a blessing in disguise, giving her a break to evaluate her career and her life.
And now Jon was in her life. For how long?
Hopefully forever. If they could just get through the next few weeks with her hectic schedule they could sit down and figure out what to do for the long haul.
They’d just have to make it work.
This wasn’t working.
Jon watched Maggie sleeping. They’d tumbled straight into bed after her late arrival from the airport. Even after three months together, sex between them continued to shake the rafters, but they rarely talked afterward anymore.
It’d been years since he’d forged a friends and lovers connection with a woman. Now that he had that, he missed that side of his relationship with Maggie. Just hanging out at his place or hers, doing their own things, but together. Indulging in normal
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