It's Only Temporary - The Complete Collection

by Megan Bryce

  She half expected his eyes to open, half expected him to wake up and ask her just what in the hell she thought she was doing.

  She said, “I don’t know. But you don’t need to worry. I know how to keep a wild man tamed. I learned at Mother’s feet, didn’t I?”

  She closed her eyes and remembered the hundred times her father had stood proudly before her mother, the hundred times he’d said, “Never tamed. Only caged.” The hundred times her mother had feathered kisses across his lips, the hundred times she’d said, “You’d like to think so.”

  Maggie put his hand down. “She’s waiting for you, Daddy. She’s been waiting a long time.”

  Cole was in the kitchen, sitting at the counter. A glass of milk, a plate of cookies in front of him.

  He said, “I didn’t hear any screaming.”

  “No screaming.”

  He held a cookie up for her to take a bite. She took a step forward and he pulled her into his lap. He fed her bites of cookie and held her. They didn’t speak, just sat there together.

  Cole took a long drink of milk, sighing happily, and she leaned back into him, listening to the quiet house, listening to her father’s machine.

  Cole said, “Okay?”

  She smiled at him. Everything was okay.

  She stood, taking his hand, and led him to her bedroom while the lights were still on.

  Cole lay between Maggie legs, his head pillowed between her breasts, and he murmured against her skin, “Marry me.”

  “Is that how you’re going to ask me?”

  “No. I’m not going to ask you. I’m in your bed, you’re wearing my ring. You’re going to marry me.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh at him, couldn’t help but be amused at how high handed he was.

  He pushed himself up enough to see her face. He said, “I make you laugh, I make you come. You’re going to marry me.”

  “Is that all there is to marriage?”

  “What else could there possibly be?”

  She didn’t know, she’d never found anyone who’d made her think of marriage.

  She said, “Trust?”

  “You can trust me.”

  “Do you trust me?”

  He leaned down to lick her nipple. “Only when I can see you.”

  She ran her hands through his hair and smiled at the ceiling.

  He said, “But does any man trust his wife when she’s out of sight?”

  “Probably in a good marriage he would.”

  “We just wouldn’t have a good marriage. We’d have a volatile, knockdown-dragout, kiss and make up, see who has the upper hand today, always keep you in my sight marriage.”

  It did not sound that bad, actually.

  She said, “Who has the upper hand today?”

  “I do. You’re going to marry me.”

  “Not today I’m not.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  When she laughed, he rolled off her, off the bed. He went to his knees beside the bed and she rolled to her side to face him.

  He took her hand, looked at the ring, and said, “I knew. As soon as you waltzed into my office, I knew what I’d been missing the last few years. Knew what I’d thrown away.”

  She shook her head and he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck. He said, “I did. And I won’t do it again.”

  She said, “What about love?”

  He stared at her. “Would you ever marry someone just because you loved him? Because I can’t see it.”

  She wouldn’t. What was love? And how could something that burned so bright last for fifty years?

  Marriage was a merger. You had to want the same things, want to go the same direction. Be willing to compromise.

  She said, “I’m not sure about marriage in general. I don’t think we’d be any good at it.”

  “Why not?”

  “We don’t know how to compromise.”

  “We might not be any good at compromise but we get there eventually. We know how to deal.”

  She rolled back over to stare at the ceiling and Cole said, “Do you want the words, Maggie?”

  Her heart contracted and she froze. Did she want the words? Did she want Cole to love her?

  Did she want to say the words back?

  She shook her head ever so slightly.

  Cole climbed back in bed, leaning over her and saying, “I’ll have Paul write up a proposal.”

  Maggie let out her breath, let Cole pull her back from the edge.

  “What’s going to be in it?”

  “All of you to me. All of me to you. Forever.”

  She whispered, “Forever is a long time.”

  “Yep.”

  “Well, I’ll think about it. I’ll look for the proposal from Paul.”

  He smiled at her. “I can probably write this one up myself.”

  He rolled back out of bed, reaching for his bag and digging out a pen and paper. He scribbled on it and handed it to her.

  All of you to me. All of me to you. Forever.

  He’d signed and dated it, and Maggie looked down at it, her heart squeezed so tight, her throat closed.

  She looked back up at him watching, waiting. Still.

  The thought ran through her mind that you don’t make a deal with the devil and survive it. She’d barely survived the first one. It was safe to say she wouldn’t survive this one.

  But Maggie wasn’t going to be careful. She wasn’t going to be smart.

  She’d never been careful or smart with him.

  Maggie signed and dated it still looking at him.

  He smiled slowly and waited. Waited for her to come to him because she couldn’t stay away.

  She dropped the pen and paper on the floor and lay down with him on the bed.

  He pulled her close and whispered so softly she could pretend she couldn’t hear him. “I’ll give you the words, Maggie. When you’re ready. When you want them.”

  When she was ready to believe them. When she wanted to say them back.

  She closed her eyes and tried not to be afraid because Cole Montgomery loved her. Tried not to be afraid because she loved him back.

  Megan BryceSome Like It Ruthless

  Fourteen

  Cole was sitting at the counter when Tanner came in the kitchen Saturday morning. Rosa was cooking, ignoring him.

  Tanner stopped and looked between them, debating whether he really wanted to be there. Cole turned toward him, raising an eyebrow. Waiting, taunting.

  Tanner sighed and took the stool next to Cole.

  Rosa’s shoulders hunched and she banged her spatula against the skillet where pancakes were cooking. Tanner looked at the coffee maker sitting next to her and decided he’d just wait. For as long as it took.

  She finally whipped open the cupboard door and poured two cups, setting them in front of the men with a glare. She pulled out the cream, handing it to Tanner and muttering something in Spanish. Tanner didn’t know what, he’d never learned, but Cole answered her. In Spanish.

  Rosa froze, then turned back to the pancakes, flipping them. She said something else over her shoulder. Cole answered.

  Tanner sipped at his coffee, watching them, watching Rosa’s shoulders slowly relax as they talked.

  Rosa filled a plate and turned around. She watched Cole, her face closed. She said something and when Cole nodded, she put the plate in front of him.

  Cole glanced at Tanner and said, “She was reading me the riot act.”

  Tanner snorted. “No, she wasn’t.”

  “You speak Spanish?”

  “No. But I know what Rosa looks like when she’s mad. How do you know Spanish?”

  “I grew up speaking Spanish, half my employees are Hispanic.”

  Tanner nodded, digging into his plate when Rosa set it in front of him.

  They ate in silence. When they’d finished, Tanner sat back and said, “Going to be around today?”

  “For the weekend.”

  Rosa muttered to the stove, “Every weekend.
”

  Cole smiled at her back and Tanner nodded again and thought, Cole Montgomery’s brother-in-law. Get in there, Tanner.

  But it was Saturday and all Tanner wanted to do was relax. Try to figure out how to spend the weekend without drinking. Without wanting to drink.

  Cole pulled a check out of his pocket, setting it on the counter in front of Tanner.

  Tanner looked at it, smiling, and Cole said, “You did better than I was expecting.”

  “It was Ginny.”

  Cole nodded. “I’ve negotiated with her before. I don’t really want to do it again.”

  Tanner laughed. “Those Caldwell girls.”

  “What are you going to do with it?”

  Ginny pushed open the kitchen door and Tanner looked at her when he said, “I’m going to rehab and then we’re moving into a little apartment.”

  Ginny wrapped her arms around his shoulders and said, “I think it’s enough to keep the cockroaches away.”

  Tanner chuckled. It was enough for now to keep the cockroaches away. And they would make it into more. Maybe not the fortune he’d lost but enough. Enough for them.

  Ginny said, “I’m leaving Caldwell. Tanner and I are starting our own business. If you need a negotiator, give us a call.”

  Cole said, “I may take you up on that. I have recently realized how much I hate Dallas. Does Maggie know?”

  She shook her head. “Not yet.”

  Tanner looked up at Ginny, at the determination on her face. She’d told him last night she was going to quit, that she wanted to start their own company.

  He hadn’t known what to give her in return except that if she was going to give up everything for him, he could do the same for her. He’d chosen rehab, had called last night and had scheduled it.

  Maggie came through the kitchen door slowly, looked at the four of them, and said, “Does Maggie know what?”

  Ginny said, “Tanner and I are starting our own business. I’m leaving Caldwell.”

  “You still vote half of Daddy’s shares.”

  Ginny nodded. Maggie looked at Cole for a long moment, then said to Ginny, “I know Caldwell doesn’t mean the same to you as it means to me. It never did.”

  “It would be hard for Caldwell to mean as much to anyone as it means to you. You love it, are dedicated to it.”

  Maggie looked at Tanner and said, “Yeah. Dedication. Love. You’ve spent yours on someone instead of something.”

  She smiled at Ginny, pecking Rosa’s cheek as she handed off a cup of coffee. “What are you going to name the new company?”

  Tanner let out a silent breath and Ginny relaxed against him. She said, “We haven’t decided yet.”

  Tanner squeezed her. “Yes, we have.”

  “We’re not calling it that.”

  He smiled and didn’t say anything, and Ginny muttered, “We’re not calling it that.”

  Maggie raised her eyebrows in question and Tanner said, “Forgin. For Ginny.”

  Maggie and Ginny shook their heads.

  Tanner grinned, thinking they could have so much fun with that. If they were going to start something together, it should be fun.

  Maggie said, “It’s sweet, though.”

  Ginny said, “We’ll work on it.”

  Cole said, “Maybe that’s what I can give you in return for working around my issues. I’ll call the new house Formag.”

  Maggie shook her head. “That’s not going to do it.”

  Cole said to Tanner and Ginny, “I have issues with Jackson Harwood she’s trying to work around.”

  Tanner pretended he didn’t know what Cole was talking about but Ginny turned to Maggie and said, “We know. We helped Cole buy the loans from him.”

  Maggie looked between Tanner and Ginny, then turned to Cole. “I guess you can get my sister on your side.”

  “Only when it’s not going to hurt you.”

  Maggie walked over to Ginny and Tanner jerked his head, standing up quickly. Ginny just stood there, waiting for whatever Maggie would dish out to her.

  Maggie said, “You would never betray me. I know it. And you didn’t betray Tanner. You did what was hard, what was best. So I know with this you did what was hard, what was best. Even if it isn’t what I would have done.”

  “Best for me or best for you?”

  “Best for you, at no cost to me.”

  Cole said, “Oh, really.”

  She looked over her shoulder at him. “You would have done it even if you couldn’t have got my sister to go along with it. I’m not going to be mad at her about it.”

  Cole grinned at Ginny. “You’re welcome.”

  Ginny said, “Sisters forever.”

  Maggie nodded. “That’s how it works.”

  Maggie hugged Ginny hard and whispered, “You’re still a Caldwell. It’s just spelled Beaumont now.”

  Maggie and Ginny ate their pancakes and Tanner and Cole watched them.

  Cole said, “You like video games? We could bring over the flatscreen and hook it up,” and Tanner thought it might not be as bad as he’d thought to be related to the man.

  Ginny cocked her head and said, “What do you think about TVB? Tanner Virginia Beaumont.”

  He kissed her before following Cole out the door and said, “We’ll work on it.”

  Samuel Caldwell died early the next morning. The hospice nurse was called, the mortuary alerted, and Ginny and Maggie sat with him until they came for his body. They held each other’s hands and tried not to cry. They told stories of him, and despite how it hurt, they knew it was better for him now. His suffering would be over and he would be with their mother again.

  Ginny said, “Heaven’s in for a rude awakening.”

  Maggie smiled. “Maybe that’s what he was waiting for. To give Mother enough time to argue him in.”

  After the funeral, Cole and Maggie left for Midland in separate vehicles. Cole had hated it, had tried to get her to change her mind, but it was more practical to have two vehicles. She wouldn’t feel so stuck, wouldn’t have to plan taking the truck out around when he needed it. She sold him on taking her car when she said she’d leave it in Midland permanently, drive back with him on the weekends. If they even decided they needed to come back at all.

  They’d ordered recliners, a TV would be delivered the next afternoon. What did they need to drive to Dallas for, after all?

  They spent the days working, the nights shopping online, and before Monday rolled around, they had a new washer and dryer, fridge and microwave, along with Cole’s white kitchen table.

  Maggie’s desk was arriving later that morning. The second bedroom had been turned into a closet/dressing area/office. She’d shown him the desk she’d wanted when he’d picked out his kitchen table and Cole had said, “You have a desk in my office.”

  “I can’t get anything done in your office.”

  “You can’t?” And then he’d proceeded to prove just why exactly she couldn’t get anything done.

  They lay curled together in their king-sized bed, his nose still pressed into her neck despite all the room they had now.

  She said, “You’ll get a lot more done if I’m not there distracting you.”

  “I don’t mind you distracting me.”

  “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could get our work done and then come home for dinner? Have some time together without sneaking past Paul?”

  “You really want to work out here alone? I thought I wasn’t ever going to let you out of my sight.”

  “I could work here in the mornings and then come out to you for lunch, work with you the rest of the day. That way we can at least finish half the things we need to get done.”

  He’d reluctantly agreed and she knew he was just as behind as she was.

  Maggie kissed Cole goodbye and worked at the kitchen table until her desk was delivered and placed just so in the little bedroom.

  It was quiet, there was no dust, and she missed Cole. But she did get a lot of work done.

  H
er cell rang and she answered it, briefly glancing at the caller ID, thinking it would be Cole checking up on her.

  Instead, it was a banker and he said, “Ms. Caldwell, we received your mortgage payment. I just wanted to personally let you know that the paper’s have gone through and your mortgage has been transferred. Would you like me to forward your payment or shall I destroy the check?”

  Maggie froze. She felt the twinge in her stomach, the clang of alarms going off in the back of her head, and she said slowly, “Who bought it?”

  There was a long pause and he finally said, “I thought you knew. MOC.”

  Maggie stood in the kitchen, staring at the white kitchen table.

  She’d liked this little house. Had liked living here with Cole because it had felt like an us. Not his, not hers. Theirs.

  But he’d bought her mortgage. It was only half her fault that she couldn’t trust him.

  He’d have a reason for buying it, a good reason. And she’d forgive him. Again and again and again.

  Because he’d keep pushing. He didn’t trust her either; he wanted to own her. He wanted to own enough of her that she couldn’t ever leave.

  Maggie knew now what she wanted from Cole. She knew now he wasn’t ever going to give it to her.

  Maggie walked out to her car slowly, drove over to the offices even slower. She would do what was hard, what was best, and would put her sunglasses on to hide the truth.

  Paul was typing and talking into the phone when she passed his desk and he gave her a brief smile.

  When Cole saw her, he smiled. “Did your desk get delivered?”

  Maggie kept her sunglasses on and held out a check to him.

  He took it, flicking his eyes down and back up. “What’s this?”

  “Mortgage payment.”

  “Shit.”

  She almost smiled.

  She turned away, breathing deeply, keeping her eyes wide open.

  He jumped out of his chair. “It’s not what it looks like.”

  Maggie cleared her throat and said, “It looks like MOC bought my mortgage.”

  “Okay, it is what it looks like.”

  She closed her eyes. “Ginny’s shares. My loans with Harwood. The house. It’s exactly what your father did to the Beaumonts. He just kept buying them up until he had everything. Until he owned them and could do whatever he wanted with them.”