Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
~CAMERON~
“ W ould you like something to drink?” The words are whispered so they don’t wake Maggie, who’s finally sleeping in the seat next to me.
I shake my head at the flight attendant and accept the offered blanket, taking it from the plastic cover to drape gently over Maggie.
By some miracle, we were able to get the last two seats in first class on a direct flight to Seattle. It’ll be late by the time we get home, but we didn’t care.
Maggie wanted to be home, and I can’t blame her.
I’ve never been prouder of someone in my life as I was when she sat in that office in the bank and took care of her business. She was professional and cool as a cucumber. She was completely out of her element but held her own, asked the questions she had, and was utterly amazing.
She didn’t show any nerves at all until we got back to the room.
It was fascinating to see the burden of everything Joey did lift from her strong shoulders. She was lighter. Quicker to smile.
Relieved.
And I was right there with her. I’ve never been so relieved for someone to have intel. Because I already knew most of what she found, and I couldn’t tell her. Now, she understands what I do. There are no more secrets. No more accounts to find or secrets lurking that could spring up and hurt her.
She has all of the information.
And I can breathe a sigh of relief and be with the woman I’m completely in love with. We can build a relationship without Joey The Lemon hanging over our heads.
Maggie stirs next to me as we begin our descent into Seattle. She looks over at me and grins.
“We’re almost home,” I say and take her hand in mine.
“We still have a ferry ride,” she replies with a yawn. “But that’s okay. Did you sleep?”
“No.” I kiss her hand. “But I’m glad you did. Did you know that you snore?”
Her green eyes widen in horror. “I do not. ”
“I would have taken a video, but I didn’t want to embarrass you.”
“Cameron Cox, I do not snore.”
She glances around to make sure that no one is laughing at her, and I can’t help but chuckle.
“You’re not funny.”
“I’m sort of funny.” I kiss her hand again. “You didn’t snore. Much.”
“Since when are you so mean?”
“ Mean ? Me?”
She simply glares at me and then snorts and gets her area ready for landing.
“You’ll be staying the night at my place,” I inform her.
“I will?”
“Yes. You don’t have hot water at your house, and I’m sure you’ll want a hot shower.”
“Oh, right. Yeah, I definitely want that. I’ll call the repair guy in the morning. Hopefully, he can fit me in right away. I also need to buy a car.”
“We can go into the city on your day off and find one,” I offer.
“Can’t I just buy one online? I don’t care what vehicle I get as long as it runs.”
“Well, you can, but I would think you’d want to test-drive something before you pay thousands of dollars for it.”
“I suppose you’re right.” She scrunches her nose. “Okay, we’ll go later this week.”
“You really have no interest in your choice of car? No vehicle that you’re dying to have?”
“Not really.”
“Oh, baby, we’ll have to work on that.”
“I should be tired,” Maggie says two hours later after we walk into my house, and I set our bags inside. “And I am, but I’m not quite sleepy. Do you have any food here? I can make us grilled cheese sandwiches or something.”
She opens the fridge to check out the contents.
“I totally can. You have all of the ingredients. What do you think?”
“You make it, I’ll eat it.”
Her face lights up in a big smile. “Fun. Middle-of-the-night grilled cheese. Do you have wine?”
“I do. Red or white?”
“Since I’ve never paired a wine with grilled cheese before, let’s go with white.”
She sets a pan on the gas stove, and armed with butter and bread, gets to work while I uncork a bottle of white wine and pour two glasses.
“People pair wine with cheese all the time,” I remind her. “This is a fancy meal.”
“Right.” She winks and piles cheese on a sandwich. “When I was a kid, I remember getting up in the middle of the night and finding my da in the kitchen making one of these. He said he’d never heard of it until he came to the States, and it’s a delight that every person should eat at least once a month.”
“That sounds like him.”
She smiles softly. I know she’s very close to her father.
“Were you surprised that they showed up the other day?”
“I was shocked. When I found them at the pub the day that you and Kane pissed me off, I just started to cry.”
“Maggie, I’m sorry?—”
“No, it’s okay. I mean, it’s not okay , but I’m fine now. It was just a lot of emotion, and I fell apart for a minute. It’s not a big deal. I love that they’re here until after Maeve has the baby. It means they’ll be here for months , and there’s nothing better than that.”
She slides a finished sandwich onto a plate, cuts it in half, diagonally , and passes it over to me, then gets to work making another.
I crunch into the crispy, hot grilled cheese and moan.
“Good?” she asks.
“Holy shit. I had the ingredients for this ?”
Maggie laughs and nods. “I could have added some of that turkey you have in the deli drawer, but I wasn’t sure how long it’s been in there.”
“Probably best you left it off,” I say and take another bite. “We should make this a regular thing.”
“If you like this, you should try it with my homemade tomato soup.”
I stare at her and then stuff more into my mouth before I do something stupid like ask her to marry me.
We’ll get there but not because she taunted me with soup.
With her sandwich done, Maggie sits on a stool and takes a bite. “Mm, good. Not as good as my da’s, but it’ll do.”
“It’ll do.” I chuckle and put my plate in the dishwasher. Before I can turn around, Maggie has wrapped herself around me, her face pressed to my back, and her hands clamped together against my stomach. “Hey, you okay?”
“Yeah. I am. I’m great, actually, and I’m really grateful.”
I scowl and pull her hands apart so I can turn and look at her.
“Grateful?”
“I know that Kane or my parents—or any of my family—would have gone down there with me, but I’m relieved that it was you. So, thanks for going with me.”
“Honey, I don’t think even an act of God would have kept me away. Are you going to finish that sandwich?”
She laughs and then shakes her head. “I’m done. You can have it.”
Rather than reach for it, I tip her chin up. “Hey. Seriously, I’m glad I was there. I’m also glad that we’re home, and you can put the hardest stuff behind you.”
“Yeah.” She lets out a breath. “Exactly. I think the trip and the emotion of it all is catching up with me.”
“Do you want to take a shower real quick?”
“Yes, I have airplane smell on me now.” She wrinkles her nose. “And germs. I’ll be quick.”
She kisses my chin and then hurries down the hall.
“I’m going to borrow a T-shirt,” she calls out.
“Take what you need,” I yell back as I finish her sandwich and add her plate to the dishwasher.
I haul the suitcases into the bedroom and quickly unpack mine, separating the laundry and taking the toiletries to the bathroom.
“Is that you?”
“I hope so.” I grin at her as she peels back the shower curtain and gives me a long, slow look from head to toe.
“It’s a little lonely in here.”
“Is that so?” I toe off my shoes. “We don’t want you to be lonely.”
“And my back needs to be washed.”
She disappears again, and I strip out of my clothes, then join her in the shower.
“Hi,” she says with a grin. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“You’re in a fun mood for someone who’s been awake for pretty much twenty-four hours.”
“We should have more fun,” she says and reaches out to grab my ass. “You have a good butt.”
I pour shower gel into my hand and then get to work washing Maggie’s back. “Thanks. You have a good everything.”
“Nah, I have cellulite on my ass.”
I spin her around so I can examine said ass, dragging my soapy hands all over her.
“I see no evidence of this.”
“You’re just not looking very hard.”
“No, I’m looking. Trust me, I’m looking.”
She giggles. I run my hand around to her breasts and tease her nipples.
The giggle turns into a sigh.
“You’re really good with your hands.”
“We’re a little too chatty.”
“You don’t want to talk with me?”
I press my lips to her ear. “I want you so worked up you can’t remember what words are. ”
“Oh.”
The water sluices over us, rinsing away the water as I press Maggie’s back against the tile wall.
She yelps from the cold, and then I boost her up and easily slide inside her.
“Oh, God,” she moans. “I never thought shower sex was fun.”
“Why not?” With one hand braced on the tile, I drag my nose up her neck.
“Because it’s cold. And wet.”
“Let’s warm you up.”
It’s fast, and it’s hot, and by the time Maggie’s a quivering mass of orgasmic need, the water has turned cold.
“Come on, let’s get you warm.”
I turn off the tap and reach for a towel, but Maggie just grins.
“I can’t feel my legs. I’d say I’m fine for now.”
I laugh at her, then manage to get us both dry and into bed.
“Can’t keep my eyes open,” she whispers.
“Go to sleep.” I kiss her forehead, and with Mary Margaret wrapped around me, I drift off to sleep with her.
“I have to go meet the hot water heater guy,” Maggie informs me.
“I believe he’s a plumber,” I reply with a laugh and tuck her hair behind her ear. “I’ll drive you home in just a few.”
“I can walk.”
“No need. I have to go see Kane this morning.”
“Are you going to tell him all about what happened yesterday?”
“No, that’s not my story to tell. I’m going to drink his coffee and eat his food. We get together every Friday morning for breakfast.”
“I didn’t know that.” She pauses and looks over at me. “How long have you done that?”
“For years. If I’m in town, we have a standing date. It’s been more regular since I moved into the house and don’t travel for work anymore.”
“That’s kind of cute.”
I narrow my eyes at her. “ Cute ?”
“Yeah.” She grins and sashays over to pat my cheek. “You’re so cute. ”
“Men aren’t cute, sweetheart.”
“No?” She widens those eyes in mock surprise. “What are you, then?”
“Manly. Rugged. Handsome.” I sniff and pound my chest with my fist. “Me man.”
“Okay, ruggedly handsome manly man, I have to go home. I’ll actually be able to do my laundry today.”
“You could have brought it here.”
“It’s fine.” She shrugs and pulls her suitcase behind her, her purse slung over her shoulder. “Ready?”
“Maggie, you really need to learn to ask for help.”
“My thingy is being fixed today. I don’t need help.”
“Okay, stubborn girl. Let’s go.”
I take the suitcase from her, follow her out to my truck, load the case in the back, and we pull out of the driveway.
“Oh, do you mind if we swing by Maeve’s really quick? I know it’s out of the way, but I want to see my parents, and?—”
“It’s fine,” I assure her and turn toward the cliffs where Maeve and Hunter live. Hunter’s in the driveway with Tom, both men with hands on their hips, and Tom’s face brightens when he sees Maggie get out of the truck.
“Well, it’s a fine morning when I get to see my wee daughter.” He kisses Maggie’s cheek. “How are you, then?”
“Fine. Great, actually. I know that the whole family will want to hear everything that happened, but I wanted to give you and Ma a quick rundown before I meet the hot water heater guy at my place.”
“Plumber,” I add helpfully.
“Well, come on up then,” Tom says, motioning for his daughter to go with him up to the apartment above the garage.
“I’ll be right back,” Maggie says to me and joins her dad.
“It went well?” Hunter asks.
“Better than expected,” I say with a nod. “What are you two up to?”
“Maeve wants a garden,” he says with a long-suffering sigh. “Not just a few flowerpots here and there, but entire flower beds . And she wants an herb garden. And a salsa garden. What the hell is a salsa garden?”
“I—”
“You know what? I don’t want to know. Tom and I were just looking around, trying to decide how to arrange things.”
“Shouldn’t Maeve do that?”
“She doesn’t want to be bothered with that part,” he replies. “I’m telling you, she got pregnant, and now she has the weirdest ideas. Just out of the blue! And don’t you dare tell her I said that, or I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“Does Maeve even like salsa?”
His jaw firms, and then he shakes his head and lets out a laugh. “I don’t know. That’s a good question.”
“Okay, I’m ready,” Maggie announces as she comes hurrying around the garage.
“That was fast.”
“I filled them in really quick. I don’t want to miss the ho—the plumber.”
I shake Hunter’s hand, and then Maggie and I are back in my truck, headed to her little house. There’s no plumber truck in the drive when we get there, but there is a sedan that looks like a rental.
And on the porch, just getting ready to knock, is a woman I recognize.
“Who’s that?” Maggie asks.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Just when I thought there were no more secrets between us, I’m reminded that I was wrong.
And this one’s a doozy.
We hop out of the truck, and Maggie hurries up to the porch.
“Can I help you? Wait. You’re the woman from the pub. The one that creep was harassing.”
“Uh, yeah. Right.” She clears her throat. “Um…my name is Heather, and I’ve been trying to reach you for a while now.”
Maggie takes a step back and clenches her fists.
“I want you to leave.”